Billboard 8/25-18 - Travis Scott - week 2

[His Holiness]

Aug 19, 2018 20:45:21 GMT -5 Mayman said:

Aug 19, 2018 20:44:15 GMT -5 His Holiness said:

Rihanna's ANTi? Or even Mariah Carey's very lengthy named album?

That was before TLOP.

Oh right OK. I misread your post.

[Deleted]

[jenglisbe]

Aug 19, 2018 19:56:37 GMT -5 kanimal said:

Aug 19, 2018 18:01:17 GMT -5 forg said:

What is this Spotify teaching her a lesson? A little intriguing

Her album did not receive great placement on Spotify.  She didn't have a song in the Top 5 on New Music Friday (whereas big releases sometimes have two or three songs in the Top 5), she didn't "own" any of the major playlists, and there was little in the way of promo / notifications / banners / etc.  It was honestly treated more like a release from a decent-level country act than a major hip-hop force.

She's basically claiming that Spotify penalized her for doing the extra stuff with Apple Music (Queen Radio, the slightly early release, etc).

The lackluster Spotify placement is objectively true ... she has a valid gripe about not being showcased the way people like Drake and even Ariana got showcased. The question is whether it was TRULY retaliation over Apple, or if it was just because her album hadn't been tracking like a streaming behemoth and thus didn't feel big enough to warrant Drake-level exposure.

And even if it WAS retaliation, I feel like that's the kind of thing you have to consider when you decide to give exclusives to Spotify's main competitor.  Like, yes, Spotify doesn't snub Drake ... but Drake' s a different animal.  

That last part is it. Plus, Spotify has no obligation to help her. She’s just pressed. I have never seen an artist do something like this.

[KeepDeanWeird]

Nicki has surpassed The Ga's 'music emergency' fiasco and rivaling Mariah's meltdown after 'Loverboy' was blocked by 'Bootylicious.'

#2 album is not neither a flop nor a stain on a legacy. Ask Aerosmith if they'd preferred their GH was a #1 album
or Diamond (11x) and #50 peak in 1980 (#43 in 2013).

[Glove Slap]

katyperry needs to call Nicki and tell her that #1 albums can still be bombs, and albums that barely crack the top 10 for a week can go on to spin off several hits.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

RIAA: Eagles' Greatest Hits Certified 38x Platinum, Passing 'Thriller'

8/20/2018 by Associated Press 

The Eagles' greatest hits album has moonwalked past Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to become history's best-selling album of all-time.

The Recording Industry Association of America told The Associated Press on Monday that the Eagles' album -- "Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975" -- is now certified 38x platinum, which means sales and streams of the album have reached 38 million copies.

The album was released in 1976 and pushes Jackson's "Thriller," which is 33x platinum, to second place.

RIAA also said that the Eagles' "Hotel California," released in 1977, is now 26x platinum and makes it the third best-selling album of all-time.

The last time RIAA tallied sales for the Eagles' greatest hits album was in 2006, when it said it was 29x platinum. Sales and streams for "Thriller" were last updated last year.

"We are grateful for our families, our management, our crew, the people at radio and, most of all, the loyal fans who have stuck with us through the ups and downs of 46 years. It's been quite a ride," Don Henley said in a statement.

RIAA's platinum status was once equivalent to selling one million albums or songs, but in 2013 the company began incorporating streaming from YouTube, Spotify and other digital music services to determine certification for albums and songs.

Now 1,500 streams of an album is equivalent to an album sale. Also, 10 song downloads = 1 album sale.

The Eagles, who formed in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, mastered the mix of rock 'n' roll and country music, and the band's hits -- including "Hotel California" and "Take It Easy -- became part of the soundtrack of that decade. They broke up in 1980, coming back together 14 years later with Henley and Glenn Frey being the only remaining original members. Frey died in 2016, but the Grammy-winning band remains on tour.

The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2016.

[Gary]

Currently on tour with a revised lineup

The Thriller/Eagles thing has been going back and forth for years

[slw84]

Aug 20, 2018 10:25:17 GMT -5 Baby Yoda Hot100Fan said:

RIAA: Eagles' Greatest Hits Certified 38x Platinum, Passing 'Thriller'

8/20/2018 by Associated Press 

The Eagles' greatest hits album has moonwalked past Michael Jackson's "Thriller" to become history's best-selling album of all-time.

The Recording Industry Association of America told The Associated Press on Monday that the Eagles' album -- "Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975" -- is now certified 38x platinum, which means sales and streams of the album have reached 38 million copies.

The album was released in 1976 and pushes Jackson's "Thriller," which is 33x platinum, to second place.

