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Posted by: liamk97 9th March 2015, 11:08 PM

Sunday Chart Predictions
Predicting the 15/03 to 21/03 chart



Can King and Queen be #1?
Years & Years scored their first #1 last week with 'King' but a second week may not be so a given as Flo Rida returns with 'GDFR' which currently stands at #1 on iTunes. However, with streaming on their side, Years & Years still have a good chance of remaining on top. Elsewhere, Usher should score his 16th solo Top 10 (20 combined) with 'I Don't Mind', Sam Smith may enter the Top 10 with his updated, John Legend-featuring, version of 'Lay Me Down', and Stormzy's 'Know Me From' and G.R.L's 'Lighthouse' may debut in the Top 40.

Madonna's 13th studio album Rebel Heart is released this week and may continue her record for most female #1 albums (currently standing at 12). Joining her in the Top 10 should be Rebecca Ferguson's Lady Sings the Blues and Blue's Colours, whilst Mother's Day this Sunday should see boosts for many of albums.

========================================================

Please note new changes to the Sunday Chart Predictions thread topic:

Tuesday/Thursday - There will be no mids from MW for Tuesday and Thursday, however they may come from other sources - this is not always guaranteed. You can still post your own predictions for the week to generate chat to the topic.

Wednesday - Radio 1 Chart Top 40 mid update will be posted with links to Radio 1 and any other chart info from MW and OCC from 3:30pm to 4pm

Friday - Final Mid update from MW from 11am onwards. Sales info is a separate issue will be available from 2pm onwards if available.

To keep everyone in the loop of all chart action please refer to the iTunes thread topic.

Posted by: liamk97 9th March 2015, 11:08 PM

Tuesday Update Top 40 Only
Missing data from Amazon for Mon.

Singles

1 Flo Rida ft. Sage the Gemini - G.D.F.R (29k) *
2 Usher ft. Juicy J - I Don't Mind (20.4k) *
3 Years & Years - King (19.6k)
4 Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do (16.3k)
5 Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney - FourFiveSeconds (14.1k)

6-10

11-20
11 Sam Smith ft. John Legend - Lay Me Down *
18 Taylor Swift - Style

21-30
27 G.R.L - Lighthouse *
28 Stormzy - Know Me From *

31-40
32 Avener - Fade Out Lines *
33 Taylor Swift - Blank Space
38 Calvin Harris ft. HAIM - Pray to God *
40 The Vaccines - Handsome *

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Albums

1 Madonna - Rebel Heart (20.1k) *
2 Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday (7.5k)
3 Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour (7.2k)
4 Ed Sheeran - x (6k)
5 Rebecca Ferguson - Lady Sings the Blues (4k) *

6-10
9 Blue - Colours *

11-20
15 Calvin Harris - Motion
16 Answer - Raise a Little Hell *

21-30
22 Maroon 5 - V
23 Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac
24 Marc Almond - The Velvet Trail *
25 Cancer Bats - Searching for Zero *
27 Matthew E White - Fresh Blood *
30 Clean Bandit - New Eyes ^

31-40
32 Madonna - Celebration
35 Alanis Morrisette - Jagged Little Pill ^
36 John Legend - Love in the Future

Posted by: liamk97 9th March 2015, 11:08 PM

Official Singles/Albums Chart Update Top 100
Source: OCC

http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/singles-chart-update/

1 Flo Rida ft. Sage the Gemini - G.D.F.R (37k) *
2 Years & Years - King (29k)
2 Usher ft. Juicy J - I Don't Mind (26k) *
4 Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do (24k)
5 Sam Smith & John Legend - Lay Me Down (22.5k)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/updatesingles/print

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/albums-chart-update/

1 Madonna - Rebel Heart (25k) *
2 Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour (12.3k)
3 Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday (11.3k)
4 Ed Sheeran - x (10.2k)
5 George Ezra - Wanted On Voyage (6.3k)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chart/updatealbums

Click on the above relevant links after 4pm

Posted by: liamk97 9th March 2015, 11:08 PM

Friday Update Top 40 Only

Singles

1 Flo Rida ft. Sage the Gemini - G.D.F.R (50.7k) *
2 Years & Years - King (45.4k)
3 Sam Smith & John Legend - Lay Me Down (41.6k)
4 Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do (38.5k)
5 Rihanna feat. Kanye West & Paul McCartney - FourFiveSeconds (35.5k)

6-10
6 Usher ft. Juicy J - I Don't Mind *

11-20
20 Mumford & Sons - Believe

21-30
21 Taylor Swift - Style

31-40
34 Calvin Harris ft. HAIM - Pray to God *
38 G.R.L - Lighthouse *

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Albums

1 Madonna - Rebel Heart (29.7k) *
2 Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour (22.6k)
3 Ed Sheeran - x (18.3k)
4 Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday (16.5k)
5 George Ezra - Wanted On Voyage (10.7k)

6-10
6 Rebecca Ferguson - Lady Sings the Blues *
7 Paloma Faith - A Perfect Contradiction
10 Blue - Colours *

11-20
13 Meghan Trainor - Title
15 Emeli Sande - Our Version Of Events
16 Ella Henderson - Chapter One

21-30
21 Maroon 5 - V
22 Calvin Harris - Motion
23 Olly Murs - Never Been Better
24 Take That - III
25 Ed Sheeran - +
28 Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac
29 Madonna - Celebration
30 Answer - Raise a Little Hell *

31-40
31 Matthew E White - Fresh Blood *
32 Clean Bandit - New Eyes ^
33 Bryan Ferry - Avonmore *
38 John Legend - Love in the Future
40 Spandau Ballet - The Very Best Of Spandau Ballet - The Story

Posted by: Hadji 9th March 2015, 11:27 PM

I think Madonna's new album is gonna bomb. Not even the Mother's Day affect will help her to #1

Posted by: stebags 10th March 2015, 12:13 AM

Asda have her at #7 i think in their chart but her tour goes on sale this week & amazon are doing a pre-order the album & you get in the pre-sale for tickets.

Posted by: These Days 10th March 2015, 10:14 AM

I hope Madonna takes the #1 but I think Noel will block her.

Posted by: Mango 10th March 2015, 10:16 AM

She hasn't had a studio album miss #1 since 'Bedtime Stories' in 1994, so I'm rooting for 'Rebel Heart' to make #1. It's certainly not going to "bomb" though.

Posted by: JosephStyles 10th March 2015, 10:17 AM

I'm fairly certain Rebel Heart will comfortably be #1.

Posted by: ___∆___ 10th March 2015, 10:31 AM

Confident Madonna will be #1 - Her last album managed it without a big hit and limited promo.

Posted by: Mullo 10th March 2015, 10:53 AM

Madonna is #1 according to OCC
http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/madonna-s-rebel-heart-takes-early-lead-in-albums-chart-race__8597/

With Rebecca Ferguson and Blue for top 10

Posted by: Hadji 10th March 2015, 10:54 AM

I was wrong http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/madonna-s-rebel-heart-takes-early-lead-in-albums-chart-race__8597/

She'll more likely have more physical than digital sold due to the Mother's Day affect

Posted by: Only Human 10th March 2015, 10:54 AM

Madonna is outselling #2 (Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ Chasing Yesterday) by 3:1 after 24 hours on sale. Source OCC: http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/madonna-s-rebel-heart-takes-early-lead-in-albums-chart-race__8597/

Posted by: Joe. 10th March 2015, 10:54 AM

Official Charts @officialcharts · 2m 2 minutes ago
.@Madonna's Rebel Heart is outselling its nearest competitor by nearly 3:1 in the race to #Number1! Full story: http://goo.gl/RL4SwF

YAY

Posted by: JosephStyles 10th March 2015, 10:58 AM

No shock there, g'won Madge!

Posted by: MrIndependent 10th March 2015, 11:00 AM

Fantastic. Rebel Heart is excellent and absolutely deserves #1, however I think it will end up at #3; I think Sam and Ed will outsell her.

Posted by: SKOB 10th March 2015, 11:00 AM

Would be amazing if it could outsell MDNA

Posted by: J▼hnkm 10th March 2015, 11:02 AM

I have no doubt she will be #1, the debut was never going to be an issue, it's where it is NEXT week that is more interesting. I hope top 10, but I expect top 15.

Posted by: Joe. 10th March 2015, 11:03 AM

Also, Mumford - 64
Vaccines at 40
Sam Smith/John 11

Top 3 - Y&Y/Usher/Flo

(https://twitter.com/MintRoyale)

Posted by: torresgirl 10th March 2015, 11:03 AM

Although I am nowhere near as big a Madonna fan as I used to be, I would love to see her get the #1 album. Quite an achievement after her already lengthy and successful career.

Posted by: Smartiepants70 10th March 2015, 11:03 AM

Ooh I'm so pleased - and relieved! I hope we get some sales numbers today...I'd love to see it top MDNA's first week (56K-ish?) but I'm not sure that's possible. I think it deserves to, anyway.

Posted by: Joe. 10th March 2015, 11:11 AM

I wouldn't be surprised if she managed that, given the Mother's Day effect.

She'll still be very heavy on pre-orders (maybe around 30K?) but she might make 60/70k by the weekend.

Posted by: sammy01 10th March 2015, 11:17 AM

Madonna's first week peak is not the issue just like Kylie, it is what happens after.

Posted by: Mango 10th March 2015, 11:19 AM

Go Madonna!

However according to Mint Royale:

Presumably it's Flo Rida at #1, Usher at #2, Y&Y at #3, the tweet doesn't specifically mention the order.

Posted by: Rob 10th March 2015, 11:20 AM

Where have her previous albums dropped to in Week 2?

Posted by: Joe. 10th March 2015, 11:21 AM

She needs to make way for Marina's #1 album next week anyway

Posted by: Smartiepants70 10th March 2015, 11:22 AM

I totally forgot it was Mothers Day this Sunday, yes that should help....which reminds me, I need to buy a present (not sure my Mum would appreciate a Madonna album as a gift).

Posted by: MrIndependent 10th March 2015, 11:24 AM

It will hold up well due to her Jonathan Ross special this Saturday. The third week will be the issue.

Posted by: Mart!n 10th March 2015, 11:28 AM

Most likely
1 Y&Y
2 Flo
3 Usher

Posted by: Joe. 10th March 2015, 11:29 AM

Oh, i'd have put it as

Flo
Y&Y
Usher

Posted by: Mart!n 10th March 2015, 11:31 AM

We see later when we get confirmation


ahhh.... GRL #27 according to Mint Royale

Posted by: These Days 10th March 2015, 11:32 AM

Since the start of the 00s

Music: #1 - #1
American Life: #1 - #3
Confessions on a Dancefloor: #1 - #1
Hard Candy: #1 - #2
MDNA: #1 - #7

Posted by: Smartiepants70 10th March 2015, 11:39 AM

Previous to that - the ones I can remember (for what it's worth):

Ray of Light: #1 - #1
Bedtime Stories: #2 - #4
Erotica: #2 - #2
Like A Prayer: #1 - #1
True Blue: #1 - #1

Posted by: pippa 10th March 2015, 11:43 AM

I fully agree, the core fan base is there and are loyal, but can it sell outside the bracket is the question. I never had a doubt Madonna will reach number 1 in the album chart but i do not see it shifting huge numbers and it will be knocked off number 1 next week. I would like to see it outsell MDNA, if it manages that it is an achievement but i doubt the album will make platinum status.

