Here Today... Gone To Hell!

In 4 weeks on the charts, in a world dominated by people like Usher sellings 1.1 million copies in the U.S. on opening week, COntraband has sold just over 500,000 copies which certifies it gold.

hitsdailydouble.com

ROCK ON VR!!!!!!!

It says "in a world dominated by people like Usher selling 1.1 million in the U.S. on opening week"  on hitsdailydouble.com?

And it's not certified gold until the RIAA says so... which is why Appetite is still stranded at 15 X platinum.  

Furthermore, in the words of P. Diddy: "Going Gold don't mean you're hot... going gold is lukewarm at best, Gold don't mean you're hot."   :rofl:

Anyways, good job by the guys to sell 500,000... now they just need to worry about keeping that interest (which appears to have faded looking at the charts)

Sales aren't great for this thing - which is somewhat bizarre - the promotion seems to have been there (unless you live in the UK where i am still yet to hear anything about the band apart from various editorials damning Scott Weiland :no:)

500,000 just isn't that good - its going to really struggle to hit platinum

Not sure what went wrong

You understand thats 500,000 in 4 weeks, right?  What are you expecting?

Sorry, I think you are confused... GOLD, is half a million... Platinum is one MILLION.  Platinum and Gold are both metals right?  Well Platinum is way more precious than Gold... thats where the terms come from... see?

:P

I mean that Appetite should be at about 18-19X Platinum by now, but the RIAA hasn't certified those sales yet.  Just like they haven't certified Contraband for the 500,000 they've sold.  So technically, Appetite is 15X Platinum despite sales of probably 18 mill, and Contraband is nothing despite sales of 500,000.

Really?  Platinum is more precious than Gold? What's more precious than Platinum then? Certainly not Diamond... Wise ass.   8)

yah.  But I think (hope) that the release of Fall to Pieces will rekindle the flame and bring in a boatload of new fans, probably of the female type.  I am cautiously optimistic that it will go platinum by the end of the year.

How about this: Read the fucking rules.


/jarmo

That is impressive, but having had such a strong debut on the charts with 250,000+ albums sold inthe first week, you would think they would've reached the 750.000 mark by now.

To be fair, I never expected this band to hit the number one spot and neither did you ( didn't you post VR was gonna debuted at #3?) but they did. I was shocked to see VR had sold so many albums in week one, but to be fair as well, album sales are dropping fast, and that's a fact. I don't live in the Staes so my insight may not be as accurate as yours, but I'm in regular contact with many friends overthere, some of them, somehow related to the music industry. When asked about VR's impressive success, the commented on VR's surviving need to release another single or they will fall out of the top 50 in two weeks.

I think AFD was certified 15 million in '99. It's been 5 years already then and if AFD still sells 5,000-7,000 copies every week in America, that adds up to 312,000 copies ever year. That means 1,560.000 albums sold since since. So, i would say, AFD has sold a bit over 16 and a half millions.

Im not even arguing that its impressive or anything, I just think its kind of preposterous for people to say "Only 500,000?  Thats not very good." after 4 weeks.  If it were a year after release and it only sold 500,000, okay...but after 4 weeks?


Yeah, the album has unfortuately taken a hit...Thats not good.  But selling 500,000 in 4 weeks, despite a significant dropoff, is good no matter how you look at it.


Initially, I thought theyd be in the top 5, but wasnt sure where.  As the release drew closer and I observed the circumstances (competition, hype, etc.) I became more confident they would debut at #1.  But that wasnt until a week or so prior.  But youre right, theyve exceeded many expectations, including mine.


No doubt about it...VR needs another single and its coming...I hope it works out.

Congrats to VR!


i think Platinum is attainable for them : ok:

Yeah it does seem to be fading some. Going gold in 4 weeks is good and it should go platinum sometime..... Maybe not as fast as we hope.


Bring on FTP then we'll see

Nothing went wrong and these guys will easily go platinum.  A couple more singles and a full on U.S. tour, you'll see.

I just dont understand why they are taking so long in between singles. They have lost so much momentum. There promotion wheel did a great job initially now the hype is basically all gone. A new single would have kept it going until they resume touring.

I just heard Audioslaves liek 7th single on the radio today. I was liek dam they are getting almost every song to be a single on this album.

No sense releasing another single when "Slither" is still #1 on the charts.  That in itself bodes well for momentum, a slow burn with a big hit makes for long legs for the album.  Why jump the gun and move onto FTP when "Slither" is still going strong?

If you'll notice, FTP has already hit the "whats new/next" sections of your local "modern" and "real rock" stations and they'll be performing it on Leno on 7/16.  

