David Cookà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s First Week Sales Predicted To Be Around 300K, Battle with Nickleback, Taylor Swift for #2

Well HDD may be a little off. Their info is 48 hours old. I work at CBS Records (not sony, the new CBS Corp Unit) and word is that itunes post-drop sales are insane right now and that Walmart has shipped double what they anticipated. The industry estimate has Cook possibly debuting platinum, between 1 million and 1.1 million and that would not only be first place, but the first platinum debut in at least 5 years.

Wow. That is very impressive indeed! Well done, DC!

Since DA’s numbers turned in a bit below the prediction, I am going to assume DC’s will as well. But even if it only turns up to be 250k, that’s still very, very good.

300K!!! Bloody hell! That’s fantastic…Go Cookie Go!

Just read what Stephen wrote…I’m hyperventilating.

Oh, man!

Yeah baby!

The industry estimate has Cook possibly debuting platinum, between 1 million and 1.1 million and that would not only be first place, but the first platinum debut in at least 5 years.

Holy shiznit! Are you serious? :shock_tb:

That would be friggin’ insane! But pure awesomeness! :jittery_tb:

After seeing him burst into tears last night upon hearing he was #1 on iTunes I’m imagining he’s a sappy mess today. Go Cookie!! GO!!

Stephen, color me speechless right now. hmy_tb:

Considering DC is above Sasha Fierce on both iTunes and Amazon right now, if what they say about SF’ s ~500K is right, DC should go ~600K or above, right? I’m really liking what Stephen said ^^^.

Just read what Stephen wroteà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m hyperventilating.

I’d stick with the HDD prediction. Their estimates are sometimes off (see archie this week–off by about 20K) but no way are they off 800K.

Trust me.

ETA: Considering DC is above Sasha Fierce on both iTunes and Amazon right now, if what they say about SFà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ s ~500K is right, DC should go ~600K or above, right?

NO. Do not carry that information to other boards. It’s wrong.

How likely is HDD to adjust their prediction?

I am going to ignore you Stephen for my own sanity. Nothing personal. But I cannot process what you said just right now. LMAO.

That said SSSQQQQQEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Holy hell. I will be happy with anything over 200K.

Anything above 200K is good. I’ll be happy no matter what, because this is a great album, and I was seriously expecting the worse and hoping for the best.

stephen – I’m not expecting anything above 250K.
I think I’ll wait for some reliable resources before adjusting my expectations any higher than that.

Thanks for the slap MJ…I needed that! LOL

yeah MJ, i was just going to say.. there is no way they will be off that much.

How likely is HDD to adjust their prediction?

They may adjust their prediction up or down a bit, but not by 800K. I’ve never seen that happen.

I have never seen them be that off either. I am just happy he is sitting at #1. Anything on top of that is gravy.

I am still just amazed with how the record is doing- I really am so happy for him.

I think HDD is off but because I believe they’re predicting more than it will be. First day for idols is always huge, but I don’t think it keeps up during the week.
I say something between 230k-250k.

Btw, thanks for the news on the AMAs, MJ. Didn’t know that.

Their info is 48 hours old.

The album has only been available for purchase for a day and a half. Their information cannot possibly be 48 hours old. Also, HDD gets in first-day estimates for iTunes and Walmart, so whatever their estimation is now accounts for first day sales from both those vendors. On iTunes most of yesterday’s sales are probably people downloading their pre-orders (which would look like post-drop sales since iTunes doesn’t differentiate between buying after the album is available and downloading your pre-order after the album is available; they charge you when you download, not when you pre-order, and the album essentially starts from scratch as if there were no pre-orders).

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d stick with the HDD prediction. Their estimates are sometimes off (see archie this weekà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’off by about 20K) but no way are they off 800K. Trust me.

Actually, they were 45-60K off from their Wednesday projection. Archie’s sales were heavily frontloaded.

Congrats to Cook! Great numbers!

This is gonna be the longest week ever.

Actually, they were 45-60K off from their Wednesday projection. Archieà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s sales were heavily frontloaded.

They were about 20-30K off from their revised Friday prediction, that’s what I was referring to.

I can’t even absorb stephen’s numbers. I think my head would squee-plode if Cookie brought in those kinds of sales.

But man oh man! The HDD predictions are fantastic all on their own!

Well HDD may be a little off. Their info is 48 hours old.

LOL. Seriously? The album went on sell less than 48 hours ago. How on earth could HDD have 48 hours old info? Did they buy a time machine?

HDD’s info is based on retailer reports from yesterday. So, like from midnight. So maybe 12 hours old.

Given that this 48 number is clearly wrong, I’m just a tad dubious about the accuracy of the other numbers. We’ll all know the numbers this time next week. Either MJ’s had it first or, well, not so much.

Anyway, the advertised 300K is awesome.

I wonder what the pre-orders were like? They had to be huge for HDD to predict a ‘massive debut’ last week. And the new Vibe Raters blurb says this:

Just released at retail. Hugely successful pre-order campaign puts album on track for Top 5 debut. #1 Most Added this week at HAC, charting #19; #34 Mainstream. Video impacting now! TV: Performing American Music Awards Red Carpet Live 11/23. Press: Blender and RS. CD release on 11/18. Mgmt: Simon Fuller and Iain Pirie/19 Ent.

If he indeed did have high pre-orders I’m sure that’s playing a huge part in the projected number.

On iTunes most of yesterdayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s sales are probably people downloading their pre-orders

The exciting thing is that we should be able to see just how good those pre-orders on iTunes were. Because we got the official numbers for LO (let’s hope it does well enough that we get the numbers next week too….stupid anchor), we should be able to see the pre-order numbers in the differentials (they’ll be discounted as returns, but they won’t effect the numbers sold this week, just the totals).

I thought Stephen was beeing sarcastic…

I don’t know how huge the pre-orders were… Most of those Amazon pre-orders from back in May were lost. Amazon has canceled without even warning. Other than that only the 3/4 (how long was it?) weeks on Itunes. Which probably got him 40k.

Wow. 300k would be incredible. I will be very, very happy if he clears 200k. Lets hope HDD isn’t off by more than 100k. This is so much better than I was expecting!

If anything, that 300K prediction will probably be revised downward, just as Archie’s was. Even so, Cook is looking to have a strong opening week!

I say something between 230k-250k.

Yup, I was thinking about the same (220K-250K)

Because we got the official numbers for LO (letà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s hope it does well enough that we get the numbers next week tooà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.stupid anchor),

We will. It’s doing better.

In another news… say hello to a platinum rainbow!
http://blogs.usatoday.com/idolchatter/?loc=interstitialskip

Those predictions are great! Having the different bonus tracks might help a bit. I bought all three (itunes, walmart and hard copy) to get all the bonus tracks – I’ve never bought multiple versions of an album before!

Incidentally, my hard copy was an amazon pre-order. I received two e-mails from Amazon asking if I wanted to keep my order. I had to click a link to keep it; if I didn’t it would be canceled. Perhaps people did not confirm they wanted to keep their pre-orders and that is why they were canceled?

Congrats David Cook! fantastic numbers there. Not surprised he’s doing well, he’s getting lots of promo for the album, and it worked.

On another newsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ say hello to a platinum rainbow!

YES!!!!

Platinum rainbows for everyone!

Umm… so does this make TOML the best selling coronation song too?
Where do we stand on that?

On another newsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ say hello to a platinum rainbow!

OMG! Who cares about the rainbow, I see Ken is now quoting us over here at MJs. LOL.

Love you Ken!!!!!!!! (and all your awesome numbers)

Okay, congrats to the Rainbow too (we just knew that was coming soon. It’s not often that the real press quotes us. LOL.).

yay go rainbow! and go kirsten and mjs for the shoutout! haha

Congrats Rainbow! finally.

I was just thinking the same thing psnax….I think that many of the hardcore fans will want a digital version and a hard copy so they can have all three of the bonus tracks. I pre-ordered the itunes version, and I’m planning to walk into a store this weekend and put my hot little hands on a hard copy of the disc…for the satisfaction of a non-cyberspace purchase – it somehow feels more real and public to do it that way – ha! But I might wait till next wek to get the 2nd copy to make sure the 2nd week numbers stay high….

HDD isn’t always as far off as they were with Archie. Sometimes they overestimate Idols due to the fan rush but they aren’t always far off. They might downgrade by Friday but considering earlier today I would have been happy with 200k given LO’s crappy airplay and poor stock in a lot of stores, I have decent expectations.

I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t know how huge the pre-orders wereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ Most of those Amazon pre-orders from back in May were lost. Amazon has canceled without even warning. Other than that only the 3/4 (how long was it?) weeks on Itunes. Which probably got him 40k.

There’s a lot of “ifs” there and its probably impossible to come up with a pre-order number. We don’t know how many pre-orders he got back in May and we don’t know how many were lost or canceled. My Amazon order that came was the one I ordered back in May fwiw. I got an e-mail maybe a month ago asking if I still wanted it.

300,000? Wow that is impressive if that holds up!!!

If those kind of numbers continue, I wonder if labels will start shopping for other Season 7 Idols, such as Carly, Brooke, Jason, Syesha and Michael?

PLATINUM RAINBOW!!!! And lol Ken Barnes, way to bury that news in paragraph 6 of the blog. But it’s all good! That makes it the bestest selling cheesy coronation song of all, yes?

Whoa Stephen, if I even think too hard about your numbers my head might explode. Suffice to say I will be happy with 200k (though if HDD is that off they need to get out of the prediction business…or at least tweak their model for Idols.)

And congrats to MJ and Kirsten for getting mentions!!!

Congrats to Cook and Magic Rainbows!

In another newsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ say hello to a platinum rainbow!

What a great day in CookieLand!

If those kind of numbers continue, I wonder if labels will start shopping for other Season 7 Idols, such as Carly, Brooke, Jason, Syesha and Michael?

I think they will also remember Kristy’s number and probably say No, thanks.
The Davids are the Davids. The others don’t stand much of a chance.

Oh my Gosh. So much Cookie news today. First Season 7 contestant to reach platinum!! Woo Hoo! I can’t believe the “Little Rainbow that Could” is now the “Little Platinum Rainbow that Could”. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

And lol Ken Barnes, way to bury that news in paragraph 6 of the blog. But ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s all good!

Well, in Ken’s defense, he always does the same things with numbers. He’ll sometimes pull out a new song/album to the top of the post, but otherwise he always does them in order of ranking (so if IdolA has the best selling song, he will mention it first along with all the other songs by IdolA. Then he moves onto the next best selling Idol).

WOOHOO for 300,000! Hope that pans out for Cook. Or more. hee. AND PUH-LEEZ, don’t make me fall out of my chair with those best-ever-debut-in-5-years and ONE MILLION in sales things! AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHH! I almost cried. LOL! OK I can breathe now, thank you. Yes, I’m invested in this guy….

And WOOHOO to platinum magic rainbows! I guess we’ll have to add that to it now…Platinum Magic Rainbow That Could. Platinum is now officially a color of the rainbow! YES!

Oh just YAY for Cook! I’m exhausted now. Talk to y’all later.

ETA: I had no problems whatsoever with my pre-order on Amazon. It arrived at my house on TUE 11/18, no problems at all. No problems with the iTunes download either. I feel bad for people who had problems with these! Wah.

Oh my Gosh. So much Cookie news today. First Season 7 contestant to reach platinum!! Woo Hoo! I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t believe the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Little Rainbow that Couldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  is now the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Little Platinum Rainbow that Couldà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ . Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Maybe the rainbow will turn diamond in the end? Although there has not been a diamond album released since 2004, and only four since 2001.

Little update: Declaration has snuck into the Top 100 overall at iTunes (right now I see it at #76)

I hope that the 300,000 figure holds up. But if it doesn’t, can you guys just “Lie to me and tell me that it’s going to be all right” (tm. David Cook, “Lie”). :lol_wp:

Michelle Declaration > LO , lol Hope Dec is the second single.

:clap_tb: I want to scream/cry/shout/jump up and down, I’m so f-ing excited! Go DC and Platinum Rainbows! I’ve been so sleep-deprived due to Cook overload this whole week, and just as I was thinking I need to calm the F-down, we get this crazy news!

HDD isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t always as far off as they were with Archie. Sometimes they overestimate Idols due to the fan rush but they arenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t always far off.

Does anyone (Kirsten, maybe?) have some info on HDD’s history for predicting Idol sales? I’ll be thrilled with anything over 200K, but have they ever been $100K off from their Wednesday prediction for any past Idols?

And yeah, as much as I’d love for such crazy numbers, I am ignoring Stephen because I’d rather be pleasantly surprised than have unreasonable expectations. Also, the 48 hour thing was odd.

I’d bet money the numbers will be closer to Stephen’s then HDD.

I am so happy that David Cook’s TOML went platinum the same week his album was released. All those hours of voting has certainly paid off. If only I can see a picture of his face when he is given the news about his platinum status.

And it looks like DC is battling for the #2 stop for new releases. I am happy if he sells 200k albums in his first week.

This is a great week for David Cook!!!

Where was it that someone asked David his favorite color and he said platinum? I wonder if that was his way of telling the new’s on the Magic Rainbow?

john_socal

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d bet money the numbers will be closer to Stephenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s then HDD.

I like the way you think!!

I seem to remember talk about TOML becoming the best selling coronation song once it passed Platinum. Can anyone confirm/deny? Ah, I still remember the days when we sat and hoped it’d get past Taylor’s song. Good times.

Also – do they do something official to celebrate Platinum sales?

Also – if we haven’t heard anything about a 2nd single yet, what are the odds that one’s on it’s way in Dec? I think we’d probably have heard something about it by now if it was that close. I do think the next single will be Declaration, but I think it’ll probably take until Jan to get it out.

OMG! Who cares about the rainbow, I see Ken is now quoting us over here at MJs. LOL.

Go Kirsten!

Oh, David, what is it about you?! Never has a human being on the face of this planet caused me to anticipate the passage of the days and weeks as you do, every since March!
Whether the numbers are in the 300K range or a little or a lot more/less doesn’t even matter. Whatever you achieve, I’ve no doubt it’ll be yet another reason to be over-the-moon happy for you! You so deserve it!

Thanks for the AMA update, mj. I was wondering if they were really going to invite Cook to perform on the red carpet thing and then not let him in the building, lol. I really hope they don’t make the two Davids present an award together.

Those HD estimates are about 100K more than my most optimistic guess. Archie’s case was really unusual – I don’t remember them ever being that far off before. I think DC will get at least 250K.

I thought there was one coronation song over 1 million (Clay?)

HDD isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t always as far off as they were with Archie. Sometimes they overestimate Idols due to the fan rush but they arenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t always far off.

Don’t forget that HDD also put a warning on Archie’s first prediction numbers didn’t they? Because of the Veteran’s Day holiday? So Archie’s numbers were probably off because of both Idol fans and the holiday. He had a double whammy.