Posted by: vidcapper 10th March 2015, 11:49 AM

Given her age, wouldn't it be more like a grandmothers day effect?

Posted by: Joe. 10th March 2015, 11:51 AM

Madonna is the same age as my mother.

Posted by: MrIndependent 10th March 2015, 12:14 PM

We already knew that Noel was outselling Madonna digitally, so I don't think MintRoyale is accurate when saying he could close the gap because he's outselling her on iTunes. Madonna's physical sales will be more impressive than the average physical/digital ratio. I'm hoping she'll hold up well today with the record climbing on iTunes and Amazon.

Posted by: SKOB 10th March 2015, 12:15 PM

Exactly, why does everybody says she's old, she's 56 for god's sake

Posted by: girlsaloudjunkie 10th March 2015, 12:57 PM

This is the exact ageist crap she is battling nowadays. Some people are just plain stupid and ignorant.

Posted by: mr_aly 10th March 2015, 01:06 PM

I never had any doubt it would be #1, I just hope it can outperform MDNA (both first week and overall) (but I doubt it).

I'm still gonna get my copy this week.

Posted by: torresgirl 10th March 2015, 01:15 PM

I know most people were joking and probably didn't mean any harm but some of the comments on this site when she had her mishap at the Brits were so condescending. Like someone else said she's 56 not 86 and the "at her age" comments were uncalled for. Having said that I do think she needs to realise her age with some of her outfits etc but it doesn't mean she's stupid or will break if she falls over just because she's past 50

Posted by: Mango 10th March 2015, 01:19 PM

Would it be OK to be ageist against her if she was 86 rather than 56 then?

Posted by: JosephStyles 10th March 2015, 01:20 PM

She might be past 50 but why does that mean she has to "realise her age"? Age is just a number after all, it shouldn't depict how you act. If she's happy to wear the sexy revealing outfits at 56 then good on her, most women her age wouldn't!

Posted by: mr_aly 10th March 2015, 01:21 PM

It's a nice try in attempt to show you have any wit (in vain), but they were talking about how Mother's Day would work against her (not for), so that was a bit of a fail I'm sorry to inform you.

Posted by: torresgirl 10th March 2015, 01:22 PM

Ha ha no of course not. I said that because people may snap their bones/become senile at 86 but she's not quite there yet I guess when you are teenager 56 seems a long way off huh.

Posted by: torresgirl 10th March 2015, 01:26 PM

Its only my opinion, I just don't think it looks good but she is of course free to wear what she likes! I like Madonna (and used to be obsessed with her!) but just think it should be toned down a bit.

Posted by: Joe. 10th March 2015, 01:30 PM

Oh, I was thinking it would work for her? Not that my mum would want Madonna's new album.


Dolly Parton is still getting her cleavage out at the age of 70 (a few months off). And went platinum with her last album. Age just doesn't bother me, I was one of the people flocking to see Dolly at Glasto. I still think Madonna could/should carry on making music for years (If she wants to)!

Posted by: Hayzayy 10th March 2015, 01:36 PM

Very pleased for Madonna as the album is amazing.

Posted by: Mango 10th March 2015, 01:48 PM

It's got some fantastic songs on it, but I think it suffers from what a lot of current albums suffer from: there's just too many songs on it. If she had just picked the best 11/12 songs and had the album just consist of those, it would be a stunning album!

Posted by: Wall-e 10th March 2015, 01:55 PM

Madonna looks f***ing incredible for her age and I'm not even a massive fan.

Posted by: buzz_person 10th March 2015, 01:57 PM

Madonna is still going very strong with her new album!!!! No doubt her upcoming tour will do amazing as well!!!! It should also be interesting to see her % in album streams as well!!!

Posted by: Jonjo 10th March 2015, 02:00 PM

So no proper update as of yet then? Can I put in an early request for Kelly Clarkson please? The single and (dare I even ask for it? ) the album!

Posted by: SKOB 10th March 2015, 02:03 PM

The thing is that Madonna is doing something nobody has ever done before: being the #1 earning act in business AND female AND 56 AND selling out stadiums. People feel a bit intimidated and thus want her to "act her age" which is just bullshit. I think she's the biggest rebel in the business in that sense at the moment, not Miley or Nicki or anyone else.

Posted by: MC Delroy 10th March 2015, 02:15 PM

She's only 7 years older than you!

Posted by: _Nīck_ 10th March 2015, 02:16 PM

Relieved for Madonna - hope people can get more on board with this era a huge step up from her last two efforts some really stunning tracks

Posted by: MC Delroy 10th March 2015, 02:18 PM

Where's Flo Rida in the chart so far?

Posted by: JosephStyles 10th March 2015, 02:20 PM

It would be posted if it were known.

Posted by: MC Delroy 10th March 2015, 02:24 PM

OK then. I imagine that it's very close between him and Years & Years at this stage.

Posted by: Mullo 10th March 2015, 02:29 PM

top 3 according to posts on page 1

Posted by: torresgirl 10th March 2015, 02:52 PM

Just wanted to say that is in no way what I meant by my comment anyway. I admire her greatly, just as a woman I just don't think it looks nice. You can still be sexy at any age but given she is much older and in my opinion it shows, it gives people more of an opportunity to make stupid comments (I'm sure she doesn't give a monkeys but still) I just don't think she needs to sell herself in that way anymore. Her success was part down to her image but on the whole the fact that she produced great pop songs and I think she can still do that without being so provocative.

Posted by: Common Sense 10th March 2015, 03:40 PM

Agreed. Some great tracks but why 19 on the Deluxe and leaving the title track off the standard edition? I prefer a good 10-12 track album, at around 50 min long. Seems to be this obsession with going to 70 minutes and 19 tracks, with 5 or 6 being filler stuff.

Posted by: Mart!n 10th March 2015, 04:05 PM

Mids are in, Liam is on the case... Flo Rida is #1 8k ahead of Usher and Madonna on sales of 20k

Posted by: liamk97 10th March 2015, 04:18 PM

Tuesday Update Top 40 Only
Missing data from Amazon for Mon.


Singles

1 Flo Rida ft. Sage the Gemini - G.D.F.R (29k) *
2 Usher ft. Juicy J - I Don't Mind (20.4k) *
3 Years & Years - King (19.6k)
4 Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do (16.3k)
5 Rihanna, Kanye West & Paul McCartney - FourFiveSeconds (14.1k)

6-10

11-20
11 Sam Smith ft. John Legend - Lay Me Down *
18 Taylor Swift - Style

21-30
27 G.R.L - Lighthouse *
28 Stormzy - Know Me From *

31-40
32 Avener - Fade Out Lines *
33 Taylor Swift - Blank Space
38 Calvin Harris ft. HAIM - Pray to God *
40 The Vaccines - Handsome *

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Albums

1 Madonna - Rebel Heart (20.1k) *
2 Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday (7.5k)
3 Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour (7.2k)
4 Ed Sheeran - x (6k)
5 Rebecca Ferguson - Lady Sings the Blues (4k) *

6-10
9 Blue - Colours *

11-20
15 Calvin Harris - Motion
16 Answer - Raise a Little Hell *

21-30
22 Maroon 5 - V
23 Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac
24 Marc Almond - The Velvet Trail *
25 Cancer Bats - Searching for Zero *
27 Matthew E White - Fresh Blood *
30 Clean Bandit - New Eyes ^

31-40
32 Madonna - Celebration
35 Alanis Morrisette - Jagged Little Pill ^
36 John Legend - Love in the Future

Posted by: MrIndependent 10th March 2015, 04:22 PM

20k isn't that great of a start for Madonna.

Years and Years should be back ahead of Usher tomorrow. Why are the two versions of Lay Me Down charting separately (the one with John Legend at #11 and the original at #19)? It would be #6 combined.

Posted by: Mart!n 10th March 2015, 04:24 PM

I think Flo Rida is heading for #1 now, it seems such a big lead and Years & Years are hardly doing anything on stream sales with just 10%.

Posted by: Joe. 10th March 2015, 04:26 PM

Oh I was expecting more like 30k for Madonna at this point. Hopefully she isn't TOO front-loaded and can keep the #1

Posted by: Mart!n 10th March 2015, 04:26 PM

This is always the case with a Tuesday update, everything will be shoved together by tomorrow. Unless they are 2 separate versions.

Posted by: Mart!n 10th March 2015, 04:28 PM

Single #12
Album #11

Posted by: Jonjo 10th March 2015, 04:29 PM

Wow. Extremely happy with this! SMASH IT KC. *.* (expecting a massive drop by Sunday though, but hopefully not!) Thanks.

Posted by: ¡bré! 10th March 2015, 04:32 PM

The two versions of 'Lay Me Down' haven't been combined yet, it should be at #6 so expect top 5 at least tomorrow, wouldn't greatly surprise me if he jumped all the way to #2.

Posted by: liamk97 10th March 2015, 04:32 PM

Madonna's previous two albums Hard Candy and MDNA both had 33k in their Tuesday update so it's a shame to see this album down 13k already, but at least it should still debut at #1, getting Madge that 13th number one album!

Posted by: Mart!n 10th March 2015, 04:36 PM

On a little note, Take That are coming for their biggest hit, currently #100 I'm outta here.

Posted by: mr_aly 10th March 2015, 04:36 PM

My prediction from the outset of M doing 40-45k looks like it could be fairly accurate.

I seriously hope that Flo Rida thing isn't #1 on Sunday. Eugh.

Posted by: gavindeejay 10th March 2015, 04:38 PM

I was hoping Noel Gallagher would get good second week sales, but it looks like he'll only do around 30k and be beaten by Sam Smith. Also boo at Flo Rida being Number 1 in the singles

Posted by: Hadji 10th March 2015, 04:39 PM

It looks like "G.D.F.R" won't pass 100k sales by Sunday

Posted by: John-James 10th March 2015, 04:39 PM

1989 and Smoke + Mirrors please?

Posted by: MrIndependent 10th March 2015, 04:43 PM

MDNA started off on 33k and ended up on 56k; using the same calculation Rebel Heart will end up at 34k, perhaps a little more thanks to Mother's Day. Her #1 isn't sealed with this total.

8 and 21

Posted by: iain 10th March 2015, 04:48 PM

Noel Gallagher won't quadruple his midweek sales. Madonna has it in the bag.

Posted by: MrIndependent 10th March 2015, 04:56 PM

No, he won't, but Sam Smith might. His sales are going to come flooding in on Friday and Saturday after Comic Relief and approaching Mother's Day. I'll remind people that his final sales almost doubled his Friday midweek sales on the week of 15/2 following a Valentine's Day effect.

