Chinese Democracy (Album) - Charting

[The Dog]

^^ That is beyond pathetic if that doesn't happen.

Fucking Nickelback!!! REALLY!!! 

[ShotgunBlues1978]

I just saw on Hits Daily Double the projection for the top 10 next week and GN'R is not on the list.  I guess they are projecting a 70% drop in sales.  That is not good at all.  I hope it isn't too late for the album to salvage at least Gold certification, but the way it's looking, that seems tough.

Ali

GN'R isn't mentioned- but if I remember correctly NO ARTIST was mentioned for the 2nd spot. That either means they expect GN'R to be 2nd and forgot to mention it- OR they think it will completely fall off the charts.

At the end of the day nobody knows what's going to happen though. As you say- the quality IS there- so once people start figuring that out- this album could fall off the charts for a couple of weeks and then come screaming back with vengeance. Not typical- but NOTHING about all this is typical...

Honest to God- most rock fans I talk to are still awaking from a long slumber and just starting to realize that there's a new GN'R album for sale... Let's see what happens.

Actually, Taylor Swift is listed as their projected #2.  I think in order for this album to make a comeback sales-wise, it needs a hit.  Maybe a ballad could give the across the board appeal needed?  Maybe "Street of Dreams"?  I have a feeling that would work better than "This I Love" on radio.

Ali

This is the one I saw...

HITS:

YOUR WEAKEND TOP 10 CHART PREVIEW: As we head into the home stretch of the sales week, it?s all about the resurgent Britney Spears, whose Circus (Jive/ZLG) has far exceeded expectations and now appears headed toward 470-490k. Just what the doctor ordered?a feel-good story heading into the holidays. The only other debut that will make the leader board is Akon?s Freedom (SRC/Universal Motown), which should wind up at #8 with a projected 90-95.

Otherwise it?ll be the usual suspects: #3 Taylor Swift (Big Machine), 170-180k; #4 Beyonce (Music World/Columbia), 160-170k; #5 Kanye West (Roc-a-Fella/IDJ), 150-160k; #6 Twilight (Chop Shop/Atlantic), 120-130k; #7 Nickelback (Roadrunner), 110-120k; #9 Now 29 (UMe) 85-90k; and #10 a dust-up between David Cook (19/RCA/RMG) and High School Musical 3 (Walt Disney), both trending toward 80-85k. Speaking of trends, next week?s Top 10 will break the recent pattern of domination by one or two labels and will instead be spread among 10 different ones. (12/5a)

Though I don't exactly understand what they're trying to say (i.e. Taylor Swift was #3 or will stay #3 or whatever).

Says a lot about the American music scene if true

[Eazy E]

It would be a damn shame if Chinese Democracy didn't go gold in the U.S.

[killingvector]

You are giving up on platinum?

[western_chaos]

You are giving up on platinum?

LOL. It takes more than two weeks to see if an album is going to go platinum or not ha ha.

I think this album will be fine.

[Continental Drift]

The album will most definitely at least go gold in the US.

I think it will also go platinum... and possibly 2 or 3x over by the time all is said and done IMHO.

It's gonna do just fine.

[RancidPunx]

You are giving up on platinum?

LOL. It takes more than two weeks to see if an album is going to go platinum or not ha ha.

I think this album will be fine.

No,it doesn't. See AC/DC. Anyway to sell big GNR are gonna need a mainstream pop friendly single and there may bot be one on this album.

[younggunner]

Eddie Trunk actually brought up something interesting about walmart vs best buy...

he was saying that Walmart doesnt put a cap on how many albums a person can buy. Meaning a mom and pop store or retailer can go to Wal Mart and is allowed to buy Black Ice in bulk and then flip it for a higher price at there store.

Best Buy you cant do that because they make it harder for someone to buy in bulk because of the cap they put on the album.

But he said that Black Ice gets counted twice! when that flipping it occurs. That is why they have sold so many dam albums. He said the real number is probably around 450-500k

He did say it was odd that Best Buy has been low key with the promotion and that he is shocked it wasnt even being advertised in their circulars this week.

[RancidPunx]

Eddie Trunk actually brought up something interesting about walmart vs best buy...

he was saying that Walmart doesnt put a cap on how many albums a person can buy. Meaning a mom and pop store or retailer can go to Wal Mart and is allowed to buy Black Ice in bulk and then flip it for a higher price at there store.

Best Buy you cant do that because they make it harder for someone to buy in bulk because of the cap they put on the album.

