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@myxxd: Yeah, it was released in the same week with Live 2012 by Coldplay and they have hardcore fans as well. In first three weeks Westlife were at no.2 with Coldplay at top for 2 weeks and Andre Rieu in third week. Westlife went to no.1 for 4 Consecutive weeks and in 8th week they fall one place with Rolling Stone at no.1. They remained in top 5 untill week no.14 and meanwhile they were no.1 for nine consecutive weeks in Ireland DVD chart after debuting. In 18th week Westlife's top 10 chart position ended & they'd dropped to no.17 and then the run was 31,31, 28, 33 and 36 (all in England). I think except first two weeks they outsold Coldplay badly both in England and Ireland which is very tough. I really want to know what is the exact number of DVD have been sold untill today because we don't have concrete figures for music DVDs but I remember Take That's Progress Live sold almost 200k in first two weeks.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Sellers-DVD-B...nav_d_h__1_d_h_ Another no.1 DVD will be in the bag. Less than 2 days of announcement and three different versions are at 4, 7 and 27. The Farewell Tour Live at Croke Park is also doing good @60.

It's up to their label to breaking down the streaming numbers from all the streaming platforms in each of those 79 countries and then it is a tangible figure so we know the exact streaming points in each country. We can't do anything because we don't have access to those stats.

Singles: All streams are limited whether you are a free user or a premium user. Only 10 streams count per user per day on any streaming service. For example, I could listen to one track 20 times on Spotify and 20 times on Apple Music today, but only the first 10 from Spotify and the first 10 from Apple Music will count. On a similar note, you must listen to at least 30 seconds of the song for it to count. You cannot just press play and then skip it 9 further times to total 10 plays! However the difference between free and premium users is that an ad-funded stream will count towards the chart at a standard ratio of 1:600, i.e. 600 ad-funded streams is deemed to be equal to one sale. A 'premium' stream (generated by a user who is paying for a subscription) will count at a standard ratio of 1:100. Albums: The top 12 most streamed tracks are taken from the standard edition of an album. The top 2 songs will be downweighted, to the average of the other 10 songs. This is to combat an album being artificially boosted by one or two hit singles. The total of these songs is then added together and divided by 1000 to give a streaming total for the album. Otherwise, the same rules apply. Only 10 plays per user per day, and 30 seconds of each track must be heard. Youtube: An ad-funded stream will count towards the chart at a standard ratio of 1:600, i.e. 600 ad-funded streams is deemed to be equal to one sale. A 'premium' stream (generated by a user who is paying for a subscription) will count at a standard ratio of 1:100. The same 30 second rule applies to video streams as audio streams.

@Charis: Honestly my perception of this album not changed that much. I have a big problem with a lot of members here calling electronic-based music as a one and only modern genre which is completely wrong. I think they could be more progressive like Where We Are album and the most modern album for me was that album. But in case of album as a whole I should confess with giving it another chance with couple listening I think I really like One Last Time and it is a very good and lovely song with great solo guitar and powerful voice by Mark and to some extent Shane. I think beside Without You which I loved the most since first listen I love this track more than any track in this album and really hope that they releasing it as a single and I'm sure with a good promotion it will be a very radio friendly and also attention seeker for non-Westlifers. And if they want to release electronic-based music single I think Dance is the best choice. I gave this album a couple of listening and think Dance is given them the best shot for success. I'm sure this one is very good choice for today's market. So if I was the decision maker I would released this songs in succession untill the new tour: 1- Dance, 2- One Last Time, 3- Without You.

In short term it is good. I mean (as Westlife fans) all we want is new material year in, year out but in bigger picture it would be something like the last years before disbanding. I think it is very good for Nicky to back to his own radio show, Kian managing that girl group and Mark taking care of his little baby and enjoy some quality time with family as 53 dates tour and also promoting this album is not easy at all. Just reminding you that they're not young anymore and don't have the energy to match to what they'd done 20 years ago like we saw in their Coast to Coast: Up Close And Personal DVD with 45 minutes of sleeping for entire day. I think the stand-alone single is better served for them rather than releasing EP. Also some strategic decision on going to US is very important for their career. They just need one hit there and it is possible given that they dedicating their time and sacrifice many things. For next 12 months it is good to promote this young album and working and figuring out on how to reaching out to more people in this streaming-based market along with those issues I mentioned. It is a very good topic to discussing and it is very good to know your thoughts on this.

