What % of James Arthur's sales do you think are down to it being a charity single?

The fact it's a charity single is definitely helping, but James is a very popular contestant so most of the buyers would've bought the song anyway. I'd say 10-20% are buying it for charity.

I'm not sure it's making a difference to be honest - He seems a popular winner and of the 300+ copies we have sold at work iv had one person ask what charity it was for and if i knew how much of the price of the CD went to charity.

I'm sure it's making some difference, because there's bound to be some people that are thinking "Should I buy it? Well, it's for charity, I might as well". I can't guess how many people go through that thought process though. The winners singles always sell well anyway, so probably something small like 10%.

I think about 10-15% really, sales for the charity single last year weren't and I think James' great sales are largely down to him connecting with the record buying public (especially younger kids) more than Little Mix and having a much better song which is much better suited to him.

I don't think that James Arthur's high sales are because of the charity aspect of the song at all. I think that more people watch The X Factor for the musical aspect of the show these days and I also think that an artist on the show can connect greatly with the general public, regardless of viewing figures. Those are the explanations why James Arthur has had the fastest first-week sales but has been in the series that has had the lowest viewing figures for six years.

Personaly I picked 30-40%, based on the fact that it's selling so much more than Little Mix did last year for no other obvious reason.

Personaly I picked 30-40%, based on the fact that it's selling so much more than Little Mix did last year for no other obvious reason.

This.

 

As a winner I don't see James being that much more popular than Little Mix were last year. I'd say around 30% is due to the charity aspect, another 30% for the song being current and different from the usual bland ballad that X Factor winners always tend to release. LM suffered a lot from the song choice last year.

Virtually nil. I have no idea what charity it is even for.

Virtually nil. I have no idea what charity it is even for.

 

Help For Short Careers... sorry *Lives* - I was thinking about the XF Winner's themselves... :lol:

Virtually nill aswell. I'm sure it will contribute a little, but not as much as some people are thinking.

 

I think James captured a lot more peoples imagination this year than Little Mix. James Arthur appeals to all young people as well as the older ilk too. I enjoyed Little Mix, but would I buy their record? No. Whereas I would with James Arthur. That right there is one massive difference, and believe me it's a massive one. Little Mix weren't helped by the song choice lastyear as the original is well-known and much much better. Whereas Impossible is less-known and James' spin on it is a little different to Shontelle. Whether people like it or not I think he'll be pretty big. There's a massive gap in the market for someone like him, as long as they try and make him a more edgy Ed Sheeran opposed to an exact clone.

I think James captured a lot more peoples imagination this year than Little Mix. James Arthur appeals to all young people as well as the older ilk too.

 

Totally agree - I have been selling the single this week to 10 year olds right through to 70 year olds! Last year it was really only the teens or some parents buying the CD single on their behalf.

 

Totally agree - I have been selling the single this week to 10 year olds right through to 70 year olds! Last year it was really only the teens or some parents buying the CD single on their behalf.

 

Yeah exactly. He's got very broad appeal. My mum downloaded the song, not because it was for charity, but because she liked it. Some people are so short sighted on here that they can't see broad appeal. Little Mix don't have broad appeal, James Arthur does. That there is a key difference. If he's handled well and given good material he could seriously be huge.

Little Mix don't have broad appeal, James Arthur does. That there is a key difference. If he's handled well and given good material he could seriously be huge.

 

But XF winners only ever get good material for 12 months, max - then Cowell moves on to promote the next winner...

Interesting voting pattern emerging - a majority of people here believe the charity nature of this single had little effect on sales, but there's also a significant minority who believe it had a very noticable one.

In light of new thread!