I agree it didnt by any means bomb but it sold less than the first album. If we compare their album sales to The Saturdays or Fifth Harmony they look like world dominating sales, but if we compare them to some of the Girls Aloud or Sugababes sales they dont look as strong.

Yeah Salute did really well to get a Platinum certification in the end, but I'm not going to lie, I did feel like signs were pointing to the 3rd album doing even worse! Especially since radio weren't 100% backing them the way they are now.

I felt like not releasing anything for over a year and the negative publicity they got from cancelling the US tour may have meant they shot themselves in the foot, they did really bloody well to pull it out of the bag like they did with 'Black Magic'.

Even the girls themselves admitted that at one point that thought it was over, in some ways Black Magic probably saved their career

I agree it didnt by any means bomb but it sold less than the first album. If we compare their album sales to The Saturdays or Fifth Harmony they look like world dominating sales, but if we compare them to some of the Girls Aloud or Sugababes sales they dont look as strong.

 

It's unfair to compare Little Mix's album sales with Girls Aloud/Sugababes album sales. The sales climate has changed so much since GA and SB were at their peak. In fact, if LM were around in the '00s, their album sales would probably be better than GA, and possibly on par with SB.

Just for comparisons sake, here are Little Mix, Girls Aloud, Sugababes and Saturdays last known totals for their albums:

 

Little Mix:

391k+ 'DNA' (Last Updated: May 2016-ish)

324k+ 'Salute' (Last Updated: May 2016-ish)

564k+ 'Get Weird' (Last Updated: Jun 2016)

 

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Girls Aloud:

368k+ 'Sound Of The Underground' (Last Updated: March 2013)

599k+ 'What Will the Neighbours Say?' (Last Updated: March 2013)

390k+ 'Chemistry' (Last Updated: March 2013)

505k+ 'Tangled Up' (Last Updated: March 2013)

796k+ 'Out Of Control' (Last Updated: March 2013)

 

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The Saturdays:

385k+ 'Chasing Lights' (Last Updated: October 2013)

085k+ 'Wordshaker' (Last Updated: October 2013)

208k+ 'Headlines' (Last Updated: October 2013)

060k+ 'On Your Radar' (Last Updated: October 2013)

024k+ 'Living For the Weekend' (Last Updated: April 2014)

 

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Sugababes:

220k+ 'One Touch' (Last Updated: June 2009)

918k+ 'Angels With Dirty Faces' (Last Updated: June 2009)

856k+ 'Three' (Last Updated: June 2009)

887k+ 'Taller In More Ways' (Last Updated: June 2009)

516k+ 'Change' (Last Updated: June 2009)

122k+ 'Catfights & Spotlights' (Last Updated: June 2009)

012 'Sweet 7' (Last Updated: Yesterday)

 

Well, if we're comparing album sales, no one is touching Sugababes. :lol: I had NO IDEA that they sold that well! :o But ultimately, it IS unfair to compare their sales due to different sales climates (which def give Sugababes & GA the advantage - isn't 2001-2004-ish one of the highest sales periods for albums? I could be wrong on this though)

 

But the fact Little Mix have managed to get 3 albums certified platinum in this day and age is an accomplishment in itself. Especially for the type of act they are. The public have really taken to them, this era more than any other obviously. They're definitely "big leagues" imo (and yet it still only feels like we've only scratched the surface with them, but that might just be me :lol:)

Yeah, Sugas Aloud have the advantage with album sales whilst Little Mix have the advantage with single sales, especially with streaming included. The Salute and DNA totals are from the past few months btw Jonjo!

Ooh yeah. Thanks! I knew it was more recent, but I couldn't think of a particular time as to when we would have been given totals for those albums other than the release week of 'Get Weird' haha. So I put that date to be safe and have now rectified it, slightly haha.

Yeah Salute did really well to get a Platinum certification in the end, but I'm not going to lie, I did feel like signs were pointing to the 3rd album doing even worse! Especially since radio weren't 100% backing them the way they are now.

 

I have to admit it the Little Me, Word Up! stint freaked me out, It was just so bad. I think Salute (The single) really saved them aswell! Thank you BGT performance! They were under peforming from the start. Cannonball sold less than expected, DNA was expected to go to No1, Change Your Life needed top 10 really and a No1 album would have been good too... Move under performed, Little Me under performed, Word Up! under performed, Salute... as a second or lead single would have gone top 3, but I think they were only predicting top 10 for that one. So to see them have such strong sales and turn out album 3 has really been a blessing, even though Love Me Like You under performed in it's first week, but it's GOLD now bi-atch!

To be honest I was worried about how well Hair was going to do since they released it while they were still on the UK tour, but despite missing out on the Top 10 it looks like another Gold certification is only a matter of time

I have to admit it the Little Me, Word Up! stint freaked me out, It was just so bad. I think Salute (The single) really saved them aswell! Thank you BGT performance! They were under peforming from the start. Cannonball sold less than expected, DNA was expected to go to No1, Change Your Life needed top 10 really and a No1 album would have been good too... Move under performed, Little Me under performed, Word Up! under performed, Salute... as a second or lead single would have gone top 3, but I think they were only predicting top 10 for that one. So to see them have such strong sales and turn out album 3 has really been a blessing, even though Love Me Like You under performed in it's first week, but it's GOLD now bi-atch!