Hopefully not. EP won't do them any favor unless it is exclusively released on streaming platforms but then again it need time and work, even for five songs and as they'll be pretty busy next year for their gigs like Wembley it is not necessary. Wembley gig need a lot of creative process like the one you saw in Take That Progress tour and it is not easy for them as they're new to stadiums tour. They should match Take That or better if they want another gig or gigs in this building (which is cathedral stage in Britain's music). I don't see any point on re-releasing their album as it is not necessary. Maybe remastering them in 10 or 20 years anniversary is a good idea but not after one year. They should promote their album during 2020 by releasing singles. The only thing that make sense is releasing stand-alone single or singles as once Louis Walsh said they want a duet with Queen for Christmas which won't be happen but if they want a smash hit they should going to the studio with one guest singer. Ed is their fan and guarantee them good position in chart which is currently impossible because of streaming. Other names are Ellie Goulding and someone like Calvin Harris!!!

@ myxxd: Yes, they were in Nashville and went from one radio station to another to promote their music. Many of people love the music but didn't even heard the name of the band. I think it is a massive decision for them to cracking US market as it needs almost 6 months of full commitment and time to promote the music as radio stations are key in US and even contributed to the chart. Because of this body of work many acts like Robbie Williams or Take That given up and focused on other territories because it need a lot of investment in time, money, promotion and stuff . Strategically it is a great move for a band like Westlife to cracking this big market. Taylor Swift was a country queen female singer in Nashville but wasn't known in many part of the world aside tracks like Love Story. So she decided to shake it off and overlooked many of her fans (me included) and going pop. This was a strategic plan which work to perfection for her and make her global superstar. She was arena act in other parts of the world but now selling out Wembley easily but you can easily see the quality of the music is hugely dropped. I know almost everybody in US (which is overloaded by hip-hop music) loves country and many of the acts have similar style of singing like Westlife and believe me if Westlife could lure any of those big guns like Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood or Kacey Musgraves with one single (duet) this market will be open for them. It's very tough but possible... Just reminding you that many of members here thinks modern music is what Westlife or many pop acts releasing in this climate but I believe modern music is not at all limited to electronic music. Just listen to God's Country by Blake Shelton to see what modern music is all about and since I'm making example of country , there is a song called The Fighter which is a duet song by Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood. So listen to it and see the music video and maybe broaden your music world and changing your mind because electronic based or heavy auto-tune music is not modern for me but we're bombarded with these stuff from right, left and center so it resulted on misjudging. Even if Westlife want to put more electronic stuff on their records like Dance it should be produced by great producers and for me Stuart Price is ideal for them because he was behind many of Pet Shop Boys and other acts efforts. And one last thing, even before the interview with Mirror I knew they won't go anywhere as I saw Kian told many fans in one of their gigs (Twenty World Tour) that we will be around at least for more than 10 years and I was there and didn't see any sign of lying in his eyes. The most important strategy for them (unlike many members here keep suggesting) is to avoid releasing music every year like they used to. I think Christmas album is too soon for them as Robbie released a great set of festive music. I think they should promote their album for reminder of the year and also during the next year as their tour keep the album in top 75 or hopefully a greater position and rushing towards releasing another album is massive mistake for me. It will resulted on them becoming worn-out by body of work like recording, promotion, touring and stuff.

The only way for Westlife to cracking US market is Nashville as I said months ago. Duet with acts as big as Kacey Musgraves, Carrie Underwood or Luke Combs... The only reasonable solution.

I don't know why many members here see Celine Dion as a challenger. This Week's album chart was decided by physical sales and not streaming points. I'm saying decided because by using ticket bundle strategy it was obvious that it would be huge physical sales in favor of Westlife and it is enough to take anyone down so there is no competition and I can assuring you with first midweek sales data you will see big gap between Westlife and Celine Dion (15-20k). The thing for me is that they should performs better in digital sales front and down to no.2 and no.3 in both itunes and Amazon chart is very disappointing considering it happened just in a day of album (comeback album) release. I know those two albums won't count in album chart but still it is not that good. They're performing well in Apple Music platform as well and the job is done and I think no.1 is more than secured already. The most important thing is keeping up the sales for reminder weeks of they year. I think they will sell less than Rod Stewart next week so a top.5 finish is very tough. Anyway from now untill Friday you will see the sales of Celine Dion decreasing drastically and ended up with 30-35k as I predicted last week.