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 10th March 2015, 04:56 PM

Great, another depressing chart
I never thought I'd say this but Flo does not deserve this as #1 tbh. Wild Ones, I Cry, Low, Where Them Girls At and Whistle would deserve #1 so much more than this average rap track and would be a dissapointing #1 considering the 2015 #1s so far were very good
Usher's track is OK but also nothing special. Hoping King at least recovers to #2 which streams may help with Also many s for that #11 track
The good tracks don't seem to be doing well here, apart from G.R.L. who seem to be doing "OK" at #27 so perhaps can be top 50 combined. I'm growing to Avenir so hope it doesn't fall too quickly, and at least we can say Pray To God was top 40 at one point

Posted by: Cameron 10th March 2015, 05:00 PM

So pleased Rebecca has managed to go top 5 today

Posted by: sajjadali 10th March 2015, 05:10 PM

Big Rebecca Ferguson fan here, her first two albums were just FAB
However...
4,000 sold on Day 1 is awful.
She'll do about 10-12k for the week and even though it is Top 5 she'll probably end up at No.6. I was expecting her to be comfortably sitting at No.2 with at least 10-20k for the first day.

She really should have delayed this release until the end of the year as per the rest of the X Factor acts. Thats the key if you want to shift albums sadly. Olly, Ella and 1D benefit from this last year a lot. They wouldn't have the total sales they have.
..

A shame, as she pulled off the covers album idea well

Posted by: mack25 10th March 2015, 05:21 PM

Where is "All Day" in the midweeks??

Posted by: FrankGregory 10th March 2015, 05:31 PM

And Charli & Rita, please!

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 10th March 2015, 05:33 PM

Sorry, I'm really confused. Why would Madonna benefit from Mothers Day?

Posted by: T Boy 10th March 2015, 05:39 PM

Because as a gift, Lourdes, Rocco, David and the other one are going to purchase as many copies as they can with their millions.

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 10th March 2015, 05:46 PM

Posted by: Mart!n 10th March 2015, 05:54 PM

1989 #8
Smoke + Mirrors #21



#25



#22

Posted by: ETH▲N 10th March 2015, 05:57 PM

The forlorn notion that Years & Years could somehow cling onto the top spot has been firmly dashed!

The Flo Rida track would be a rather nonessential #1 , although eminently preferable to 'Insipid Tedium Ad Infinitum III' getting there off the back of Comic Relief~

Looks like G.R.L, Stormzy, The Avener , Calvin Harris/HAIM & The Vaccines will all miss the top 40 this week~

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 10th March 2015, 06:02 PM

I think Madonna will defo sell more than just another 14k between today and Saturday. While its disappointing she wont outsell MDNA's first week she should make it over 40k I would think.

Posted by: Mart!n 10th March 2015, 06:06 PM

I don't know how Madonna can sell more on Saturday after JR show, show finishes around 10:30pm (ish) she will hardly sell anything with the cut off point been midnight.

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 10th March 2015, 06:10 PM

Hopefully the JK show will be enough to stop her suffering a huge drop second week. We'll see.

Posted by: fchd 10th March 2015, 06:13 PM

Is it wrong of me that when everyone refers to "Flo" I think of Florence & The Machine rather than Flo-Rida?

Posted by: Dobbo 10th March 2015, 06:16 PM

I always think of Flobots

Posted by: liamk97 10th March 2015, 06:30 PM

A lot of mums today will have been fans of Madonna when they were younger so if there kids realise this, they'll assume they want her new album perhaps.

Posted by: MJ2015 10th March 2015, 06:50 PM

I've heard that there's missing data from Amazon that's not included in today's mids. If that's true it should add quite a lot to Madonna's sales.

Posted by: smidsy101 10th March 2015, 06:52 PM

I'm pretty confident that Madonna will hit number one, but Sam Smith it the enemy of anyone trying to enter the charts at number one these days. Shame, because Rebel Heart has some brilliant songs on it, probably her strongest album since Confessions On The Dancefloor, and before that probably her strongest since Ray Of Light. A big step up from MDNA at any rate.

Posted by: Mart!n 10th March 2015, 07:04 PM

Just checked on this, I can confirm that, it didn't cross my mind to check. Case solved

Posted by: ¡bré! 10th March 2015, 07:17 PM

No, but it is wrong of you to put a hyphen in Flo Rida's name for no reason

Posted by: Doctor Blind 10th March 2015, 07:29 PM

I predict Flo Rida (65K) at #2 and Years & Years (69K) at #1 by the end of the week, unless Sam Smith/John Legend throw a spanner into the works.

Posted by: fchd 10th March 2015, 08:15 PM

Really? I've always spelt it with a hyphen. Hundreds of database records to chance if that's not right!

Posted by: ¡bré! 10th March 2015, 08:18 PM

I have no idea where you got that from, I don't think I've ever seen his name hyphenated outside of your posts

Posted by: mr_aly 10th March 2015, 08:20 PM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flo_Rida

Posted by: HausofFrasier 10th March 2015, 08:21 PM

So does anyone know Madonna's sales with the Amazon missing data added in? Or will we have to wait until tomorrow to get that information..

Posted by: Umi 10th March 2015, 08:25 PM

46k.

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 10th March 2015, 08:39 PM

Surely not??

Posted by: Hadji 10th March 2015, 09:00 PM

Sales from both versions should be combined. If this is the case, Sam Smith could stop Flo Rida from reaching number 1 this Sunday as "Lay Me Down" has more streaming than "GDFR". "Lay Me Down" also has physical sales and it's just climbed to number 2 on UK iTunes

Posted by: ___∆___ 10th March 2015, 09:21 PM

I assume that 'Let In The Sun' by Take That is not Too 40? Turning into a bit of a floppy era, They seemed to get no boost from The Brits either.

And so disappointed for G.R.L - Really hope it can manage to stay Top 40.

Posted by: Dobbo 10th March 2015, 09:35 PM

Regardless of the competing songs I'm just glad this looks like a genuinely open week for the #1. All 3 tracks have at one point been the favourites in my view though I'd say it's now looking more likely that Sam will get it.

As a bonus, as polar as they are, I quite like all 3 tracks

Posted by: Mart!n 10th March 2015, 09:51 PM

I did mention their position in an earlier post, its #100, its their best hit to date

Posted by: liamk97 10th March 2015, 09:55 PM

I'm not sure if even tomorrow we'll find out. Missing sales are usually just added in and the Tuesday-Wednesday sales difference ignores the fact sales were missing. If the album ends up selling consistently for the rest of the week though, you could assume that was close enough to the real Tuesday-Wednesday sales difference. Hope that makes sense!

Posted by: HausofFrasier 10th March 2015, 10:01 PM

Yep that makes sense, thanks for clearing it up. As long as it gets added in eventually that's all that matters.

Hope she can maintain the #1. I'll be getting it later in the week to help the cause. Would be (yet another) incredible feat for her.

Posted by: ___∆___ 10th March 2015, 10:21 PM

Thanks, I can pretend it was ever released seeing as it's going to miss the Top 100

I know sales are shocking but just noticed Blue are Top 10 - Really good album so hope it somehow manages to hang on!

Posted by: Jason 10th March 2015, 11:12 PM

I have a feeling that Pray To God and Lighthouse will scrape the top 40.

Posted by: mr_aly 10th March 2015, 11:26 PM

I really really really really really really hope so!

Posted by: Supercell 10th March 2015, 11:48 PM

Is the new Mumford & Sons song chart eligible? Fantastic to see them Top 10 on iTunes, would be brilliant to see them finally nab a top 10 hit.

Posted by: Hadji 11th March 2015, 12:22 AM

I hope so. I imagine it is. Let's just hope it doesn't get damaged by streaming

Posted by: ManicKangaroo 11th March 2015, 01:29 AM

Its eligible, but only its genuine sales count towards the chart. The album pre-order grats don't count towards its chart position

It'll be nowhere near the top 10 officially this week

Posted by: Ellsmere 11th March 2015, 01:48 AM

Happy to see sam smith set to land no.1 this week, flo rida track is a little bit embarrassing when compared to someone like sam smith. Prefer version without john legend but it's not so bad I guess.

Posted by: Supercell 11th March 2015, 12:42 PM

Mumford up to no.6 quite surprised at its gradual accent, hopefully it can keep on going no.44 on the daily spotify chart after one day, if it can climb during the rest of the week they may possibly go top 20 perhaps.

I can see Sam Smith bagging the no.1 this week, with Y&Y at no.2 and Florida at 3. Much prefer the version he released prior to In The Lonely Hour which isn't as slow and dreary but i would rather he be no.1 than Florida.

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 11th March 2015, 12:49 PM

Heading for possibly the worst top 10 I've seen in a while
Also it'll mean Hozier will probably get at least +1 on my Reshuffle chart, perhaps even +2

Posted by: Mart!n 11th March 2015, 12:55 PM

I have Madonna's album total so far... 25k ALL sales are in.

Mumford & Sons single have charted at #27

Posted by: Mart!n 11th March 2015, 01:10 PM

Sam & John are now combined, at #5, since its Comic Relief week and the new Madonna album is out, today's top 5 are on page 1, post 3 as a teaser, if you don't want to look avert your eyes. Rest of the chart will be available on OCC or Radio 1 after 4pm.

Posted by: MrIndependent 11th March 2015, 01:21 PM

So Sam sold slightly more than Madonna yesterday. Not by a huge amount, and Rebel Heart is still holding up well on iTunes and Amazon, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her.

Posted by: titty 11th March 2015, 01:21 PM

Is this the Wednesday midweek figure for Madonna - 25K?

Posted by: ¡bré! 11th March 2015, 01:22 PM

'Lay Me Down' is still not combined Showing as #5 and #18, it's comfortably #2 combined. Unusual for it to take this long to combine them, I hope this doesn't mean they're ignoring / changing their own rules again...

Posted by: MrIndependent 11th March 2015, 01:23 PM

They aren't. The John Legend version is #5 and the original is #18.

Posted by: Mart!n 11th March 2015, 01:25 PM

Strange, when I used the find function it never showed up

Posted by: Joe. 11th March 2015, 01:27 PM

Hopefully Sam won't sore past Madonna on Friday when he performs on Comic Relief... A bit worried for Madonna

Posted by: pippa 11th March 2015, 01:31 PM

Sam Smith really can do no wrong at the moment, he has secured so many huge hits of his album and lay me down is now a surprise challenge for number 1. I would not be shocked if he also blocks Madonna from achieving a number 1 album but Madonna will most likely get it by a very small margin.

The single and album success from Ed Sheeran is also remarkable, he has raked up some serious sales from the various singles from X and from an album that has sold 2 million copies to date it is remarkable.

As much as i love Mumford and Sons i dont believe this era will be the one that will finally see them achieve a top 10 single. Both their albums have performed wonderfully well so i am intrigued to see if the momentum will stay for album 3.

Posted by: Mart!n 11th March 2015, 01:34 PM

Madonna really needed a Graham Norton gig on Friday, she would have benefited more with her album, rather been on Jonathan Ross show.

Anyhow... I'm outta here, got things to do.

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 11th March 2015, 02:08 PM

According to one of the Madonna forums the Amazon data is still missing from the updates as the Super Deluxe sales are being counted separately. Can anyone confirm this?

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 11th March 2015, 02:15 PM

Yes guys, it seems Amazon sales are still missing. Having 3 versions of the album out must be the reason for the issues.

