I think we should differentiate the two things here:

 

Sure, the album market has changed - there are the vinyl/cd fans that purchase a variant or two or ten, and then there is the streaming audience. The middle ground (a.k.a. general BUYING public) doesn't exist any more.

 

However, the streaming numbers of the album tracks for Tension ARE really poor, there is no way to deny that. I don't know how it could've been improved, as it came as surprise to me, but she did worse with streaming than she did with Disco when there are plenty of (legacy) acts who have done better with than their previous release, is something BMG has to think about.

 

I guess the question is - how many legacy acts have had albums in the past 18 months with better UK streaming figures than ‘Tension’. I don’t the answer. I would hazard a guess at those I have mentioned elsewhere - Gorillaz, Blur, Noel Gallagher’s HFB, Foo Fighters - none of them are pop artists. P!nk is not quite old enough to count as ‘legacy’ - and she had massive streaming figures. But like many artists, she benefits from having been big in the US, and therefore big on Spotify. ‘Tension’ has been massive on Apple (it spent 21 days in the top 10), but not Spotify. Elton John clearly does well - but he’s a one off.

 

I feel BMG are making breakthroughs with Kylie, but it’s tough. And no, I don’t feel the streaming figures for Tension are bad at all. It’s difficult to look back in time and see how tracks did on Apple for Disco but I doubt they were as good as they are for Tension. And I think the thing we forget about Disco is – people mention the pandemic – but what they don’t mention is that there was very little new music released over that period of time.

 

One question I have, and I don’t know if anyone can answer. We are all told that streams have risen massively over the past couple of years. But does anyone know what the streaming sales of albums have done, particularly those of new albums? My guess is that fewer new albums are reaching certain streaming sales thresholds. Maybe because people are streaming playlists more and albums less.

 

So just to reiterate, everybody is so desperate to compare Tension with Disco. I don’t believe that is the correct comparison to make.

 

Happy to see if anyone has any information to refute my theories.

 

This is the analysis we need that everybody else is ignoring. There has been a massive change in the streaming charts from current albums, to older albums and compilations. I have removed all compilations and any albums released prior to 2022 (and for Disco, prior to 2019 - and for Golden anything with more than about 100 weeks - though the comparison with Golden is tricky) and this is what I get:

 

Position (position excluding older releases and compilations)

 

Week 1

Golden 16 (13)

Disco 14 (12)

Tension 11 (4)

 

Week 2

Golden 36 (22)

Disco 27 (18)

Tension 64 (13)

 

This is shocking! What appears to be a decline for Kylie – ‘Tension’ only at 60 in its 2nd week, is actually a rarity all around. It IS bucking the trend of the music industry! Those figures show that ‘Tension’ is performing notably better than the previous two albums when competing against the current climate. This is what we need to show people who are complaining about the streaming figures for ‘Tension’ in the UK.

 

And compared with the other comparatively successful legacy albums this year, here is their streaming chart history.

 

Kylie 11, 64

Foo Fighters 14, 83

Gorillaz 15, 47, 87

Noel Gallagher 20, 64

Blur 28, out

Shania Twain - did not chart

 

So only Gorillaz could argue to have been more successful than Tension when it comes to streaming. And wow, the only artist comparable to Kylie – Shania Twain - did not even chart on streaming despite reaching number 1 on the Official Chart.

Only on BJ/SayHey can a #1 silver selling album, with a silver Top 10 single and a follow up Top 20 single plus an album track making the official Top 100 be seen as a negative.

 

Yes, the album is falling faster than we’ve seen before etc., but I think this just highlights the massive shift in album consumption and will be accelerated further by the time Kylie releases again.

 

The album market is currently geared towards Greatest Hits, Playlists basically released as albums (The Weeknd, Becky Hill, Joel Corry etc.,) and mass fanbase physical buying in week 1.

 

Very few have managed to buck the trend so we shouldn’t expect any different from Kylie - I guess it’s just a shame as it’s one of her best albums and we all want to see it high up the charts.

I think I kind of expected the album to have a similar chart run to Tom grennans recent album but equally knew it wouldn't have a huge chart run, when I say a chart run like TG you can look at it another way in that kylie has a far shorter chart run but isn't that far behind on sales which can show a short chart run doesn't always reflect the sales of an album.

 

And compared with the other comparatively successful legacy albums this year, here is their streaming chart history.