Just for clearing the air: I'm by no mean a traditionalist, not in my life and not in anything. My favorite band of all time is Oasis and I'm still listening to their tunes and massive fan of Robbie Williams as well. So is it possible to be their fans and also be traditional? the problem is music itself. I think we are in a worst era of music with endless stupid songs like that cover from Sam Smith, all those auto-tuned songs and ... I like Westlife because they're a very, very talented and good band. The most striking point for me about them is the ability to making a record without filler tracks. Also I'm enjoying many of their uptempo songs more than their ballads and because of that I love Where We Are as their most progressive album yet because they finally decided to coming out of their comfort zone. I keep saying it because when you reading the comment for 90's pop songs there is a similar line between all of them: "when music was music". I saw it last time when decided to back to Y2K and Truly Madly Deeply which is great song by Savage Garden and I was their fan back then and they were not that big but still produce a listenable music, something we barely see these days. If you want to enjoy pure music just listen to Once by Liam Gallagher and he and his brother's solo stuff. Just listen to Lana Del Rey, she is always overlooking in big awards but producing masterpiece after masterpiece. I'm her die-hard fan and don't mind her album debut at 1 or 2000. The thing is that it gives me deep satisfaction and the depth and layers of each song is so big which would be unfolded after 10 times listening. The real deal is what happened last night in CMA Awards. Just listen To God's Country by Blake Shelton or see the performance (all the performers) to understand what is my mindset. We had two great comeback by two great band: first by BSB with their amazing, beyond this world Never Gone. This is a modern album and they also recorded 40 more songs and all of them were rich in quality but didn't make the cut. Another one Was Beautiful World by Take That which was very good as well. So here is my explanation and by the way Bryan recorded his debut album with Guy Chambers. Even in dark ballads like Demons you can feel the great impression of multi-layered music. Sorry for taking your time, that's all for me and Spectrum is Westlife worst album without a shadow of doubt. Hope modern and non-traditionalist guys here enjoy it but I will enjoying Ocean by Lady Antebellum for time being. Spectrum is not for me.

Waiting for 8 years ... and here it is: the comeback album of my beloved pop band. I think it's their worst album ever and I will not change my mind because each and every record made me crazy. Even with their full covered records at least we had some classics like The Dance and all the AUTBF songs but ... they said it's their best record? they're lying, as simple as that. Maybe this one suits more to non-fans but I'm sure will disappoint their hardcore fans badly. Without You is the best track in this album (for me) and each song has maybe 1 minute of good music almost all generated by Mark's powerful voice, that's it. So I will leave you alone with this "MODERN ALBUM". Hope you love it & thank you very much Westlife. PS: Hope they will try different sound and working with Swedish guys and my dream is the lads working with Guy Chambers.

Still can't figure it out how Coldplay's new album leaked almost 10 days before official releasing date. It's kinda spiritual journey for them so it's not their best by any means. Really happy for Westlife (no leak issue)as both Celine Dion and now Lady Antebellum's new album are leaked ahead of the release date. The fans will buy their albums but for neutrals I think it would probably hit them badly for first week sales. Champion of the World and Everyday Life are my favorite tracks from Coldplay's new album and I can't wait to see who will win the battle between Robbie and Coldplay. In a Long run it is gonna be Coldplay but untill new year Robbie has a great chance for big numbers as it is the festive album. Also very important to see how Westlife performs in chart from second week on because that will tell you about the success or failure of this album.

Easily the best track of brand new album for me. Great song coupled with powerful voice by Mark as always.