Posted by: Hadji 11th March 2015, 02:21 PM

That's stupid. It's one song so it should be combined and then, it can stop Flo Rida from getting #1 this Sunday

Posted by: Mart!n 11th March 2015, 02:43 PM

If that's the case, Radio 1 might have an updated version later when they received it from OCC to announce the chart. Mind you this is not the first time that has happened.

I was told all sales were accounted for. 25k does seem low to me, and the Sam Smith discrepancy should have been combined by now.

Posted by: Hadji 11th March 2015, 02:51 PM

I hope it is. I may not be a fan of his but I still think it's unfair if he is robbed of a #1 because of this

Posted by: Mart!n 11th March 2015, 03:14 PM

Maybe the general public are buying the Celebration album considering its climbing back up the album chart instead of the new album that would explain the low sales

Posted by: omrimayo 11th March 2015, 03:20 PM

I don't get why lay me down isn't combined... It's the same song, same lyrics.. Same everything. It should combine for sure... He is surefire to number 1.. Huge lead right now.

Posted by: Smartiepants70 11th March 2015, 03:43 PM

That would be my worst nightmare. No offence to Sam Smith fans, but....I just find his music dreary, and besides he's MORE than had his turn at the top of the album chart now.

Posted by: Joe. 11th March 2015, 03:48 PM

Clara just said the two versions of Lay Me Down are being counted twice/separately, and will be played twice on Sunday.

Posted by: liamk97 11th March 2015, 03:48 PM

The OCC confirm the 12.7k gap between Madonna and Sam Smith, so sales are correct. I think we just need to accept that Madonna's sales are lower than expected.

Posted by: Mart!n 11th March 2015, 03:50 PM

Sam Smith is listed twice on the Radio 1 site as well, OCC must be treating the CR single as a separate entity

Posted by: Mart!n 11th March 2015, 03:58 PM

Looks like Sam Smith is heading to #1 by the end of the week, at least its better than the horrendous track by Flo Rida, so I'm happy with that, it can only increase after Comic Relief on Friday.

Posted by: liamk97 11th March 2015, 04:00 PM

Have they stopped revealing the midweek album #1 or did they just not want to mention Madonna being at #1?

Posted by: Hadji 11th March 2015, 04:03 PM

It's the same song. OCC are a bunch of idiots to treat both versions as two different songs. Disgrace is what it is

Posted by: Taylor Jago 11th March 2015, 04:04 PM

Agreed. Rooting for Years & Years though!

Posted by: Hadji 11th March 2015, 04:04 PM

SS will only get #1 if OCC do the decent thing and combine sales for both versions which they should be doing

Posted by: Mango 11th March 2015, 04:07 PM

Looks like even the OCC are doing everything they can to prevent that snoozefest from being #1

Posted by: liamk97 11th March 2015, 04:10 PM

To be fair, it seems like the John Legend featuring version of 'Lay Me Down' has been released as a single rather than a remix like the A$AP Rocky and Mary J Blige features were on his previous songs. And obviously money from the John Legend version will go to Comic Relief and any other version of 'Lay Me Down' won't.

Posted by: Mango 11th March 2015, 04:12 PM

That's a very good point actually, maybe that explains why they've decided to chart it separately.

Posted by: Mart!n 11th March 2015, 04:12 PM

I think OCC have to do chart the single separate, as they have to split the sales to donate to Comic Relief, it would make more sense, the donations have to go somewhere instead to the original track, that's the most logical explanation that I can think of.

Posted by: Joe. 11th March 2015, 04:14 PM

I'm assuming this'll mean there will be no streams included?

Posted by: Mart!n 11th March 2015, 04:15 PM

I think there is also physicals attached to it, as 2% is given out of its total, 97% download sales and 1% stream sales from what I can make out. That 2% has to be physicals.

Posted by: Hadji 11th March 2015, 04:18 PM

And this will be the second time Flo Rida has stopped Comic Relief from reaching #1

Posted by: Hadji 11th March 2015, 04:20 PM

At the moment, streams are contributing towards the original version and now the CR version is available to stream, hopefully it will help the song out

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 11th March 2015, 04:30 PM

Slightly off topic but sometimes when I use Firefox's, it stops working and I need to reopen the tab (also you could check if Case sensitive is turned on/off )

Not sure if that's a good or bad thing tbh
Also not sure if the CR version will be streamed much/even available to stream? I know these two artists are some of the biggest streamed artists these days but seeing it's Comic Relief I'm not too sure...
EDIT: Oh

Commenting on the update later

Posted by: ThePensmith 11th March 2015, 04:32 PM

Perhaps for the first time ever, I am willing a Flo Rida single to be number one ('Troublemaker' doesn't really count, does it?)

Posted by: soundseekerz 11th March 2015, 04:41 PM

If the two Sam Smith versions enter seperately, I hope both make it into the Top 10 officially. Then the OCC will look daft for not combining them

Posted by: MC Delroy 11th March 2015, 04:44 PM

How do you guys know that Lay Me Down is #2 combined?

Posted by: Robbie 11th March 2015, 05:08 PM

Perhaps the record label doesn't want sales of both versions combined? The decision to combine sales rests initially with the record label / distributor as it is they who input all data to the OCC Product Database and it is the label or distributor who has to nominate the "main track / version" to which sales of all variants of a track have to be linked to. The ultimate decision on whether sales of different versions of a track get combined is down to the OCC but if the label have requested that sales be separated then the OCC will accept this if there is a good reason for this to happen.

Posted by: ► ▲ N 11th March 2015, 05:13 PM

it would be such a chart injustice if Lay Me Down missed #1 simply because OCC didn't combine the 2 versions (in the literal sense obviously, I don't actually want it to go to #1), so hopefully that gets fixed by Sunday.

Posted by: Dobbo 11th March 2015, 05:17 PM

I imagine it'll easily get #1 regardless of combination or not.

Posted by: R0B S 11th March 2015, 05:19 PM

Okay now I wished King held on. Far preferable to Smith and Flo Rida. Not that I disliked it when it was #1 last week, just didn't get the huge love for it

Poor Calvin and G.R.L. though. I wish they would be at least 10-15 places higher

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 11th March 2015, 05:24 PM

They get their information from various sources, some of which you need a paid subscription for. The mods, such as Mart!n kindly provide the data they provide to them onto this thread so we can see it!

Posted by: mr_aly 11th March 2015, 05:48 PM

Is this the first time 'Lighthouse' has received a play on a UK radio station when it was played in the chart update?

Desperately hope it holds on but don't see how it can sadly.

Posted by: Joe. 11th March 2015, 05:56 PM

I actually think Calvin/Haim will continue to rise, and peak higher next week. Third week on radio 1 A-list and Kiss has just started playing the song today (3 plays already), so I'm not giving up on that being a hit just yet.

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 11th March 2015, 06:08 PM

OK, finally I can comment on the update!
IIRC there was 8k a gap between #1 and #2 yesterday, hope that's a good thing, and perhaps, King could overtake it with streams involved
Also betting (and hoping) Ellie's smash returns to #3 (which it probably will do, since it will have loads of streaming added )

Lay Me Down top 5 already though
#31 for Lighthouse isn't bad going and I hope it can make at least the top 40 sales
Glad to see PTG is now #36, so I could see it also in the sales top 40 this week (hopefully higher than Merrymaking, at #43 )

Didn't notice GDFR was in the top 100 before
Shame about Avenir, it's quite a good little track but doubt it'll make the top 40 on any chart
Also sad to see Tether so low but I think it lacked promotion, airplay and streams which this sort of thing isn't good at

Is Ariana released or only on streaming? I hope not because otherwise it seems to be flopping

Posted by: *Ben* 11th March 2015, 06:22 PM

You mean One Last Time? Her album is out for ages, you can buy it easily from the album, so it doesn't "need" to be released. It's obviously a post-album single.

It's a fantastic song, shame both Love Me Harder and this one won't touch the top 40.

Posted by: pippa 11th March 2015, 06:27 PM

At least Take That are climbing in the album, seeing as the single is performing poorly.

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 11th March 2015, 06:44 PM

So I guess it's lacking promotion then

Posted by: ¡bré! 11th March 2015, 07:01 PM

She may just be assuming that from the fact they're listed separately on the mids. Have the OCC said anything officially on the matter?

Posted by: Joe. 11th March 2015, 07:04 PM

I'm not sure - But I assume as it's been mentioned previously that it's to do with the comic relief version needing to be split for charity funds. Either way, I reckon it'll go to number 1.

Posted by: The Hit Parade 11th March 2015, 07:06 PM

Radio 1 only ever include the albums in the update if:
1. It's a mega-slow week and they need to fill time
2. The Number 1 is somebody they make a big deal of like Alt-J or Fall Out Boy.



I'm in the camp of thinking that the Comic Relief version of 'Lay Me Down' is intentionally separate, ie at the record company's request. James Masterton reminded us on Facebook that the two versions of '500 Miles' were separate back in 2007 too.

Posted by: ¡bré! 11th March 2015, 07:10 PM

Well I suppose that makes sense to some degree. Except not really because the revenue can still be split without the OCC needing to acknowledge that. Whatever.

Totally looking forward to the chart this week then if 'Lay Me Down' is going to be played twice (and will probably still be #1 with the John Legend version regardless of not being combined) Sam Smith is single-handedly demolishing my interest in the charts recently.



Good point, I had forgotten about that. Maybe it's not so inconsistent of them after all then. Any other cases of songs being re-recorded for charity then not being combined?

Posted by: Joe. 11th March 2015, 07:13 PM

It's going to look sloppy in chart history. So much Sam Smith overexposure, as if he didn't already have enough songs in the top 75.

Posted by: Smartiepants70 11th March 2015, 07:16 PM

Me too...GRL have had absolutely no radio support so I suppose it's not surprising Lighthouse is struggling, but Pray To God has - I don't get why it's underperfoming so badly. I honestly thought Haim would be enjoying their first top ten single this week.

Posted by: Cheese Wombat 11th March 2015, 07:20 PM

I was wondering at the start of the week what they'd do with picking an already available track as the Comic Relief single as sales from the original shouldn't go towards it. It makes sense in theory to separate them, not that having two different versions for umpteenth many weeks in the chart won't be hellish.

It's still a bit confusing though as both versions have a video plus Sam performed the song on the BRITs as a fifth single. There should be a certain push towards the charity one above the album one surely?

Posted by: ¡bré! 11th March 2015, 07:39 PM

Fun fact (the only fun thing that can come out of Sam getting #1), if 'Lay Me Down' does go to #1 then we'll have a run of three consecutive #1s by 'Sound of...' winners. Possibly a first?

Posted by: Hadji 11th March 2015, 08:50 PM

Years & Years will most likely overtake Flo Rida with their streaming advantage

Posted by: SKOB 11th March 2015, 08:52 PM

If Madge sells let's say 3k a day she should be safe. That'd bring her total close to 40k

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 11th March 2015, 09:00 PM

37k is terrible for Madonna.

Posted by: MrIndependent 11th March 2015, 09:09 PM

No, it isn't. The predictions in the 60-80k region were borderline unrealistic. She's not the seller that she once was.

I'm agreeing that the John Legend featured version of Lay Me Down will hit #1 on Sunday without being combined with the original. It should be #3 in tomorrow's update and #2 on Friday's.