RIAA also said that the Eagles' "Hotel California," released in 1977, is now 26x platinum and makes it the third best-selling album of all-time.

The last time RIAA tallied sales for the Eagles' greatest hits album was in 2006, when it said it was 29x platinum. Sales and streams for "Thriller" were last updated last year.

"We are grateful for our families, our management, our crew, the people at radio and, most of all, the loyal fans who have stuck with us through the ups and downs of 46 years. It's been quite a ride," Don Henley said in a statement.

RIAA's platinum status was once equivalent to selling one million albums or songs, but in 2013 the company began incorporating streaming from YouTube, Spotify and other digital music services to determine certification for albums and songs.

Now 1,500 streams of an album is equivalent to an album sale. Also, 10 song downloads = 1 album sale.

The Eagles, who formed in Los Angeles in the early 1970s, mastered the mix of rock 'n' roll and country music, and the band's hits -- including "Hotel California" and "Take It Easy -- became part of the soundtrack of that decade. They broke up in 1980, coming back together 14 years later with Henley and Glenn Frey being the only remaining original members. Frey died in 2016, but the Grammy-winning band remains on tour.

The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 and received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2016.

I expect more legacy acts to update now that we have phased out of digital are essentially mostly and mainly in the streaming era.

Justice for Janet/Britney/Jay-z/Beyonce outdated certs

[Gary]

To get accurate pictures of all time rankings going all the way back - RIAA is the only actual source but updates are not automatic

[Glove Slap]

Re-certs depend on the label, and Janet got really unlucky with both of her major ones. A&M was fully acquired and Virgin is a much smaller scale label now.

[Linnethia Monique]

Britney may get her certs re-done once new music is on the horizon. RCA did it for both Justin and Christina when they were on the verge of releasing new music.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

So that Eagles album sold/streamed 9 million since 2006? Watch out Adele!

[Glove Slap]

Aug 20, 2018 12:03:01 GMT -5 Rose "Payola" Nylund said:

So that Eagles album sold/streamed 9 million since 2006? Watch out Adele!

It also includes TEA (as well as the entire digital download boom) and given that the Eagles have been one of the most enduring acts of the 70s in terms of respect and recurrent exposure, they likely generated a good amount over that time. Hotel California (the song) had sold over 3 million downloads by the end of 2014 (receipts), so that alone is a hefty sum for a track from the 70s. I'm curious as to how they tallied the streams and sales though. Were they selected from the GH album alone, or are the ones from the studio albums folded into it? For example, I can go to that GH album on Spotify and select One Of These Nights, but I can also go into the One Of These Nights album and listen to it there. Would it still be folded into the GH for certification reasons? It's interesting that only that album and Hotel California (which came after) were re-certified and one of the albums from which those singles on the GH came from.

It's all semantics of course since everyone makes the same amount of revenue is generated regardless of which one I choose. And Sony could do the same for MJ in that sense by directing all the streams from the Thriller hits to the album.

[Linnethia Monique]

Sheesh Hotel California jumped from 16x Platinum to 26x Platinum from when it was last re-certified in 2001.

[Glove Slap]

Aug 20, 2018 13:49:05 GMT -5 Linnethia Monique said:

Sheesh Hotel California jumped from 16x Platinum to 26x Platinum from when it was last re-certified in 2001.

Anyone ever tells you that you need to be nice and kind to be remembered, have impact, or endurance, just hit them upside the head and point to Don 'douchebag' Henley (+ Glenn). You can call him mean, you can call him bitter, but when them royalties keep getting dumped on you from people who were yet to be born when you wrote those songs, it's all put into perspective.

[Linnethia Monique]

Aug 20, 2018 14:00:55 GMT -5 Glove Slap said:

Aug 20, 2018 13:49:05 GMT -5 Linnethia Monique said:

Sheesh Hotel California jumped from 16x Platinum to 26x Platinum from when it was last re-certified in 2001.

Anyone ever tells you that you need to be nice and kind to be remembered, have impact, or endurance, just hit them upside the head and point to Don 'douchebag' Henley (+ Glenn). You can call him mean, you can call him bitter, but when them royalties keep getting dumped on you from people who were yet to be born when you wrote those songs, it's all put into perspective.

People with evil souls really do live the longest.

[Glove Slap]

Aug 20, 2018 14:21:01 GMT -5 Linnethia Monique said:

Aug 20, 2018 14:00:55 GMT -5 Glove Slap said:

Anyone ever tells you that you need to be nice and kind to be remembered, have impact, or endurance, just hit them upside the head and point to Don 'douchebag' Henley (+ Glenn). You can call him mean, you can call him bitter, but when them royalties keep getting dumped on you from people who were yet to be born when you wrote those songs, it's all put into perspective.