The feeling is mutual Zeze. I don't have any problem with Lana Del Rey or Kacey Musgraves and the singles that they've released from their albums. Because listening to them (as I'm a massive fan of both) give me a big satisfaction which addressed in Grammy in case of Kacey. I don't mind Rainbow chart position or any one of the singles off their albums. The artistic vision in their work is there for all to see. But in case of Westlife I'm really obsessing with chart position of each release because they will not get any recognition and tags like "manufactured" or "karaoke band" are written on their faces. So the chart position and quality of music is my only satisfaction. When you used to see them in top 3 for a very long time (single chart) you can't get over these situations like the one we're facing in this album. My big fear here, honestly, is normalization of this chart positions. I've enjoyed each album untill The Love Album but find the joy again when they released Where We Are. You and other members keep saying the new album is modern and produced for new audience and there is very good to have 4 singles rather than one or two like Where We Are. I have a question: when there is ZERO promotion for these singles what the hell is releasing 4 singles compare to 1? the only advantage is that we can see 3 or more music videos. Is it make you happy to see their song at 96 or not charted? because of that I think this approach is going astray. They have many modern songs in their catalogue and if you don't accept it please listen to their first 6 albums. Then you and many members talking about covers. I'm accepting that some of them were bad (i.e The Love Album) but many acts make songs theirs with recording it again. I remember Garth Brooks once admired Westlife for his song because he said no one could record better version of The Dance. Michael Buble keep saying that people ask me (even now) that you're covering Westlife's song. I know releasing Home was wrong but in case of You Raise Me Up it was very wise decision. It was one of the greatest decision which Simon made for them and resulted in the resurgence of their career after became 4 members, otherwise Westlife were done in 2005 instead of 2011. Then again in case of What About Now it is most current and modern and better than their 4 singles off Spectrum COMBINED. They had platforms like BBC Radio 2 gig which is massive but they could not find enough new people to buy their records and people loved their older stuff as you could see in their reaction. So when you have a very good formula and can produce a lot of great songs why changing it when you know your new material not charting or debuting at 96, 26 or 13? It's like total annihilation and I can't stand it. They have way more modern songs in their first three albums. About Celine Dion she has no chance for competing and maybe sell 30-35k of her new album in first week. But if it was justice they rival should've been Lay Antebellum. I don't know you guys listening to their new album which released in two weeks time or not? it's a great collection and as a big fan I'm really enjoying listening to each of their new singles unlike Westlife which is sad. I recommending you to just watch the music video for the song called Ocean. It's Hillary Scott and a piano, as simple as that and you can see why some ballads can be timeless classics. Their brand new single is (like Westlife) about their families but I like it very much and certainly more than My Blood. @myxxd: Are you a CEO of record company or strategist? I think many of your conclusion based on wrong premise. Are you kidding us all when you say they decided to call it a day with your complex elaboration? they decided to finished the band because they knew they didn't have enough will and enough muscle to survive on that particular climate, that's it. And who said just because they released one album in first/second/third/forth week of November of year X they will try it differently this time? you said it about the singles, number of singles so far as well. Your conclusion is wrong. There is no formula for testing based on what happened to them 10 or 20 years ago, it's different pattern. They're keep releasing their music in last two months of the year to sell more since many of their fans use the physical version of their stuff as the Christmas present to their loved ones, That's it.

I mentioned BSB and Jonas Brothers because they tried ticket bundle strategy and it helped them for bigger sales. Also young or old, Jonas Brothers were not around for very long time and heading to top spot in predictable Billboard hot 100 chart is massive. Because of that for me Hello My Love should've reached higher position and since you're talking about Take That, their first single from comeback album was no.1 for four weeks in UK and sold more than 700k which many of this number come from physical sales and it was great and rich single. When you implementing ticket bundle you should expect big numbers. I think Westlife's first day sales of album gonna be huge and most of them are frontloaded. They're changing the time of album release date because of Liam Gallagher factor and also selling well in end of the year (as always). So it should be big seller and after first week it should remain in top 10 till new year and otherwise it is not successful for me. Rob and Coldplay will be no.1 and 2 in second week so do they have enough muscles to remain in top 3? it's a big question and since anybody (after dreadful singles run) talk about album it is very important to remain in top 10 as long as possible. I wanna know your overall opinion about these 4 tracks of new album so far and do they fulfilled your expectation? also I'm thinking Westlife-Ed partnership is not connecting with fans and they should work with guys from Sweden. Two of next-gen Swedish songwriters are in charge of Lose You To Love Me. It's a beautiful song by Selena Gomez and btw it's ballad!