Posted by: sajjadali 11th March 2015, 09:32 PM

Sales are next to nothing and Rebecca is flopping at No.6. Very disappointed. She'll be lucky to be Top 10 at this rate. I thought she'd easily be No.2 selling 20k at the end of the week.I fear she'll be dropped now.I can't see the album sticking around either. The album has to do 100k total minimum.

I know she signed a two album extension record deal recently, but that means nothing if the previous record flops.

Posted by: PaulM1983 11th March 2015, 09:39 PM

Agreed. It's also completely within reach for Sam Smith, with Comic Relief and Mother's Day coming up.

Posted by: JosephStyles 11th March 2015, 10:00 PM

It's had next to no hype, no hit single and very little promo. I think it's doing just as expected really for most people? She's not as huge a name as she once was. And I know I've personally got no interest in this album despite being a fan of hers in the past. I'd be shocked if it even sold 50k total.

Posted by: steve201 11th March 2015, 10:02 PM

I think they just released it cos it is Mothers Day this Sunday lol

Posted by: Hadji 11th March 2015, 10:02 PM

"Lay Me Down" has mild streaming which will contribute to the original so if he misses #1 this Sunday, he'll more likely get it next Sunday as there are no major releases this Sunday

Posted by: Paramore 11th March 2015, 11:41 PM

Who is buying Madonna anyway? She isnt relevant to young people and she is trying to stay contemporary so not appealing to oldrr people.

Posted by: Hadji 11th March 2015, 11:46 PM

People are obviously buying it for their mums for Mother's Day. Same reason Sam Bailey got #1 album last year

Posted by: MrIndependent 12th March 2015, 12:10 AM

What a stupid comment and a completely ridiculous comparison.

Posted by: liamk97 12th March 2015, 12:17 AM

Madonna still has a huge fanbase so I don't think it's surprising as many people are buying as they are. I don't think her older fans are typical, Radio 2 listening people - if they were, they probably wouldn't have been a fan of hers even when they were younger - so I think they'll be able to deal with Madonna collaborating with dance and hip-hop acts. I agree with the point Hadji made about people perhaps buying the album for Mother's Day but I don't think there's anything particularly "obvious" about that and it's certainly not comparable with Sam Bailey.

Posted by: mr_aly 12th March 2015, 12:43 AM

Stupid comments are all this poster seems to ever post, so it's no surprise.

Posted by: Hadji 12th March 2015, 01:30 AM

Not really, seeing as album sales have been quite low for the past few years

Posted by: Atonement 12th March 2015, 07:11 AM

Well yeah but if an album that has been in the UK top 6 for the past 41 weeks is about to outsell a brand new album from frikking Madonna, then her sales are horrible no matter how you look at it.



I agree and this is probably the biggest reason why she's flopping. If she had released another 'Ray of Light'-like album after or before 'Hard Candy' I think she would still be huge. I find it hard to imagine that any fan who at the time loved 'Express Yourself' or 'Like a Virgin', would enjoy something like 'Illuminati' or 'Bitch, I'm Madonna'. 'Hard Candy' should've been the turning point for her to realize that she's not the young vixen that she once was, and that it's easier to please your existing audience rather than to attract a whole new one.

Posted by: SKOB 12th March 2015, 07:32 AM

OH. DEAR.

Posted by: HausofFrasier 12th March 2015, 07:45 AM

Why is everyone eyerolling at Hadji when this comment is even more ignorant and blind-sighted?:

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 12th March 2015, 07:45 AM

I don't know any mothers that would want a Madonna album for Mothers Day. Actually most of them would be pretty insulted!

Posted by: Common Sense 12th March 2015, 08:27 AM

Me for one and I'm 55 and have been a fan since she started and have all her albums. Rebel Heart is great but could have been even better without a few songs like Bitch.. and Illuminati. Say down to 12 or 14 tracks.

Posted by: titty 12th March 2015, 08:30 AM

Moron alert

So only young people buy music???

People buy Madonna as they want pop music that is accessible, contemporary and yet still a little risky. The current pop singers are bland and unoriginal.
I'm in my 30s, love pop music, hate chart pop music, hate Radio 2, love 6Music, love dance music (not chart EDM fluff), love indie.

I haven't bought Rebel Heart yet but definitely will at some point.

As for it being bought as a present for Mothers Day, I guess kids with cool Mums would buy Madonna for them - all Mums I know in their thirties or forties would slap their kids if they were given Sam Smith or Ed Sheeran.

Posted by: JosephStyles 12th March 2015, 08:48 AM

Besides, I'm 18 and have only recently become a Madonna fan. I bought Rebel Heart yesterday. Very short sighted to say that she isn't relevant to young people.

Posted by: Mart!n 12th March 2015, 08:53 AM

I don't think Madonna's album is garnered as a gift for Mother's Day in my opinion, I would have thought more like Father's Day more than anything. If she released the album in June sales wise would improve slightly. Also you got Comic Relief tomorrow and Sam Smith had to release another frigging version of Lay Me Down with John Legend, and now everyone wants to buy a Sam Smith album which is more of a typical Mother's Day present but why wait this long to get the blinking album when its been out for ages, and has been #1 numerous times, that's where the problem lies... timing.

Its a good album so much better than Hard Candy.

Posted by: titty 12th March 2015, 08:55 AM

You must know a lot of dull Mums

Posted by: Joe. 12th March 2015, 08:56 AM

Yeah, thinking about it, Sam Smith's album will be advertised as a perfect Mother's Day album, a lot of people will go for it. I don't know if Madonna will hold on to the #1 to be honest, though if Jonathan Ross has a big enough impact she could climb there next week (though I'd prefer it were Marina )

Posted by: FleetSeb 12th March 2015, 09:02 AM

We'll I for one am pleased Sam Smith and John Legend are killing it. Although actually I would probably like Years and Years to retain number 1 this week.

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 12th March 2015, 09:14 AM

I wonder if the fact 9 songs were already available for download is what stalled Rebel Hearts sales. Basically the bulk of the album was already out prior to release and don't forget Hold Tight topped the iTunes chart for a couple of hours that day. How many lost sales is in that..

Posted by: JosephStyles 12th March 2015, 09:20 AM

Most of that came from people who pre-ordered the album anyway. It didn't lose many if any sales.

Posted by: HausofFrasier 12th March 2015, 09:29 AM

Why would people buy the Sam Smith album as a Mother's Day gift or any album from the past year or so? Old people don't like contemporary music

Posted by: fchd 12th March 2015, 09:34 AM

It's not really that contemporary though, is it? It could easily have been released anytime since the early 1970s

Posted by: The Hit Parade 12th March 2015, 10:27 AM

Even if that's true, since when are all mothers old people?

Posted by: mr_aly 12th March 2015, 11:26 AM

The main benefit to Mother's Day is usually GH collections from acts that may have been popular in their youth that are usually issued to capitalise on the event I would say. However I can see why acts like Smith or Sheeran would benefit as they're current popular acts and those looking to buy a CD as a present would plump for it if they don't know a lot about music as they're a popular current name.

Posted by: SKOB 12th March 2015, 01:49 PM

Anything is better than Hard Candy... only 4 tracks on that are listenable.

Posted by: Mango 12th March 2015, 02:17 PM

I think that about MDNA. I find about 60% of Hard Candy listenable, whereas with Rebel Heart it's more like 80-90%

Posted by: Hadji 12th March 2015, 02:41 PM

Can we please have today's update?

Posted by: Mango 12th March 2015, 02:46 PM

I swear you're gonna get banned one of these days.

Posted by: sajjadali 12th March 2015, 02:47 PM

Age is not relevant

Not a Madonna fan personally, i liked Hung Up and the American Life campaign was class but nothing since.


Madonna sells because she is a big name, constantly changes image to keep people interested, knows how to generate attention and news paper cuttings it all helps. The BRIT award thing will have helped her...despite it being an accident. She must have massed up a number of fans all these years also, and people will always have time to see what she is doing however i do think she has been bigger at other points of her career. Hard Candy did damage to her career.

Posted by: Mart!n 12th March 2015, 02:47 PM

There isn't one, unless you want me to compose one out of thin air. You have to be patient the updates are not 100% guaranteed.

Posted by: mr_aly 12th March 2015, 02:49 PM

Can't be soon enough.

Posted by: Hadji 12th March 2015, 02:51 PM

Because you sometimes publish a Thursday update that's why I was asking

Posted by: Mart!n 12th March 2015, 02:54 PM

Well there isn't one, if it was it would have been online for everyone to see

Posted by: Regina 12th March 2015, 02:59 PM

Hard Candy is an incredible album, end of.

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 12th March 2015, 04:12 PM

Shame about the update, it would've been interesting on such a close race to #1 to see if the gap between #1 and #2 decreased in size
Never mind, only two days to wait until the official chart I suppose

Posted by: Mart!n 12th March 2015, 04:31 PM

I don't think it really matters not having an update on a Thursday I know everyone wants a daily fix but sometimes the odd update does not turn up there is nothing I can do about that. We are at least guaranteed a top 40 update tomorrow morning from MW. In the past we only had Weds and Friday updates from MW, so 3 out of 4 (one still pending) ain't bad. In a way its much better having a Friday update to see how the charts are doing towards the end of the week. We did have the odd weeks when we didn't have an update on a Thursday, I don't know why Hadji kicked a fuss over it, I'm not been rude, but that comment was not warranted when the guidelines are in the opening post in bold on page 1 in this topic every week. If there isn't an update you don't have to make a song and dance about it, the update would have been posted when its available.

Updates will look different from 1st July with the new release strategy.

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 12th March 2015, 04:55 PM

Oh right, it's Thursday today haha getting ahead of myself a bit
Hopefully tommorow we'll get sales data too and discuss on the chances of what's going to be #1 (and I personally do prefer that Thursdays aren't guaranteed instead of Fridays then we wouldn't be left with a cliffhanger if Friday didn't have an update )

And before I discovered the forum I only thought there was a Weds midweek!

Posted by: SLlewellyn 12th March 2015, 05:04 PM

Cheryl Cole looking to be another in contention to miss out on the T40 for the first time with a single. Still shocked that radios aren't supporting her after 2 #1 singles!

Posted by: zzmyth 12th March 2015, 06:43 PM

What are the big releases next week????

Coz if its slow week and the songs above Rih keep falling she could manage to make a surprise jump as she has streaming on her side

Posted by: Hadji 12th March 2015, 06:46 PM

Only big release this Sunday is "So Freakin' Tight" by Tough Love. If Flo Rida gets #1 this Sunday, Sam Smith will most likely get it the Sunday after

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 12th March 2015, 06:56 PM

I'd love a big release to compete against the likes of Lay Me Down and GDFR, but I can't see TL getting top 5, not with the recent tracks flopping, like Adair and Marlon

Posted by: Dobbo 12th March 2015, 06:58 PM

I wouldn't say Marlon flopped, sure it doesn't look like it'll be hanging around long but it made top ten after being held back some 8 months...

Posted by: Jester 12th March 2015, 07:34 PM

No, you cannot have what we don't have.