People with evil souls really do live the longest.

[areyoureadytojump]

I would not expect any re-certs for any of the divas.

Rock albums will always keep on selling/streaming.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

^Which is the same reason why rock artists and bands continue to sell concert tickets well.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

^ And probably also the reason present-day rock is doing so poorly because rock fans can't move on

[Gary]

Which probably includes me, I spent 400 dollars on Eagles concert tickets recently - LOL

[Glove Slap]

Aug 20, 2018 16:32:42 GMT -5 Rose "Payola" Nylund said:

^ And probably also the reason present-day rock is doing so poorly because rock fans can't move on

There's also been a mentality shift to wanting success = bad all around what is contemporary rock since the alt. explosion in the early 90s. An act like the Eagles that aimed for massive success wouldn't click today. As far as ticket sales go, they aim primarily towards the audience they captured back then with those, hence the high prices. It's the same as what Madonna, Streisand, and U2 do. When your original base is in their fifties and beyond, they have much more disposable income. A significant amount of these people have been checking for them since their ticket prices were a tenth of what they are now and have gradually been able to pay more. If you set your prices at $400+, you're likely not expecting the average age of your audience to be 17.

[Gary]

Well to be fair, my 400 dollars bought more than one ticket

[HolidayGuy]

Per HipHopDX, Travis Scott's album indeed logs a second week as the country's top-selling set, with 78,440 vs. Nicki Minaj's 77,835. (figures rounded off to nearest five).

[areyoureadytojump]

Bolded numbers are pure album sales

hiphopdx.com/news/id.48101/title.hip-hop-album-sales-nicki-minajs-queen-bows-down-to-travis-scotts-astroworld-on-billboard-200

Top 10 Billboard 200 Rap & R&B Albums For The Week Ending 8/16/2018

Note: The first number below is this week’s “total album equivalent units” count, an intersection of album sales, single sales, and streams implemented by Billboard’s new rating system. A pure album sales figure is available in bold in parenthesis and information about each album’s streaming count is available in brackets.

Travis Scott — Astroworld — No. 1 — 205,298 (78,442) [167,470,572]
Nicki Minaj — Queen — No. 2 — 185,121 (77,836) [128,699,810]
Drake — Scorpion — No. 3 — 102,305 (7,054) [123,524,998]
Trippie Redd — Life’s A Trip — No. 4 — 71,685 (15,470) [82,595,625]
Post Malone — Beerbongs & Bentleys — No. 5 — 55,890 (4,235) [67,126,984]
Juice WRLD — Goodbye & Good Riddance — No. 6 — 39,428 (1,029) [58,370,414]
Cardi B — Invasion Of Privacy — No. 8 — 33,855 (1,548) [39,244,626]
XXXTENTACION — ? — No. 10 — 32,728 (1,643) [48,087,324]
YG — Stay Dangerous — No. 13 — 23,859 (1,204) [29,943,817]
Lil Baby — Harder Than Ever — No. 16 — 21,620 (261) [29,059,591]

[Gary]

Nicki Minaj Calls Out Spotify, Republic Records After 'Queen' Album Debuts at No. 2 on Billboard 200
NewsRecord LabelsDigital and Mobile

By Dan Rys | August 20, 2018 6:45 PM EDT


The artist also questioned the legitimacy of Travis Scott's merchandise/album bundles.

On Sunday (Aug. 19), the numbers officially came in: for the second week in a row, Travis Scott's Astroworld was the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, with 205,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 16, according to Nielsen Music, with Nicki Minaj's fourth album Queen coming in at No. 2, with 185,000 equivalent album units in its first week of release.

Queen's debut landed a number of milestones for Minaj: at 97,000 streaming equivalent album units, or 128.7 million on-demand audio streams, it marked her largest streaming week ever, and extended her own record for most top-two charting albums among female rappers to four. But on Twitter, Minaj appeared less than pleased to come in behind Scott atop the chart, and blamed a number of factors.

She accused Spotify of reneging on promised promotions for her album, in order to "teach her a lesson" after Queen was released "10 mins early" on her Beats 1 radio show, #QueenRadio, where she premiered the album on Aug. 10.
"Spotify had to teach me a lesson but rewarded the man who has had an Apple radio show the longest; inadvertently helping the Apple platform the most," she tweeted, referencing Drake's Scorpion album release and the all-hands-on-deck Spotify promotion that accompanied it, as well as Drake's OVO Sound radio show on Apple's Beats 1. "Oh I can't wait for #QueenRadio on Tuesday. They took away my promotion they had promised for the 1st cpl days b/c of this."