No.2 is nice? nice is very welcoming word and I think as it goes we will see something like top 40 for lead single is great, top 30 album is brilliant. We can't fool ourselves. After 8 years anything but no.1 is failure. We could compensate if the singles doing well but one of them is not charted (probably second is imminent) and the comeback and second single peaked at 13 & 26. With ticket bundle strategy I think it is tragic to lose the no.1 spot in album chart because other than that the comeback seems ordinary like last three albums. Jonas Brothers and Backstreet Boys done it with their last releases with two of the biggest opening week sales. JB secure no.1 single with Sucker after 9 years so all of these excuses seems completely boring to me because JB were not there for almost a decade and at least have one no.1 single in US. Westlife will playing Wembley stadium and 2 nights in stadium in Cork with almost 90,000 people. I don't think waiting for another excuse make any sense. I can't see anything from their singles. Yes, we can argue Hello My Love was hit but the comeback single for such a popular band with many devoted fans should be in top 5 (even in streaming era). Eleven tracks are not bad and you can't judge an album with number of tracks on it but then again we have Robbie and Coldplay on the line with 20+ tracks in their albums. after all The Scripts or acts like that are not The Beatles of this world. I think the deluxe version of Spectrum with two or three additional tracks and not remixing existing singles would make a lot of sense. Finally if these 4 singles are the top 4 tracks of this album we are in with one of the worst albums of their career and not their best as they suggested. I preferred the ballads like Leaving over My Blood or many tracks from their first two albums and specially Coast To Coast which for me is their best ever album. In terms of current and modern album Where We Are is always the benchmark for me.

No.2 is nice? nice is very welcoming word and I think as it goes we will see something like top 40 for lead single is great, top 30 album is brilliant. We can't fool ourselves. After 8 years anything but no.1 is failure. We could compensate if the singles doing well but one of them is not charted (probably second is imminent) and the comeback and second single peaked at 13 & 26. With ticket bundle strategy I think it is tragic to lose the no.1 spot in album chart because other than that the comeback seems ordinary like last three albums. Jonas Brothers and Backstreet Boys done it with their last releases with two of the biggest opening week sales. JB secure no.1 single with Sucker after 9 years so all of these excuses seems completely boring to me because JB were not there for almost a decade and at least have one no.1 single in US. Westlife will playing Wembley stadium and 2 nights in stadium in Cork with almost 90,000 people. I don't think waiting for another excuse make any sense. I can't see anything from their singles. Yes, we can argue Hello My Love was hit but the comeback single for such a popular band with many devoted fans should be in top 5 (even in streaming era). Eleven tracks are not bad and you can't judge an album with number of tracks on it but then again we have Robbie and Coldplay on the line with 20+ tracks in their albums. after all The Scripts or acts like that are not The Beatles of this world. I think the deluxe version of Spectrum with two or three additional tracks and not remixing existing singles would make a lot of sense. Finally if these 4 singles are the top 4 tracks of this album we are in with one of the worst albums of their career and not their best as they suggested. I preferred the ballads like Leaving over My Blood or many tracks from their first two albums and specially Coast To Coast which for me is their best ever album. In terms of current and modern album Where We Are is always the benchmark for me.

Don't think that Coldplay fans are not traditional and all of them are working in Silicon Valley. They don't have any promotion either and yet they have two songs in first mids at 21 and 80. Always lame excuses like sore losers: Westlife fans don't know much about streaming, they are traditional and ... STOP IT.