Rueben won so Clay did not have a *coronation* song.

I do think Clay had some songs over 1 million though.

Not gonna come down
Down off of these clouds
All these heroes come and go
You’re still standing

WOOHOO! Again. For Cook. Anyway, wasn’t it Kelly Clarkson’s coronation song that went platinum?

Archieà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s case was really unusual – I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t remember them ever being that far off before.

They were also very wrong about the Jonas Brothers. HDD predicted 725K for the Jonas Brothers after first day sales, revised to 615K for the weekend update and they ended up 515K. Their SoundScan numbers were 525K (the BB building projection was 625K-725K. Jonas Brothers moved 201K on their first day from the 9 vendors reporting)

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d bet money the numbers will be closer to Stephenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s then HDD.

I’ll put up my calculator and I bet I can get MJ to toss in her hat on the side of HDD being more accurate than Stephen.

Rueben won so Clay did not have a *coronation* song.

I thought Clay did have a coronation song. “This is the Night”? Didn’t Reuben and Clay each sing different coronation songs?

I know a lot of people don’t like LO and are complaining about the low sales, but maybe people didn’t get it as a single because they were waiting to purchase the whole album and get it that way?

Thanks Kirsten – I didn’t realize they were that far off with the Jonas Bros. Most of their early predictions seem to be reasonably accurate. Even if they’re wrong, hopefully DC will at least hit 200K

I thought Clay did have a coronation song. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“This is the Nightà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ? Didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t Reuben and Clay each sing different coronation songs?

Yes. They each had a coronation song. Kat, Bo and Diane also had coronation songs (though Bo and Diane had to release the same song as the person who won. There were 3 songs on the Fantasia/Diana singles). Blake at least got to have a song for sale after the Finale. Justin and Archie were denied having any sort of studio singles coming out of Idol (Archie did get to sell his performance singles for 4 days though).

I think both Kelly and Clay went platinum. They would have certed on shipments. Clay sold more than a million if you combine the sales of physical and digital singles. Ken did a post about that a while ago.

I know a lot of people donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t like LO and are complaining about the low sales, but maybe people didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t get it as a single because they were waiting to purchase the whole album and get it that way?

And the song has an audience impression rank of 182 (before recurrents are removed) because people would rather buy the album than hear it on the radio? I’m thinking “No”. I think the song is a boat anchor. I think Cookie would have moved even more units if he’d had a decent lead off single. We’ll never know.

Here is Ken Barnes’ Coronation songs chart. He’s either mistaken, or TOML is the best selling coroantion song.

1. Clay/This Is the Night: 994,000

Also? LOL at this:

David C. is likely to surpass Taylor on this list (that should happen in a couple of weeks), and he might have a shot at Ruben and Carrie, but picking up another 360,000 downloads to beat Kelly has to be considered an outside possibility.

Here is Ken Barnesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Coronation songs chart. Heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s either mistaken, or TOML is the best selling coroantion song.

Well, here is where you get the RAGING debate. Clay’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” sold more than a million. Many people think that was the better song he sang that night and consider that his coronation single.

Kind of like how Kat’s sales numbers are normally attributed to “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” because that was the better song and has sold better. Really, it was “My Destiny”, but that song was really bad.

Lots of hair splitting in the Idol world. Who cares? ToML sold well. BOTW sold well. Album sales are down. Singles sales are up. Apples, oranges all over the place.

OMG! Who cares about the rainbow, I see Ken is now quoting us over here at MJs. LOL.

:clap_tb:

I have always wondered why DA’s name is not among the coronation songs, and I just got it. Because I didn’t watch earlier seasons, I didn’t realize that they used to give the runners up one. I was thinking that we could count Crush as DA’s coronation song and since it will go platinum next week, it should be on the chart, but I guess it will not count as that.

lol kirsten its a regular ole fruit basket.

Hey, I generally lurk but want to chime in with DC’s numbers. I can’t testify for Stephen but I work for a radio station and the news we got here is this will compete with Lil’ Wayne and AC/DC alike for one of the highest debut this year. I’ll be on the safe side and say platinum debut is unlikely, but somewhere near it can be assured.

Hmmm…. Eyeing up Kirsten’s calculator and MJ’s hat.

I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t testify for Stephen but I work for a radio station and the news we got here is this will compete with Lilà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Wayne and AC/DC alike for one of the highest debut this year. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll be on the safe side and say platinum debut is unlikely, but somewhere near it can be assured.

It’s interesting that the word on the street, or at least in some corners of the music industry, seems to vary from the sorta scientific projections. Hmm, really curious to see how it all shakes out. I do know that David has a pretty good track record when it comes to exceeding expectations.

I was thinking that we could count Crush as DAà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s coronation song and since it will go platinum next week, it should be on the chart, but I guess it will not count as that.

It won’t count because it had nothing to do with AI. It came out months later and was never performed on the show.
I’m still shocked that Archie’s version of TOML never leaked. I was so sure it would.

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll be on the safe side and say platinum debut is unlikely, but somewhere near it can be assured.

I don’t think anything is assured until the real numbers come in. All I can say is – I’ll be happy for anything over 200K. No use in inflating expectations to unreasonable levels.

I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t testify for Stephen but I work for a radio station and the news we got here is this will compete with Lilà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ Wayne and AC/DC alike for one of the highest debut this year. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll be on the safe side and say platinum debut is unlikely, but somewhere near it can be assured.

Eh, I put very little stock in these rumors. If he was anywhere near that RCA would be boasting all over industry sites. If anyone was putting news out there it would reach past radio stations.

Hmmmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦. Eyeing up Kirstenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s calculator and MJà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s hat.

Ill join you.. lol

Has there been a case when HDD underestimate the sales with a high percentage ?

lmao at these “insider” predictions. hilarious.

trina radio stations are the last place I look for news… LOL Heck stations and reviews keep saying ‘Angels’ is the next single… *eye roll*

edit: rude post edited

You’re on Kirsten. I’ll bet you a free copy of David’s next cd!

I’ll be happy with 200K. I’m not hoping for more, nor am I expecting more.

Well, here is where you get the RAGING debate. Clayà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Bridge Over Troubled Waterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  sold more than a million.

I’m confused. I don’t remember iTunes being popular back then (or even *existing*, but I suppose I could be wrong?) and wasn’t “This Is The Night” on the same CD Single as “Bridge Over Troubled Water”? So then how could BOTW sell more than TITN? :huh_tb:

Sorry if that’s a dumb question. I’ve been at work and my brain is fried. XD

Eh, I put very little stock in these rumors. If he was anywhere near that RCA would be boasting all over industry sites. If anyone was putting news out there it would reach past radio stations.

Yeah, if he was close to those numbers, his Vibe Raters HDD blurb wouldn’t say “top 5 debut.” They would be more like “top 2″ debut if they wanted to be on the safe side and had those massive projections. (Archie’s had “top 3 debut” because that week he was very likely to go top 3). No, RCA is anticipating that Nickelback, Beyonce, Taylor and maybe even somebody else, could outsell Cook his first week, so if they don’t know anything about a near million sales week or the highest debut in a long while, then neither does a radio station.

HDD can’t account for one very important factor–overzealous fans. The Jonas Brothers and Archie were both victims of this phenomenon that screwed up HDD’s projections. I don’t know if Cook will be as well, but you gotta think that there’s a possibility that Cook frontloaded more than the average artist. I mean, of all the people posting comments in here that bought Cook’s album, how many of you waited until the second day to buy his album?

It doesn’t matter anyway. He’ll have a great first week–that much is assured. Even if he goes down from this projection. And hopefully the holidays can keep his album afloat after that.

Heh, Idol watchers are a skeptical bunch. I’m sticking with “I’ll be happy with 200K and a number one ranking on itunes, above mutha effing Beyonce, however fleeting.” Because seriously, I will. Anything else that happens is gravy fo sho.

Ken was sure wrong about the Magic Rainbow he did not know that it was the little song that could now did he, his crystal ball was way off. ( from the article that listed the coronation songs)

Trina:
Last week RCA fed (I don’t know this for sure but it has been speculated) info to HDD that the presales for David’s record were massive. I think everyone got into a discussion about what “massive really meant” etc etc. I know it is all rumor but I think they must be pretty good or RCA would not have put that out to HDD. We just have to wait and see.

idolfan86 said:

stephen said this would be the first platinum debut in 5 years. so i guess lil wayne didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t sell over 1 mill earlier this year?

Not that I’m agreeing with stephen’s prediction, but when stephen said “debut,” I thought he was referring to the first major label album from an artist, as opposed to first week album sales of an artist. lil wayne’s been around for a while.

Longterm posters will remember me here at MJs. I’m Clive’s eyes and ears on Idol. A few thoughts:

1) Thank the Diety that I don’t have to work with Nigel again. Man, does that guy whine all the time or what? I don’t know how many times Fuller had to explain to him that he couldn’t be one of the judges because he cannot sing. Of course, Nigel is quick to point out that none of the judges know how to sing (you should hear Simon catterwhaling in the shower. They need to soundproof his dressing room a little better is all I have to say on that subject), but at least they kind of have some kind of history in the music biz. And, no, Mr. Farrah-Fawcett Hair, dancing in weird Brit-Variety Shows from the 60s doesn’t cut it over here for industry cred. Plus, old Nigel has a bad habit of eating all the oreo cookies and I cannot stand an oreo cookie hog. I need me some comfort food. Good riddance to him, I say.

2) Clive is exceptionally pleased with the numbers. Good old Stephen doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Platinum in his first week? Nonsense. What does some dude over at CBS know. Like Sony uses CBS to distribute. We aren’t called a major for nothing. The Mouse House wishes they had our distribution wing (although, we wouldn’t say no to having Miley on our roster). And CBS wishes they distributed for Disney. No, my friend Cookie (hmmm…where are those oreos, anyway?) is scheduled to go close to Double Platinum. He sold over 500K in pre-orders alone through Amazon. Clive is already planning to celebrate by renovating his office bathroom with new gold-plating. He thought about platinum plating, but that looks too much like silver. If you are going to impress people, you have to make sure they know how expensive things are. Don’t spread this around to the other sites, but Clive is planning on having Cookie headline his grammy party thing. Heck, Clive is planning on writing Cookie onto his grammy ballot (I think his vote counts for those of 10 record label CEOs plus two).

I know some of you are going to say “Who is this chick and how do we know she is legit?” Well, why would I lie? I’m a long time poster here and my credentials are rock solid. It’s not like a popped out of the woodwork today. Plus, what incentive would I have to lie? If Cookie doesn’t get those numbers what impact would it have? It’s not like people will feel a little let down if Cookie moves 300K units after they were expecting him to move 2M based on my say-so. It’s not like I would post on a website to see if I can people to believe me and laugh at them. I work for Clive. Don’t you think Clive has more important things for me to do than post hoaxes on web-sites? No, rest assured I know what I’m talking about. Have I ever been wrong before?

Hooray TOML! Is it too late to slap “Platinum Selling Artist” stickers on the CDs?

David Cook- The Record is at #4 on Walmart’s Top Sellers list:

http://www.walmart.com/browse/Music/_/N-2p4h?ic=96_0&path=0:4104&ref=125873.125873&tc=100&catNavId=928379

Nickelback is #11, and Beyonce is #12. The first 3 spots are ACDC, Taylor and Keith Urban. ACDC is a Walmart exclusive, and I think Keith Urban is too(?), so those numbers probably won’t translate to the Billboard chart. Beyonce and Nickelback both have 2 versions of their albums on the chart. It’ll be interesting to see how it all shakes out next week, but it’s nice to see DC ahead of the big names at the 2 biggest retailers, on paper at least, for now!

All I can say is, “We’ll see.” I’ll stay in the safe middle. I don’t wanna look dumb either way. :laugh_tb:

im pretty sure pre-orders are included in this prediction.

All I can say is, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll see.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll stay in the safe middle. I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t wanna look dumb either way.

Same here. I’m not a betting person so I won’t go there. :laugh_tb:

Holy crap. 300K is INCREDIBLE, especially considering how poorly “Light On” is being received. Congrats, Mr. Cook. He’s gonna have an amazing debut.

I predicted 170K for Archuleta (and was pretty close) and guessed 150K for Cook. lol….his estimated debut just slapped me in the face.

Percocet FTW! I’m no expert but I’ve known since about February that we are dealing with a major force. Skeptics are going to be shocked.

Youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re on Kirsten. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll bet you a free copy of Davidà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s next cd!

You said you were betting money. I’m not putting up my precious calculator against a CD. This thing can do Reverse Polish Notation! It’s worth a heck of a lot more than $10.

Talk about bait and switch. Next think I know I’ll find out that you are talking about David Henderson’s CD and who knows when that thing is coming out?

Percocet, whoever you really are, you had me LMAO right here, so thank you for that.

Yeah, I’m going with “200K is good enough for me”. Anything above that is gravy.

Haven’t read the comments as I just got home, but I tried to buy the CD at
Walmart today and they were sold out. I STILL CAN”T get the fecking iTunes preorder to download even with 2 messages back and forth with their support. I refuse to buy the iTunes version if I can’t get the bonus track. So I am sad as I still have NO CD to listen to. Walmart said they should get more later this week – hope the bonus track is on next batch.

Two days in a row I have rushed to store and home hoping to have CD only to be disappointed

OK, why is it now that I’m feeling something is up? Trolls, sock puppets? Do delete this post if you feel I’m casting unfair aspersion on other posters, MJ, but I’m having a hard time believing some of the stuff posted.

200k. 200k. 200k. You guys QUIT — there is this tiny part of me that wants to believe the lower end of Stephen, and Percocet’s predict just makes me feel light-headed. Lalalala~

edit: you are one post away from being banned

I’m pretty sure Precocet was being sarcastic and making a commentary about all these “insiders” who just happened to show up all of a sudden.

Please don’t fall for blown up rumors. It’ll probably be somewhat down from the HDD prediction. Hopefully not by alot.

My personal wish is for anything over 305k. That way, he passes Daughtry on the first week debut chart of AI gloriocity.

Who is this chick? MJ, is Percocet really a long time poster here?

edit: bye!

Ok Kirsten, $20 its closer to stephen’s then hdd. You can contact me via email at d-c.org to collect.

Havenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t read the comments as I just got home, but I tried to buy the CD at
Walmart today and they were sold out. I STILL CANà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ T get the fecking iTunes preorder to download even with 2 messages back and forth with their support. I refuse to buy the iTunes version if I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t get the bonus track. So I am sad as I still have NO CD to listen to. Walmart said they should get more later this week – hope the bonus track is on next batch.

Two days in a row I have rushed to store and home hoping to have CD only to be disappointed

Oh dante. I wish I could help you. Crossing my fingers that your Walmart will get another shipment in SOON (you’d think the people at your Walmart especially would be smart and place bigger orders!!).

