Idol Sales News – Week Ending 05/10/09

Airplay (number in brackets is the increase/decrease in audience impressions):
No. 27 – Carrie Underwood (-1.6 million)
No. 34 – Kelly Clarkson ( 4.0 million)
No. 46 – Jennifer Hudson (-0.2 million) – 6 on R&B
No. 87 – Kellie Pickler ( 1.3 million)
No. 188 – David Cook ( 1.9 million)
No. 315 – Daughtry ( 5.8 million)

Streams:
No. 5 – Kelly Clarkson “My Life…”

When will Itunes release this weeks songs for download? I’ve pre-ordered but it looks like they are still in pre-order status.

Hey MJ

You got the Dream on and Renegade credits wrong. Dream on was the Danny solo while renegade was the Duet :)

Idol albums sales prediction from HDD:

24 15 KELLY CLARKSON RCA/RMG 24,009 29%
ALL I EVER WANTED

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ 25 ELLIOTT YAMIN HICKORY RECORDS 20,185 -
FIGHT FOR LOVE

30 27 CARRIE UNDERWOOD ARISTA NASHVILLE 19,348 23%
CARNIVAL RIDE

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ 44 DAVID COOK 19/RCA/RMG 12,502 -
DAVID COOK

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ 45 DAUGHTRY RCA/RMG 12,007 -
DAUGHTRY

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬’ 45 DAUGHTRY RCA/RMG 12,007 -
DAUGHTRY

Released 2 1/2 years ago. I know that his AI appearance gave the album a bump, but it’s been selling several thousand a week, consistently, nevertheless. Pretty amazing.

Real numbers from the Billboard 200:

17 CLARKSON*KELLY ALL I EVER WANTED 23,290 27 18,268 550,236

26 YAMIN*ELLIOTT FIGHT FOR LOVE 19,877 999 49 20,028

27 UNDERWOOD*CARRIE CARNIVAL RIDE 19,206 23 15,627 2,839,450

47 COOK*DAVID DAVID COOK 12,068 57 7,699 1,125,933

50 DAUGHTRY DAUGHTRY 11,630 305 2,870 4,437,029

86 HUDSON*JENNIFER JENNIFER HUDSON 6,668 20 5,569 726,293

107 PICKLER*KELLIE KELLIE PICKLER 5,299 16 4,564 211,375

119 ARCHULETA*DAVID DAVID ARCHULETA 4,994 21 4,144 698,936

Increases all around. Very nice.

You got the Dream on and Renegade credits wrong. Dream on was the Danny solo while renegade was the Duet :)

Oops! Can I blame the memory of The Scream for messing up my concentration?

Thanks for point it out. It’s been fixed.

Real numbers from the Billboard 200:

Thanks, Jolene!

All the album sales went up. I wonder why, that’s unusual.
Mothers’s Day effect?

Mother’s Day. Most of the chart was up (only 14 albums in the top 50 saw declines from the previous week), but titles with female-appeal saw the biggest bumps. Mom sure does love her some American Idol.

Good album numbers for Cook. Unfortunately, no new CHR adds yesterday for CBTM from what I understand. That probably seals it on that format then.

I thought of something thing that I don’t think that has been discussed pertaining to how the different radio formats are receiving him. As the American Idol, he’s marketed as a solo artist. In practicality, though, he’s actually not. He’s the frontman of a band that is, by necessity, named after himself– his whole name, first and last. Whereas, say Archie, for instance, I would still call a solo artist who performs with a backing band.

Anyway, supposedly, they eventually plan to change the name. The David Cook Band? David Cook and the Cooktones?

Well, I doubt it’s holding him back very much on CHR. But, I wonder if Barbasol would be doing a little better on rock radio if they were perceived as a band rather than himself as being a solo artist.

Overall numbers for all album sales for the week were sad though, the top selling album was 83,000 units according to HDD. Down from the same time last year and definitely down from last week. Hannah Montana sold about 140,000 units last week . So Elliott’s 20,000 was good in relation to the rest of the pack. But he sold 90,000 units of his first album the first week. So it is going to be a long hard slog to get to gold status again.

However the downloads for Daughtry’s single is very impressive – no doubt the Idol bump at work there along with the fact Daughtry clearly has a large and loyal fanbase. Chad Kroeger co-wrote the song and probably a lot of Daughty/Nickelback fans out there as well especially after the boys all toured together.

Do you have to subscribe to Billboard to get their numbers which I thought they got from Soundscan which is where HDD gets their numbers? I am just a statisticsphile, bwah.

But he sold 90,000 units of his first album the first week. So it is going to be a long hard slog to get to gold status again.