I'm not American but know their taste about music. I think Simon (with all those stupid things he's done to Westlife) exactly knew and still know the taste of the market. Back then he understood the pure pop wouldn't work and as BSB and later Take That paved the way suggested more edgy stuff. With Never Gone album, it was and still my benchmark for any boyband when there is something called change of direction. After so many years BSB came back with amazing Incomplete along with brilliant I Still and ... This is what things should be done and not doing electronic music just because it is 2019. Though What About Now was cover but was the most modern track that Westlife ever released untill then and it would be no.1 if it wasn't for Cheryl because she was national treasure back then and the whole Britain had sympathy for her for the way her husband treated her. Almost 10 years from original release date I can listen to What About Now on loop for whole day but can't stand Hello My Love. Where We Are was brilliant and almost every track had the potential to be single and I said Simon is clever and he picked exactly the best song for transition from pop to pop/rock. What About Know was released by American rock band called Daughtry (I love them) and it was wise because back then no one heard about them in England despite hugely successful debut in USand it seems like original track for many. So I prefer pop/rock songs rather than electronic stuff if they want to be current and it's my humble opinion and could be completely wrong. Brian is a talented singer and his debut single as a solo artist (Irish Son) which reached no.1 was way ahead of it's time. It was great pop/rock song and he is the same for me and releasing cover albums is nothing to do with have not enough talent. About Chart I just said Old Town Road as an example and same applied to One Dance by Drake and 16 tracks of last Ed's album in top 20. It's is stupid and insane.

Just listen to the new single and my first impression is that it is nowhere near Flying Without Wings in terms of quality. Some notes: 1- Maybe they didn't released the new album on 20th of September because they've been told that Liam Gallagher and Keane are releasing their album and it was tall order. I know Keane underperformed (by their standards) but even the fear of losing this battle is just stupid, considering this is their comeback album and they've won the battle of Oasis, U2, The Beatles and themselves by beating Stop The Clocks which is unreal (if you're an Oasis fan you certainly know what I mean). 2- Then again they're very lucky that both Robbie and Coldplay deciding to release their albums one week later. So if they reach no.1 it will be just for 1 week because there is no way to beat Rob when he is releasing festive album with so many a-list duets and original materials. 3- I think it would be massive failure if they can't reach no.1 in album chart. You know Take That back with a bang with Progress (don't tell me about streaming and ...) and all we need is selling more than 90k. 4- I hate Hello My Love and told you guys why back then and it is by no means an anthem for concert opener as someone said. It is mediocre at best but still can't understand why the record label released the song on Thursday and the lads wasted 6k of sales. Once again I should stress that if there was a chance for them to have a no.1 or top 3 hit, the comeback single was the chance. 5- The only positive outcome of this album to date (for me) is Better Man and Dynamite music video (not the song). Can't believe many of you keep saying that Westlife should release modern and uptempo songs to have more attraction for new generation. I don't know copying David Guetta and many electronic stuff (Dynamite) is helping but it just make them like all the other pop acts there. If you want to see critics saying something positive about any Westlife album: it will never ever happen. They don't dare to even listening to their stuff. Where We Are was brilliant album and kinda change of direction but overlooks by many outlets like The Guardian, BBC and ... as boring. New generation are happy with all these crap songs released weeks in, weeks out (all looks the same) and look at the chart in US and UK. It is not changing at all because there is damn streaming that allow such an average song like Old Town Road to be no.1 for 19 weeks in US. I love country but this cross-over hip-hop and country song is dreadful and 19 weeks is even too much for the iconic songs like I Will Always Love You and Everything I Do or The Dance. So this road is going to NOWHERE. WESTLIFE WILL LOSE THEIR IDENTITY WITH THE LIKES OF HELLO MY LOVE AND DYNAMITE. They had so many uptempo songs in the past which were way better than these so called modern music. You can find tones of them in their CV. 6- Maybe they understand that Bryan is much needed for bringing back charisma to the band. I think he just tortured too much in UK and Ireland. Yes, he cheated on Kerry and left the band right before their tour but he is not serial killer after all and I think when Louis Walsh talking about possible comeback for him on Wembley or Cork gigs it is something. 7- Just wishing they don't losing their identity. I prefer When You're Looking Like That, I Lay My Love On You, World of Our Own, Hit You With a Real Thing to these shits like HML.