Posted by: kangarooz 12th March 2015, 08:57 PM

This was posted on a Madonna site, but no source of origin so don't know how trustworthy it is:

Thurs mids:
1 - Madonna - 27,479
2 - Sam Smith - 16,911
3 - Ed Sheeran - 13,762
4 - Noel Gallagher - 13,669
5 - George Ezra - 8262

Posted by: liamk97 12th March 2015, 09:05 PM

They all seem like they could be correct to me.

Posted by: MrIndependent 12th March 2015, 09:07 PM

I'd say that there could be potential sales missing from the above update; those amounts seem a bit low for everyone.

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 12th March 2015, 09:12 PM

Not really, they all look about right to me. Madonna selling 2.5k a day and Sam Smith selling about 5k.

Posted by: Paramore 12th March 2015, 09:57 PM

Wow, always astounds me how rude people think they can be on the internet.

I never said only young people buy music. I said she is not relevant to young people AND she's trying to stay contemporary so not appealing to older buyers. I honestly can't see what is risky about Madonna's new stuff. Its not like she's gone metal. She's riding a trend of pop electronica. People always said she was the master of reinvention, its because she stayed on trend. But as an artist she is facing a lot of obstacles, ageism and sexism among them. She's not a hot, young, pop starlet. The industry is geared against her. But lets not pretend she is breaking standards here. Its decent enough pop but the industry won't play her to the core audience for that style, and the stations that will play older artists would rather play Michael Buble. She's not getting exposure because of that horrible limbo.



Sam Smith, the very edge of contemporaneity. So edgy my ears bleed when I hear him from the sheer edginess.

Posted by: slowdown73 13th March 2015, 01:58 AM

Madonna might be no1 in albums this week but she will sell less in first week than MDNA and it will drop quickly. She will be lucky to sell 100k in total.

Posted by: mr_aly 13th March 2015, 02:10 AM

So effectively this year's Kiss Me Once?

Posted by: dennispennis123 13th March 2015, 02:23 AM

Anyone know where Lily Allen's highest single is? Need to know for project!

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 13th March 2015, 04:54 AM

Madonna clearly got effected by the leaks and the decision to release 9 songs for download prior to the actual albums release was always a questionable move. I think if you use logic you can see why it has fallen short. I just keep thinking back to how MDNA was the most illegally downloaded album of 2012 with over 2 million illegal downloads and that never leaked like Rebel Heart did.

Posted by: nigels 13th March 2015, 06:20 AM

I don't think its the leaks at all. I think we just have to face the fact that outside her core 20k fan base there is little to no interest in the music she now makes.

I really hope Ghosttown can have some crossover and spark some interest but I doubt it.

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 13th March 2015, 06:33 AM

I refuse to believe that.

This album leaked three times. To say that had no effect would be untrue.

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 13th March 2015, 07:10 AM

I personally don't think her performance at The Brits did her any favours.

Posted by: Smartiepants70 13th March 2015, 10:12 AM

It is what it is. Of course the leaks will have cost her some sales, but in truth we will never know to what extent they affected the album's success. We know she isn't the sales juggernaut she once was, but that doesn't mean she can't or won't continue to make music, which is surely what really matters.

I hope she can hold onto No.1 and I hope Ghosttown will reach more people and keep the album selling - it deserves to outsell both Hardy Candy and MDNA - but at the end of the day what's important to me is I really like (most of) the album.

Posted by: mr_aly 13th March 2015, 10:32 AM

Really? I don't think 'Living For Love' would have made the top 40 without that whirlwind publicity at any rate.

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 13th March 2015, 10:46 AM

But it wasn't great publicity, let's be honest.

Posted by: fchd 13th March 2015, 10:51 AM

(Virtually) all publicity is good publicity.

I'm sure the Brits saga did her more good than bad in terms of sales of the single and album.

Posted by: Joe. 13th March 2015, 10:51 AM

Any publicity is good publicity they always say.

But in general, the hyped up Brits performance would have gotten Living For Love into the top 40 fall or no fall. But I kind of think if the performance had been solid from start to finish people would have focused on the song a bit more and maybe it could have charted higher? We'll never know.

Posted by: Mart!n 13th March 2015, 11:15 AM

And we have an update without sales for now, bear with me

Posted by: omrimayo 13th March 2015, 11:21 AM

Sam isn't one?

Posted by: Mart!n 13th March 2015, 11:27 AM

Friday Update Top 40 Only

Singles

1 Flo Rida ft. Sage the Gemini - G.D.F.R (50.7k) *
2 Years & Years - King (45.4k)
3 Sam Smith & John Legend - Lay Me Down (41.6k)
4 Ellie Goulding - Love Me Like You Do (38.5k)
5 Rihanna feat. Kanye West & Paul McCartney - FourFiveSeconds (35.5k)

6-10
6 Usher ft. Juicy J - I Don't Mind *

11-20
20 Mumford & Sons - Believe

21-30
21 Taylor Swift - Style

31-40
34 Calvin Harris ft. HAIM - Pray to God *
38 G.R.L - Lighthouse *

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Albums

1 Madonna - Rebel Heart (29.7k) *
2 Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour (22.6k)
3 Ed Sheeran - x (18.3k)
4 Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Chasing Yesterday (16.5k)
5 George Ezra - Wanted On Voyage (10.7k)

6-10
6 Rebecca Ferguson - Lady Sings the Blues *
7 Paloma Faith - A Perfect Contradiction
10 Blue - Colours *

11-20
13 Meghan Trainor - Title
15 Emeli Sande - Our Version Of Events
16 Ella Henderson - Chapter One

21-30
21 Maroon 5 - V
22 Calvin Harris - Motion
23 Olly Murs - Never Been Better
24 Take That - III
25 Ed Sheeran - +
28 Fleetwood Mac - The Very Best of Fleetwood Mac
29 Madonna - Celebration
30 Answer - Raise a Little Hell *

31-40
31 Matthew E White - Fresh Blood *
32 Clean Bandit - New Eyes ^
33 Bryan Ferry - Avonmore *
38 John Legend - Love in the Future
40 Spandau Ballet - The Very Best Of Spandau Ballet - The Story ^

Posted by: omrimayo 13th March 2015, 11:29 AM

I don't think now that LMD will do it.. if it isn't passes Y&Y and they were 10K lower than Flo... so they are far away, I don't get how but... :|

Posted by: Hadji 13th March 2015, 11:31 AM

Sam Smith's sales will boost tonight from his CR performance but if that atrocity from Flo Rida gets #1, at least Sam Smith will get it the following week

Posted by: MrIndependent 13th March 2015, 11:32 AM

I'm surprised that King is still ahead of Lay Me Down. Where are the original version of LMD and Thinking Out Loud, please?

Posted by: Mango 13th March 2015, 11:33 AM

It's gonna be such a close Top 3 on Sunday! My ideal scenario would be Years & Years #1, SS/JL #2, Flo Rida #3. Although tbh I'm not fussed which way round #2 and #3 are as long as Years & Years get another week at the top.

Calvin has climbed a couple of places so should finish comfortably Top 40 on Sunday.

Posted by: bobmoo79 13th March 2015, 11:34 AM

Madonna has used every tacky trick in the book to try to stay relevant and continue selling albums for at least the last decade, and I commend her for it because it worked. Her reliance on hot producers and song writers, and most significantly featured artists, maintained her position on 'youth radio' for years after she would otherwise have been relegated to only stations for older listeners. The youth took an interest because they liked Britney Spears or Justin Timberlake. Frankly seeing her desperately trying to hold onto relevance, prancing around in next to nothing and kissing woman young enough to be her daughter was an embarassment. She has chosen to release this album at a time of year when sales are still low, and when there is little credible competition from other new releases so it's not too difficult for her to achieve a #1 album. She's the latest in a line of artists who have thrown their toys out of the pram when they realised Radio1 wouldn't play them any more including Cliff Richard and most recently Robbie Williams.
Youth radio has to draw a line somewhere and the majority of people under 30 - Radio 1's target audience - just aren't interested in Madonna at all. People get older, the world moves on. She's a legacy artist and needs to accept that rather than keep bitching. She'll still have the support of the biggest UK radio station (Radio 2) and large national networks such as Heart and Capital so listeners WILL hear her music if they seek it out. They may just have to realise they are NOT part of Radio 1's demographic.
I'm sure this album will make a good debut on the chart but I'm pretty sure it'll sink fairly quickly - maybe not as an embarassing as performance of the single, but it will still drop quickly.

Posted by: slowdown73 13th March 2015, 11:36 AM

I dont think the problem with Madonna is the leaks. She just isnt relevant anymore. Radio arent supporting her and many younger people dont connect with her. She is 57 and no artist will continue to have the same level of success which she endured in the past.

Posted by: Mango 13th March 2015, 11:39 AM

THIS exactly.

I wish people would just get over the fact that she's past her commercial peak and her albums won't sell anything like they used to. It doesn't even matter. Just enjoy the music

Posted by: Mart!n 13th March 2015, 11:41 AM

Thinking Out Loud #18
LMD #19

Posted by: Regina 13th March 2015, 11:41 AM

You're speaking on behalf of younger people then?

Posted by: Mullo 13th March 2015, 11:42 AM

Sorry to annoy...but Clarko?

Posted by: Robot 13th March 2015, 11:43 AM

COME ON FLO RIDA, hang in there! (even if Sam/John get it next week, any lower amount of weeks is an improvement)

That confirms Lighthouse won't scrape in though, which was inevitable but still sad to see.

Posted by: Mart!n 13th March 2015, 11:44 AM

Single #13
Album #14

Posted by: Mullo 13th March 2015, 11:46 AM

thanks

Posted by: mr_aly 13th March 2015, 12:02 PM

G.R.L.

It so does not deserve this, such an injustice.

Posted by: Joe. 13th March 2015, 12:05 PM

Poor GRL, will this be the last we hear of them now?

Martin do you have Doing It's position please??

Posted by: Mart!n 13th March 2015, 12:12 PM

#28

Posted by: pippa 13th March 2015, 12:20 PM

G.R.L really deserve more, it appears they not even get to release an album now. That said i never expected them to be any more successful than Stooshe managed.

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 13th March 2015, 12:20 PM

Madonna hanging on then. Hopefully she can hold out for another day and get that #1. I'm hoping Jonathan Ross will keep her sales stable through next week. She is due to film the Ghosttown video in a few days. Hopefully they will rush it out.

Back to the leaks thing though, sales of Rebel Heart arent just low in the UK. They are low everywhere, way beyond what people expected. Its going to be 200k lower than what MDNA sold in America. Public opinion on hasn't changed that much within two years to explain the drop. If we get the stats of the most illegally downloaded albums of 2015 at the end of the year I bet Rebel Heart is way out in front. You guys need to remember the final version leaked on 22nd of Jan and has been out there ever since.

Posted by: mr_aly 13th March 2015, 12:31 PM

It's just the law of diminishing returns, she has not been able to get any airplay or anything for years now and MDNA was 3 years ago. It was much the same situation then, and a lot can change in this day and age in the pop landscape in even the space of two years. It will continue that downward pattern as well.

Posted by: The Hit Parade 13th March 2015, 12:56 PM

How can an album leak three times? Surely it either leaks or it doesn't.
Anyway, hasn't virtually every album released in the last 15 years been leaked at some point before release.?