Give VR's strategic team the benefit of the doubt, they haven't fucked up yet and there's no reason to think they will start anytime soon.

Good points, but its more of how the album is slumping despite Slither remaining #1. It also seems as if the "buzz" has worn off. Atleast here in the ny/nj area.

I expect when they do the video for FTP and its more of a push on the radio the wheels will begin churning again...

BTw, do you think they can get 5 or more singles off this album?  

Personally, I think "5 or more singles" will be very tough.  I think the material is strong enough to squeeze out a few more for sure, but the question is, will the band have the stamina to keep up the pace and tour like mad men and keep the machine going?  I mean we're talking about guys with families and 1 guy with serious addiction issues.  The label is obviously behind them so I think it's purely up to the guys how far they carry the record.

It'll be fun to watch.

I think so. I think the following (besides Slither and FTP) are good potential singles:

Sucker Train Blues
Dirty Little Thing
Headspace
Big Machine
You Got No Right
Loving The Alien

Here's a sign VR's hardly slumping...

See #'s 1 and 18...

http://www.kroq.com/music/mostplayedhome.html

I don't think contraband is the type of caliber to be a MASSIVE seller.

For an album thats released in an indusrty thats dominated by Hip Hop n, Rap and the quality of the album. I don't think it should be selling like the Illusions or Appetite.

Yeah, VR has two songs on the top 20 on one of the most influential modern rock radio stations in the US but Contraband sales are dropping big time. What's the problem then?

VR needs to release a new single ( video included) - despite Slither's first position at KROQ ( apperantly that is not enought to keep the momentum/sales) - and a couple of perfomances here and there ( Leno and TRL) to get the momentum back.

That's no excuse. Great albums do well regardless what the music industry dictaminates. Look at GNR back in 87. Music was dominated then by the likes Michael Jackson, Madonna, George Michael, Rick Astley, Bobby Macferrin (sp?), Whitney Houston....but GNR has sold 16 million albums. Look at Nirvana back in 91 when music was dominated by Guns N' Roses and Mariah Carey sold 10 Million with a totally different music concept.

I don't think industry patterns really matter. If an album breaks through it becomes unstopable regardless.

Point taken.

But Contraband isn't going to change the music scene the way GN'R did with Appetite or the way Nirvana did with Nevermind.

Great albums of course, but Contraband is no way in the same league as the above 2 albums.

People here expected to much of this record sales wise.

Of course not. Contraband is not revolutionary. Even the biggest VR die-hard fans around here ( Jizzo, Falc, Booker..) seem to really like the album but don't label it as a master piece. A good, decent hard-rock album, that's all.

If you wanna be big, be pretentious. Have something to say.
This album has a lot of "pretending" instead.

Well sales are always best in the first month but always fall away quickly (as everyone who is going to buy the album most likely already has)

Therefore its really going to strugle to get to platinum status

But straight to the point - 500,000 sales would be great if we teamed up and put out an album but that is not an impresive figure for a major new act backed by strong promotion and already possesing millions of people intrested in the various members work.....

Guys!! Come on man.... Contraband hasn't sold Usher's numbers, I mean I hate rap and hip hop but this is the first true rock band since 3 Doors Down.

Rock bands just don't sell AWESOME anymore. Audioslave is only at 2 or 3 million in the states and that is over 2 years after the release. It will sell fine, but not AFD type of numbers. If this record came out 8 years ago, it would have almost 2 million already by now, it's a awesome album, just the times don't reflect the band's talent, just the sales.

ROCK ON VR!

I think the over analyzation of sales is getting a bit out of hand, the comparison to these long gone by eras is hardly a good barometer, the industry has changed way too much since then to cite the instances above as any qualified points of reference.

A good bet is that RCA is extremely happy with the progress of VR, they'd be less than smart if they weren't.  Can anyone think of a recent "rock" record of new material by a new band that has hit gold status in only 4 weeks of release?

The only fair comparison is the obvious, Audioslave, which by all accounts has been deemed highly successful.  VR's early success has been at least equal to that of "Slave so lets not get too freaky just yet and leave the industry stategy (single releases and whatnot) to the fellas who to this point in time have made absolutely every correct decision is the presentation of Velvet Revolver.

In the age of the internet i doubt Contraband will see 2X Platinum within a couple years. I would be shocked if it reaches 2X in 1 year. Check out edonkey or any bit torrent. There is 100's of copys Contraband available. Im guessing it hurts record sales 30% It could be even higher.

Wait till CD comes out. Im sure there will be hourly and daily sales reports. ;D