Anyway, as everyone else has said, I’ll be happy with anything over 200K.

ETA: I’ve been posting at MJ’s since season 5, and I remember Percocet from back in the day. She KNOWS what she’s talkin’ ’bout, y’all.

been lurking here forever. love this site and all its postings. most of all, love cookie. i woke my hubby up last night to tell him the album hit number 1 and, not surprisingly, he was not as excited as i was. i knew then it was time to come out of hiding to be with my peeps. 200k, 300k, platinum?!? i am beside myself. what a week. what a year. when can i get on with my life?

Ok Kirsten, $20 its closer to stephenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s then hdd. You can contact me via email at d-c.org to collect.

LOL. Right.

On the very off chance you are serious, here is a tip, don’t bet money on the internet.

Reminder:

We’re getting into crunch time here, and I’m moving into 0 tolerance mode. If you show up here to bait or troll, you’ll be banned. Just like that. Just a warning.

hahaha Cook is gonna have a super amazing debut. 3 million anyone? lol

but yeah I’ll stick with 250k

I tried to buy the CD at Walmart today and they were sold out.

If my Wal-Mart is sold out tomorrow, then something is really up. South Texas is always slow to catch the Idol fever. I’ve seen Daughtry & Underwood gathering dust.

So sorry to hear that dante. That’s what I was afraid would happen if I tried to go to the Wal-Mart here (I’m in SE NC btw). So that’s why I preordered instead. I hope your Wal-Mart gets those shipments in soon.

MJ, is Percocet really a long time poster here?

That is one thing you can trust me about. Heck, I helped beta test this site.

Meanwhile, I’m off for now. I have to finish doing this appendectomy on myself. I’ve managed to do it on my coffee break using nothing but office supplies and some of that glue we use to seal CD packaging. Clive will be so impressed. He likes it when we take the initiative and avoid taking sick days. What am I talking about? The blood loss must be making me giddy. Clive doesn’t give sick days.

MJ. Please don’t ban me. It’s the blood loss talking.

I tried to buy the CD at Walmart today and they were sold out.

If my Wal-Mart is sold out tomorrow, then something is really up. South Texas is always slow to catch the Idol fever. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve seen Daughtry & Underwood gathering dust.

I guess the question is how many copies they had to begin with. I heard different stories. Some places didn’t even have the CD yet as of yesterday, although this is also not the first “sold out” I’ve heard.

I ordered my hard copy ages ago during the first big Amazon.com pre-order, verified twice via mail, and the thing supposedly shipped over a week ago. I might live abroad, but that doesn’t make me any less impatient for it to get here already.
So I did buy the downloads today as well. Couldn’t wait for it, and glad I didn’t. Hearing this album in HQ made it even better than it seemed from the stream.

Please donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t fall for blown up rumors. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll probably be somewhat down from the HDD prediction.

Yes, I’m leaning very strongly towards HDD predictions myself. They make money from people visiting their site for their predictions. If they muck up by 700K, they look really bad. They are a known entity. If the “insider” predictions end up being correct, I’ll have a little more faith in their next leak to us. Sorry, “insiders”.

Percocet’s kind of funny. LOL

And yeah, congrats to Cook. Sounds pretty strong to me, but I think the number will probably be closer to 250K.

Percocet, i love you! hahaha

edit, my hearts didnt show… booo

Mmhm. Okay

With all the failed Idol cds in the pass 2 years, there’s no way RCA/19 would keep just HUGE sales quiet. They need this media buzz to revive the show and keep labels interested in future winners. Last Tuesday night, Taylor’s label was quoted on “600,000″ and it was all over the news before HDD’s report.

Who is this chick? MJ, is Percocet really a long time poster here?

Yes she is. She drops in every once in awhile. Long time no see perc!

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m pretty sure Precocet was being sarcastic and making a commentary about all these à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“insidersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  who just happened to show up all of a sudden.

Percocet is as serious as a heart attack! Heh.

PS, Perc, tell Clive I said HI!

O.K.

I need next Wednesday to get here now.

Percocet is as serious as a heart attack! Heh.

Nah, she’s as serious as an office supply appendectomy. (;

This thread is turning out to be one of the more amusing things I came across lately.

Don’t ban Percocet MJ. Seriously, its the blood loss. Odd though, I categorize Nigel and Clive in the same creepy category.

If the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“insiderà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  predictions end up being correct, Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll have a little more faith in their next leak to us. Sorry, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“insidersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ .

Yes, I’ll be throwing my hat into the ring with Kirsten’s calculator.

Here’s the deal, I’ve been running this blog for 3 years. “Insiders” who sign up to post some outrageous piece of news are usually trolls. Simple as that.

lol this has been entertaining… lol

Aw, this is way more than I guessed, I’m gonna lose that contest. But it’s okey, LOL.

I can’t believe Nick will only be 300k , did they sell like almost 7 million of ATRR, the market is dying…

Reading this thread has been like listening to the record. LOL.

Jumping off this roller coaster with the prediction of 250K.

the real joke is I don’t think Clive had any involvement in David’s cd?

I don’t make predictions anymore after Season 5…….just sayin!

I am excited – I think I found a Walmart with the CD – I have been calling all around. Since I live in Kansas City, you would think they would have stocked up. You all will hear me scream in delight if I manage to get this tonight. Will report later……

And I am proud of Cookie for going platinum with Magic Rainbow!!! Who would have ever thought it?

I am excited – I think I found a Walmart with the CD – I have been calling all around. Since I live in Kansas City, you would think they would have stocked up. You all will hear me scream in delight if I manage to get this tonight. Will report laterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

Yay! Good luck dante.

LOL, this thread is very entertaining.

Anyway, JEEZ. First he surpassed Beyoncà ©, and now he might reach 300k in the first week of sales? DAVID COOK, STOP MAKING ME SHIT MYSELF. This is not healthy D:

Quick question – did I miss this being posted somewhere (and there is a very high chance of that, lol), or did we even find out how many albums the label shipped?

I honestly don’t know where Cook will end up in sales. Thank you to the ones injecting some comedy relief, it was needed!

Here is my question to MJ/Kirsten.

Beyonce & David released their albums on the same day. David is ahead of Beyonce in sales. HDD predicts Beyonce to be 500,000.

How is Beyonce going to sell more than David when David is at the top?

Thanks for any forthcoming answers and helping me understand that curious bit.

Beyonce & David released their albums on the same day. David is ahead of Beyonce in sales. HDD predicts Beyonce to be 500,000.

How is Beyonce going to sell more than David when David is at the top?

I’m not MJ or Kirsten, but I’d say she’s selling more physical albums.

That’s why him being #1 on iTunes is GREAT, but doesn’t mean he’ll chart at #1. iTunes only takes iTunes into account, not Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, FYE, etc.

Here is my question to MJ/Kirsten.

Beyonce & David released their albums on the same day. David is ahead of Beyonce in sales. HDD predicts Beyonce to be 500,000.

How is Beyonce going to sell more than David when David is at the top?

Lisa, I have the same question. I really don’t understand how all this works. David is the first time I have really paid attention to release numbers etc

ETA: I have no idea how to the quote thing right…

Thanks Sarah. I did think itunes and Amazon made up a good chunk, nothing near Wally World or Target tho.

Lisa — I’m no expert, but Beyonce has two versions (the non deluxe is in the top 30) on sale at itunes, so they will be combined. Plus she could be selling like crazy at the box stores.

aidc08, ctrl c, choose quote below, ctrl v, then choose quote once more to close the quote. Then just type your answer!

BTW, I am glad I am not the only one lost on these things, lol

aidc08, ctrl c, choose quote below, ctrl v, then choose quote once more to close the quote. Then just type your answer!

BTW, I am glad I am not the only one lost on these things, lol

Thanks!

Thank you blissful, I forgot about her having two versions. That makes more sense now. Of course now I am thinking about the different bonus tracks for David’s release and wonder if those were taken into account. LOL Oh I could wonder on this for a long time it seems, lol.

Lisa – iTunes does own a HUGE marketshare for downloads, way more than a majority, iirc. Like 85% or something. So yeah, they do make up a huge chunk, but just for downloads.

For example, Taylor Swift last week sold 592K but only 192K came from downloads, and if the market share of iTunes is 85%, then 109,650 of those downloads came from iTunes. So, in the end, less than 20% of her total sales came from iTunes. She sold around 463K physical albums.

ETA: Whoops, that’s supposed to be 129K not 192K. I didn’t notice the mistake until you quoted it lol. Sorry about that! My bad!

Thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s why him being #1 on iTunes is GREAT, but doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t mean heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll chart at #1. iTunes only takes iTunes into account, not Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Circuit City, FYE, etc.

Do these retailers rank their top sellers? I went to Wal-Mart.com to check and while they had their top 100 they did not indicate if they were listed in order of their popularity ( no numbers attached to the listing) on the page. If their download page was ranked in this order, DC would currently be fourth, behind AC/DC, Taylor Swift and Keith Urban. Nickelback was 11th on the page and Beyonce 12th.

I’m not sure what the market share itunes has. To give a bit of comparison, Taylor Swift had (I think) about 130K digital downloads and the rest were physical CDs.

Lisa – iTunes does own a HUGE marketshare for downloads, way more than a majority, iirc. Like 85% or something. So yeah, they do make up a huge chunk, but just for downloads.

For example, Taylor Swift last week sold 592K but only 192K came from downloads, and if the market share of iTunes is 85%, then 109,650 of those downloads came from iTunes. So, in the end, less than 20% of her total sales came from iTunes. She sold around 463K physical albums.

I don’t know why I keep thinking downloads sell more than physical maybe because I am always online? LOL. Thank you again for this. It is starting to make even better sense. Glad I don’t work for the record companies and have to keep track of all of that, lol.

Here’s to David and the hopes he continues to rise to the moon!

Do these retailers rank their top sellers? I went to Wal-Mart.com to check and while they had their top 100 they did not indicate if they were listed in order of their popularity ( no numbers attached to the listing) on the page.

Honestly, I have no idea. I only use iTunes for downloads (except when I downloaded DC’s “Analog Heart” from Amazon), so I don’t know how the other online retailers work. If they do, I’d imagine that it’d only be for downloads. I doubt that they would do a ranking online of how the physical cd’s are selling at their stores.

Beyonce has two versions of “Sasha”on iTunes. The Deluxe version is #2, the regular version is #28. The numbers will be combined for the final total.

I checked at Target and DC is listed as the top seller in the Rock category, followed by Nickelback. Beyonce was not on the list. Hard Rock had Nickelback in the lead with DC nowhere to be found among the top sellers. DC was third or fourth in the first two Pop categories I checked. Enya lead them both followed by either Taylor Swift and/or the Twilight soundtrack. The highest placement I saw for Beyonce was fifth in the R& B chart ( led by Pink!)

the real joke is I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think Clive had any involvement in Davidà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s cd?

Never underestimate Clive. Never. The guy is everywhere. He’s like the wind. He’s like a Ninja. He’s like freakin’ Jason Bourne. Why, I’ll never forget the first time I came home to my condo and found Clive sitting in the living room, in the dark, with his glasses reflecting the light like little telescopes. Scared me half to death. Now, after all these years of him doing it, I just say “Hi, Clive, what do you want me to tell Cowell this time?”. I’ve never been able to figure out how he gets passed the security system. The darn cat is forever setting that thing off. The neighbours stupid music sets it off. But Clive, never. He’s stealthy that one.

Anyway, if a song comes out of Sony, trust me, Clive has his fingerprints on it somehow. It’s just how it is. No joke. Pisses Barry off, but what can you do?

PS, Perc, tell Clive I said HI!

Sure will. I have a sneaky feeling I’ll be seeing Clive again tonight. I’ve developed a sense for when he is lurking. Expect to have a quote soon from Cowell about how Cookie is the real deal. Thanks for having my back MJ.

I stopped at Walmart today after a meeting and got the last one of DC’s records. It was on the top shelf of new releases, and the top row was almost bare. I didn’t see who else was there but Cook’s two rows were empty except for the one I got. I’m not a rock fan and didn’t listen to too much new music in the 90′s so I can’t be any kind of critic on his CD all l know is that I like Cooks voice and personality and hope there are lots of other folks out there that do too. It seems more is expected of Idols than other recording artist, it just comes with the territory. I do think he’ll do very well, maybe the 300K or more.

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not a rock fan and didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t listen to too much new music in the 90à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s so I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t be any kind of critic on his CD all l know is that I like Cooks voice and personality and hope there are lots of other folks out there that do too.

JOJOSIE, that was lovely. What part of the country are you in? East, West etc? Just wondering in which parts are selling out.

I’m thinking anything in the neighborhood of 200K is good enough for me. #1 at iTunes? #1 at Amazon? The Magic Rainbow going platinum? The Magic Rainbow as the best-selling coronation song evah? Yikes. Who’d a thunk any of that? I’m thinking that Mr. Cook is one happy camper right now, and he just might be singing, “No, THIS is the time of my life. Right here, right now. And this time I mean it!”

smartcookie that is enough to make you get a lump in your throat. So happy for Cookie. I can’t think of a more deserving person. Indeed.

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m thinking anything in the neighborhood of 200K is good enough for me. #1 at iTunes? #1 at Amazon? The Magic Rainbow going platinum? The Magic Rainbow as the best-selling coronation song evah?

If anyone had told me that Magic Rainbow had even the remote possibility of going platinum before it aired on the Olympics, I would have told them they were crazy. I didn’t think it was possible till then but I guess I was proved wrong. lol

I’m sure David is over the moon about it and I’m thrilled for him.

Percocet FTW!!! I have missed you my dear… Life without Clive scoop is just not a life worth living.

Hmmm… Could it be RCA shipped far too few copies of the record? Based on some reports, they seem to have under-estimated the demand.
I hope more copies are shipped quickly. I’d hate driving all the way to WalMart only to find an empty shelf.

Lisa, I’m right there with ya – smartcookie brought tears to my eyes! I am just so very, very happy for “Our Man”!

Lisa, I live in Iowa. The midwest gets a little forgotten, except now we can brag that Cooks a midwestener. The idols that have had shows in our state have done well. Taylor’s two were both sell outs and so was Daughtry’s one. The idols were at our state fair in Season 6. I’d have gone if it had been season 5 or 7. I think DC will sell very well here.

Hmmmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ Could it be RCA shipped far too few copies of the record? Based on some reports, they seem to have under-estimated the demand.
I hope more copies are shipped quickly. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d hate driving all the way to WalMart only to find an empty shelf.

I’m wondering the same thing. I didn’t want to be all fangirly and rush out to buy on the first day (downloading off itunes is a different story). I hope they’ll be at the local Target…I have no idea where my nearest Walmart is at.

Hmmmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦ Could it be RCA shipped far too few copies of the record? Based on some reports, they seem to have under-estimated the demand.

Walmart’s Top Sellers page has the CD listed as available online, and “in limited stores”. I don’t remember the “limited” part being there this afternoon. Nickelback and a few others are also listed that way. Sounds like they didn’t stock enough of either record and are indeed running out in some places!

http://www.walmart.com/browse/Music/_/N-2p4h?ic=96_0&ref=125873.125873&catNavId=928379&tc=100

I have no idea where my nearest Walmart is at.

If you go to Walmart’s website, at the top of the page is a series of links. The first link you will see is “store finder.” If you click on that, a box will appear where you can enter in your zip code and it will give you the location closest to you.

deleted

This is the first time I’ve seen you post (I’m a newbie), Percocet.

But I think I love you. Thanks for making me laugh! haha

I’m looking to the Cowell comment about Cookie

Anyway, I predicted 215,000 for Cookie, but if HDD is right..I’m happy to lose

Lisa, I live in Iowa. The midwest gets a little forgotten, except now we can brag that Cooks a midwestener. The idols that have had shows in our state have done well. Taylorà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s two were both sell outs and so was Daughtryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s one. The idols were at our state fair in Season 6. Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d have gone if it had been season 5 or 7. I think DC will sell very well here.

Hopefully there will finally be someone from the Hawkeye State to cheer for in Season 8!

4 pages worth just had to join in not a newbie or really that funny….my guess for number”my momma raised no fool’ not touching it with a ten foot pool …

Hi Dante and Baxter!!!!!!!!!!!long time no see!!!!!be in chat tonight.

I just picked up a physical copy (I did iTunes myself) for my sister for x-mas. Our walmart had a bunch of them so there’s hope, Dante.

I could be wrong but I don’t think RCA themselves decide how many to ship, I think that comes mainly from how many copies stores decide to order. The stupid thing about Walmart not having many is they’re starting to advertising his Soundcheck in the stores. I stopped in my Walmart tonight and there were ads for it and as of then only 6 CD’s there. I would hope they’ll restock by the time SC starts showing.

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I finally got a copy at a Walmart and am listening now. Had to call around and have them hold one but I got it – and they matched Target’s price of 9.97 instead of the 13.99 they were asking (since I had the Target ad).

So screw iTunes! I am not buying unless they get my account figured out and give me the bonus song. At least I have the bonus Walmart song.

I could be wrong but I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think RCA themselves decide how many to ship, I think that comes mainly from how many copies stores decide to order.

I think you’re right, Trina.

Cos when I bought the album, the store manager was freaking out because in half-an-hour since the shipment came (it was delayed), he had only two copies left LOL.

He kept saying that the David Cook fans should’ve warned him to order more copies. haha

^Yay dante!

YAY! DANTE!! haha

I could be wrong but I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think RCA themselves decide how many to ship, I think that comes mainly from how many copies stores decide to order.

No, you’re right. I just was wondering if the total was ever put out there. It has been in the past for other AI contestants. And usually helps give an idea of what to expect sales-wise.

I’m glad you finally got your copy dante!! WOO HOO!!

Great news of the numbers. I thought anything north of 200k would be phenomenal in this sales environment. It looks like that will happen even if the predictions are off a bit. I have to wonder if the crappy economy might be a good thing for CD sales in general this holiday season. From the articles I have been reading retail sales are expected to be really bad this year in general with the one bright (OK, not so terrible) spot going to Wal Mart. People seem to be cutting back more on big ticket items which is dragging down sales in general, but continuing to buy…. just not spending as much. A CD is a quick, easy, and cheap gift. I guess we will know the Wed. after black Friday how CD sales are doing this season.

I do think the crappy economy may help CD and other music sales, since they tend to act as a distraction and cheaper entertainment in tough times. Concert sales may take a hit though, especially if tickets are expensive.

yep the “lipstick index” I think they call it — people scale back big spending but will still buy little luxuries for themselves, like lipstick … and hopefully Idol CDs, lol.

Hey, all those iPods we bought when we all felt rich, still need music on them, right!

Nickelback took over the #1 spot on iTunes now. DC is still #2. Hey, it was good while it lasted.

Maybe Cookie will regain #1? It has to still be very close…

edit: please stay on topic

Lisa, I live in Iowa. The midwest gets a little forgotten, except now we can brag that Cooks a midwestener

Hey Josie, another Iowan popping up here. Glad I’m not alone. Haven’t found very many of us from the Hawkeye state around.

I’m still going with the 250,000 – 300,000 number. I’d rather be pleasantly surprised instead of punked by some internet trolls.

Congrats to Cookie!

I am sure he will reach Daughtry type of success easily.

He deserves all that and more.

Such exciting times for him.Wow.

Awesome news on the estimates and on Platinum Magic Rainbows (!?!?!).

I recall seeing last week that eight suppliers/retailers issue these early sales reports: “Trans World Entertainment, Best Buy, Circuit City, iTunes, Starbucks, Borders, Target and Anderson Merchandisers.” Anderson Merchandisers supplies at least some of Walmart’s records. Do these entities cover all of Walmart’s sales. Do these entities cover amazon?

I finally got a copy at a Walmart and am listening now. Had to call around and have them hold one but I got it – and they matched Targetà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s price of 9.97 instead of the 13.99 they were asking (since I had the Target ad).
… At least I have the bonus Walmart song.

Oooh, really? I have the iTunes album, but I’ve been torn about going out of my way to get a Walmart copy because I’m pissed about the lack of KOTN, not too mention really greedy for Breathe Tonight (or whatever the Wally bonus track’s called)… but I’ve never purposefully bought more than one copy of any album before, and paying $14 for 2 more songs seemed silly to me… but if Wally is matching the Target price for the one with the bonus track, I may have to succumb and pay $10 for two more songs? Haha, I will have to rationalize this somehow…

Rationalizations, I’m good at those! I used

“well, I got all that axium music for free…” and the

“gosh, I have so many awesome live performances of him that I listen to and like way more than a lot of the music I’ve actually purchased”

and

“well, I did have to dl Analog Heart again w/o paying after my computer crashed and I had to reinstall Windows”

There’s also “I can’t help it, THE EYE TATTOO told me to” and “Awww, Cookie.”

Or you could always say, “What the hell, it’s David Cook & I’m worth it!” :laugh_tb:

My rationalization was, aw, I spend that much on a quickie stupid dinner and don’t bat an eye, not to mention clothes for my cat. (Don’t ask.) So, the upshot was, I wanted the bonus track, I wanted a real, physical copy I could hold in my hands, and I was willing to fend off the oldsters in their Lincolns and shop at the Evil Empire just long enough to grab a cd, some shampoo and some toothpaste and run for the checkout line.

MJ where did you hear he was presenting at the AMA’s also?

frogcooke,
i read about it here

Additional presenters include Colbie Caillat, David Cook, The-Dream, Enrique Iglesias, LL Cool J, Jesse McCartney, Nickelback, Solange, Jordin Sparks, Scott Weiland and Shailene Woodley.

MJ where did you hear he was presenting at the AMAà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s also?

I received a press release via email today. Archie was not listed as a presenter in the release, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’s not presenting…

Declaration is up to #44 on the Itunes top 100. 300K in album sales would be incredible but I’d be thrilled with anything over 200K.

Yep, David’s album is now second to Nickelback on both the overall album chart (iTunes) and the rock album chart, BUT “Declaration” is at #9 on the rock chart!! Nickelback is dominating, but I still think this is very cool news!!

Very good numbers for DC Anything over 200k would be very impressive and if he does hit 300k, that’s just wow.

He’s really made it. I’ve just seen pirated copies of the CD in Japan. (It is the physical CD copy – it has Kiss on the Neck.) I live in an area that has very few foreigners so the pirates aren’t catering to the Americans. I know Idol is shown here a few weeks after it’s aired in the US, but I don’t know how popular it is. He is apparently popular enough for someone to try to make a quick illegal buck off of.

Just another bit of anectodal info on the sales: I had pre-ordered my copy on amazon uk, was initially given Nov 19 as delivery date, and then received an email saying it will be shipped Nov 25… guess they did not receive enough copies to ship out!

Declaration is up to #44 on the Itunes top 100.

So, I guess it’s probably a safe bet that Declaration is most likely gonna be the next single??

I think Nickleback has a special Ticketmaster dilio offered with iTunes purchase right now. It’s so nice to see Cookie hanging with the big boyz (and girlz.)

Eh, he’s still above Sasha Schtick, so I’m cool with that. I honsetly didn’t think he’d make it to #1 with all the big guns out this week, so holding it for 24 hours was far and above my expectations. As long as he sells well enough to have what’s considered a “successful” first week (over 200K, right?), I’m happy.

I received a press release via email today. Archie was not listed as a presenter in the release, but that doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t necessarily mean heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s not presentingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

Thanks mj

I don’t really understand why the individual tracks from the album are listed in the iTunes chart even if they can be downloaded separately, would there be much point in releasing them again as singles since they are effectively singles?

A nice acoustic version of Light On if this hasn’t been posted before -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc_UKHCJbaM

I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really understand why the individual tracks from the album are listed in the iTunes chart even if they can be downloaded separately, would there be much point in releasing them again as singles since they are effectively singles?

Because some people might not be buying the album, but picking which songs they prefer based on the snippets.

Before digital downloading like iTunes came along, you wouldn’t be able to get tracks separately (besides the single).

Thus the single does not really serve its purpose
(to promote and increase album sales)

A downside to iTunes/Amazon/etc., IMO

Because some people might not be buying the album, but picking which songs they prefer based on the snippets.

Before digital downloading like iTunes came along, you wouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t be able to get tracks separately (besides the single).

But that’s exactly it isn’t it? They are all downloadable now, or do they still sell singles as physical units?

Maybe it’s just all about marketing and radio play (that’s an interesting question – do radio stations play tracks from new albums that haven’t been officially released as singles?)

Hazel, they do lol

WPRO(profm in providence) has been playing ‘Angels’ twice a day. Radio stations sometimes play album tracks even though they arent official singles. They’ve played TMH twice so far.

YEah you can download them now from the album sperately, but the purpose of releasing a single is more for album promo. They release a new single to radio. Its what will help keep album sales up hopefully. So people are aware of their music etc etc.

Some people just listen to the radio, hear a song they like and then look up the person.. Maybe they’ve now heard 2 song by a particular artist and say ‘oh hey I like both these songs, maybe ill check out their album’ or they just buy the single. Its all sort of promo.

DC’s “Come Back To Me” is #14 on the Amazon mp3 downloads chart, and is also on the top 100 itunes chart, even though he hasn’t performed it anywhere and it’s gotten no promotion. It seems like the public has found the song all by themselves. It’s a good song too (imo).

I expect DC to have good sales this week. The position is sort of meaningless. It really depends on who else is charting that week, so to compare who got #1 or #2 is a skewed attempt. Sales is the only way to compare.

There’s someone named Percocet who runs a hate-Clay-Aiken blog called “Fraud Squad”, but I don’t know if it’s the same person.

They lyrics to Kiss on the Neck are wickedly awesome. Too bad most people won’t hear this song. Maybe down the road somehow.

I was thinking that we could count Crush as DAà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s coronation song and since it will go platinum next week, it should be on the chart, but I guess it will not count as that.

The coronation songs are not from their first album, they are from the show itself, given usually to the winner and sometimes the runner-up. The songs are written by other people, and the Idol contestants have little choice in the matter. Lately they have been given a few songs to choose from. Usually the songs are corny and mushy. David Cook’s song was that way, but he managed to make it into an AC hit, which is quite an accomplishment.

David A didn’t put out a coronation song. Crush is not a coronation song.

Also – if we havenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t heard anything about a 2nd single yet, what are the odds that oneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s on ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s way in Dec? I think weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d probably have heard something about it by now if it was that close. I do think the next single will be Declaration, but I think ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll probably take until Jan to get it out.

I notice that some artists have several singles on the itunes chart at a time. Taylor Swift had 3 or 4, it seemed, before her cd even came out. So can’t they put another one out for DC soon? I’m hoping. Declaraction and also Come Back to Me, which is also climbing the itunes chart all on its own steam.

I do think Clay had some songs over 1 million though.

I don’t know. “This is the Night” hasn’t quite reached platinum yet. “Invisible” was kind of a hit but I don’t know how many it sold as a single. I don’t think he had any other songs that sold well individually, unless maybe some of his Christmas songs. Oh and wasn’t “Bridge Over Troubled Water” on the B side of “This is the Night”? I’m unclear about all that.

Come Back to Me, which is also climbing the itunes chart all on its own steam.

Part of Come Back to Me was played in a NPR (radio) review the other night, so that’s helping fuel it’s sales. Declaration and Permanent are playing on David’s MySpace, so that gives them a little more exposure as well.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97170653&ft=1&f=1039

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=382394266&MyToken=f98b8298-786f-46ba-89c8-d2e657c3f68a

All 3 songs are doing really well on the charts for so little exposure. Any one of them would probably sell as a single. I wish RCA would just put a 2nd one out already.

(Sorry about the long links- don’t know how to do pretty ones. Didn’t his MySpace used to be shorter?)

“Light On” is okay but I think some of the other songs will do better and I can’t wait for more singles. Impatient I guess. I can’t wait to see his sales numbers.

I think the myspace address is http://www.myspace.com/officialdavidcook

DC has 4 songs on the itunes top 100 songs now, that’s pretty cool. Declaration and Permanent are selling above Light On at this time. I think it’s great that his cd’s only been out a few days and he has 4 songs on the top 100.

Wow. Declaration is in the 40′s and LO is 90? I am praying they release a new single soon. Also, I am absolutely in love with Come Back to Me. I thought I didn’t like it at first, but I am completely hooked now.

Since LO is #90 after three televised performances in the last week, maybe RCA will realize that people aren’t really likin’ it. Come Back to Me is doing almost as well after getting a short clip played in an NPR review that panned the album. (But LO is certainly destined for at least top 10 on HAC, even if no one wants to hear it, lol). The video doesn’t seem to be helping much.

I would love to see David perform Declaration and Lie or Come Back to Me on the AMA pre-show. If the album sales start to tank after the holiday next week, maybe they’ll get a new single out there sooner rather than later. He seems to be doing fine for now.

Well I fell for the troll on here, darn it. Silly naive me. I hadn’t noticed that before at this place and I’m pretty inexperienced anyway. LOL at me!

BTW, David has TWELVE songs in the Top 100 ROCK songs on iTunes! WOOHOO! So 12 of the 13 or 14 songs off the album are in the Top 100 Rock songs. COOL! YAY! :clap_tb:

Since LO is #90 after three televised performances in the last week, maybe RCA will realize that people arenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really likinà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ it. Come Back to Me is doing almost as well after getting a short clip played in an NPR review that panned the album.