Yes, with 72 it's over. We may talk in another thread about next potential big market and some strategic decisions for chart success. My bet is still on Nashville and country music. Westlife have loyal fans in far east but country music is big in US and also have a big similarities with their style of music. Another market is Mexico down to South America. With all Latin natives in this world It's more practical than China. I think China will eventually trying to copy-paste the model of US and going for acts like Grande or Drake or Nicky Minaj. So there is a little chance in biggest country in the world. A collaboration with huge country superstar make a big impact in US. they've tried to record a duet with Jessica Simpson but even back then Simpson was not your best bet. I don't know, maybe Carrie Underwood or Miranda Lambert doing them favor. Kacey Musgraves is biggest but she's so independent and not into Ballads with messages like we see in Better Man. Rainbow is just a perfect single with global message and it was boycotted by radio stations around the country. Kacey is what we're needing but not ideal for conservative record label like Universal or act like Westlife. But Miranda and Carrie are big names and darlings of Nashville and radio-friendly. It's very unfair to see Better Man chart run, very unfair because maybe two or three songs above them have the better quality so ballads span is over for Westlife (not for many new act though)and with this midweek stats I think the only chance for Westlife to have a no.1 hit single is to recording a duet with those who guarantee you mega-hits. Calvin Harris is the first name but it is the last thing in the world I want to see Westlife working with a DJ. If their label wouldn't work with country stars the names are limited to the likes of Ed (who is a big fan of Westlife), Kelly Clarkson and Pink. Celine Dion is very outdated and the chance for success is slim. In case of R&B imagine Westlife working with Bruno Mars, it's not working because only Mark has the vocal power to nail it. It's very tough. Better Man deserves way more than this, just unfair. I put some names because even their modern song, HML, could not debuted in top 5.

That's exactly what it is, the comedy, Charis. Jay, you're chart nerd and that's nice. Wish we have those 61862 sales from downloads and physical sales, that's what I'm saying in all these posts. With that Westlife don't need streaming points even today so it is still relevant. If they had those numbers of These Days (download & physical sales) Better Man would be no.1 with a very little help of streaming. So still I'm stressing on what I've said before. You need your fans when streaming isn't working. When you said that pre-orders helped TT back then it could help Westlife last week. The song premiered almost 1.5 month before official release date and had big promotion but if Westlife exactly doing these kinda stuff anyone keep saying nah, I listen to that s**t weeks ago, why buying it? you know Jay, the problem is still unsolved. With those numbers of These Days Westlife would be no.1 this week. In some ways I agree with you that because of first release as a trio These Days debuted at no.1 & fans were curious, the same as The Flood or Patience but both comeback single and comeback single (with Rob included) were great tunes. Because of that I keep saying Hello My Love was biggest opportunity wasted and ALSO Simon Cowell tried hard to convince lads to reunite with Brian and I'm sure that would be game changer because this man (with all those mistakes forcing Westlife to releasing covers) is a great businessman and knows the game. I know that it would cause unrest because Nicky, Kian, Shane and Mark don't like Brian to be in Westlife because he both kinda cheated on them with quitting in the middle of the tour and was the source of conflict but he has the charisma that no other member has it and maybe the could forgive him after all. And Jay, believe me I think the main reason behind last releases of Take That became so unsuccessful was the quality of songs. They're not the band that they were used to and lost their identity and releasing music as crap as whatever you could imagine. Out of Our Heads, Giants and ... all the new songs are just desperate attempts to make them seems cool guys but they screwed it up. Btw I watched ACM awards 2019 and I'm a huge country fan. You see the performances, the quality of the songs and say to yourself in what world we're living? Country is the most powerful and strongest genre of music. Looking at the performance by Dan+Shay and Kelly Clarkson and it was insane along with tons of great performances. Westlife should once again doing what they'd done back in early 2000's and going to Nashville and there is every chance to breaking that market like Kelly did and still standing strong. Comparing tracks like 7 rings and Thank You, Next by so called "modern" artists dominating the charts and these great singers who can sings live is just make me upset. Top 40 (now) is for teenagers or in better words for kids between 9 to 15. It is so sad to see so many crap songs are on top and don't moving. Every year is the chance for me to see ACM and CMA awards live and still these live performances makes me wonder.

