badrobot
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Post by badrobot on Jul 9, 2014 9:55:42 GMT -5
^Sia is challenging what it means to be a female pop star. Men and bands are always allowed to do whatever gimmicks they want, do videos that barely feature themselves, etc. Her shtick right now is provoking people which I think is a positive thing.
I'll be honest I haven't exactly been blown away by Chandelier (although I loved Elastic Heart), but I really admire her approach with this album.
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kanimal
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Post by kanimal on Jul 9, 2014 9:59:42 GMT -5
Wasn't this just a recent thing (with her latest album singles) of not wanting to face the audience when she sings? I've seen her perform in the past (even with Zero 7) and she faced the audience. I think this is just a gimmick tied to her current album release - although, I'm not quite sure what the message is. This is a quote from an interview Sia did with Billboard last year: "If anyone besides famous people knew what it was like to be a famous person, they would never want to be famous. Imagine the stereotypical highly opinionated, completely uninformed mother-in-law character and apply it to every teenager with a computer in the entire world. Then add in all bored people, as well as people whose job it is to report on celebrities. Then, picture that creature, that force, criticizing you for an hour straight once a day, every day, day after day." She also had addictions issues and discovered she had Graves disease in 2010 which caused her to temporarily leave her tour in 2010. After that it seems she lost her taste for the limelight and she announced her retirement. She wanted to continue to write songs anonymously but her manager and label begged her to do another album. She finally agreed but put in the agreement that she would not do promotions or tours for the album. RCA agreed to this and put it in her contract so they're lucky she's even doing any events even if she's not showing her face. It's funny how she's getting slammed for a gimmick though when no one seemed to have any problems with Daft Punk last year never showing their faces & having other people accept their awards and speaking on behalf of them. Daft Punk is a robot gimmick - it's up to you whether it's cooler or less cool than Sia's, but it's certainly not the same thing. My issue with her approach is that it, in my opinion, sends the wrong message. I believe that the best response to superficial judgment and/or meanness is confidence. If people are going to call you ugly or untalented or whatever, be even MORE aggressive about putting yourself out there to show that you're proud of how you look and who you are. I can't even imagine what it's like to be criticized the way a non-perfect-looking celebrity must be criticized, but I also can't imagine myself going into hiding as a way of deterring that criticism. Seems like it's letting the bad guys win.^Sia is challenging what it means to be a female pop star. Men and bands are always allowed to do whatever gimmicks they want, do videos that barely feature themselves, etc. Her shtick right now is provoking people which I think is a positive thing. I like that rationale (and you're right - it is effective in principle), but this would be easier to accept if she didn't have a reputation of wanting to steer clear of the spotlight. If someone who plasters their body all over the place like Rihanna decided to turn her back to the audience when she performs on the next album, it would pique my interest. With Sia, it seems far too consistent with her reputation for hating the superficial element of celebrity.
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Post by areyoureadytojump on Jul 9, 2014 10:56:33 GMT -5
www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/rumormill.cgi92 IN THE SHADE: The drum roll for 5 Seconds of Summer’s self-titled debut album, hitting domestically 7/22 on Capitol, is becoming deafening. The Aussie pop-punk four-piece has just set the UMGD record for biggest preorder ever, The Today Show and the Kimmel outdoor stage have been booked around release, and they’ve been selected to perform on the MTV VMAs, airing from the Fab Forum on 8/24. Not only that, but the album has already debuted at #1 in six countries. This puppy have progressively grown into a bona fide Event Release, boys and girls, the perfect antidote for the dog days. (7/9a) and from our own Kurt on Twitter:: Pre-orders for @5sos's debut album now exceed 115,000, making it the highest pre-order in UMG history, surpassing Eminem's 113k record.
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Verisimilitude
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Post by Verisimilitude on Jul 9, 2014 12:04:52 GMT -5
YOUR NEW RELEASES: Sia should debut at #1 next week with around 50k. Here are this week’s key debuts:
Sia (Monkeypuzzle/RCA) 47-52k Judas Priest (Epic) 25-28k Dirty Heads (Five Seven) 20-23k Mike Stud (Electric Feel) 14-16k
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felipe
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Post by felipe on Jul 9, 2014 12:38:22 GMT -5
I didn't know about the "not facing the camera" gimmick. It sounds like bull to me. If you don't want to expose yourself and be criticed, why is she on every talk show promoting her album? At the end of the day, I think the gimmick can only get her more criticism.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2014 12:44:39 GMT -5
If she doesn't want attention on her why isn't she just writing songs for people? I can't get into her. Overall terrible numbers for everyone. Stop releasing full albums already.
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Post by areyoureadytojump on Jul 9, 2014 12:49:57 GMT -5
stop releasing full albums?
for everyone or just for small acts?