LO is #90 because there are two LOs selling at this moment. And both are in the top 100. The song is probably selling more, but half of the sales are going to one version, the other half for another version. If there was only 1 LO it would probably be in the 50s like it was before the second LO appeared.
As for Come Back To Me, I think the 30 seconds of the song are helping it a lot too.
Lie is not doing bad too, it was in the top 120 at some point…

Also – if we havenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t heard anything about a 2nd single yet, what are the odds that oneà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s on ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s way in Dec? I think weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d probably have heard something about it by now if it was that close.

I am probably wrong but didn’t we just get a week’s notice before Light On was released? So possibly one could come out in December? Although in some of his interviews he makes it sound like it will be a while….I hope soon than later.

A nice acoustic version of Light On if this hasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t been posted before -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc_UKHCJbaM

This just became my favorite version of LO! Wow! Loved it!

I think releasing a single during the Holidays would be a little iffy since it might get swamped by the Christmas songs flooding the airwaves.

Well, it seemed like they put out Light On a little earlier than they were planning, just to keep us fans from complaining too much. Maybe they’ll listen to us again? Almost any song on the album would probably do better than LO. That’s the 1 song I didn’t even put on my iPod. I love every single one of the others. Hopefully they’ll pay attention to what’s actually selling and take the hint :smile2_ee:.

Just to contradict myself though, I’ll also add that the other rock singles are hit or miss on the Top 100 as well. Nickelback’s are doing great, but Snow Patrol’s song barely made on the chart for a short time (a week or 2?- I can’t remember). The All-American Rejects’ song languished until their video came out a week or 2 ago (same day as David’s). It’s finally up in the 20′s today, for the 1st time IIRC. So, I can understand why RCA might take a wait and see attitude while radio play is still increasing, and the album’s selling well. They need to walk the fine line between getting him out there enough for people to recognize him and his music and oversaturation to the point where it starts to turn people off, and that’s a tough one to predict. I’ve figured up until now that they were happy with the way the preorders were going, so they weren’t worried about LO not tearing up the charts.

Thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s someone named Percocet who runs a hate-Clay-Aiken blog called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Fraud Squadà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , but I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t know if ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the same person.

So not the same person. Didn’t even know there was a hate-Clay-Aiken blog. Who starts a blog to hate on someone? Did Clay Aiken run over her cat or something? I got no quarrel with Clay. Nice dude. Let me have the last chocolate chip muffin at the craft table once. Does stuff for Unicef. Even Clive says he’s a nice guy. Clive just likes to torture people. It’s his thing.

I think releasing a single during the Holidays would be a little iffy since it might get swamped by the Christmas songs flooding the airwaves.

Basically. Archie can do it because he already has a song still charting pretty high, so he can afford to let his next single flounder a little during the holiday season and regain it’s legs again in January.

LO isn’t going anywhere folks. It’s still climbing, hasn’t peaked at all, The video just came out, and it is pretty much a lock for the top of the Hot AC charts. Plus the album seems to be selling anyway. Think Jennifer Hudson and Spotlight. This seems to be that kind of situation. He has a big fanbase and a reasonably high name recognition, that album is getting decent buzz, he has plenty of promotion lined up – so if you think about it, there really is no reason for the label to pull it just yet. If it starts to stall they will whip out a new single, but until then I doubt RCA will care unless the album takes an abupt fall. That does not seem very likely. I wouldn’t even look for a new single until at least mid January.

LOL! TOML is currently #37 on the iTunes download in the ROCK category! (Declaration is #9 and LO is #17).

LOL! TOML is currently #37 on the iTunes download in the ROCK category! (Declaration is #9 and LO is #17).

That song has unbelievable powers.

LO is #90 because there are two LOs selling at this moment. And both are in the top 100. The song is probably selling more, but half of the sales are going to one version, the other half for another version. If there was only 1 LO it would probably be in the 50s like it was before the second LO appeared.

At the risk of being called a troll *cough*, I don’t see two Light Ons on my RSS feed in the Top 100. But RSS feeds can be messed up.

Let’s take the optimstic view. We all seem to see that Light On is at number 90 on the download chart. Let’s assume that the second spot is 96 and that they’re gonna end up in those positions in the final download chart. That means if we combine the two, Light On is moving about 29K this week. If we are optimistic. Which is better than last week when it moved 21K. Meanwhile, Declaration is sitting at 44-48 which means (using the same optimistic rules) that it’s moving 31-28K. With almost no promo. I think people want to buy David Cook songs. I just think they don’t want to buy Light On.

Now, I suppose that’s it is very possible that people like Light On so much that it convinces them to buy the entire album. Meanwhile, people who like Declaration or Come Back to Me are little weasels who only buy the one track that they like (who needs customers like that?). But songs don’t typically play out that way. And songs that are getting 128 spincrease on Pop in the Top 30 usually don’t go top 10. And hit songs on HAC are nice, but they don’t move a lot of units. Top 10 songs on Urban/UAC, don’t move a lot of downloads, but they do move a lot of albums. There are always exceptions.

I fully admit that I could be dead wrong. Light On could become the song of the 00s that Classic stations play for the next 80 years. It can still hit number one on the Hot 100. It can still top the Pop charts. Over the years, I’ve been watching songs from a variety of artists wend their way up the charts, and 8 weeks in, they usually show a bit more life if they are destined to be hits. On most of the indicators, this song is either stalling or falling. I say, cut your losses. Some songs don’t resonate enough to be singles. Doesn’t mean they suck and that is no reflection on the artist. I think if they pushed something like “Declaration” or “Come Back To Me” half as strongly as they are pushing “Light On”, they would get much better results.

It’s all a matter of opportunity costs. That is why you see businesses shut down divisions that make money. If division A has a budget of X and makes a profit of X plus 2% while division B has a budget of Y and makes a profit of Y plus 30%, companies may choose to put all of their budget into division B or sell division A and invest the money elsewhere. Nothing wrong with division A, it’s just that it’s budget could make more money if spent somewhere else. Is “Light On” helping to move some units? Probably. But could you get a higher return with the same promo budget with a different song? I think so.

I’m not hand-wringing over this. I just think it’s an interesting discussion. I admit that there are other ways to interpret the facts, but I think one has to start counting on exceptions to the rules if one expects this song to be a success.

LO isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t going anywhere folks.

I don’t think we were suggesting that it’s going anywhere, or that it hasn’t peaked yet (at least I wasn’t) but some of us are looking forward to another single soon. I think they can have more than one single out at a time. We’re just talking, nothing serious.

I think if they pushed something like à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Declarationà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Come Back To Meà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  half as strongly as they are pushing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Light Onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , they would get much better results.

I think so too. I’m not hand-wringing either, just excited about all the great songs on the cd and all the possibilities. I can’t wait for people to hear some of the other songs on the cd that are on more people’s “favorites” lists.

It’s all good.

That song has unbelievable powers.

That’s for sure. LOL

LO is #90 because there are two LOs selling at this moment. And both are in the top 100. The song is probably selling more, but half of the sales are going to one version, the other half for another version.

For real? Why are their two versions selling? I only see one on the itunes top 100. How strange. There’s been something odd about this song all along. Like when we tried to pre-order the cd on itunes, and somehow downloaded yet another copy of the single, but the pre-order never went through.

I don’t understand how there are two versions selling, but I do learn something new every day that’s for sure. lol

Basically. Archie can do it because he already has a song still charting pretty high, so he can afford to let his next single flounder a little during the holiday season and regain ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s legs again in January.

I don’t really agree, just because Archie’s single is charting higher, doesn’t mean that Cookie can’t put out a single in December if he wants to. If the cd is selling well, and several songs are charting already, I think he would do well to put out another single soon, that would be stronger than LO. If another single charted well, it would increase interest in the cd while it is still new and hot off the press.

BTW, David has TWELVE songs in the Top 100 ROCK songs on iTunes! WOOHOO! So 12 of the 13 or 14 songs off the album are in the Top 100 Rock songs. COOL! YAY!

That is so exciting!! Thanks for sharing! :clap_tb:

There are two versions of LO selling because you can buy “LO the single” – with the scary, pissed off David on the cover, or “LO from DC the Record” with David’s elongated head on the cover. But I only see one in the Top 100 and it’s at 90 which doesn’t seem all that fantastic.

I don’t expect RCA to release a new single while LO is climbing up the HAC chart, but like many, I find it annoying that we can’t just press FF and get to the next single, which hopefully will perform well on more than one format and maybe even sell half as well as TOML.

Cheese, thanks for explaining. I guess I halfway understand now.

Yes I would like to push FF too but it’s just from excitement, whatever happens is fine.

Does anyone else like “I Did It For You”? That’s one of my favorites … but almost every song is a favorite it seems. Such a dilemma. :happy_tb:

I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think we were suggesting that ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s going anywhere, or that it hasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t peaked yet (at least I wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t) but some of us are looking forward to another single soon. I think they can have more than one single out at a time. Weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re just talking, nothing serious.

I’m not serious either, this discussion is fun for me. No worries! I think they can have more than one singe too, but I don’t think now, going into the holidays is the time. I want Declaration next, personally.

On most of the indicators, this song is either stalling or falling.

Kirsten, you sure are passionate about this topic. LOL. I haven’t seen any evidence of LO stalling or falling. Everytime I check it is gaining adds and spins. Its hard to gauge the sales since the preorder thing and the ITunes glitch happened in the middle of it all, but haven’t they gone up almost every week? Can you clarify what you mean?

Let me be clear here… I don’t like the song. LOL. But I know that’s because I don’t like Nickleback/Hinder. Those guys sell though. And it has seemed to be climbing steadily. I don’t think that it is going to be a smash. From the beginning it screamed modest hit to me. So, to me, if the thing seems like its going to be a modest hit and if his record keeps selling, I don’t see why they would pull it during the holiday season to rush something else out at a time when it is hard to release new singles. That’s the part I’m not getting.

Also, I was aware that AC doesn’t sell records, but I was under the impression that HAC does – particularly albums. Most of the other groups like him (Lifehouse, OAR, Snow Patrol, etc) have singes that chart high on HAC, moderately well on Top 40, and videos that play a lot on Vh1. Works for them. LOL. So I was assuming that at least to start, that would be fine for David. Am I wrong? I do think he’ll need big Top 40 hits eventually, I just don’t know if he needs them right now.

And no, I don’t think you are a troll. LOL. I like hearing different perspectives. It’s how I learn how this business handles marketing. So let’s discuss away!

you can buy à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“LO the singleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  – with the scary, pissed off David on the cover, or à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“LO from DC the Recordà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  with Davidà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s elongated head on the cover.

LMAO, SO true! I think I had DC-anticipation goggles on the first time I saw those pictures because I thought they were fine, but seeing him in person next to that blown up photo in interviews is such a shock now. WTF is up with the weird photoshopping when the real thing is SO much better looking?

I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t see two Light Ons on my RSS feed in the Top 100.

I only see one on the itunes top 100.

Kirsten and oceana, I see the LO’s at 95 and 104, but my feed hasn’t updated in a few hours.

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not hand-wringing over this. I just think ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s an interesting discussion.

I agree. Beyonce and Nickelback both have 2 singles out now, so why can’t DC get one sooner rather than later? I dunno though, just wondering. I really like Come Back to Me, but if something in that vein should do well, I’d really rather it be Lie, because I’m obsessed with that song… or Avalanche, cuz it’s so pretty. That said, I think Declaration is the best choice.

Everytime I check it is gaining adds and spins. Its hard to gauge the sales since the preorder thing and the ITunes glitch happened in the middle of it all, but havenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t they gone up almost every week?

For all the spins and adds it gaining, shouldn’t it be selling more? For me, the amount of downloads its sold since it’s out isn’t that great. Even after SNL which was huge exposure it didn’t really make a major gain. I think the pre-sale/iTunes glitch is moot at this point and it’s pretty easy to see how its selling. It really hasn’t gone up every week from what I can recall.

Can you clarify what you mean?

Sure. The song is doing well in HAC. No doubt. But it’s kind of treading water in Pop. Pop songs that are destined to become hits tend to have big spincreases some point because the format is so huge. This song just keeps meandering along.

Let’s do a little math. To get to top 10 in Pop, you need at least 5500 spins. To get top top 20, you need more than 3700 (all this is dependent on the week, but that’s typically about how much it takes). Currently, Light On is sitting there with 1275 spins and it gained 130 spins since last week. So, if it continues at this rate, it will take 19 weeks (end of March) to get to top 20 and 33 weeks (July) to get to Top 10. But that’s not going to happen because early adapters will have stopped playing it by then. Songs on the pop charts have a short shelf life. The song isn’t really going to go very far on Pop at this rate.

Meanwhile, it can’t even get a toe-hold in any of the other formats that might help. AC and the various Rock charts are not interested at all. He’s falling there if you can consider the minor toehold he got falling at all.

Light On seems to be steadily falling down the iTunes chart. Despite Top Rate promo opportunities, Light On just keeps sinking lower and lower. Nothing really seems to make it move up or sustain a rally. Look at the big songs that were released the same day as it. “Gotta Be Somebody” is sitting at 18 and 42. “Keeps Getting Better” is at 16. Sure, they have more radio spins than “Light On”, but that’s all part of the problem.

After 8 weeks with the kind of promo the song is getting, I really don’t know what more RCA can do to move that song to have significant AI or downloads increases short of giving it away free in boxes of Rice Kripies. I’ve been told to be patient and wait for this event or other. All those events have happened and none of the predictions have come true. After each event (official ad date, SNL, album drop date), I’m told that I must wait until the next event for this song to blossom. I’m serious, what more can RCA do? I was patient for a long time. Time to call time of death on this song. I’ve seen this same scenario play out too many times before.

At the risk of being called a troll *cough*, I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t see two Light Ons on my RSS feed in the Top 100. But RSS feeds can be messed up.

The second LO was there for a while, but I guess it was another one of those cases of some Itunes’s songs missing which bumps the others songs. Things went back to normal. Still, both are selling pretty much the same at this point, I guess, they’re very close to each other.

Meanwhile, Declaration is sitting at 44-48 which means (using the same optimistic rules) that ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s moving 31-28K. With almost no promo. I think people want to buy David Cook songs. I just think they donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t want to buy Light On.

That’s assuming the song will stay there all week. I don’t think it will sell more than 20K. Still, potatoes and oranges. It’s Declaration’s first week, and the song has been performed live, It does not mean it’s doing better than LO.
I’m not a fan of Light On, but it was the single, there’s no going back. And yes, the song is growing, where is it falling? Not in radios and not in sales (it’s growing in both). HAC is not TOP 40, but it actually moves units. The song can go high there. I don’t think releasing a new single now would change much, I believe Jannuary is the best option. Also, I don’t remember any mediabase add after the song was sent to radios. But I could have missed it. If they release a new single now, OK. I’m sure it won’t hurt him, just doesn’t seem that they really need it.
I think Declaration and CBTM can do better, what I don’t think is that has to happen now, while LO has legs. But I guess only some of us see those legs.