Posted by: Mango 13th March 2015, 12:58 PM

No

Posted by: slowdown73 13th March 2015, 01:23 PM

Any sign of Take That Let in the sun in the singles chart?

Posted by: Mart!n 13th March 2015, 01:26 PM

well it was #100 on Tuesday my guess it be much lower than that now

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 13th March 2015, 02:10 PM

Ah shame about no sales I guess they want us to be in suspense this weekend
I'm feeling more confident that Thing won't be #1 this week and it's possible King will return to #1 (but hard to tell without sales )
Looks like Calvin is getting another top 40 hit and maybe even top 30 on sales. Poor G.R.L. though although Ugly Heart was better by far, they deserve at least top 40 with this one (hoping top 40 sales

Posted by: mr_aly 13th March 2015, 02:12 PM

What difference does it make being top 40 on sales if it's not on the official one?

If anything that probably makes it worse.

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 13th March 2015, 02:23 PM

Well not much, but I'd like to think it's still top 40 even if it didn't have enough streams to make the official one. So many songs miss the combined top 40 because of lack, or even no streams

Posted by: SweetCandy 13th March 2015, 03:01 PM

Come on Madonna!!.

Posted by: Mart!n 13th March 2015, 03:24 PM

These sales are online, with no source, I can't confirm if they are true or not.

UK mids - Friday 13/03/15

1 - Madonna - 28,035
2 - Sam Smith - 25,980
3 - Ed Sheeran - 15,007
4 - Noel Gallagher - 14,816
5 - George Ezra - 10,572

Posted by: Joe. 13th March 2015, 03:25 PM

That's very unfortunate for Madonna. No way she'll keep the number 1.

Posted by: Mart!n 13th March 2015, 03:26 PM

Looks like Sam Smith is going to do the double on Sunday

Posted by: Joe. 13th March 2015, 03:27 PM

http://postimg.org/image/ktnk9iefn/ - This was also posted on Popjustice. No idea if it's fake though.

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 13th March 2015, 03:29 PM

I'm finding half of these sales incredibly hard to believe. If that's true Madonna only sold 1k yesterday and Sam some how managed to sell 10k, his biggest of the entire week.

Does that not set alarm bells off? I'm starting to believe data is missing afterall.

Posted by: Joe. 13th March 2015, 03:30 PM

Sam Smith has been very high on iTunes, TWO of his albums are ahead of Madonna's.

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 13th March 2015, 03:32 PM

But still are we seriously expected to believe she sold only 1k yesterday.

Whats even the source for this?

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 13th March 2015, 03:32 PM

I managed to find the source for those stats

http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=107700&p=5537659

But that's also a forum and the poster has only 000s of posts, so I doubt this is reliable
I'd stay safe and disregard those sales tbh

It's possible something on http://www.madonnarama.com/posts-en/2015/01/20/madonna-should-be-starting-the-rebel-heart-promotion-next-week/, perhaps a video explains the sales but I haven't checked.

Posted by: Juranamo 13th March 2015, 03:33 PM

I'd much prefer 'GDFR' was number one over 'Lay Me Down' no that I know what the Flo Rida song is. I'd heard it in a few clubs a while ago and wondered what it was, now I know and I really liked it!

Posted by: Joe. 13th March 2015, 03:34 PM

She's getting no airplay and hasn't done any promo apart from the Brits fall a few weeks ago. Madonna's sales were always going to be mostly from dedicated fans. Without airplay, most people won't realise she has a new album out. Her ITV special on Jonathan Ross will see the album not freefall in its second week though, which is something that would have been a big possibility with Madonna.

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 13th March 2015, 03:35 PM

I suspected they were fake. Thanks.

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 13th March 2015, 03:38 PM

Her position on the various online charts means she must have sold at least 500 copies online. So if you think she some how only sold 500 copies of the CD in shops then seriously you can see that makes little sense?

Posted by: Common Sense 13th March 2015, 03:39 PM

It's advertised a lot on ITV1, mainly early, during GMB.

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 13th March 2015, 03:39 PM

However looking at that other link with the table onhttp://postimg.org/image/ktnk9iefn/ it is possible they could be correct, but I don't know if we'll ever find out (unless some emails OCC to check or something )

And we can't check if the 'yesterday' sales are correct since we didn't even get an update yesterday

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 13th March 2015, 03:44 PM

That's photoshop. I'm not believing anything else now until the OCC confirm it. Too many unofficial figures floating around which have no direct source.

Posted by: MrIndependent 13th March 2015, 03:49 PM

Those sales for today are definitely dodgy. There's no way that Ed and Noel only sold just over 1,000 yesterday either. No way.

Posted by: Mart!n 13th March 2015, 03:51 PM

Those sales look a bit fake where are the album titles and there is a big sales gap between 9 and 10, Blue only sold 627 copies, surely that can't be right and the info is not correctly presented in spreadsheet format. Somebody has a lot of free time on their hands.

Posted by: MrIndependent 13th March 2015, 03:56 PM

The top ten chart posted on PopJustice, however, looks realistic.

Posted by: pippa 13th March 2015, 03:57 PM

I really would be delighted if Blue can keep hold of their top 10 position, as their last album failed to reach the top 10.

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 13th March 2015, 04:00 PM

Do you have a link for this one?

Posted by: MrIndependent 13th March 2015, 04:04 PM

It's the chart in the link that you posted above.

Posted by: MrIndependent 13th March 2015, 04:06 PM

I think Sam will end up roughly 2,000 ahead of Madonna sadly.

Posted by: Cheese Wombat 13th March 2015, 04:07 PM

I'm certain Sam will be number 1 album even if those sales look fake. Alas, that's Mothers Day for you.

Posted by: Joe. 13th March 2015, 04:08 PM

I agree, I wouldn't be surprised if he sold about 10k+ post comic relief.

Posted by: liamk97 13th March 2015, 04:22 PM

Madonna has apparently sold even less than 1k - 556 copies! Doesn't seem right at all. But if they do happen to be true, absolutely no way Madonna can stay #1 at that rate.

Posted by: Mango 13th March 2015, 04:24 PM

As much as I hate the idea of Sam Smith beating Madonna to #1, I think at this point we have to accept that it's going to happen Mothers Day + Comic Relief = big sales for him.

Posted by: Mart!n 13th March 2015, 04:26 PM

okay I have confirmation guys, that 670 copies for Blue was true

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 13th March 2015, 04:28 PM

I agree she will just miss out which is a shame because she would have become the only solo artist to have had 12 number 1 albums but she will get there eventually.


The only thing I don't believe is some of the sales being thrown around today. As already pointed out, they simply don't add up.

Posted by: Mango 13th March 2015, 04:34 PM

Yeah I'm ignoring all those sales figures, but I still think Sam will do it sadly. I wouldn't be so sure about the fact that she'll get there eventually, she's already well past her peak commercially and if/when she releases another album she'll have lost a few more of her fanbase. Never say never though.

Posted by: Joe. 13th March 2015, 04:40 PM

And the rest?

Posted by: dandystar 13th March 2015, 04:40 PM

Re the Madonna debate... she was never going to shift many albums for all sorts of reasons, but I don't think age is particularly one of them. It's more a combination of her last era being a total disaster both sales and quality wise, you need an absolutely killer single or two to recover from an album like MDNA and whilst a lot of Rebel Heart is good, it's not the level of quality that would convince casual fans to fork out for the album - especially in an age where the album format as a whole is becoming less and less relevant and you're aiming for a fun and slightly disposable market. There's no 'Hung Up' to rescue her this time around.
I still massively admire her as an artist, I've been listening to (a trimmed down version of) Rebel Heart a lot over the past two weeks and she does a really great job at sounding current in a way that pretty much every other contemporary of hers have failed to do. In fact, I may be missing someone obvious but I can't think of anyone from the 80s who is still anywhere near as relevant as she is.

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 13th March 2015, 04:43 PM

Well thing I've learned is to never write Madonna off. If right song can capture an audience like say Hung Up did then she is half way there but I suspect now it won't be until she dies and everyone realises how great she was before her music impacts the chart again just like it did with MJ.

Posted by: timlad7 13th March 2015, 04:54 PM

[quote name='dandystar' date='Mar 13 2015, 04:40 PM' post='4998792']
Re the Madonna debate... she was never going to shift many albums for all sorts of reasons, but I don't think age is particularly one of them. It's more a combination of her last era being a total disaster both sales and quality wise, you need an absolutely killer single or two to recover from an album like MDNA and whilst a lot of Rebel Heart is good, it's not the level of quality that would convince casual fans to fork out for the album - especially in an age where the album format as a whole is becoming less and less relevant and you're aiming for a fun and slightly disposable market. There's no 'Hung Up' to rescue her this time around.


And this basically sums it up!

Posted by: ► ▲ N 13th March 2015, 04:55 PM

Sam Smith set to top both singles and albums then poor Madge

Posted by: mr_aly 13th March 2015, 04:57 PM

I really think 'Living For Love' was more than good enough for her this time around, but even 'Hung Up' in this day and age wouldn't do the business for her.

Posted by: dandystar 13th March 2015, 05:11 PM

Really? Personally I think Hung Up is so far ahead of Living For Love that they're almost beyond comparison.

The former also had a fantastic marketing strategy and an iconic image attached to it (one that was also ridiculously attacked for it supposedly being inappropriate for her age!) and I totally think it would have still smashed if she had released it now. She simply got every aspect of the campaign spot on.

Posted by: R0B S 13th March 2015, 05:14 PM

Really quite unfortunate for G.R.L. shame on Radio for ignoring it. Deserved at least top 30 if it wasn't gonna do much

Posted by: Taylor Jago 13th March 2015, 05:15 PM

Recap

Singles:
13. Kelly Clarkson - Heartbeat Song
18. Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud
19. Sam Smith - Lay Me Down
28. Charli XCX feat. Rita Ora - Doing It

Albums:
14. Kelly Clarkson - Piece By Piece

Posted by: Common Sense 13th March 2015, 05:26 PM

Personally I think LFL is a weak first single and is nothing special. There are far better tracks on the album.

Posted by: R0B S 13th March 2015, 05:27 PM

It beats 'Gimme All Your Luvin' though...

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 13th March 2015, 05:32 PM

Agreed. 'Hung Up', even 'Sorry' were amazing tracks. 'Living For Love' isn't.

Posted by: mr_aly 13th March 2015, 05:38 PM

Even so though, the fact remains that at that time she was a relevant artist and she could easily get support and probably sail to #1 with a new single (of course Confessions being such an astonishing era did help), these days she could not get that support/interest no matter what she released so she is doomed, effectively.

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 13th March 2015, 05:40 PM

If Madonna and Sam Smith carry on selling the same as the last couple of days Madonna should finish on 34k-35k and Sam on 33k-34k, but I can see Sam getting more sales today and tomorrow leading up to Mother's Day/Comic Relief.

Posted by: burning up! 13th March 2015, 06:14 PM

why can comic relief help him??? is he going to sing songs from his album? I mean, if he´s not, people would buy his single, but , the album too?