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mluv
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Post by mluv on Jul 9, 2014 13:38:37 GMT -5
I didn't know about the "not facing the camera" gimmick. It sounds like bull to me. If you don't want to expose yourself and be criticed, why is she on every talk show promoting her album? At the end of the day, I think the gimmick can only get her more criticism. I haven't noticed much criticism (except on this site) because most people find celebrities and their faces over exposed as it is plus she's not that famous and in the tabloids (like Rihanna or Beyonce or Taylor Swift or Katy Perry Or Miley) that people care that much. Her audience are going to be the people who buy her music because they like her music and not because of what her face looks like. The main criticism I've seen has been over the little girl from I think Dance Moms, who did the dance from the song Chandelier in some kind of almost flesh colored leotard. Some found that a little inappropriate. But her album is going to sell more than what they were expecting at the beginning of the week, she's getting extra publicity because of that Jimmy Kimmel parody using the same dancing girl, and her song Chandelier is top 10 on itunes. It doesn't seem like what she's doing is backfiring like those on here are suggesting.
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mluv
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Post by mluv on Jul 9, 2014 13:43:29 GMT -5
If she doesn't want attention on her why isn't she just writing songs for people? I can't get into her. Overall terrible numbers for everyone. Stop releasing full albums already. Considering that the sales of singles are also down (see this week where the # 1 single sold less than 200,000) this is obviously not the solution. As streaming becomes more popular the numbers will continue to tumble. I'm surprised by the amount of people still surprised by album and single sales decline.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2014 13:50:35 GMT -5
I don't follow albums sales very closely... I know they are down of course but I'm always shocked when I see the numbers.
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Post by areyoureadytojump on Jul 9, 2014 14:08:10 GMT -5
^This will be lowest sum for a #1 album in 2 years.
This doesn't happen frequently.
Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!
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Kurt
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Post by Kurt on Jul 9, 2014 14:25:20 GMT -5
Along with the $7.99 iTunes sale, the standard edition of the Frozen soundtrack is part of a Summer Children's Music sale on Google Play and Amazon for only $3.99. With only a 3% drop last week to 37k and Sia expected to be #1 with 47-52k, I wonder if it could be in contention for another week at the top.
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Gary
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Post by Gary on Jul 9, 2014 14:38:19 GMT -5
Wholesale changes in how music is delivered is not necessary.
The album format may get weaker but it won't die. Everything is cyclical
Nowadays you can buy or rent music. Those would be the two main ways to get it.
Renting is on the upswing, so buying is on the down. Eventually subscription rates for streaming services will go up as companies adjust their balance sheet. This will alienate some customers who will not want to pay the increase and find that all the music they had access to is now gone because they did not pay their bill. Then the art of buying music will come back.
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Post by when the pawn... on Jul 9, 2014 15:13:39 GMT -5
Good for Sia. I hope she gets #1 even though that is very low for a #1 album.
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felipe
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Post by felipe on Jul 9, 2014 15:15:07 GMT -5
I didn't know about the "not facing the camera" gimmick. It sounds like bull to me. If you don't want to expose yourself and be criticed, why is she on every talk show promoting her album? At the end of the day, I think the gimmick can only get her more criticism. I haven't noticed much criticism (except on this site) because most people find celebrities and their faces over exposed as it is plus she's not that famous and in the tabloids (like Rihanna or Beyonce or Taylor Swift or Katy Perry Or Miley) that people care that much. Her audience are going to be the people who buy her music because they like her music and not because of what her face looks like. The main criticism I've seen has been over the little girl from I think Dance Moms, who did the dance from the song Chandelier in some kind of almost flesh colored leotard. Some found that a little inappropriate. But her album is going to sell more than what they were expecting at the beginning of the week, she's getting extra publicity because of that Jimmy Kimmel parody using the same dancing girl, and her song Chandelier is top 10 on itunes. It doesn't seem like what she's doing is backfiring like those on here are suggesting. If she's doing it to go unnoticed, you could say it is backfiring. If she's using the gimmick to get more attention and sell more, then it's definitely working.
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Glove Slap
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Post by Glove Slap on Jul 9, 2014 15:16:05 GMT -5
Sia? ...really? I mean...really?