But he said that Black Ice gets counted twice! when that flipping it occurs. That is why they have sold so many dam albums. He said the real number is probably around 450-500k

He did say it was odd that Best Buy has been low key with the promotion and that he is shocked it wasnt even being advertised in their circulars this week.

They aren't counted twice. Trunk is mistaken on that.

[LeftToDecay]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081206/music_...2HY3y3r2F2VEhkF


LOS ANGELES (Billboard) ? Guns N' Roses returned to the U.S. pop charts this week with their first studio album in 17 years ... but had to settle for a disappointing No. 3 slot.

"Chinese Democracy" sold a modest 261,000 copies. The tally paled against those of the band's last studio efforts, "Use Your Illusion I" and "Use Your Illusion II," which debuted at Nos. 2 and 1, respectively, with sales of 685,000 and 770,000 after being released on the same day in 1991.

Best Buy Senior Entertainment Officer Gary Arnold had predicted "Chinese Democracy" would be the week's top seller, but it ended up being bested by Kanye West's new release "808s & Heartbreak" with 450,000 copies and country star Taylor Swift's former champ "Fearless" with 267,000.

What happened? Wasn't "Chinese Democracy" one of the most-anticipated and talked-about albums of all time? Wasn't it so steeped in myth and lore that a massive debut week was all but assured? Maybe not.

The October release of AC/DC's "Black Ice," while not a perfect comparison, comes to mind. Like Guns N' Roses, AC/DC was a band that had been off the radar for a while and opted to partner with one retailer -- Wal-Mart -- for the release of its own long-awaited new album. "Ice" ultimately chilled with 784,000 copies in its debut week -- the veteran group's best sales frame since tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan started in 1991.

And now we have GNR's album, in an exclusive deal with Best Buy (and iTunes). And it starts with much less.

So, why didn't GNR's number even get close to AC/DC's?

Wal-Mart gave AC/DC the red-carpet treatment. The retail giant made sure the album had the appearance of an event record -- something every Wal-Mart shopper needed to own. If that didn't convince consumers, maybe their famed store-within-a-store display did.

But at Best Buy, based on reports from Billboard staffers on the ground during release week, the promotion was on a smaller scale.

Beyond the retail promotion of "Chinese Democracy," what about the intangibles?

Maybe the public got tired of waiting for an album that was probably never going to live up to their expectations? Maybe fans were turned off by the ever-shifting lineup of band members? Maybe it would have sold more had reclusive frontman Axl Rose and his bandmates made a promotional appearance in support of the release? Perhaps it would have started stronger had it been available to all retailers?

Or, maybe pundits should just take a step back, breathe and see where the album goes from here. There very well may be quite a long, healthy road ahead for "Chinese Democracy."

West may have also been disappointed with the 450,000 start for "808s & Heartbreak." Many pundits, including some at his Universal Music Group label, had expected his fourth album to have a better week.

His last album, "Graduation," started at No. 1 with 957,000 last year. Before that, "Late Registration," chalked up an 860,000-unit entry at No. 1 in 2005. His freshman effort, "The College Dropout," started at No. 2 with 441,000 in 2004.

Reuters/Billboard

[R.B. Huckleberry]

Eddie Trunk actually brought up something interesting about walmart vs best buy...

he was saying that Walmart doesnt put a cap on how many albums a person can buy. Meaning a mom and pop store or retailer can go to Wal Mart and is allowed to buy Black Ice in bulk and then flip it for a higher price at there store.

Best Buy you cant do that because they make it harder for someone to buy in bulk because of the cap they put on the album.

But he said that Black Ice gets counted twice! when that flipping it occurs. That is why they have sold so many dam albums. He said the real number is probably around 450-500k

He did say it was odd that Best Buy has been low key with the promotion and that he is shocked it wasnt even being advertised in their circulars this week.

They aren't counted twice. Trunk is mistaken on that.

If I have a record store, and I go to Wal-Mart & buy 20 copies of Black Ice to stock my store with: Wal-Mart's sales are counted, then whatever I sell is counted. If I sell all 20 copies, it rings up at Soundscan as 40.

So, yeah: twice.

[ppbebe]

what if you sell 10 of the 20 to another shop?
the 20 copies make 50 sales?

[demo23nz]

Eddie Trunk actually brought up something interesting about walmart vs best buy...

he was saying that Walmart doesnt put a cap on how many albums a person can buy. Meaning a mom and pop store or retailer can go to Wal Mart and is allowed to buy Black Ice in bulk and then flip it for a higher price at there store.