 

I wouldn't say 'Move' underperformed. It peaked at #3 and has sold 400k+...

 

I don't think anyone thought 'DNA' would get to #1 either (its pre-orders didn't suggest it would get there). I think Top 5 or possibly Top 3 was expected at the time of release.

I would not say that Move under-performed, but it didn't quite meet expectations, it only finally went Gold when streaming was included and backdated 6 months.

I would not say that Move under-performed, but it didn't quite meet expectations, it only finally went Gold when streaming was included and backdated 6 months.

 

I always thought it was a bit out there, and wouldn't necessarily appeal to the general public. It's not like 'Wings' or 'Black Magic', where you knew they were potential #1s. I felt very uncertain when I first heard 'Move'. It didn't feel like a big hit at all. It was a grower, but I still thought it would do very well to get in the Top 3. It was a risky lead single that payed off in the end though.

I agree with OutstandingMixer. I don't think 'Move' under performed at all. The song was a huge risk, even more so considering ti was the lead single. The girls were very lucky to have such a long running hit with it, imo. The UK could've quite easily have just not bothered with that one, but thankfully in a rare case where the GBP actually kept with it, it did amazingly well for the kind of song it was! Least of all because I remember seeing a few posts saying that if it wasn't a hit, the girls career would be over just like every other X Factor winners careers.

 

Are Little Mix the most successful winning act from The X Factor, do we think? Or have I missed someone really obvious? Haha Coz I want to say Leona is, but I'm not so sure anymore, her debut was a monster (obviously) but that's pretty much it, isn't it? ('Echo' deserved that success so much more though </3 - but I guess that actually was a big era, regardless)

Are Little Mix the most successful winning act from The X Factor, do we think? Or have I missed someone really obvious? Haha Coz I want to say Leona is, but I'm not so sure anymore, her debut was a monster (obviously) but that's pretty much it, isn't it? ('Echo' deserved that success so much more though </3 - but I guess that actually was a big era, regardless)

 

 

In a way, they are. Leona was the only competitor, and they'll never sell more than her first era was, but her career was very front-loaded. And I'd say she probably only has 3 proper remembered hits (Run, Bleeding Love and Better in Time - she has a few other "of the time" forgotten hits and maybe One More Sleep could be included). But Little Mix now have Wings, Move, Salute, Black Magic, Love Me Like You, Hair and Secret Love Song that most of the Music-listening public would know. Leona will always be the "biggest selling" winner, but Little Mix are the most consistently successful winner.

I think the consistency as Joe said, would make them the most successful in my book. I know some Leona fans and they go through frustrating times when she releases new music just because the lack of support it gets, both from the industry and the public. I don't feel like we will have that worry with LM for a long time, they have that really committed fanbase that keeps them relevant for as long as LM want to be really. Like I don't worry that the next era might flop, because I know the likely worst case scenario is the album only goes lower top 10, and they don't get a number 1 single, which is quite a privileged position to be in as a group of fans supporting a girl band.

 

Also those Sats figures compared to the others upsets me greatly :lol:

I think the consistency as Joe said, would make them the most successful in my book. I know some Leona fans and they go through frustrating times when she releases new music just because the lack of support it gets, both from the industry and the public. I don't feel like we will have that worry with LM for a long time, they have that really committed fanbase that keeps them relevant for as long as LM want to be really. Like I don't worry that the next era might flop, because I know the likely worst case scenario is the album only goes lower top 10, and they don't get a number 1 single, which is quite a privileged position to be in as a group of fans supporting a girl band.

 

Also those Sats figures compared to the others upsets me greatly :lol:

 

 

Yeah, at this point, there's no way a new album wouldn't go top 5 and I think a brand new single would go top 10 on week one now, they've grown in popularity even since LMLY was first released.

Leona will always win the tag of most successful X Factor winner based on sales of her first album. However, overall in terms of longevity and relevance she is not the most successful. Little Mix have 3 successful era's with their albums, Leona's sales noise-dived after the first album and the decline got worse.

 

In my view Little Mix and Olly Murs are more successful, all having success which each album they have released and their popularity increased as they moved forward with their careers. Both Little Mix and Olly Murs remain relevant, have big hits, successful albums and tours.

well if we're chucking in other contestants, obviously One Direction are pretty much untouchable in terms of success post X-Factor, but the girls and Olly would definitely be 2nd and 3rd respectively for me

When you take into terms longevity, number of hit singles, relevance in other countries and sales all into account I'd say it's like this:

 

1) One Direction

2) Little Mix

3) Olly

4) Leona

5) JLS

6) Alexandra Burke

7) Ella Henderson (Could climb depending on how she does in her next era)

9) Cher Lloyd

10) Shayne Ward