Jay, I'm with you for 90% of what you've said and even those 10% are self-questions. I'm really into charts and analyse them week after week and not staying in early 2000's. But there are some questions: by presuming that all of your statements are correct (about fans are still loyal and just not caring about charts anymore and want to enjoy the music) there are some questions: why don't they (at least) constantly streaming the song like Hello My Love which as it stands is modern and different? reaching 1.5 m with all those different platforms isn't that difficult, is it? I said it was the brilliant chance wasted because it was a comeback single and had the most chance to be in top, lets say, 3. Why Take That's pretty average at best single called These Days went to no.1 with all these rules? you know that many of their singles not working anymore but hey, at least they get one no.1 in current market. Maybe I have big expectations but as I said once if Westlife were the likes of Little Mix or One Direction any chart position for me was normal but they'are just three singles behind The Beatles and that makes it feel so sad to see they're releasing singles without promotion and all the chances going astray. They don't have three or four no.1 to saying ok, don't care even if it isn't debuts in top 50 or whatever. My main stress in all these posts is about the situation which they're into and I'm sure many die-hard fans think like me but it seems those who thinks like me are become less and less. I think when you have 14 no.1 you should help your beloved act to create history, maybe I'm wrong but history won't repeat itself for Westlife and as you said they will be disbanded again. And the most important thing is the paradoxical nature of all of our talks: If old-fashioned songs don't work anymore why Lewis Capaldi is at no.1 for 6 straight weeks? Someone You Loved is ballad, many called it boring and keel saying they can't tolerate this one. I know Ed Sheeran and Adele are not be considered here but Perfect was the ballad and it spent weeks after weeks at top and even the duet of this song (featuring Beyonce) kept ruling. I remember that the Guardian music journalist called it Westlife-ish and one of the most boring song by Ed. But I don't have any issue with those writers and critics. My point here is this: those who kept streaming this song remaining at no.1 was this generation who by your definition should hate these kind of songs (same as Westlife). So why Someone Like You and Perfect got the most numbers of sales from their streams? Please solve this problem for me. Because it is so paradoxical and I don't talking about 20 years ago. I'm talking about 54004 points of streaming for the song called Someone You Loved which spends its sixth straight week atop the singles chart (streamed 3,216,997 last week just in Spotify UK).

So it's their problem and there is no room for any bitter words about their chart position from fans. If you want to see them in best possible chart position and you know the current climate and music market you should act and not pretending to be a die-hard fan. When you know that there is no chance to be in top positions with this stupid rules and when you know many people streaming songs without knowing who is the act (based on self-made playlist by Spotify and other streaming services) you should take responsibility and counter it. That's my opinion which could be completely wrong but even Hello My Love just debuted at no.13 and at best would be no.8 (in case of releasing on Friday instead of Thursday) and never was in top 50 in streaming charts for one week. So you should do counter it. One user said Lady Gaga has the same dedicated fans. I think it's just joke. Westlife had the power to beating all those boy bands based on the vote of the fans and in final (I think) BSB lost against them in their homeland, with all their dedicated fans and it was the contest held by MTV US. So you can not comparing the fans of Lady Gaga and Westlife, sure Gaga has more fans but not 1/100 as devoted as Westlife, that was my point back then and because of that I'm surprised that why Just 9000 people bought Better Man and many of them not even bother themselves to stream it. By the way the last three albums of Take That (combined) sold north of 1 million copies and we're talking about the band that after reforming sold three 2+m albums. It is a complete disaster and as a fan of this band from early days their last three albums were just desperate attempts to showing Take That as modern act and THEY LOST THEIR IDENTITY. Their singles and other tracks in last three albums are heavily influenced by electronic music and I'm fearing that by recording more songs like Hello My Love Westlife falling in this trap as well. Once again I should stress that if you want radical changes doing it like BSB did with Never Gone album with great edgy tunes or recording some country-inspired songs. Even Bon Jovi did it with Lost Highway album and it was successful. I really wished that Westlife had a chance to record a duet with Kelly Clarkson because she is just amazing. Kelly is very popular in UK and along with Pink she is one of two female acts that still set the bar high. I think doing more electronic-influenced tracks would result in losing their identity like Take That. TT's last two records were dreadful. About Album be sure that with this approach (no promotion at all) there will be quick fade away from top 40 but that "Ticket Bundle' will save them with huge first week sales and after that it is all about promotion because non-Westlifers neither buy this record nor stream it even if it is happened to be a masterpiece. So we will see the albums fate from second week untill Xmas.