"My music went up on Apple so I played it," she continued. "I assumed it was on Spotify & Tidal at the same time. Spotify said that Apple tweeted fans advising #Queen was up & therefore they had to teach me a lesson."
A spokesperson for Spotify declined to comment.

Minaj also said that her label, Republic Records, declined to fight for her promotion spots in order to protect its relationship with the streaming service ahead of the release of her labelmate Ariana Grande's Sweetener, which came out last Friday (Aug. 17): "My label didn't want to defend me for fear of Spotify trying to teach Ariana a "lesson" too!"
A rep for Republic did not respond to a request for comment.

Minaj also tweeted that a merchandise/album bundle Scott announced on Aug. 16, the final day of the tracking week, also contributed to Scott's win, despite the fact that she bundled her album with a similar package later that same day. Both packages offered a digital album, along with early access to a venue on their respective tours (with a separate concert ticket purchase required), among other items. The bundles were among the many merchandise/album packages both artists sold via their web sites -- offering posters, clothing and other items paired with a digital album.

"Travis sold over 50K of these," she tweeted with a photo of his "early access" bundle. "With no requirement of redeeming the album! With no dates for a tour, etc. I spoke to him. He knows he doesn't have the #1 album this week. I love my fans for the #1 album in AMERICA! I'll explain on #QueenRadio 4 albums in, #1 in 86 countries."

Scott released Astroworld with a line of merchandise on his web site that was bundled with digital versions of the album, including T-shirts, hoodies, hats, keychains and posters. Additionally, each bundle purchase came with a pre-sale access code, giving customers early access to purchase tickets to his forthcoming tour. Minaj had an array of merch/album bundles available as well, including a capsule collection with luxury sportswear brand Just Don.

"I looked at the numbers the Carters, Kanye, Nas, etc recently did," she continued in another tweet. "Travis sold 200K in his first week of clothes alone. I spoke to him last night & he said he's been selling clothes b4 the music. Billboard says they'll change the rules cuz of this, so it should be changed now!"

[Mayman]

That last paragraph is intriguing.

[KeepDeanWeird]

Aug 20, 2018 13:41:50 GMT -5 Glove Slap said:

Aug 20, 2018 12:03:01 GMT -5 Rose "Payola" Nylund said:

So that Eagles album sold/streamed 9 million since 2006? Watch out Adele!

It also includes TEA (as well as the entire digital download boom) and given that the Eagles have been one of the most enduring acts of the 70s in terms of respect and recurrent exposure, they likely generated a good amount over that time. Hotel California (the song) had sold over 3 million downloads by the end of 2014 (receipts), so that alone is a hefty sum for a track from the 70s. I'm curious as to how they tallied the streams and sales though. Were they selected from the GH album alone, or are the ones from the studio albums folded into it? For example, I can go to that GH album on Spotify and select One Of These Nights, but I can also go into the One Of These Nights album and listen to it there. Would it still be folded into the GH for certification reasons? It's interesting that only that album and Hotel California (which came after) were re-certified and one of the albums from which those singles on the GH came from.

It's all semantics of course since everyone makes the same amount of revenue is generated regardless of which one I choose. And Sony could do the same for MJ in that sense by directing all the streams from the Thriller hits to the album.

It's interesting they only certified GH and HC and nothing else. GHV2 is a 11x (another example of chart position being meaningless since it peaked at #52) and has HC and TLR singles, which were massive. I used The Very Best of the Eagles as the source for my Eagles streams because I own the discs - at one point, when those songs played, they pulled the original album from which they came as the source. I just noticed today they are back to TVBOTE.

As you suggest, I'm assuming the labels can direct which albums get credit. Aretha's discography is a good example - so many of the songs on 30GH are on multiple albums and compilations. With the high chart place of 30GH, I'm wondering if all the various sources were merged into one.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

^On the latter point, I'd say so as long as the songs contained were the ones in question.

Another example of this that comes to mind is Guns 'n Roses. Until the deluxe version of Appetite for Destruction came out, the album that kept charting for them was their Greatest Hits. After the former was reissued, it became the charting album of record in the Billboard 200 and Catalog Albums.

[shayonce]

Oh, and if you'd like a copy of Sweetener with a little something you can wear, you can grab the God Is a Woman Tie-Dye Mask +Album for $20, the Sweetener Three-Pack Socks + Album bundle for $35 or the Sweetener Fanny Pack + Album for $45 (all with ticket access), among many other goodies. Rumors that Nielsen has already convened a high-level meeting around the "fanny-pack wars" couldn't be confirmed at presstime.

from HDD