And ITA to what Tina said.

For all the spins and adds it gaining, shouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t it be selling more? For me, the amount of downloads its sold since ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s out isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t that great. Even after SNL which was huge exposure it didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really make a major gain. I think the pre-sale/iTunes glitch is moot at this point and ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s pretty easy to see how its selling. It really hasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t gone up every week from what I can recall.

Yeah, that’s where I get confused. It’s sales have been rising actually since all the glitch/pre-order stuff shook out, but its still not selling very much, and I’m not sure how much it matters since I was under the impression that in his genre the singles don’t necessarily move a lot but the albums do. So I don’t know at what level LO is supposed to be in the first place. LOL. Somebody, HELP!!!!!

A nice acoustic version of Light On if this hasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t been posted before -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc_UKHCJbaM

That was really good! Loved it!

Oh Kirsten, I get it. Was he ever expected to chart on rock? And isn’t TOML still #1 in AC? I didn’t think he would go anywhere there until that puppy was gone. The ITunes charting shoots up and down, but the actual sales go up. Last week, for example, chart position had more to do with Taylor Swift singles pushing everyone else down. But I totally get what you are saying about pop radio. It doesn’t look like he’s going to get very far there. Hmmm. So what do you think the label will do? If he keeps selling records, does it even make a difference? I would imagine after 3 weeks we’ll know whether he can still sell records at a decent clip. I suppose at that point a call will be made. But by then we are talking the beginning of December. Can they really switch singles then? I have no idea how that works.

There are two versions of both LO and Magic Rainbow appearing on various itunes charts—then “single” for each that was released pre-record and then the “album” version. Same thing happened for DA’s Crush and Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” last week—you saw two versions of what really is the same song. Ultimately billboard will aggregate those sales for the weekly charts. Because DC’s genre got changed on itunes for the record, the result is that those two songs are appearing on both the pop and rock charts. On Pop, LO the single is #27 and Magic Rainbow the single is #47. On Rock, LO the album is #15 and Magic Rainbow (the album) is #31. (Cracks me up to see Magic Rainbow hanging around with the rock songs.) Anyway, as could be expected, the album versions are moving up the charts, while the single versions are going down.

I seriously doubt that they’ll release another single before Christmas. LO is continuing to go up the airplay charts, video was just released, etc., etc., as everyone said above, plus the time of the year, plus a slow down in DC appearances next month. I’d also say that you can’t read too much into the relative popularity of Declaration vs. LO this week. Yeah, it’s great to see a song that I like getting love off of one TV performance and then some reviews—it gives me hope that, launched well, Declaration could be a hit. But, in addition to the “two LOs” problem that was discussed above, the simple fact is that if you saw DC on SNL and said, “hey, I liked that—I want to buy one or both of those songs,” you could immediately do that for LO, and not for Declaration. So, there may be some pent-up demand from Declaration, fueled by reviews that have mentioned Declaration. (Although every song has been highlighted positively in at least one review.) My guess is, they’ll stick with LO through 1/1, then launch Declaration.

Thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s assuming the song will stay there all week.

I did say that. The second version of Light On is not likely to finish the week at it’s current location either. I was being optimistic in both cases.

BTW The thing about releasing a song in December is not expecting it to go to number 1 by Christmas. Even big songs from HUGE stars rarely do that (although, some Country dudes can do that). The thing is to start the long journey up the charts so that you are in a reasonable position to sustain those post-Christmas sales.

Kanye West, Ne-Yo, Pink, The Fray, Taylor Swift and Akon are all going for adds in the next couple of weeks. They aren’t sacrificing those songs. They have a strategy.

I agree that another single is needed, particularly in light of the entire record. Other material is simply much better. However, I think the first step is to seriously have David cut the umbilical on “Light On.” He practically drools over that song. Either he really loves it, or he’s a really great actor. Hearing him speak about the carte blanche he had with the whole process, I’m finding it hard to put the blame strictly on RCA for this. Wonder how long this “new single please” will blow in the wind before it takes root.

Who knows….

When did they release Jordin’s second single (the duet with Chris Brown that actually sold some units, bringing Tattoo back to life as well)? I’m also interested in the schedule of Daughtry’s single releases because I don’t remember what his first single was (Home?) or how well it did on its own (as opposed to after the album dropped). I know about the time he was picking up major heat, his singles were everywhere, like the Prison Break premiere and that kind of thing. Which reminds me just how much things outside their control can drive single sales — iTunes ads, getting picked up as soundtrack music for popular TV shows, getting to be the Idol bye-bye song, etc. — and we have no idea if anybody is going to want Light On or Declaration or Lie or something else we’re not thinking about for any of those. If “Heroes” (the TV show) picks up steam and they use DC’s “Heroes,” if AI showcases “Life on the Moon” every time someone is booted, if “Lie” is a heartbreakingly lovely waltz on SYTYCD (performed by the most popular couple), if “Kiss on the Neck” makes it into a “Twilight” movie… Anyone of them could be a breakout hit.

Either he really loves it, or heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a really great actor.

I think it is a little of both, plus the fact that he has frequently said how much he is looking forward to taking time off in December. He’s done the leg work for LO. To start over with a new song may not be appealing to him at the moment.

Oh Kirsten, I get it. Was he ever expected to chart on rock?

Well RCA sent the song for adds there and his album is classified as rock on iTunes. I’d be shocked if he wasn’t expected to chart on rock.

And isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t TOML still #1 in AC? I didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think he would go anywhere there until that puppy was gone.

I don’t think TOML should make a difference either way. I’ve heard the reasoning that RCA was going to wait for TOML to slow down before pushing LO and I don’t buy it at all. If that’s what DJ’s are saying, they’re lying…much like they’ve been known to do. Plenty of artists have new songs take off while another one is still charting.

If he keeps selling records, does it even make a difference? I would imagine after 3 weeks weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll know whether he can still sell records at a decent clip. I suppose at that point a call will be made.

It definitely makes a difference. He’ll sell records now because of the holidays and initial swoop of promo. But then what? You need strong airplay to keep albums selling. That’s how Jordin ended up going from crappy sales to nearly platinum in less than a year.

Daughtry’s Its Not Over didn’t go for adds until after his CD dropped. It took some time to really take off but I’m pretty sure within a month it had a good 3,000 spins at least. It moved quicker than LO.

Thereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s someone named Percocet who runs a hate-Clay-Aiken blog called à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Fraud Squadà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ , but I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t know if ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the same person.

Please don’t call out people for what they do on other blogs. If it has nothing to do with my site, I don’t want it posted here. Thank you.

However, I think the first step is to seriously have David cut the umbilical on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Light On.à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  He practically drools over that song. Either he really loves it, or heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a really great actor. Hearing him speak about the carte blanche he had with the whole process, Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m finding it hard to put the blame strictly on RCA for this

IIRC, sometime earlier in the process, David said RCA told him to make a record and let them worry about choosing singles. I really don’t think he had anything to do with choosing LO as the first single. Also, I seem to remember talk about how 3 different songs were being mixed, and how each of them could be picked as the 1st single, only a few weeks before LO came out. I think the decision was made sort of last minute, and had more to do with Chris Cornell and his involvement than it did with the song itself. Also – I think David Cook is a great actor.

I don’t know how soon they should release a 2nd single. I was hoping they’d be a bit more open-minded while promoting the album and use some of the other songs in the talk shows, but I guess that really wasn’t going to happen.
I just don’t know what’s going to sell the album once the initial fan frenzy dies down. With no hit singles and little media attention after the next week or two… Maybe holiday shopping? IDK.

I just hope that when the next single is out, RCA does it’s job and promote it well. It’ll be a disaster if one bad single choice has a long term negative impact on David’s career.

Was he ever expected to chart on rock?

Well, I expected him too. Do I count? If Chris Daughtry and his gang of merry men can chart on Rock why shouldn’t Cookie?

I’m not sure I understand what the marketing strategy is if RCA doesn’t at least hope for him to get some spins on the various Rock formats. If you put out a Rock CD aren’t you trying to sell songs to Rock fans? How is one supposed to find those Rock fans if one doesn’t get spins on radio stations Rock fans listen too? I’ll admit that I’d have a tough time justifying the difference between “Active Rock” and “Mainstream Rock” formats, so maybe I shouldn’t be commenting on this at all, but if Cook wasn’t going for Rock fans, I’m curious as to who people think he was going for. Was HAC always his intended market? If so, is this the best CD for that market? Is this a HAC CD?

And isnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t TOML still #1 in AC?

Bah! The rules are different on AC. You can have multiple songs on there. Daughtry currently has a top 10 and a top 20 song on AC. Jordin has also had multiple songs (didn’t she have 3 recently?). AC tends to trail the other formats, so it’s possible Light On could still make an impression there, but it doesn’t look all that promising.

There are two versions of both LO and Magic Rainbow appearing on various itunes chartsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ then à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“singleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  for each that was released pre-record and then the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“albumà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  version. Same thing happened for DAà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Crush and Taylor Swiftà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Love Storyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  last weekà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ you saw two versions of what really is the same song.

I’m aware of that. Difference is I didn’t have to scroll to the bottom of the page and onto another page to see both those versions of those other songs (or “Gotta Be Somebody”) like I have to with “Light On”. What will it take for “Light On” to sell on its own? SNL didn’t seem to help. Kelly and Regis didn’t seem to help. The video released almost 3 weeks ago didn’t seem to help. Having one of the highest spincreases on HAC doesn’t seem to help. What has to happen? Is it doomed to never sell or get into the top 100 on the combined airplay charts? Fine, then why bother? If Cookie doesn’t need Light On to move units and he’s never going to really sell singles (could have fooled me after what his AI singles did) then RCA should save it’s money and sit back and wait for all the albums to sell on their own. Groban never gets airplay or sells many singles and that works for him. Maybe it will work for Cook too. And No, I’m not saying that Cook is a Groban-clone. I’m just saying that it is possible to do sell without airplay or singles it’s just that the examples are few so you gotta go with Groban.

When did they release Jordinà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s second single (the duet with Chris Brown that actually sold some units, bringing Tattoo back to life as well)?

Jordin’s singles have each been given plenty of time to marinate: Tattoo was released late August, 2nd single No Air not till February, 3rd single One Step At A Time in late May, and that one has been going for 6 months now. So No Air, which was the most successful, actually got the least time.

Daughtryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Its Not Over didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t go for adds until after his CD dropped.

Very true. I think it went for adds in the beginning of December (I seem to recall December 5th). It was about two weeks after the CD was released. That worked out pretty well for him, so releasing a single in the pre-Christmas rush can be good strategy.

Heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s done the leg work for LO. To start over with a new song may not be appealing to him at the moment.

Well, his promo is done mid-December no matter what. It’s not as if Leno, SNL, GMA, Ellen or Regis & Kelly are going to have him back if they change singles before Christmas.

He has three more scheduled performances (AMA, tree lighting and Ellen) and I don’t think it would be a terrible idea to get a different song out there now and just release it right after the holidays. Singing LO on TV has only a negligible impact on its sales and other songs would probably generate more interest in his album. Have him sing one of the “pretty” songs, remind the people of ABMB and voila, people who tuned him out when they heard LO might come right back to him.

Does anyone know if RCA ever does RatetheMusic surveys for individual artists like Jive did for Archie?

Does anyone know if RCA ever does RatetheMusic surveys for individual artists like Jive did for Archie?

Didn’t they do RateTheMusic surveys for Kat? I seem to recall that’s how news about “Open-toed Shoes” leaked (is that what it was called? Something like that).

He has three more scheduled performances (AMA, tree lighting and Ellen) and I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think it would be a terrible idea to get a different song out there now and just release it right after the holidays. Singing LO on TV has only a negligible impact on its sales and other songs would probably generate more interest in his album. Have him sing one of the à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“prettyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  songs, remind the people of ABMB and voila, people who tuned him out when they heard LO might come right back to him.

I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately, I don’t think RCA has interns lurking here, or they would’ve already moved on to a better strategy than using LO left right and center.

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not sure I understand what the marketing strategy is if RCA doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t at least hope for him to get some spins on the various Rock formats. If you put out a Rock CD arenà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t you trying to sell songs to Rock fans? How is one supposed to find those Rock fans if one doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t get spins on radio stations Rock fans listen too? Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll admit that Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d have a tough time justifying the difference between à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Active Rockà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Mainstream Rockà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  formats, so maybe I shouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t be commenting on this at all, but if Cook wasnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t going for Rock fans, Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m curious as to who people think he was going for. Was HAC always his intended market? If so, is this the best CD for that market? Is this a HAC CD?

Now this one I know. Daughtry didn’t get rock sind right away, he got Top 40, AC and HAC spins. I beilebe ghe was a couple of singles in before raock gave him the time of day. Most acts like Lifehouse, etc DONT cget a lot of rock spins. Thatt format is not really the one fro mainstream rock acts. HAC is more where they shine.

Either he really loves it, or heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a really great actor.

I think it is a little of both

I agree. Watching his wording, he clearly likes the song or would have stood up for himself against it, but he calls it “an easy choice”, in the sense that the reasoning made sense to him enough that he didn’t fight it, but he’s never said it was his choice. In fact, he said recently that the decision was made “in concert”, so not by himself. He also keeps calling it the median value, while citing Bar-ba-sol and Permanent as the extremes, as well as two of his favorites in some interviews. So I feel like he likes every song on the record as he claims, but it’s not his favorite.

For the record, I like LO, I hope it does well, but it’s not my favorite either. I also think it’s interesting to debate RCA’s single strategy, but I don’t really care what the label decides with future singles, as long as he keeps selling that record.

I also think ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s interesting to debate RCAà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s single strategy, but I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really care what the label decides with future singles, as long as he keeps selling that record.

Clearly, they have something in mind. They absolutely know something I don’t. If, in fact, LO is the weakest song on the album, then they must have had the utmost confidence in his ability to sell regardless of which single was released first. Looking at the album itself, the other songs only get better from here, in my opinion. Well, “I Did it for You” aside. Geez, I wish I knew how well he sold during Idol. I’ll bet it was massive.

Daughtry didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t get rock sind right away, he got Top 40, AC and HAC spins. I beilebe ghe was a couple of singles in before raock gave him the time of day.

“It’s Not Over” was Daughtry’s very first single and it reached Top 5 on the BB Mainstream Rock Tracks (monitors mainstream rock airplay). So, I think that proves that Daughtry did get spins right out of the blocks. Plus, he paved the way for Cook in a way. Once a station has played one Idol, that sort of breaks the ice.

His later singles “What I Want” and “Crashed” peaked lower at 6 and 25 respectively on the rock charts.

