Even with the aggressive multiformatting I would be quite surprised if this Little Mix release touches the sales of their last album given there seems to be an absolute void of hype around it and the lead single making very little noise by their usual standards.

 

I'm starting to think more and more that Rod Stewart will get #1.

always thought it would be Rod

What did the last Rod and Little Mix albums do first week?

 

 

'Is becoming'? Hasn't it always been like this? (As it entirely makes sense for it to be, there's zero tangible incentive for artists (or more to the point, label executives) to not take a week where they are more likely to get a #1 album in the name of 'making the chart more interesting')

 

It actually hasn’t always been like this. If you look at the 2000s alone, the album charts in Q4 would often have big artists going head to head: Westlife vs Spice Girls, Robbie Williams vs JLS, Leona Lewis vs Spice Girls. Pink vs Snow Patrol, Westlife vs Oasis vs the Beatles vs U2, Eminem vs Britney, there were loads.

 

I think the difference is there are barely any big albums artists anymore. People are wetting themselves at the prospect of this being a busy Q4 when in reality it used to always be busier than this.

Even with the aggressive multiformatting I would be quite surprised if this Little Mix release touches the sales of their last album given there seems to be an absolute void of hype around it and the lead single making very little noise by their usual standards.

 

I'm starting to think more and more that Rod Stewart will get #1.

 

I'm surprised that people are predicting him. Yes he had the Christmas 2019 No.1 album with the RPO but that was a Greatest Hits. He doesn't sell as well with new material. Top 5, yes, possibly top 3 even, but not No.1.

Q4 has always been the time when the biggest artists release as there is bigger sales with the % of gift buyers and shoppers which is diminished by streaming so music isn’t worth buying as a present as much any longer.

 

But I haven’t seen a Q4 in a long while when the two biggest selling artists of the decade plus the return of one of the biggest acts of all time with their first material in 40 years being released. The last 5 years have seen mainly old legacy acts and big MOR acts like Ball/Boe be the focus.

The Sun have noted and spoken on the fact that Ed's opening last week was way down on that of 'Divide': https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/16665...ty-mystery-man/

 

I think - and this is just my take on it - the absence of mass appeal music being available in the places you were used to seeing them in in the last 10 years now not being there with the effects of COVID etc has a lot to do with why numbers are smaller.

 

Yes Tesco have a display for ABBA this week and will probably likewise have one for Adele, but that's a one off. Since they and the other supermarkets got rid of their CD aisles (Sainsbury's are still doing vinyl in their larger stores but again, that's the exception rather than the rule) it has had a marked effect on things.

 

On the flipside of that though, it means HMV and independent record stores arguably now have more of a share of the physical market then they've probably had any time in the last 20 years, even though the market for it is now smaller.

 

The album as a format is hardly in crisis though. And I also believe Adele will probably do more than the figure being quoted there. Scrap that: she'll easily do more.

I think people are underestimating little mix, if I'm not wrong Confetti (#2) and Disco were the best sellers in the 1st week till Coldplay's album

I think people are underestimating little mix, if I'm not wrong Confetti (#2) and Disco were the best sellers in the 1st week till Coldplay's album

Highest selling 1st week of 2021? That title went to Dave's 'We're All Alone In This Together' with 74k first week sales until Coldplay came along.

Isn't that LM album a GH? Don't think it's comparable to all new album in the streaming era.

I think - and this is just my take on it - the absence of mass appeal music being available in the places you were used to seeing them in in the last 10 years now not being there with the effects of COVID etc has a lot to do with why numbers are smaller.

 

Yes Tesco have a display for ABBA this week and will probably likewise have one for Adele, but that's a one off. Since they and the other supermarkets got rid of their CD aisles (Sainsbury's are still doing vinyl in their larger stores but again, that's the exception rather than the rule) it has had a marked effect on things.

 

This is definitely a big factor. I recall going into supermarkets when Divide was out and they would have big displays at front of the store with the album plus spots dotted near the tills.

 

Looking around Asda yesterday for the ABBA album and the cds are tucked away right in the back, well away from most of the other aisles. Only those looking for the cd section would find it, so they will lose a lot of the casual buyers that would impulse buy the CD.

 

 

Why would "casual buyers" buy cds when they mostly listen to music via radio or streaming service?

 

I think people here don't really understand how the music consuption has shifted. People have their phones and streaming apps that they connect to their cars.

 

Physical releases are mostly a fan products for all artists. Yes, Coldplay sold 80k in physicals but that was first week sales for the fans and their sales collapsed on week 2; yes, Abba had 100k of preorders but that wasn't "casual buyers" either. In theory, I would think these days an artist can sell max 300k in physicals in the UK as a whole. Adele might be able to do more. In the US only Taylor Swift has sold over 1 million in years and the market is maybe 5 times bigger?

 

Why would there be more "casual buyers" in the UK than in the US?

Edited November 8, 20213 yr by Sour Candy

Why hasn’t the poster included Little Mix?

 

It’s outside chance but they’ll be closer than Coldplay!

 

 

Sales for Between Us seem dire though, the early sales flash insider info showed they were selling a lot less than Confetti.

 

Virtually zero promo because of the pregnancies, the fact it’s a greatest hits, no performances or any hype...

 

I think it’ll be ABBA for a second week then Adele....

It seems like many of the Abba preorders from the official store haven’t been dispatched yet. If they’re only dispatched next week, Abba will easily walk it. It’s also probably why there is the discrepancy between their preorders and Friday sales.

If they're not, it's a huge blow up because one reason to pre-order the album is to get it right away. Hope they have good explanations...

It’s becoming more and more commonplace - my Radiohead preorders have yet to be dispatched from their official store, even though the indie exclusive version arrived on Friday

The official stores are really starting to become a joke!

 

I’ve noticed this too with a whole host of artists they get dispatched on the following Wednesday/Thursday most of the time!

 

They knew ABBA would be crazy popular so I don’t understand why they haven’t managed to get all stock allocated and shipped.

 

Unless they’ve oversold (they love doing this too)

 

 

Not that they'll be top 3 but I would have put Little Mix over Taylor in the polls.

but I thought the delays are linked to the global shipping mess

thats affecting the supply.chain for everything and that includes records too

it's not the labels being lazy or incompetent, it's the global shipping chaos that they say will probably last a couple years actually

But how come it doesn't affect proper record stores? The one nearby has several copies of Voyage, both in store and online.

 

I get the problems with vinyl pressings but that is not a large part of the people. The physicals are still mostly cd.

Edited November 8, 20213 yr by Sour Candy