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Verisimilitude
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Post by Verisimilitude on Jul 9, 2014 16:05:23 GMT -5
Yes, really. Moving on...Sia Heading for No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart NEWS By Keith Caulfield, L.A. | July 09, 2014 4:34 PM EDT Singer/songwriter Sia is aiming for her first No. 1 on next week's Billboard 200 chart with her new album "1000 Forms of Fear." Industry forecasters say the set, which was released on July 8, may sell around 50,000 copies by the end of the tracking week on July 13. The Billboard 200's new top 10 will be revealed on Wednesday, July 16. Sia has co-written 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit singles since 2011, including Rihanna's No. 1 "Diamonds," David Guetta's "Titanium" (which hit No. 7) and Flo Rida's "Wild Ones" (No. 5). The latter two songs also featured Sia as a guest vocalist. Sia also co-wrote her own new album's single "Chandelier," which rises 20-17 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated July 19. (It's her first charting single as the lead artist.) Sia is promoting her new album in an unconventional manner -- by neither show her face during TV performances, nor posing for traditional photo shoots. In her recent performances of "Chandelier," she has sung with her back to the camera, while a dancer (or dancers) interpreted the song. And, for her Billboard magazine's cover story last year, she was photographed with a bag over her head that read, in part, "This artist is responsible for over 12 million track sales… and doesn't want to be famous." The untraditional roll-out of the album has seemingly made the public more curious about Sia and her story, and thus, she now could earn her first No. 1 album (and best sales week yet). Sia has charted twice previously on the Billboard 200, with 2008's No. 26-peaking "Some People Have Real Problems" and 2010's No. 37 hit "We Are Born." ("Some People" logged Sia's biggest sales frame, when it launched with 20,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan.) Previous to that, she reached the Heatseekers Albums chart with 2006's "Colour the Small One" (No. 14). Other albums on course for sizable debuts next week include Judas Priest's "Redeemer of Souls" and Dirty Heads' "Sound of Change." Both could start in the top 10 with perhaps 20,000 to 25,000 each.
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Post by ListenToItTwice on Jul 9, 2014 17:43:59 GMT -5
yessss I've been waiting for an update on this number!! Can't help but notice that the album is missing from iTunes' Top 200 when it was just in the top 10... What gives? Did the label choose to pull it from charting?
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Post by tommymonster44 on Jul 9, 2014 18:41:27 GMT -5
I'm glad that its looking like Sia will get the number one. She's been working in the industry for over a decade and this may be her last solo album of her career.
Sam is a debut artist. He will have plenty of chances in the future.
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Agent Yoncé
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Post by Agent Yoncé on Jul 9, 2014 19:57:24 GMT -5
My lord.
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microcuts
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Post by microcuts on Jul 9, 2014 20:23:29 GMT -5
Sia's work with Zero 7 and her earlier stuff are both great, but I can't stomach anything from her new album. It's funny how she doesn't want to be famous, but then puts out the most mainstream album she could possibly do.
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Post by onefrayedrepublic on Jul 9, 2014 20:28:49 GMT -5
Nice debut for Mike Stud. He's got a good album.
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felipe
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Post by felipe on Jul 10, 2014 12:36:02 GMT -5
I don't understand exactly why most people seem to think Sia deserves to have a hit album just because she's written some hit songs for other people.
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Gary
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Post by Gary on Jul 10, 2014 13:10:02 GMT -5
Any artist who sells more than everyone else deserves to be #1. As far as this album being a "hit"? Well, time will tell but an opening of 50K tells me that this might not be a "hit" album
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Duca
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Post by Duca on Jul 10, 2014 16:08:58 GMT -5
YOUR TOP 15: As expected, Sia will score her first #1 album on next week's chart. Here's how it looks headed into the weekend: 1. Sia (Monkeypuzzle/RCA) 48-53k 2. Sam Smith (Capitol) 40-45k 3. Frozen (Walt Disney) 35-40k 4. Trey Songz (Atlantic) 30-35k 5. Ed Sheeran (Atlantic) 30-35k 6. Judas Priest (Epic) 28-32k 7. Dirty Heads (Five Seven) 21-24k 8. Miranda Lambert (RCA Nashville) 19-22k 9. Now 50 (NOW) 18-21k 10. Lana Del Rey (Interscope) 17-20k 11. Brantley Gilbert (Valory) 15-18k 12. Mike Stud (Electric Feel) 14-16k 13. Magic! (Latium/RCA) 13-15k 14. Jacob Whitesides (Jacob Whitesides) 13-15k 15. Coldplay (Parlophone) 13-15k Sam Smith is looking strong in his fourth week. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Jacob Whitesides is a YouTube wunderkind whose EP, which has made noise at iTunes over the last few days, features a number of cover tunes, including a version of Smith’s “Stay With Me.” (7/10p)
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WolfSpear
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Post by WolfSpear on Jul 10, 2014 16:56:08 GMT -5
Even though the sales are atrocious, I think it's a great thing to see all of these new artists succeed.
Keep in mind, not every #1 album is the same but they all share the same trait: they were the most popular one in that given week.
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Post by ListenToItTwice on Jul 10, 2014 17:11:36 GMT -5
Now 50 will likely surpass the RTD sales of Now 49 this week, to become the #3 album released in 2014.
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Post by areyoureadytojump on Jul 10, 2014 17:16:43 GMT -5
I just don't want a SoundScan Era low for album sales next week.
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HolidayGuy
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Post by HolidayGuy on Jul 10, 2014 19:09:34 GMT -5
That photo of Sia on the HITS Rumor Mill page. It's only a matter of time before weekly overall album sales dip below 4 million.
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Post by Push The Button on Jul 11, 2014 18:53:33 GMT -5
Sam should be a pretty easy #1 next week, unless Kidz Bop somehow does 50k.
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