January 6, 20223 yr Maybe Steps were helped along by already being an established album selling act, given that their debut album had sold well over a million copies. Steptacular sold 84k in week 2 (down from 111k in week 1) while Westlife sold 83k in week 1 - which was still a really good first week sale. Perhaps Steps had the edge due to having been around for longer, and having a combination of a very dedicated fan base and high casual sales. Maybe another factor helping Steps is that they did two tours in 1999, so I'm sure that must have translated into loyalty for big album sales. Westlife hadn't started touring at that point. Even with three #1 singles already, I guess Westlife still needed a little more time to create an even larger and more loyal fanbase (which was certainly demonstrated when they released Coast to Coast). Even the fact that Steptacular contained Tragedy, which was absolutely huge, possibly gave them the edge over Westlife. First few weeks of their chart runs: 01 01 01 02 01 02 05 07 'Steptacular' 00 02 03 04 05 05 06 05 'Westlife' The week Westlife finally moved ahead of Steps was on the 19th December 1999 chart, the same week that I Have a Dream/Seasons in the Sun entered at #1. Their sales at the end of 1999 were: 890,240 - Steps 770,416 - Westlife In 2000, Westlife's album was ahead of Steps' for 36 out of 52 weeks. Their 2000 sales were: 469,000 - Westlife 312,000 - Steps Meaning their totals by the end of 2000 were: 1,239,416 - Westlife 1,202,240 - Steps Quite close between them at that point. Westlife had reached a rather phenomenal/hysteria level of success by the end of 2000 thanks to Coast to Coast, whereas Steps' sales for their third album Buzz were decent but not on the same level as Steptacular. 'Westlife' debut album sold a further 143,260 in 2001, lifting its total to 1,382,676. 'Steptacular' was up to 1,270,000+ as of October 2001, so it was still selling reasonably well - but obviously getting further behind Westlife. Then Steps split in December 2001. Their album back catalogue sales definitely nose-dived (I guess this was a combination of Steps becoming out of sight/out of mind for a decade, and their album probably not being reprinted... whereas I assume Westlife's debut album was kept in print, given that they were active for a further 10 years - and its sales eventually exceeded 1,500,000+). By April 2017, Steptacular had increased to 1,292,466 sales.
January 7, 20223 yr 3,568 This week. Only 500 sales from top 10. The total is now 70.5k. Gold haunting still on :P 72.6k total
January 7, 20223 yr The extensive analysis on both Steps and Westlife was an interesting post to read and reminds us how huge both groups were.
January 8, 20223 yr Steps don't write their songs though, so royalties are not a factor there, I think?
January 8, 20223 yr Steps don't write their songs though, so royalties are not a factor there, I think? Westlife didn't write their own material either and many of their big hits were cover versions. I believe both acts made a large percentage of their fortune from hugely successful tours.
January 14, 20223 yr Number 42 in Ireland this week down 16, i was expecting a much better chart run here in Ireland for the album than it has had so far.
January 29, 20223 yr ~76k total sales 77-78k sales as of now. From now on i dont think we will have a view whether it sells or not...
January 29, 20223 yr Steps don't write their songs though, so royalties are not a factor there, I think? What has that got to do with anything? Neither did Westlife? Thanks for that post Jay was fabulous to read!
February 4, 20223 yr And apparently the single is officially out this Friday: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/artic...ear-career.html
February 6, 20223 yr Author About the Masked SINGER UK. Congratulations to the best vocalist in the batch. All of the clues points towards him, answers are on the net even if it's confusing to many I have seen comments like if he has that insane voice why does he have not got a top solo record that's why they doubt it is him. First, their priority really is the band and the fans from the start especially the original three . The general public are not aware that Kian, Mark, and Shane are from the same town. Also, their priority to have a solo music is Shane since he is the signature voice of Westlife, he is the one who needed the money the most due to his bankruptcy and Mark also Kian were just showing their gratitude towards Shane's family since it was Shane's mother who was the start of their fame. Without her, the world will not know there is a very shy back then but talented Mark. he is not the type of guy that will push himself to auditions. Also, It will be a talk to their whole town if Mark and Kian did push to have solo records first than Shane Edited February 6, 20223 yr by myxxd
February 6, 20223 yr It seems to me Kian doesn't want to have a solo career, that is why he only released a quick cover album after I'm a Celebrity win. I can see Shane continuing his solo career in the future and I would love to see what would Mark do for his 2nd album. He just deserves to be backed up by a good label who would actually respect his creativity and not force him to release something on his own because they don't want to do that. Edited February 6, 20223 yr by zeze88
February 11, 20223 yr i doubt their solo projects sell more than 25% of Westlife's amount so I dont see a serious reason not to continue with the band...
February 16, 20223 yr Going all out for their fans this campaign 🙄 It's a post-album single so it wouldn't do that well anyway. Sure, I do wish they did more prior to the album but oh well. Shame Mark didn't win Masked Singer too.
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