Chinese Democracy (Album) - Charting

[Silverchair]

in all honesty... the promotion wasn't there.

sure... people knew about the album... but people have questions. if an attempt to answer them wouldve happened, it would sell more.

[nateinthehon]

Too me, the strangest thing in line of advertisement was, this weekend. I got the sunday paper, looked through the ads. In the Best Buy Ad...there was NOT ONE mention of Chinese Democracy, NO ONE. You would think that, being an exclusive retailer, you'd keep that fucker advertised all winter long, every week, big and bold. I mean, c'mon, its only week 2!

Kanye West is gonna sell big, he has huge crossover appeal(blacks, whites, teens, club goers, exct.). ANd , not to sound racist, alot of rap CDs sell more, because there major market group is not as internet savy, nor may have access to PCs for downloading illegally, as most rock bands will encounter. I know of a few friends of mine, who are not big GNR fans, that had CD 2-3 weeks ago(I refused to take a copy). I bet there is 100k-300k more illegally DLd versions or ripped off a buddys PC of CD floating around, than there is Kanyes.

Too me, the biggest thing in helping sales, is get Better out there as a huge single...push hard. That should be the biggest bullet in the holster. I am usually awesome, at figuring out the difference between, my fav song on the album, or the beiggest hit..not always the same. Altough TWAT is my fav...better is definetly the biggest hit.

Axl should try and get out, do SNL, Conan. I honestly think a 3-5 week theatre tour would be big, and feature CD. Do 10 songs off it. I think if they just went out and did arenas and busted out 1/2 of CD or more, alot will fall flat. The masses do, and rightfully so, wanna hear the "old songs" far more than new..until the new songs become "Big". I just saw AC/DC...I love em. But I was aggrivated by 6 new ones. Get over it..Id rather have A long way to the top or rock n roll aint noise pollution..amongst the dozen songs they did not play, rather than a bunch of new. Right now on an Arena tour, Axl I feel could only go to about as many new songs as he had been playing. But in a smaller theatre show...you can take chances. And announce it on myspace. Say hey, were going out, ad were gonna road test the new stuff. See what works. Let the songs grown, then do Arenas.

Thats the best marketing plan IMO

[demanding_GNR_rock]

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/video_news/guns_n_roses_may_debut_at_2_a7x_in_axl_rose_corner.html

Bit more to add to the jigsaw we call sales figures

[Bitch Slap Rappin]

I like to think of C.D. as a fine wine that has just been opened. You don't start pouring the aged wine yet. You let it breathe. You smell the cork. Than you pour a little in a glass and smell its fragrance before you taiste the wine in your mouth. Most of what you guys ans gals wrote is correct. Todays modern artists sell allot based on their hype. But a few years from now their cd will be forgotten because of lack of quality. Oh sure it's about selling and getting the big bucks now. That's one way an artist can pursue their career. But with Axl I think he chose to write a masterpiece that is going to be remembered 50 years from now. I like that quality in an artist. Integrity in their music outways quick sales that may fall into obscurity. : )

[D]

i don't think it significantly affected sales.. I mean the main reason i think they did it is because of the complete leak which happened 5-6 days before the release.

I know that some people might not like what I have to say on here. These numbers are a disappointment. Axl needs to step
it up with interviews. Bumblefoot alone is not going to cut it since this isn't his band. This is AXL's band and  there is a good story to tell.
I sort of knew that this was going to happen based on some of the reviews on Itunes.  Also, I think it might not have been smart  to  have
the songs streamlined on Myspace. I know it generated a buzz. The question that needs to be asked is, did the streaming of songs
 kill off sales?

I never really agreed with the whole leak argument. Metallica's leaked like 2 to 3 weeks before it was released and it moved massive amounts of first week.

having only 1200 stores stops a lot of casual buys from people who aren't that aware

Think about it, how often do u really go to Best Buy? If I were a casual person who didn't frequent message forums, I would never have known the cd was out.

So u lose a lot of sales that way and also , just not starting off with a huge bang, magazine covers, interviews, radio etc etc

[damnthehaters]

Who really thinks that doing the late night or award show circuit is the way to go?  I dont.  Can you really see Axl sitting next to Leno or Letterman? It would be lame and cheesy, plus all they would want to ask about are the same tired old questions. And performing on these type of shows is out too. With the way Axl performs, it would have to be pre-recorded.  Award shows like the VMAs, Grammys, AMAs etc. aint what they used to be. What they ned to do is tour. An old fashioned tour I think is there only option. Do radio interviews to support and promote the tour. Thats what I'd want to see.