Clearly, they have something in mind. They absolutely know something I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t.

Record labels do make mistakes.

If, in fact, LO is the weakest song on the album, then they must have had the utmost confidence in his ability to sell regardless of which single was released first.

If that is the strategy they are taking, they just wasted their (and Cookie’s money). Why not just not release a single if you are going to pick what you think is the weakest song? I don’t believe record labels purposely go out to waste money. Not in this market.

Why not just not release a single if you are going to pick what you think is the weakest song?

I don’t know.

Record labels do make mistakes.

Absolutely. As long as human beings have their hands in it, that’s bound to happen.

My lone observation is because I’m farfetched and warped and like to think of outrageous scenarios. What if…?

What will it take for à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Light Onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  to sell on its own? SNL didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t seem to help. Kelly and Regis didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t seem to help. The video released almost 3 weeks ago didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t seem to help.

I think we all probably look at things in different ways, but I think it’s already selling on its own. The way I see it, since SNL things have changed for the song in terms of sales. The TV appearences and radio increase have helped. The song is selling two times more (or more) than it was before SNL. Before that it would drop from the top 100 at Itunes and since then it has stayed steady there between the 50s and 70s. I don’t need more evidence that TV and radio are having impact on it.

He has three more scheduled performances (AMA, tree lighting and Ellen) and I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think it would be a terrible idea to get a different song out there now and just release it right after the holidays.

I don’t think those 3 performances would have change much. He’s singing two songs for AMA, there will be something else besides LO. lets say they would throw a new single, he’d still have to sing Light On and the new single. So, there wouldn’t be a difference there. Tree lighting, seems to be Christmas songs. Ellen is the only place where he’ll be performing LO only, I still don’t think throwing a new song there would make a big difference.

I dunno, seems like there will be strong single releases next month, with LO climbing on sales and radio, I don’t see it as a bad thing to wait till Jannuary.

As long as the album keeps selling, I could care less about which single is out. I hope they release Lie next simply because it’s a beautiful song and I want as many live versions of it as possible.
If Declaration is the next single, I think they should release it quickly, because in my mind, it should have been the 1st single instead of LO, with Lie as the 2nd single.

But, again, it will only really matter once the album starts lagging, and right now I can just be happy with how well it’s doing out of the gate.

I think we all probably look at things in different ways, but I think ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s already selling on its own.

Differences of opinions are great. I’ll never claim to be an expert at this because I’m not.

It’s just that I saw this guy who had 11 singles in the Hot 100. The most since the Beatles. And he did that with 4 days worth of sales. If that’s not remarkable, I don’t know what is. I said to myself, man, this guy can move singles. He had “Music of the Night” in the Hot 100. He had 90 second performance versions of songs he sang months ago in the top 200 downloads. I’ll be honest and say that him having his lead-off single in 90th position on iTunes during his album release week after he sang the thing on SNL and has a video is not what I would have anticipated. I thought he could run with big dogs. Heck, I thought he could run with the medium sized dogs. I still think he can. I just think that “Light On” isn’t a good single. Lots of really good songs aren’t singles.

The way I see it, since SNL things have changed for the song in terms of sales. The TV appearences and radio increase have helped. The song is selling two times more (or more) than it was before SNL.

I thought the song cratered a couple of weeks before SNL because of some iTunes glitch. It picked up once that was fixed and the week before SNL and after SNL were almost identical in sales. Am I wrong?

BTW Nice to see Iz back on the main chart with SOTR. Anybody know where that is coming from.

ETA:

But, again, it will only really matter once the album starts lagging, and right now I can just be happy with how well ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s doing out of the gate.

No doubt about it, the album is doing very well. I credit David Cook with that. Great numbers.

As long as the album keeps selling, I could care less about which single is out.

An album needs the singles to sell. Good singles are important and it’s important to know how to chose them. I think Declaration should have been the 1st instead of LO, but I don’t think it should be the second now.
And even it it sells a lot in its first week it doesn’t mean it won’t drop fast btw.

Kirsten, the first paragraph of my last post was actually not directed at you, but someone who sounded confused about the existence of two versions of the same song on itunes. Also, I wanted to express my amusement at the fact that Magic Rainbow is appearing on the rock charts. Because, really? Not rock.

Singles grow a fan base. They also keep an artist relevant. Without a good single with some staying power, people will forget you and move on to other music. If this one isn’t doing the job, and I don’t think it is, I hope TPTB will strike while the iron is hot and release another. I really don’t care which one it is, as I really like them all, but judging from the individual sales of Declaration, it has the popularity a single needs.

I know I’ve said it before, but, IMO, the old school release of singles is not effective for today’s music industry.

AOL Sessions will help, I’m sure: http://music.aol.com/video/light-on-sessions/david-cook/2329695

I thought the song cratered a couple of weeks before SNL because of some iTunes glitch. It picked up once that was fixed and the week before SNL and after SNL were almost identical in sales. Am I wrong?

I’m not going to say you’re wrong because this all going to be from the top of my head… and I don’t like the wrong/right thing.
After the glitch (which I don’t think it hurt the song that much) the song picked up because it was the week the album went for pre-order. I think it sold around 32k that week and judging by Archie’s Angels sales when his album went for pre.order too, I think at leats 25k of those 30k were pre-orders and only the remain were singles. Which would make what? 5k-7k in single sales?
After that pre-order bump the song started falling again and only with SNL it actually went up and stayed steady on Itunes. There’s not much difference in numbers between SNL week and before SNL week because of the pre-order thing, but if you take away the pre-orders the difference is very much there. Of course after SNL the album was still there for pre-order, but not selling as much at all, I think it was in the 20s in the album list.

I also think another single could have done better than LO, I’m not saying LO was the best choice. But it was the choice and I just don’t think they need to replace it right now. Also, I never expected him to do what he did after the show again. I think the situation is pretty different.
But I think this week has shown that Cook can still move music and units. Looks like his album will do pretty well and see the number of singles right there charting. He can do it.

Well, his promo is done mid-December no matter what. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s not as if Leno, SNL, GMA, Ellen or Regis & Kelly are going to have him back if they change singles before Christmas.

There are still a lot of shows that he hasn’t been on singing LO- The Today Show, The Early Show, The View, Jimmy Kimmel, Letterman, Conan… Couldn’t he do some of those shows with a new single? He was on at least some of them after the Finale. Or does the label/artist pay for those appearances, so that it would be too expensive? I don’t know much about how these promos work.

Either he really loves it, or heà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s a really great actor.

I think it is a little of both

Yeah, I think so too. I noticed that he talked about LO and naming the record David Cook with a little enthusiasm on the Walmart Soundcheck interview, but then when he talked about the other songs he totally lit up. He sure seemed more excited about his own stuff, and who can blame him? I think he likes LO and was thrilled to get a song from Chris Cornell, but he also seemed excited to get back to doing his own stuff when the tour ended. He’s a good actor and is dutifully pushing LO (he always remembers those talking points, no matter what!), but I can’t imagine that he’s not thrilled to see his own songs higher on the charts. And , selfishly, I’m really sick of him singing a song I don’t like every time I see him.

BTW, I was at Target this afternoon. Lots of Beyonce hanging around, a few Nickelback CDs, 1 copy of Il Divo left, and 2 empty slots with Dave’s name on them. Given all the stories of sold out Walmarts as well, I’m thinking they undershipped him by a fair amount, which sucks, because if it’s true his sales numbers will be artificially lower this week. Hopefully the people who can’t get one this week will remember to check again.

As long as the album keeps selling, I could care less about which single is out.

If you want the album to sell I think it’s important to care what single is out. In fact I’d wager money he would have even stronger sales out of the gate with this album if LO was being embraced more. If by some miracle he does manage to crack 300k or even something like 250k out of the gate I’ll give very little credit it to LO.

Singles grow a fan base. They also keep an artist relevant. Without a good single with some staying power, people will forget you and move on to other music.

Taylor could be used as a good example of this.

I have a question: Looking on itunes, I see that they have sold AOL Sessions performances for a number of artists, as videos and songs. You could buy an EP or individual songs. Assuming that DC’s AOL Sessions performances are sold on itunes, would the purchase of an individual live version of, say, LO count towards the overall numbers of LO purchases? Or is that somehow considered a different song?

If you want the album to sell I think ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s important to care what single is out. In fact Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢d wager money he would have even stronger sales out of the gate with this album if LO was being embraced more. If by some miracle he does manage to crack 300k or even something like out of the gate Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll give very little credit it to LO.

Which all comes back to the fact that he can’t do worse than “Light On.” I have a hard time believing that any other single on the record would hurt his record sales. So, the question is, when will they release the next single?

Is RCA is smart they will release his next single before Christmas. It doesn’t make sense to release a new single after the holidays when people are not spending money.

I think they have to wait until Jan. to release a new single. LO is underperforming for David Cook. If the man can sell Magic Rainbows, he can sell anything. However, it isn’t doing poorly. It is gaining in Pop and HAC. It has a clear shot at top 10 and likely (given the current chart) at top 5 in HAC. Pop is another question, it has to pick up more stations playing it, now that it is charting top 40, it might happen. That’s not bad, just not as well as he should be doing given his potential. (Having two top 40 hits on your debut album is not something most acts would turn down.) Which brings up what I think is the problem of putting out another song right now. This isn’t his first radio single, its his second. HAC seems very fond of him. TOML was top 10 and LO will be, its now 17 and has the most spincreases. They are still playing TOML as much as LO on HAC, and is still played on Top 40, though not as much. There is only so much David Cook radio will play. By Jan. LO will have peaked and hopefully TOML will go to future montage heaven where it belongs. RCA can release Declaration in Jan. so it can be performed on AI in the Spring. Then release Lie to Pop/AC for the summer (to be performed and used on SYTYCD) and Bar-ba-Sol to Rock.

That’s exactly the single release schedule that I’ve been advocating, Jlyn. Also, if BBS was released in time for the Idol season finale, I could get my wish of seeing it performed in front of Simon. Which would likely be incredibly amusing. To me, at least.

Thoughts on LO…

I’m trying to understand why they chose what appears to be one of the weaker tracks (sorry Chris) and a challenge to sing live.

I think RCA is trying to market it as a rock album, but they really couldn’t release the harder and better, Barbasol (and a few others). It would have been jarring from the Idol viewers (even though he was promoted as the rocker) and the buyers of the platinum selling TOML (who would have ever thought that possible). And because of the Idol stigma rock stations were not going to play him until he’s more established.

So they chose LO as the bridge..(Dave with some louder guitars) to prepare the way. If it becomes a huge hit, well that’s gravy. If it becomes a modest hit, which it appears to be doing, then it’s done its job.

Yes, they want sales, but I think they have more of a long term plan.

Anyways, I think it would be good to release another single soon, something more hit worthy like LIE or CBTM (which is selling without any promo or virtual radio play) to build on the momentum.

Just my opinion…

ETA: Or they just made a mistake (meaning it didn’t become a huge hit. For whatever reason, LO is more promo proof than TOML)

Thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s exactly the single release schedule that Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ve been advocating, Jlyn. Also, if BBS was released in time for the Idol season finale, I could get my wish of seeing it performed in front of Simon. Which would likely be incredibly amusing. To me, at least.

To me too, FF! Haha. I want to see Simon’s expression LOL

Also amusing would be Kiss on the Neck performed in front of Simon, with Paula going nuts beside him. Just the thought of it has me laughing.

FolkFan, while I think it would be amusing to watch BBS be performed in front of Simon I worry about it being played in the vicinity of Paula. As has been mentioned before it is a bit of a stripper song, if she’s on her meds (or off as the case may be) she might get a wee too um, enthusiastic?, in her usual dancing frenzy. On the other hand, that would be even more entertaining than Simon’s reaction.

Also amusing would be Kiss on the Neck performed in front of Simon, with Paula going nuts beside him. Just the thought of it has me laughing.

Bahahahahha. HAHA. I can imagine Paula jumping up and down and being all ‘cougar’ beside Simon LOL.

Eh, what do you think Kara would do?

I worry about it being played in the vicinity of Paula. As has been mentioned before it is a bit of a stripper song, if sheà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s on her meds (or off as the case may be) she might get a wee too um, enthusiastic?, in her usual dancing frenzy.

Ohh Jlyn, FF. You make me LOL early in the morning (it’s AM here), scaring my poor lil sis. haha

Eh, what do you think Kara would do?

Be cougar #2. Randy would call him a molten hot lava bomb (again). Simon would be mad for a week and take it out on the contestants.

I love it.

http://radio.disney.go.com/music/davidcookchecksin.html
I may have to seriously question if his people are in fact trying to aim for rock cred :laugh_tb:

I also think another single could have done better than LO, Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m not saying LO was the best choice. But it was the choice and I just donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think they need to replace it right now. Also, I never expected him to do what he did after the show again. I think the situation is pretty different.

I tend to agree with this, although I believe he can and may very well do this eventually. What I agree with, is the fact that the situation was different and that most people were familiar with the songs he did on AI even though he changed them up. He performed them on national TV and some (yes, me included) watched them over and over on utube or the AI site before downloading. In fact I didn’t own an ipod until that last week.

I believe LO has the potential to become more and more familiar with more and more exposure. Yes, I could very well be wrong and very well may be, but it’s just an opinion. For some reason I just don’t think LO is dead yet as a single…and I was one of the ones it had to grow on.

I may have to seriously question if his people are in fact trying to aim for rock cred :laugh_tb:

Haha LOL. Probably it’s connected with the fact David is going to be the ‘face’ of Disney’s American Idol Experience haha.

Be cougar #2. Randy would call him a molten hot lava bomb (again). Simon would be mad for a week and take it out on the contestants.

I love it.

Aww, poor contestants. Heh, Kara is 39 right? Does she count as a cougar? Hehe.
We know that Paula is going to stand and dance..what will Kara do?
Gahh, can’t wait for Season 8 now! I wanna see David on the auditions backdrop and credits! ahahha

If he keeps selling records, does it even make a difference? I would imagine after 3 weeks weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll know whether he can still sell records at a decent clip. I suppose at that point a call will be made. But by then we are talking the beginning of December. Can they really switch singles then? I have no idea how that works.

That’s the key-if he keeps selling records. We know that this week’s sales are being fueled primarily by his Idol fanbase. If the album sales remain somewhat brisk after the usual 2nd week decline, then no worries. If they start to plummet Taylor Hicks-style, then clearly LO was the wrong choice for a lead single. If that happens, I don’t think RCA will hesitate to get single #2 out there quickly.

IDF has a scan of the new Guitar World magazine that DC is featured in.

Can I just gripe for a minute? All these great features in many different magazines keep popping up yet his Vibe Raters blurb has not changed anything where it lists his press. It seems to be stuck on RS & Blender since he appeared on there.

Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢m trying to understand why they chose what appears to be one of the weaker tracks (sorry Chris) and a challenge to sing live.