Posted by: Mart!n 13th March 2015, 06:18 PM

Mother's Day gift

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 13th March 2015, 06:36 PM

Well usually when singers perform a song off their album, people buy that album. Not that difficult to believe is it?

Posted by: AntoineTTe 13th March 2015, 06:49 PM

Agreed.

Posted by: Taylor Jago 13th March 2015, 06:59 PM

Know Me From and Fade Out Lines don't look like they're in the top 40, so I'm assuming Heroes (We Could Be) and Bloodstream are back in.

Posted by: Napoleon 13th March 2015, 07:08 PM

Emeli Sande #15?

I'm guessing Sam Smith will win the album battle by less than 1,000 copies. Madonna's only advantage is that she has Jonathan Ross. I'm expecting Rebel Heart to drop like Bionic next week though.

I'm not even sure that number 1 is a guarantee as Flo Rida is ahead on streaming and a 9,000 lead will be rather difficult to overcome tbh. I'm still thinking Years & Years will remain at #02 this week regardless thoug

Posted by: Dark Horse 13th March 2015, 07:27 PM

yes you are missing someone obvious... the ultimate queen Kylie Minogue...

Posted by: ETH▲N 13th March 2015, 07:27 PM

The prospect of a Sam Smith double is absolutely terrifying~

Posted by: Regina 13th March 2015, 07:29 PM

Kylie isn't really that relevant

Posted by: Dark Horse 13th March 2015, 07:32 PM

ur right, 'Living for love' is one of her most instant singles since 'Hung Up' or even 'Music' and yet it gets ignored because she is no longer getting support, so whatever she releases will flops...
if 'Living for love' was released by Rihanna or Katy Perry it would've been a surefire hit and airplayed to death...

Posted by: Dark Horse 13th March 2015, 07:34 PM

she is, her single 'Into the blue' reached number 12 something Madonna didn't achieve with 'Living for love', and it outpeaked it in most countries, her 'Kiss me once' tour sold out, so yeah i guess she's still relevant...

Posted by: Šþinniŋğ Åđɑ 13th March 2015, 07:35 PM

To add, that Right Here Right Now track

Posted by: Dark Horse 13th March 2015, 07:40 PM

that was the hugest flop ever....

Posted by: JosephStyles 13th March 2015, 07:42 PM

What a ridiculous statement to make. Wasn't even close.

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 13th March 2015, 07:47 PM

At least she can say it wasn't the 1st single of her new album, or even her single at all.

Posted by: GTH 13th March 2015, 07:47 PM

I would hardly say Living For Love is her most instant single compared to either of those. The chorus part (mainly the production around it) really does not flow well. It really is not the sort of song that would be massive on radio 2 or Heart, which is where a lot of her original fans would now be listening to. Hung Up had the advantage of the ABBA sample making it instantly recognisable and Music was just a tune and she was still riding high on her big comeback period after Ray Of Light. Her last real hits in the UK before this were 4 Minutes and Give It 2 Me which were both 2008 (and Celebration I guess in 2009)!! Was always going to be difficult getting continued radio support even for someone as established as Madonna after a gap like that and the poor performance of the MDNA singles).

Posted by: Mart!n 13th March 2015, 07:49 PM

Thanks everyone to contributing this week, mid thread 17 pages long longer the itunes topic

Posted by: ¡bré! 13th March 2015, 07:52 PM

The wonders Madonna does for discussion in here. If only people were as passionate about actually buying her music ~

Posted by: Regina 13th March 2015, 08:03 PM

It's true though, it's her lowest peaking single to date

Posted by: slowdown73 13th March 2015, 08:49 PM

Kylie and Madonna are both experiencing similiar chart difficulties. Both are no longer getting much radio support and not seen as relevant in the music industry. However, I prefer Kylie's music and even though kiss me once isnt a great album, its still better than rebel heart.

Posted by: mr_aly 13th March 2015, 08:58 PM

I am a diehard Kylie fan from birth till death, but relevant in this day and age she certainly isn't. Her and Madonna are currently in very much the same boat.

(Still, they're fucking fabulous and nobody can take that away from them.

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 13th March 2015, 09:07 PM

Well L4L did leak 3 months before its UK release and was easily available to download during that time. The fact it even charted at all is something.

But it seems some of you are unwilling to accept leaks effect chart placings when they very much do.

Posted by: Smartiepants70 13th March 2015, 09:09 PM

The reverse for me - I was disappointed with Into the Blue whereas I'm enjoying Rebel Heart after some judicious pruning of songs



Amen to that, they certainly are!

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 13th March 2015, 09:22 PM

And it's a shame some people won't accept that she's not the force that she once was.

Posted by: Joe. 13th March 2015, 09:43 PM

She'll always be iconic. She's one of those few artists who has a plethora of amazing songs. She'll do reasonably well with albums with strong promotion, but I think '4 Minutes' is probably the last big hit she'll ever have.

Posted by: AntoineTTe 13th March 2015, 10:14 PM

Nah, you can never predict when someone so big will have a hit (or not) again.

It wont happen very often though. Look at Paul McCartney.

Posted by: Suedehead2 13th March 2015, 10:37 PM

And there's the key. The title must have something to do with time

Posted by: steve201 14th March 2015, 12:49 AM

Where is All Day & Bloodstream in the singles chart?

Posted by: burning up! 14th March 2015, 10:34 AM

if it happens, it happens.I won´t be happy, but the again, has happened before, she has some great albums that weren´t number 1, and, maybe her team had learnt something, I don´t know, to have her at TV also the first week, not only the second one, for example

Posted by: Atonement 14th March 2015, 10:49 AM

'Give It 2 Me' wasn't big in the UK? It's her second biggest hit ever in the Netherlands (after 'Hung Up') and spent 6 weeks at #1, and quite deservedly so I might add. It belongs to her absolute best material.

Posted by: Dobbo 14th March 2015, 11:04 AM

It was reasonably big but nowhere near 4 Minutes level.

Posted by: Juranamo 14th March 2015, 11:04 AM

'4 Minutes' far overshadowed 'Give It 2 Me' here, but I'd still consider both to be big hits. I'd say nothing released after those 2 has been anywhere near as notable (even 'Celebration', which peaked higher than 'Give It 2 Me').

Posted by: Apricot 14th March 2015, 11:31 AM

I thought Celebration was a fairly good sized hit. I consider that to be her last UK hit.

Posted by: mr_aly 14th March 2015, 11:49 AM

I probably would too, although its chart run and overall sales were far from spectacular.

It does kind of pain me to think it'll probably be her last top 10 hit.

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 14th March 2015, 12:28 PM

^^ I'm sure when she dies the top 10 will be flooded with her hits again.


Anyway how will streaming effect Madonna? I noticed that Bitch I'm Madonna, Ghosttown, Hold Tight, Joan Of Arc, Devil Pray and Unapologetic Bitch are all quite high right now.

I can accept it but I refuse to believe the leaks haven't effected things. You seem to be full of glee at the thought of her flopping.

Posted by: AntoineTTe 14th March 2015, 12:33 PM

Madonna is never going to die!!!

We dont need that sort of negativity around here.

Posted by: dandystar 14th March 2015, 12:44 PM

Only in the Buzzjack chart forum could you condemn an act with several albums worth of material still ahead of her as being reliant upon her own death for any future top 10 relevance.

Posted by: Eric_Blob 14th March 2015, 12:52 PM

Me too. It's her last song that I heard a lot on the radio.

I think she could get another big hit in the future tbh, but it'll probably have to be from a collaboration, or someone sampling/remixing one of her songs, since without radio supporting any of her own singles I'm not sure she can get another big chart hit.

Posted by: Gezza 14th March 2015, 01:03 PM

#kobbar4eva

Posted by: liamk97 14th March 2015, 01:16 PM

My thoughts exactly!

Posted by: Smartiepants70 14th March 2015, 03:41 PM

That seems a rather drastic solution to getting another top ten single

Posted by: Dobbo 14th March 2015, 03:42 PM

Furthermore, that wouldn't mean she'd get a new top 10 single either. It'd mean her previous top 10s would re-enter...

Posted by: mr_aly 14th March 2015, 03:48 PM

Maybe it'd be like with MJ and 'Man On The Mirror', for 'Girl Gone Wild'.

(Wow, we're proper stepping into kobbar territory now).

Posted by: MadonnaFan2012 14th March 2015, 03:51 PM

What I mean is that Madonna has enough songs in vaults to pack out 10 albums if she wanted. She doesn't even need to record new stuff so its only natural when she passes the record lables will cash in and release it. Nostalgia always changes things.

Btw I wasn't trying to be morbid. I was just saying what is very likely to happen.

Posted by: Dobbo 14th March 2015, 03:52 PM

I've no idea what that means

And perhaps, I think MITM certainly felt bigger than its original peak suggested & fit the bill better than most of his tracks. Most Madge tracks made top 10 anyway I couldn't imagine a non-top 10 being picked for the #1 campaign as it were.

Posted by: Regina 14th March 2015, 04:53 PM

They'll probably just leak, she doesn't even need to release them on an album.

Posted by: Mart!n 14th March 2015, 06:34 PM

Leaving thread topic open this week until tomorrow midday, carry on.

Posted by: Dobbo 14th March 2015, 06:35 PM

Set to break a reply record?

Posted by: Paramore 14th March 2015, 06:39 PM

I'd like to see Madonna collaborate like she did with Britney and Justin in the 00s

Posted by: Suedehead2 14th March 2015, 06:46 PM

Maybe when Kanye West has finished launching Paul McCartney's career, he'll move on to Madonna.

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 14th March 2015, 07:03 PM

Nah he'd never get playlisted.

Posted by: ___∆___ 14th March 2015, 07:06 PM

Really hope Blue can stay Top 10 - They signed loads more albums for their official store which sold out earlier today, They obviously realised sales were close - Just a shame it will probably have a 10-44-78 chart run as its a really good album.

Posted by: ¡bré! 14th March 2015, 07:43 PM

You say that as a joke, but Madonna is actually (apparently) featured on Kanye's new album

Posted by: Suedehead2 14th March 2015, 10:40 PM

Top ten, here she comes

Posted by: SKOB 15th March 2015, 09:10 AM

So..this thread is now about Madonna passing away, ok

Posted by: _Nīck_ 15th March 2015, 09:20 AM

She's only 56 and she's in very good health im assuming it's a long way off - and who knows what the chart could look like by then!

Posted by: SKOB 15th March 2015, 09:45 AM

Best post in this thread

Everyone should listen to the title track (on deluxe edition).. pure brilliance!!

Posted by: florenceminogue 15th March 2015, 10:14 AM

Sorry to keep the morbid part of the thead open....
I imagine 'Like A Prayer' would be Madonna's biggest beneficiary if she were to die.
'Live To Tell' would be a good fan-led campaign.
However, as it didn't reach top 10 - I think the best one to opt for (and the title is a brilliant 'exit' song) would be

'Take A Bow'

Posted by: Joe. 15th March 2015, 10:22 AM

I too, doubt Madonna will die.

Posted by: ▲Rob▲ 15th March 2015, 10:26 AM

What, ever?

Posted by: *Ben* 15th March 2015, 10:45 AM

OMG

I think it's time to close this thread, the Sunday's chart thread will be up in a couple of hours anyway