'Born Villain' Record Sales

[Atom]

CD's are no more dead than vinyl. People still buy CD's, just not as many as some would hope. Many new bands know this and focus on digital downloads and promotion through social media and other areas. Times have changed, that doesn't necessarily mean it's for the worst either. I really miss the focus on physical products that used to exist. However, I also like how convenient things are now days and how easy it is for new artists to promote themselves.

The major labels had this coming to them and chose to ignore it from the very beginning. They deserve all the shit they get due to piracy and digital downloads. The only sad part is that some of the artists that are still on major labels will suffer a bit. However, like a lot of the more intelligent acts, they'll get off the major label and then be more free to promote themselves through different avenues and focus more on digital downloads (but not exclude physical copies altogether) instead of solely on the sales of pieces of plastic.

Are there even any rock bands around in mainstream music anymore? It's like a dessert with a handful of bubblegum acts and a few flavor of the week artists. When I was living in L.A. I watched how much the promotion even just in that city died down immensely. Major labels seemed to stop promoting artists altogether except for a few billboards for acts like Rihanna.

I'm rambling now... but I guess the point I'm trying to make is that nobody should really be surprised that this album didn't sell as much as they'd wanted it to.

[brian219]

I actually agree with all of that, atom. But I do think there's a threshhold where a print run on a physical release just doesn't make money any more. We've seen marketing cut to offset lower sales and with Born Villain we're starting to see packaging being scaled back. How long can it really be before the disc itself is on the chopping block? I think eventually CDs will be printed to order and the format will survive that way, but like you said, it'd be a niche market like vinyl.

[pabloccb]

There is still people who buy vinyl and physical copies, and Manson is not selling millions, but he's selling 100,000 copies around the world, so that still shows he has a fan base. Even if cd's are not selling, he has a Top 10 album.

You can't compare his sales today to his sales ten years ago.

[PostHuman98]

I'm curious, is that site only referring to physical copies Born Villain has sold? If that's the case, is there another site that can tally in the combined digital and physical sales?

I'm only curious because the week Born Villain was released it seemed to be doing very well on many digital music charts around the world. I don't think any of it was #1, but most of the placements were still in the Top Five, averaging in around the third or fourth slot.

[Scorpion]

I'm curious, is that site only referring to physical copies Born Villain has sold? If that's the case, is there another site that can tally in the combined digital and physical sales?

I'm only curious because the week Born Villain was released it seemed to be doing very well on many digital music charts around the world. I don't think any of it was #1, but most of the placements were still in the Top Five, averaging in around the third or fourth slot.

I believe they count digital+physical sales. At least the US one

[pabloccb]

I'm curious, is that site only referring to physical copies Born Villain has sold? If that's the case, is there another site that can tally in the combined digital and physical sales?

I'm only curious because the week Born Villain was released it seemed to be doing very well on many digital music charts around the world. I don't think any of it was #1, but most of the placements were still in the Top Five, averaging in around the third or fourth slot.

Billboard sales include physical + digital sales.

Digital sales are not that much.

[ThreeEyedGod]

I buy cd's all the time and do very much hope they do not get put up on the chopping block :(

These numbers are ok, and better than what I expected.

Surely no one thought he would get hip-hop/gaga numbers, now?

[Akira]

Excellently put, dear Atom!

I've never wanted to condemn the status quo.

[MixMastahTee]

CD's are no more dead than vinyl.

And vinyl is effectively dead. Vinyl sales are a pretty niche market, relative to the mainstream.

Basically agreed on the rest of your points.

[Manichaeist]

CD's are no more dead than vinyl. People still buy CD's, just not as many as some would hope. Many new bands know this and focus on digital downloads and promotion through social media and other areas. Times have changed, that doesn't necessarily mean it's for the worst either. I really miss the focus on physical products that used to exist. However, I also like how convenient things are now days and how easy it is for new artists to promote themselves.

no, CDs are dead, and what you said in that final sentence is the reason why. the average consumer is no longer interested in physical product. cds as a medium lessened the utility of physical product by dwindling packaging like artwork, lyric sheets and liner notes down to a smaller size. added to which, the need to cut printing costs meant including less and less with releases to the point that new cds are going to have next to nothing sold with them other than the CD itself. the outlier here is the reissue CD that needs to incentivize the consumer to buy something he already has by including so-called extras - reissue CDs are a niche market, though. and what will likely happen in the coming years is that production of CDs will dwindle to the point of including only niche markets (in all probability audiophile stuff like opera will always maintain a physical presence) as labels realize they've stripped away all incentives to buy a physical product and can offer a significantly cheaper alternative buy selling digitally.

that CDs are still being made isn't an indication of anything; it's the number of CDs sold that will ultimately determine the decision to phase the medium out. the number 1 album in the country a few weeks ago was Jack White's Blunderbuss (a rock record, for all intents and purposes) and moved 138,000 units in its first week. Jack White is a huge star, had major label promotion behind him and began advance releasing singles three months before the album came out in order to arouse interest. The album sold around 57% of what Manson sold when TGAOG debuted at number 1 in 2003 - a sales figure that was considered paltry by 2003 standards. these numbers will continue to dwindle to the point that labels, particularly smaller ones who lack the capital to keep printing large numbers of CDs, will give up on the practice entirely. CDs aren't a fetish product like vinyl. there's no resurgence awaiting them barring the total collapse of America's communications infrastructure. the physical CD offers the consumer dubious advantages (if any) over its digital counterpart. people are increasingly able to buy (and acquire through illicit means) music without going into a store and purchasing a physical product that cost money to design, manufacture, print and distribute, money that all the players in the production-to-sales process have watched evaporate before their eyes.

when the ability to breakeven become increasingly difficult, you usually find a way to differentiate your product or cut costs to stimulate sales. labels experiments in rekindling consumer interest have failed miserably. so, yeah, this shit is dead.