You know…I don’t think LO appeared to be a weaker track to RCA, and I don’t think they anticipated it appearing weaker to the general public. Hardcore DC fans may have preferred the stuff that sounded more like the DC they knew, but outside of that bubble, the song’s catchy. I played the album for my mother, and LO is one of the songs she especially liked. She didn’t like Declaration at all, but she liked LO, Heroes, CBTM, and Permanent quite a lot.

Her tastes don’t reflect the public’s tastes, and neither do mine (my favorite track is Mr. Sensitive, which is the least popular on itunes so far), but that’s just it: RCA really couldn’t have known how the public would react. Now that the whole record’s out there, I think they can better gauge future singles. Looks like it’ll be “Declaration,” but if not, “Heroes” could be a good substitute. If they’d rather go for something soft, “Lie” or CBTM would do it.

HDD’s sales projection update is up:

YOUR WEAKEND TOP 10 CHART PREVIEW: The industryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s hot streak continues (we love typing those words) leading into whatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s expected to be a boffo Thanksgiving week, with Columbia diva Beyonce aiming to bow north of 500k, while two other debuts could hit 300k. Those would be David Cook (19/RCA/RMG) and Nickelback (Roadrunner).

(Is this the update? It’s under Rumor Mill instead of News.)

Looks like they still think DC is on track to debut around 300k.

(I personally would be ECSTATIC with two hund….oh, you’ve heard this all before

I’d be ecstatic with anything in the 200k range too but if those numbers are even remotely close…

:jittery_tb: :drunk_tb: :gulp_ee:

I wanna try smileys too… :clap_tb: :jittery_tb:

Awesome news—no revision is great. Plus, they are now predicting that Taylor Swift won’t be battling him for the #2 or #3 spot….

YOUR WEAKEND TOP 10 CHART PREVIEW

Is this a sign? :eek_wp: :laugh_tb:

First let me apologize for my last post, typed in a hurry before I rushed off to let in my dinner guests. Clearly, I did not proofread before I hit send. And since I can’t type, bad things happened. LOL.

Kirsten, thanks for the info about Daughtry! I had always been told he wasn’t embraced by rock radio until after he had already sold a ton of records, so I had no idea they played his first single. That explains your view on LO a lot more.

Thatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the key-if he keeps selling records. We know that this weekà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s sales are being fueled primarily by his Idol fanbase. If the album sales remain somewhat brisk after the usual 2nd week decline, then no worries. If they start to plummet Taylor Hicks-style, then clearly LO was the wrong choice for a lead single. If that happens, I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t think RCA will hesitate to get single #2 out there quickly.

I agree, though I think DC has very little chance of plunging to the same degree as Taylor Hicks. Taylor had no presence on radio, no video, no single at all really, just some TV appearances and even those had pretty much dried up by the 3rd week. LO might not be setting the world on fire but it is currently at about 11 mil in audience impressions and will likely be higher by the 3rd week of sales, plus his video is getting played. So he will have some presence in the market. That said, ITA that they will throw single #2 out there with the quickness if RCA thinks they are in trouble.

Actually, after reading this I think most of us are saying the same thing. LO is not the ultimate barnbuster first single, its just a matter of whether you think it should be pulled now or if it can wait until January/February. I still say he’ll be fine until January, but I can see the other side of the argument. I think the real test will come in a few weeks, when LO is no longer boosted by pre-order sales and the video is out. Then we will see where it falls on the charts and where the album sales stableize. The good news is that his album sales look crazy strong and he has plenty of singles on the record, so even if LO fails there is little reason for RCA to abandon the project altogether.

And 294 posts on this thread? CRAZY. We love us some Cookie around here. Ha.

And 294 posts on this thread? CRAZY. We love us some Cookie around here. Ha.

Oh, we certainly do. LOL

Looking at how well Declaration is doing on iTunes, based on very little exposure (well, SNL was weeks ago, it’s hardly the same as if he would’ve performed it right now when it’s available), it looks like a good choice as a single.
I just wish they’d go with Lie first. It’s a beautiful song and I think it would be better to go with a different vibe following LO.

And we love debating things that we have no control over, like the next single, haha. Personally, I hope they go with Declaration or Lie because I’m in love with those songs… but if we judge from iTunes, and have to choose between Declaration or Come Back to Me, I’d prefer Declaration, and I feel perhaps that’s the more likely choice, since CBTM hasn’t ever been included in the live performances, right? Not sure if Declaration will be the best choice, but I would be very happy with it. Actually, let me edit that thought– I’d be happiest if the single chosen is embraced by all and fuels record sales. I don’t care if it’s one of my favorites, because I bought the record and can listen to my favorites whenever I want.

Also, anyone know how many times do they update that HDD prediction? Should we expect another one this weekend (weakend? are they referring to B’s prediction getting revised downward, cuz the others are players seem to be doing well…)?

I don’t think the next single could come from a song that hadn’t been done in the AOL and WalMart sessions. Come Back to Me wasn’t ever performed live, so I think they aren’t considering it.
However it does appear on the sticker I got on my album, as one of only 3 highlighted songs – Lie, Life on the Moon, CBTM.
Do these sticker things actually have any meaning whatsoever though?

I don’t think those stickers have any bearing on potential singles at all. I would put more stock in the songs he’s performing for promo purposes like Sessions and Soundcheck.

I still haven’t ever heard LO on the radio. I’m in the minority, but I like the song. CBTM is the one that’s stuck in my head though. And for everyone that likes Lie, you should listen to Clay’s Sacrificial Love. They are VERY similar.

I agree, though I think DC has very little chance of plunging to the same degree as Taylor Hicks. Taylor had no presence on radio, no video, no single at all really, just some TV appearances and even those had pretty much dried up by the 3rd week. LO might not be setting the world on fire but it is currently at about 11 mil in audience impressions and will likely be higher by the 3rd week of sales, plus his video is getting played. So he will have some presence in the market. That said, ITA that they will throw single #2 out there with the quickness if RCA thinks they are in trouble.

Yeah, I don’t think a Taylor or Blake Lewis style plunge on the Billboard 200 is in DC’s future either. It is possible that the album could have a steep drop in sales following the initial Idol fanbase buying rush, but I don’t think RCA would let the album slide that far before yanking LO and releasing another single. Again, it all depends on how casual listeners are responding to LO and some of his promotional appearances. I’m hoping Declaration is the next single. After TOML and LO, I think it’s time for a change of pace. I really do think that song could be a hit.

Hey, I just went on itunes and am a little confused since I was checking DC’s placement. Anyway, I was thinking his record was under Rock, but it’s now showing under Pop.

Oh well, just wondering… No biggie I guess.

At some point this morning, they flipped DCTR and the songs over to Pop. No one knows why….

At some point this morning, they flipped DCTR and the songs over to Pop. No one knows whyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦.

Weird. Maybe they’ve given up on promoting it as a rock record? It seems like there’s a lot of strange genre assignments on iTunes anyway, so actually I’m not sure it really means much. I mean, Ray Lamontagne is rock and the Fall Out Boys are pop? At least DCTR is #1 on pop and his face is all over the front page!

Cook goes from Rock to Pop?
Now this makes him have the number one album in Pop at the moment but still – what about the argument that his music is rock while Archie’s is pop. They are not in the same genre!
Ultimately I think it is going to cost DC some downloads because some rock fans would rather be dead than say they downloaded pop. And rock album sell more CD’s than singles than pop albums do!
I really would like to know who is behind this, iTunes, RCA or 19E!

It does not bother me if it’s pop or rock. Some songs on his cd could be classified as pop others as rock. It really should be under both. Congrats David on being #1 on Pop now!

What do I know though? I come from old school rock late 60′s/70′s rock and it’s many morphism’s. I don’t know all the different genre’s of *today’s rock*. I guess I am not too old to learn though, lol.

iTunes can get pretty random with its genre classifications. Well, DC can claim he was #1 on Overall, Rock, and Pop!

I have a feeling more people (more Idol viewers?) look at the Pop section so maybe that’s a bright side to the album being reclassified as pop.

Ultimately I think it is going to cost DC some downloads because some rock fans would rather be dead than say they downloaded pop.

I think those same rock fans would rather be dead than say they downloaded an american idol album. I doubt it will cost him somthing.

I wholeheartedly agree leome.

So I guess this album can actually be considered popular rock… or “let’s just pop that rock record into the stereo”…(sorry very, very lame attempt at humor :glurps_tb:)

It was just kinda funny because I was so sure some of his songs would be in the top 100 under rock and I was ready to give up and my husband kept saying, look under pop and I kept arguing with him that it was under rock. So I finally looked and sure enough…

I like the idea that he’s been #1 on Rock, Pop and Overall.

Yup, totally agree with leome. The rock stations who won’t play David because of Idol, and the rock snobs who won’t listen for the same reason, were not going to buy his album no matter what it’s classified as.

I’m just happy he’s still outselling Beyonce on iTunes. This isn’t a pop record, even if it says “pop” in genre.

HDD has updated their forcast with more specific numbers. 280-300,000 for David, 300-320,000 for Nickelback:

YOUR WEAKEND TOP 10 CHART PREVIEW: The industryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s hot streak continues (we love typing those words) leading into whatà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s expected to be a boffo Thanksgiving week, with Columbia diva Beyonce aiming to bow north of 500k at #1, while Roadrunner’s Nickelback seems to be closing in on #2, with 300-320k. David Cook (19/RCA/RMG) appears next in line with an impressive 280-300k, while Taylor Swift (Big Machine/ Universal Republic), this weekà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s champ, will continue her momentum at 230-240k, followed by Now 29 (UMe), rounding out the Top 5 at 140-150k.

http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/rumormill.cgi

Pretty amazing number!

I think those same rock fans would rather be dead than say they downloaded an american idol album.

Yes, but what about the folks who heard him on the radio or possibly a friend’s CD? There are several folks on comments under his You Tube videos and even articles on websites who said they didn’t know he was on AI when they first heard him. (I wouldn’t have known the artists from there before this year). It is people outside of the AI bubble that he has to reach to survive. The rest of us will download his album even if we didn’t care for his first CD!

I didn’t know where to put this, but I guess this monster thread is as good as anyplace – This is a fanmade video for Life on the Moon, and it’s good enough that I had to share it. I think the main reason I like the song so much is because it speaks about the Idol experience, and we’ve all been along for that ride… Anyway, this video just enhances that aspect even more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGAUrWOyDA

About the rock vs. pop debate – I honestly think that those who simply hear the album, like it and seek it out, will not really care what category it’s under. I know I wouldn’t. Maybe I’m naive.

Yes, but what about the folks who heard him on the radio or possibly a friendà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s CD? There are several folks on comments under his You Tube videos and even articles on websites who said they didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t know he was on AI when they first heard him. (I wouldnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have known the artists from there before this year). It is people outside of the AI bubble that he has to reach to survive. The rest of us will download his album even if we didnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t care for his first CD!

If those people want the album or the songs they’ll buy it. It doesn’t really matter if it says pop or rock on Itunes, people don’t care for the word. It’s the sound.

If those people want the album or the songs theyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ll buy it. It doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t really matter if it says pop or rock on Itunes, people donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t care for the word. Ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s the sound.

Exactly. And, if I hear a song I like, I search for the artist by name on iTunes. Not genre.

I buy music on Itunes all the time and I have never once looked at the classification it’s under. I think most people see something on the front page or they actively search for it. Rock and Pop are usually thrown together at the CD stores anyway so it never makes a difference there, so I don’t think it’d matter here. Besides, one listen to it from the 30 second previews and you’d know what it’s about much more than an arbitrary classification from Itunes.

Itunes likely did it so that all of the DC stuff is in one place. TOML and LO as singles are classified as pop so now everything is together.

I don’t see this affecting his sales. Looking at the classifications that itunes has foisted onto my music collection, the word that comes to mind is “bizarre.” I find it a bit disappointing that they changed the classification because DC seemed to like having it in the rock section, and I was getting a kick out of Magic Rainbow hanging out on the top rock songs page. But I don’t think it’s a big deal.

Man, I really really wanted Cookie to bypass Daughtry’s First Week totals. Stupid Nickleback.

Man, I really really wanted Cookie to bypass Daughtryà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s First Week totals. Stupid Nickleback.

How many did Daughtry sell in his first week? I remember seeing a list of 1st week totals for other Idols, but I can’t find it now. If anyone can steer me towards a chart or something, I’d appreciate it. :biggrin_wp:

Cathy, Kirsten is the keeper of #’s :laugh_tb: Thank goodness for Kirsten! I am sure she can tell us!

I’m not Kirsten, but this is definitely one of her charts! (and Nevada’s):

http://mjsbigblog.com/historical-charts/idol-debut-first-week-album-sales/

Daughtry debuted with 303k. It’ll be a nailbiter to see if DC can match that…remember Daughtry didn’t have this crappy economy to deal with too…

Jolene – thanks for the youtube link to LOTM – I really enjoyed it!!!

Thanks Michelle (and Kirsten :smile2_ee:). So he’ll be within shouting distance of Daughtry, Taylor, and Kelly. Not bad, considering how music sales have dropped off in the last few years. Seems like almost any artist would be happy with those sales these days, never mind a debut artist. And next week we’ll all be biting our nails, hoping his sales don’t drop off too much. Silly me, I naively thought the weekly worrying was over after he won!

Rock or Pop, David’s video “Light On” just took number 1 on the Top 20 VHI countdown…

He was the guest, and I watched this happen in Real Time – rebroadcast at 9AM, for you morning people.

A little tasty bite to have with your breakfast…

I’m sleepy, you guys can fill in the ironies for this win.

Rock or Pop, Davidà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s video à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Light Onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  just took number 1 on the Top 20 VHI countdownà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬ ¦

Seriously? So he entered the chart straight into #1? Ahh that’s awesome.
Someone please upload a video of this. I need to squee a bit.

I’m pretty sure there’s nothing so intentional behind the iTunes classifications as what I’m about to say, but…

It has occurred to me — in no way an expert, not even well-studied or experienced in these things lol — that maybe TPTB have decided to push right now for more single track sales for debut charting purposes. Album sales are going strong, so all the more impressive to see single tracks chart straight out of the chute too, and I’m led to believe that singles sell better in the pop genre. Just a theory — equally valid to, say, RCA put DC in Rock for three days, then Pop for three days. Or, it’s totally arbitrary. :rolleyes_ee:

Yay for #1 on VH-1!!! Whooohooooo~

HOLY CRAP! I can’t believe he debuted at #1. That doesn’t happen a lot on there right? Did they show him react to it?

Did they show him react to it?

Yeah. He said, “I’m floored.”

HOLY CRAP! I canà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t believe he debuted at #1. That doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t happen a lot on there right?

Appearantly, this is only the 2nd time it happened this year. Hee!