Elliott’s first album has sold, what, 520K? That’s with a huge CHR hit and a 90K opening week. I don’t think his 2nd album will reach Gold status (though I’d love to be wrong about that).
More often than not, 2nd albums from Idols sell a lot less than their debuts. I think the only exception to the rule is Kelly Clarkson. Not only has the economy taken a dive, but also the Idol hype dies down by the time the 2nd album comes out. I don’t expect Daughtry to sell half as much with album number two, either.

Do Daughtry’s numbers reflect a full week of sales? I can’t remember when his single became available on itunes.

I donà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t expect Daughtry to sell half as much with album number two, either.

Yeah, but we’re talking huge numbers, so half would still be impressive. Selling 2.2 mill would NOT be a disappointment these days. Carrie’s first album went 7X platinum, and her second is currently approaching 3X as she heads in the studio for her 3rd– and few people would call her second album a commercial disappointment.

Anyway, supposedly, they eventually plan to change the name. The David Cook Band? David Cook and the Cooktones?

Or David Cook Group (after Jeff Beck Group) ? Or David Cook and the Midwest Kings (if he wants to emphasize the role of other band members)?

Whatever that they plan to do, the band name should have David Cook in it. Name recognition is important, and the band is to all intent and purposes about him. Only when he is firmly established in the music scene can he change the band name into something not instantly identifiable as his band, and he isn’t quite established yet. Perhaps he can use a transitional name – something like David Cook’s XYZ Band so that he can later change it into XYZ later whatever that XYZ may be.

It’s quite amusing when reading about Terrence Trent D’Arby in wiki last week and found out that he changed his name to Sananda Maitreya (who?). Changing a recognisable name to one completely uncognisable is one bad move.

You’re so right Hazehel, he has to make a transition name for the band, or maybe change it until the next album, like a surprise, so maybe when he starts promoting the 2nd. album, he and his band can use the new band’s name.

I really like “The Cooks” too bad it’s already taken.

Changing a recognisable name to one completely uncognisable is one bad move.

Unless you’re Prince, and then it’s just a marketing ploy…oh nevermind, the completely unrecognizable is key here.

Yeah, but weà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢re talking huge numbers, so half would still be impressive.

Well yeah, of course. I have no doubt Daughtry will sell ridiculous numbers of his 2nd album, I’m just saying that expecting anyone to outsell their debut with the follow-up is usually recipe for disappointment. It’s always good to take into account current market trends, and the whole market is trending down. This week did see the lowest selling #1 debut ever, after all.

Or David Cook and the Midwest Kings (if he wants to emphasize the role of other band members)?

The Kings’ drummer might have a beef with that. Unless MWK is actually kind of like a Destiny’s Child where they keep kicking mebers out of the group and replacing them with new ones!

But, your sentence that I quoted caused another thought to occur to me. While it’s fairly apparent that David Cook is not going to have a Daughtry-like debut in terms of sales, it is interesting that the other members of his band are starting to get a bit of attention themselves. Their names are starting to appear in concert reviews, blogs etc. For all the press that the “other” members of Daughtry receive, Chris might as well be performing with session musicians.

Mom might love Idol but Crisette’s was the lowest album #1 in Soundscan history in a week that included Mother’s Day.

I think it’s impossible for a second Idol album to sell more than the first. I know Kelly is the exception but look at her album sales since. It’s just a natural progression combined with declining sales.

IF Daughtry sells 1/3 of his first album, he’ll still have one of the top albums of the year. In terms of Elliott, without a radio hit and no national TV promo, those aren’t actually terrible numbers.

On the other hand, I can’t see how he’ll sustain his sales without a radio hit and some national TV exposure. FFL has been locked in #58 on the CHR chart for what feels like and may be months.

It reminds me of Archie’s 2nd single that did a similiar stall in the 40s somewhere. Usually when songs don’t get adds, they’re pretty much done. So CBTM which should do fine elsewhere is probably finished on Top 40. On the other hand, I expect Daughtry’s to race up that chart fairly easily. If it doesn’t, radio has really, really changed.

The Kingsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ drummer might have a beef with that. Unless MWK is actually kind of like a Destinyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Child where they keep kicking mebers out of the group and replacing them with new ones!

Josh Center the drummer? Never quite sure who the other members of Midwest Kings were, but I think there might have been a few changes in personnel. Perhaps Midwest Kings is not a good idea, I have observed while watching some of the YouTube videos of David Cook touring band that Andy Skib doesn’t look all that happy in the band, I think he would have preferred to be in his own band singing lead. If there is any member of the band who is likely to leave it’s him.

But back to the numbers, I thought last year that David Cook might sell somewhere in the region of 1.5-2 million, and it looks to me now that it is more likely to be near the lower end. Is double platinum not possible now?

