Hit singles that aren't helping their albums

[Pet Shop Boy]

Santana 'Why don't you & I' doesn't seem to be giving any boost at all to 'Shamen' despite its massive success. I guess maybe its too long after the last hit from Santana, all momentum.

Most wierd of all, to me at least, is that 'There's Gotta Be More To Life' is not doing ANYTHING For Stacie Orrico's album. She's all over TRL and high on the pop charts, but is the album even in the top 200 anymore? Shame, she deserves more success, it's a solid album.

Lil Kim's 'Magic Stick' didn't really do her 'La Bella Mafia' much good either, that album is a pretty big commercial dissapointment,

[jimmy74747]

Neither of Michelle Branch's singles helped much. Too early to tell for "Breathe", but this thing dropped fast.

Jason Mraz has yet to crack the Top 40 in album sales.

Black Eyes Peas should have sold more considering all the airplay "Where Is The Love" got IMO.

I think the album charts show how popluar songs like "Here Without You" really are. The album was on the lower part of the Hot 100, and is now back in the Top 20 despite much more competition.

[Leafstorm]

Blu Cantrell's "Hit 'Em Up Style", Truth Hurts' "Addictive", and Mya's "My Love Is Like...Wo"

[joe]

MandyfanUK said:

Santana 'Why don't you & I' doesn't seem to be giving any boost at all to 'Shamen' despite its massive success. I guess maybe its too long after the last hit from Santana, all momentum.

IMHO this probably has to do with the fact that the version commonly played on the radio, at least from what I've heard, is the one featuring Alex Band...Which, again as far as I know, isn't on the CD...The Chad Kroeger version is on Shamen, as I found when I went to hear the song on the CD, took it out of my CD holder, and went "what the?" as I realized the song wasn't the same...

I know that would stop me from buying a CD...

[atomicaloud]

it is a shame for stacie orrico coz her album is great and better than alot out there right now.

[Rumors]

Good topic. You know a lot of things affect whether an album sales in addition to radio play. The type of airplay matters. For instance, a lot of airtime on AC and HotAC does not generate records sales like airtime on pop/rock/alt etc. That's why a group like Matchbox Twenty may not sell as much as you might think they should. For those of you who follow this group, their album has been a consistent 20,000-27,000 seller each week in the US for months. I think they are approaching 1.6 million which I think is great considering that they are on Atlantic, no MTV play, no magazine coverage, ho hype, etc etc. All of these things come into play when looking at sales. I wonder what the bottom line on their album is as opposed to an artist that has an album with a lot of promotional money behind it. An example of this was Alica Keys. She sold a ton of records but from what I read the promotional budget for the album and the grammy nods was around 6-7 million. Compare this to artists that get very liitle support from their labels (most artists fall into this area) and the result may be poor sales. Of course, there is always the exception to the rule (see Nora Jones).

With that said, I think Uncle Crackers album could have sold better but then look where he receives most of his airplay (AC and HotAC).

To me 3DD is doing great but could it even be better? They are getting significant airplay on multiple formats (rock/alt/pop which sells records).

[Chickenshit]

Yup because Michelle Branch is being forced down American's throats by radio. LOL

It's true, if people actually like the artists and their songs wouldn't they go buy the album.

[j]

There are other important factors affecting album sales , not just radio airplay. Personal popularity is a major factor. You can't compare Stacie Orrico's and MercyMe's albums and say that Stacie should sell more because she has more airplay. However, you can compare sales of her last album and this one, and say that she should sell more this time because she has mainstream airplay. And she probably does. (I'm assuming she has had previous albums released.)

I agree with Rumors that Norah Jones is an exception.

[radiorules]

The only artists that can have radio airplay and sell good albums at the same time are Popular names. Beyonce, Christina, Justin. But then again, their albums would sell regardless. I really believe that Radio airplay has nothing to do with album sales. Just because there is one song on the radio that i like by a new artist, that's no way going to make me buy their album! First of all their album needs to be good in order for me to buy them, word of mouth works more than Radio Airplay. And all these artists like Black Eyed Peas and Stacie Orrico who have Radio Hits must have crappy albums. It's much easier to get "Dirrty" to pursway someone to buy "Stripped" than it is for "Where Is The Love?" to pursway someone to buy the BEP album, even though WITL was the much bigger hit, audiences still trust the already established artists over the new artists.

[j]

If I only bought albums that are proven big sellers or have several established radio hits, I'd probably be sad because I'd be missing out on a lot of quality music out there that radio isn't playing (not to mention narrow-minded).

Albums by then-new artists like Stroke 9, the Corrs, Evanescence, Jason Mraz, Lifehouse, Vertical Horizon, Nine Days, SR-71 that I bought after hearing just 1 song, just to name a few, I totally don't regret.

[jimmy74747]

radiorules said:

And all these artists like Black Eyed Peas and Stacie Orrico who have Radio Hits must have crappy albums. quote]

Stacie's album is far from crappy

[singingsparrow]

Uncle Kracker's hit cover of Dobie Grey's "Drift Away" did very little for "No Stranger To Shame". It made a brief return between 75-100 on the Billboard 200, but fell quickly again.

Counting Crows also benefited little album-wise with their hit cover of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi". The cover helped the band sell only about 160,000 copies after "American Girls" and touring helped "Hard Candy" sell half a million copies.