 

Kylie 11, 64

Foo Fighters 14, 83

Gorillaz 15, 47, 87

Noel Gallagher 20, 64

Blur 28, out

Shania Twain - did not chart

 

So only Gorillaz could argue to have been more successful than Tension when it comes to streaming. And wow, the only artist comparable to Kylie – Shania Twain - did not even chart on streaming despite reaching number 1 on the Official Chart.

I have to add that I look at the worldwide Spotify numbers (because that's what the most accessible). The UK numbers could be decent, because like 30% her streams might come from the UK.

Why have they not ran a TV ad for this? Golden, Disco and Disco Guest List all had adverts?

i just think it is a soft release to get the number 1, ahead of further winter promo after her first Las Vegas shows

Why have they not ran a TV ad for this? Golden, Disco and Disco Guest List all had adverts?

 

I’ve been bombarded with social media ones yesterday and today, maybe they are waiting for Q4 around ‘An Audience With’ to possibly run TV ads?

Amazon Best sellers now only 54 and 71, hardly selling a copy

 

It does look as though BMG are happy for it to fall out of the UK chart,, ready for a re-issue for Xmas shoppers?

It does look as though BMG are happy for it to fall out of the UK chart.

Seriously? This is pure sugarcoating. You are only fooling yourself if you think BMG are "happy" with the fact that Tension is free falling.

 

There will be no special edition for Christmas this year. Nobody does a re-release so quick. The album has just been released.

I'm sure BMG are happy they've got a silver album in the bag already, and they're also probably realistic about the climate we're in. Plus they would have made an absolute killing out of all those vinyls.

It does look as though BMG are happy for it to fall out of the UK chart,

I don't think any business would be happy to see their product fall out of the chart just because there is a planned (conjecture) re-release. I guess BMG saw the signs that everyone else is referring to and didn't want to invest any more money on a product the casual buyer won't buy, and no amt of promotion will help the streaming generation. I still think they're an amazing label and right for Kylie.

I wasn't being funny. I just mean't they are probably happy with what they have coming up for Kylie as her distributor and are not desperate to keep it high with reductions before more promo comes

Week 2 Sales

 

5560 Ed Sheeran Variations

5516 Kylie Tension

 

I mean Ed didn't do much better in week 2 and he is a huge streamer

 

Comparing Ed’s latest album sales with Kylies is quite frivolous. Autumn variations was a very low key release compared to his usual stuff with little or no promotion and far less commercial style. Therefore, I wouldn’t have expected this to have performed well even by his own standards.

Edited October 14, 20231 yr by neill2407

Comparing Ed’s latest album sales with Kylies is quite frivolous. Autumn variations was a very low key release compared to his usual stuff with little or no promotion and far less commercial style. Therefore, I wouldn’t have expected this to have performed well even by his own standards.

 

Nothing Frivolous at all. Its a decent comparison

Nothing Frivolous at all. Its a decent comparison

This comparison isn't very flattering to Tension. Relatively, Tension dropped much harder. Autumn Variations dropped from 30k to 5k whereas Tension dropped from 53k to 5k.

Edited October 14, 20231 yr by Voodoo

This comparison isn't very flattering to Tension. Relatively, Tension dropped much harder. Autumn Variations dropped from 30k to 5k whereas Tension dropped from 53k to 5k.

 

 

LOL

 

Are you for real? That Kylie sold 20k more on her debut week than the one of the biggest worldwide artists and then also matched him on week 2? Its fantastic

LOL

 

Are you for real? That Kylie sold 20k more on her debut week than the one of the biggest worldwide artists and then also matched him on week 2? Its fantastic

What you are doing is called cherry picking. You pick & choose very specific examples that will suit your narrative. Why don't you compare Kylie with Lana Del Slay or P!nk? They did better than Tension on their second week, and neither of them had as big of a hit as Padam x2.

 

In addition, you keep repeating that Disco was heavily discounted on week 1. Where are the receipts?

 

I'm not disputing that Tension did VERY well on week 1, but expectations were definitely higher because of Padam x2. It didn't help Kylie's streaming in the long term. In previous eras, Kylie achieved better results without scoring a hit.

Edited October 14, 20231 yr by Voodoo

im comparing Kylie with Ed as they were released a week apart. No point comparing with her with Pink and Lana who released ages ago. They are all bigger names than Kylie too internationally and bigger labels.

 

I don't cherry pick, you just see things that are not there.

 

having a top 10 single does not mean a multi million selling album. its not the 1980s

Edited October 14, 20231 yr by SmileyKylie