I thought last year that David Cook might sell somewhere in the region of 1.5-2 million

You were way more optimistic than me. I wasn’t sure he’d make it to Platinum before the album came out. I seem to remember some “expert” from USA Today predicting the album will possibly hit Gold. Ah, good times.

Is double platinum not possible now?

I think unless David gets a CHR hit, Double Platinum isn’t in the cards. I can see him making it to 1.5M over the next year with mostly HAC airplay, and that’s very impressive in today’s climate, as far as album sales go.

I seem to remember some à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“expertà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬  from USA Today predicting the album will possibly hit Gold.

I haven’t read that, but I would think that might have more to do with someone getting piqued that their favorite didn’t win rather than a real prediction. I don’t think anyone who knows anything about how well idol winner’s first album can sell and how well David Cook’s songs sold on iTunes straight after winning the title would say that. Perhaps Idol album sales may never again reach the giddy heights of Carrie Underwood, but to think that David Cook’s first album would sell worse than Taylor Hicks’ poorly received and poorly promoted album is just unreasonable.

I would have liked to see him outsell Ruben, who I think was in the vicinity of 1.8 M. He may do it– it just may take three years or so for it to happen, long after the second album has been released. I also wanted him top Clay’s first record, but that just doesn’t seem probable.

Still hoping that as soon as CBTM concludes its rise on HAC and commences its fall that they will put out Lie. I think that could reinvigorate this era and not only regenerate but sustain momentum for sales of the record.

I’m glad to see Cookie ruling the charts again and doing so well against other idols. Looks like Cook is here to stay.

Released 2 1/2 years ago. I know that his AI appearance gave the album a bump, but ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s been selling several thousand a week, consistently, nevertheless. Pretty amazing.

Yes, it’s impressive. The key today is to make a record with 2 or 3 potential radio hits and the rest of the songs don’t matter, the album is gonna sell well. I think this apply to Daughty’s debut album, it only has 2 or 3 hits and the others are so average, and despite that see the sales.

See DC’s album, all songs are good, but it doesn’t have true potential radio hits, so it’s selling good but not great.

^^ I think that’s so subjective. I don’t have Daughtry’s album but I know many people say it’s a great album overall. I do love DC’s album and think it has very few clunkers, but again, that’s just my opinion and some would disagree.

You can’t disregard the importance of singles. They’re what the world gets to hear and that’s what’s going to determine, for the most part, how many people choose to purchase the album to hear more. I do think RCA has chosen the weakest songs on the album as singles for DC, but again that’s just my opinion. I think despite that issue, the album has been selling very well and I’m satisfied with that.

I mean, some perspective is in order. Daughtry has the best selling album on the current BB 200. Comparing anyone else to him, even Taylor Swift, will make their numbers seem lackluster.

I didn’t like the Daughtry album at all. In fact overall I’d say David Cook’s album is better, certainly more enjoyable, than Daughtry’s. What the Daughtry album has however is two really good songs, and those songs sell the album. The problem with the David Cook album is that most of the songs are OK, but none of them outstanding apart from possibly one, and that one is Permanent. It’s just unfortunate that it’s a song that simply can’t be a single.

I think a lot of best-selling albums are like Daughtry’s, a couple of really good songs, the rest not-so-good. I think David Cook should make sure that his next album will have at least one really outstanding song that can work as a single, and that is what will sell his album.

^^Yay, Dave Cook’s album is timeless and I think it will be the one people remember 10 years down the road. I’ll take quantity over quality (sales) anyday.
I think Dave will get there in numbers eventually. In today’s market I would say platinum is about equal to triple platinum anyhow.

See DCà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s album, all songs are good, but it doesnà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t have true potential radio hits, so ità ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s selling good but not great.

I sort of see what you’re saying, although I think Lie can be such a hit. To me, there’s a lot of bipolarity in Cook’s album, and it’s amazing to me that the finished product came out as well as it did, considering this point.

It seems to me that what they did for most of the songs was take poppy melodies and then apply one, two, or three or more coats of grunge– depending on the track– to create the final version of the song. Rob Cavallo talked about how his intent was to “split the difference” between who DC was an artist and what his Idol fans may have been accustomed to, and I see the hallmarks of that all over the record.

There’s also it seems to me a distinct effort to be “UnDaughtry”on the album. Ironically, that effort was all for naught, because most reviewers just lumped him in with Daughtry and other similar bands anyway.

It is good to see all the idols getting a bump. I don’t know how David Cook’s album will eventual do. In today’s market he is doing very well. I read somewhere that sales are down across the board 29% from 2007. So maybe the market will improve maybe not. We are operating in a different climate than two years ago.