And I'd also consider Jason Mraz's "Waiting For My Rocket To Come" to continue to have slow sales, considering John Mayer's "Room For Squares" quickly soared to a peak of #17 upon the success of "No Such Thing" last year, and Jack Johnson's "Brushfire Fairytales" soaring into the Top 40 when "Flake" didn't even hit the TOP 40 ON CHR/POP RADIO!

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

[Pet Shop Boy]

Why exactly 'Must' Stacie Orrico's album be crappy? It's actually a very solid album.

[radiorules]

I am just saying that it must be crappy to many in their minds. Her songs are obviously on the radio and since they have heard no buzz on the album, there is no need to pick it up. Another case maybe that several artists don't know who to market their album towards. Jason Mraz is the perfect example, he is too laid back for the 15-25 crowd, and he is too young for the AC crowd, so no one buys his album.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Jason's album is GREAT! As of right now, it's probably my favourite CD in 2003 and will probably keep that title unless I buy something amazing over the next two and a half months. I recommend it!

[M]

Do Daniel Bedingfield's "Gotta Get Thru This" and "If You're Not The One" count?

What about Dirty Vegas' "Days Go By"?


These were major hits, I don't know if these did anything in terms of increasing their album sales. Maybe single sales, but that's another topic.

Some other examples:
Eve f/Alicia Keys - "Gangsta Lovin'"
DJ Sammy - "Heaven"

[arebomb]

I think you guys are a little off here. With matchbox twenty, their album hasn't sold massive amounts on a weekly basis, but do you honestly think that the album would be anywhere near its current position right now without the success of Unwell and now Bright Lights? MTYTYA has stayed in the 45-55 range for a LONG time now. Just because an artists CD doesn't vault up the chart at a huge pace doesn't mean the single isn't helping to sell the album. In matchbox twenty's case, their current album only spent ONE WEEK in the top 20 of the album charts, but nearly a year after its release, its still in the top 50, I think that does say that Unwell really helped.

Also, in the case of people like Jasron Mraz, I believe his album has been certified gold and is probably around 500,000 units sold. I think for a medium sized hit like "The Remedy" that 500,000 is an appropriate number.

[Gorminako]

It could be that the overplay of songs like "Drift Away" and "Big Yellow Taxi" doesn't accurately represent their actual popularity. I think that airplay on radio hardly reflects how well the public really likes the songs. Current pop and rhythm radio only represent the likes of adolescents, most of whom hardly have formed a strong sense of what music they like and don't like, but rather follow what they think is in with their peers. AC, Hot AC and AAA radio only reflect what their programmers and discjockeys like or think their audience likes, and they always go for the tamest music around.

[laguy03]

I agree about BEP. Its weird that they had such a massive hit but barely went gold even with an existing fanbase

[Miguelín]

What about Live's album?? "Heaven" is getting a lot of airplay (not in Alternative stations... but a lot in HOT/AC)... but the album is not on the HOT 100, And I think it only spend two weeks there.

[EvanJ]

"Heaven," "Big Yellow Taxi," and "Drift Away" show maybe Hot Adult Contemporary doesn't sell albums.
We've provided examples that dance doesn't sell albums.

[britrocks16]

Gavin Degraw-I dont want to be, this song didnt help the album out a bit and it was a #1 hit on pop.
Ryan Cabrera-On the way down, True. Both songs were hits but neither helped the album.
Jojo-Leave and baby its you were to huge pop hits and her album has barely scanned passed 1 million.

[freeek04]

for a new artist who's only urban/pop and thus not getting big R&B Radio play, i think it's great that's JoJo's even gone to #4. In reality, it's quite impressive and bodes well for her future. She just needs a third single out before people will really start getting to realize "ok, this album's worth buying". Most people can't decide if they like something by two singles.

[Brethren]

Britrocks16 said:

Jojo-Leave and baby its you were to huge pop hits and her album has barely scanned passed 1 million.

Selling 1.2 (or is it 1.3?) million on the back of one big hit and one moderate hit is nothing to be ashamed of. Not too mention, her album spent quite a long while lingering in the top 40, and she still has her 3rd and 4th single coming up to propel sales further.

For a new artist with no established fanbase whatsoever, I think Jojo is doing great. Her album didn't even scan 100,000 its first week and she has gone on to sell 13x that amount. That is commendable.

[FADE AWAY]

I'm glad people haven't been fooled into buying Mario's terrible album.

[bluenote]

Terror Squad.

[kellydicted]

Jesse is picking up but not by that much considering how well "Beautiful Soul" has done

Lenny Kravitz didn't seem to get any sales boosts off of "Lady" (It's a hit by his standards). Bowling For Soup, Ryan, Gavin...there's tons of artists that have hit singles but havn't made that connection that's necessary for people to feel motivated to support that artist

[Pink Champagne Ricochet]

Definitely Ciara. She had two smash hits last year but didn't even scan a million.

Also Ryan Cabrera too.

[Purple Dreams]

^Ciara has scanned more than 1 million.

[britrocks16]

splitchick59 said:

Definitely Ciara. She had two smash hits last year but didn't even scan a million.

Also Ryan Cabrera too.

Yeah, Ciara is almost at 1.2 million and she is almost back in the top 10 with 2 more singles to go her.