It IS the way to go when your just starting out and tyring to get your name out there...(or starting over!)  Face it, very few people in this country know who is in GNR.  They don't know Tommy, Richard, or Bumblefoot.  Once people get to know the band a little, it would be easier to accept them.  Thats just the way life is! 

[Meanmachine22]

Who really thinks that doing the late night or award show circuit is the way to go?  I dont.  Can you really see Axl sitting next to Leno or Letterman? It would be lame and cheesy, plus all they would want to ask about are the same tired old questions. And performing on these type of shows is out too. With the way Axl performs, it would have to be pre-recorded.  Award shows like the VMAs, Grammys, AMAs etc. aint what they used to be. What they ned to do is tour. An old fashioned tour I think is there only option. Do radio interviews to support and promote the tour. Thats what I'd want to see.

It IS the way to go when your just starting out and tyring to get your name out there...(or starting over!)  Face it, very few people in this country know who is in GNR.  They don't know Tommy, Richard, or Bumblefoot.  Once people get to know the band a little, it would be easier to accept them.  Thats just the way life is! 

fucking absolutely true.

I still can't believe that there seems to be zero activity in GNR these days.
If they don't do shit this album will quickly crash down the charts. That would be the sadest thing ....

[Jdog0830]

yea but the company should have just made some advertizing things of there own 4 CD   

[Layne Staley's Sunglasses]

yea but the company should have just made some advertizing things of there own 4 CD   

They did but they hardly aired any of the commercials.

[Tyson]

GNR currently at #3, trailing Kanye West and Taylor Swift.  NOOOOOOOOO  http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/sales/salescht.cgi

[*Timothy*]

it's not shocking there was hardly any promo for CD where's the other two had a good amount of it.

[Tyson]

The Best Buy deal is terribly limiting the albums availability and when you factor in the absolutely horrid promotion, I guess those numbers really are pretty good.  THe perception, however, will be one of dissapointment. 

[ppbebe]

GNR currently at #3, trailing Kanye West and Taylor Swift.  NOOOOOOOOO  http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/sales/salescht.cgi

can't wait to see the chart after the christmas.

[killingvector]

The Best Buy deal is terribly limiting the albums availability and when you factor in the absolutely horrid promotion, I guess those numbers really are pretty good.  THe perception, however, will be one of dissapointment. 

Right on the money. Swift and succinct.

I think we are seeing some movement now.

Better has landed.

There was a Monday Night Football commercial and plug during the NBC Sunday Night game.

Let's hope there is a video and an Axl appearance.

Frankly, anything more than the cow draped in a Chinese Democracy banner led through Times Square campaign which has existed thus far would help.

[Insomnis]

FINAL COUNT

1 KANYE WEST   443,55
2 TAYLOR SWIFT 257,047
3 GUNS N' ROSES 255,341
4 BEYONCE 254,555

   

EDIT: although it says final it keep changing, and ChD is now #3,

Seems there was just a typo in the GNR sales as it's the only one changed by adding another 1000 sold.

[Bitch Slap Rappin]

FINAL COUNT

1 KANYE WEST   443,55
2 TAYLOR SWIFT 257,047
3 BEYONCE 254,555

4 GUNS N' ROSES 254,341   

 
Say goodbye to those three..............

[TWT]

Albums of the year lists are appearing all over the place, top 50s, top 100s, and I haven't seen CD in any of them yet. Just thought I'd keep the positivity flowing 

[Allman]

It's doing the same in the US as in other countries, mostly debut within the top 5.
I'm sure Best Buy and Geffen aren't too thrilled.
It is what it is, a really good album gettin' buried due to lack of any big promotion/single/video.

[GeraldFord]

It's doing the same in the US as in other countries, mostly debut within the top 5.
I'm sure Best Buy and Geffen aren't too thrilled.
It is what it is, a really good album gettin' buried due to lack of any big promotion/single/video.

If it bombs I'll be the firs tto admit it, but it hasn't, yet. Let's see what sales are like for week 2, let's see how "Better" fares. 1/4 of a million copies isn't bad, the bar was jsut set too high.

[veritas55]

In spite of the fact that these numbers are disappointing (to many) and that the Best Buy exclusive may have actually hurt some of the numbers, the fact is that the value of the Best Buy deal for the label and presumably Axl and management is that Best Buy guaranteed to buy and keep at least 1.5 million (that's the unreturnable number) out of a total 3 million purchase.  It's looking like there is little chance that CD will sell 1.5M copies in the short-term and so that will turn out to have been a GOOD financial deal for the label and Axl.  Plus, Best Buy apparently footed a good deal of the marketing budget (no matter how pitiful that was).