Best Buy you cant do that because they make it harder for someone to buy in bulk because of the cap they put on the album.

But he said that Black Ice gets counted twice! when that flipping it occurs. That is why they have sold so many dam albums. He said the real number is probably around 450-500k

He did say it was odd that Best Buy has been low key with the promotion and that he is shocked it wasnt even being advertised in their circulars this week.

They aren't counted twice. Trunk is mistaken on that.

If I have a record store, and I go to Wal-Mart & buy 20 copies of Black Ice to stock my store with: Wal-Mart's sales are counted, then whatever I sell is counted. If I sell all 20 copies, it rings up at Soundscan as 40.

So, yeah: twice.

Except that lots of stores in that situation will register those sales as second hand (whatever price they charge), meaning they don't get counted towards soundscan numbers (if they're even a soundscan reporting store, not all are).

Regardless of which, suggesting that THAT MANY albums less were actually sold is stretching IMO.

Besides, I don't know why people would be so disbelieving of those AC/DC numbers... Historic band, long wait, great promotion, tour announcement... Even though it's a done by numbers album they are a great band historically and it's really not that surprising.

[Silverchair]

I just saw on Hits Daily Double the projection for the top 10 next week and GN'R is not on the list.  I guess they are projecting a 70% drop in sales.  That is not good at all.  I hope it isn't too late for the album to salvage at least Gold certification, but the way it's looking, that seems tough.

Ali

you're so full of shit.  gnr is the biggest band in the world.  cd was the most anticipated album of all time -- officially!  so please, don't try and tell me that this baby won't go platinum.  you'd probably love that though.

oh really? so what about Coldplay who grossed more on tour and sold WAY more albums??? this isn't is GNR the BEST band in the world argument... it's about chart placement. A battle GNR has clearly lost. This isn't 1991 anymore... they didn't surpass UYI.

Is CD a terrible record... no. It's just not 1991 anymore.

My prediction... GNR WILL fall off the top 10. Mark my words.

[western_chaos]

Appetite for Destruction was not an instant hit, remember?
They actually had to re-release wtj as a single.

This band has to prove themselves first.

Plus, they need a big radio hit. Chinese Democracy only peaked at #5 on the mainstream rock charts. They need a much bigger hit than that.

[RancidPunx]

I just saw on Hits Daily Double the projection for the top 10 next week and GN'R is not on the list.  I guess they are projecting a 70% drop in sales.  That is not good at all.  I hope it isn't too late for the album to salvage at least Gold certification, but the way it's looking, that seems tough.

Ali

you're so full of shit.  gnr is the biggest band in the world.  cd was the most anticipated album of all time -- officially!  so please, don't try and tell me that this baby won't go platinum.  you'd probably love that though.

oh really? so what about Coldplay who grossed more on tour and sold WAY more albums??? this isn't is GNR the BEST band in the world argument... it's about chart placement. A battle GNR has clearly lost. This isn't 1991 anymore... they didn't surpass UYI.

Is CD a terrible record... no. It's just not 1991 anymore.

My prediction... GNR WILL fall off the top 10. Mark my words.

Thanks Miss Cleo but HDD already said GNR is out of next weeks top ten in the US.

And for the last time, records aren't counted TWICE by Soundscan. So if someone bought 100 ac/dc albums  from Wal Mart and resold them at their shop, they would still be counted ONCE!

[ppbebe]

the band is proved already.
we all agree that the album is damn great, right?  

now we have to prove ourselves.

I'd say it's now partly our go/responsibility to make that known.

[RancidPunx]

the band is proved already.
we all agree that the album is damn great, right? 

now we have to prove ourselves.

I'd say it's now partly our go/responsibility to make that known.

Uhh,ok. Many people bought multiple copies. I mean like 5-10. I'll wait for the band to talk before I buy any more.

[western_chaos]

The band has proved itself with the fans, but it has not proved itself with those that arent fans.
It's the ones who aren't g'nr freaks like the ones one this board who have to make the album a hit.

Ive done what I could, already bought the album for my mom and advised my dad he should go out and buy it. And, I think he did.

[FunkyMonkey]

Reuters/Billboard
Sat Dec 6, 2008

Maybe pundits should just take a step back, breathe and see where the album goes from here. There very well may be quite a long, healthy road ahead for "Chinese Democracy."