I forgot to mention this in my Idol Billboard Update last night. David Cook’s …Analog Heart sold a total of 1, 200 copies in the last week it was available. The week before, it sold 300. Prior to Idol, the song moved at most 5 units per week (Source: Idol Chatter).
So much for Fox’s Roger Friedman and his righteous indignation. He was shocked SHOCKED that an Idol contestant had pre-idol music out in the web! OMG, how could TPTB allow a professional in! Of course, if he knew what the hell he was talking about, he’d know all about prior Idols who had music available during the competition.
He must have been sufficiently embarrassed when he found out that there were Season 7 contestants who not only had music available, but prior major label record deals (which David Cook did not) because he addressed it in another column. Friedman should feel silly, comparing David’s sales to Mariah Carey’s–OMG he’s outselling her!!! Obviously, he had no idea that Amazon mp3 made up only a miniscule amount of all downloads sold.
When he found out that Carly Smithson had a record on a major label, this is what he had to say about it, “Of course, the punch line is that if someone at Universal Music woke up, they could start promoting “Ultimate High” the way they did Amy Winehouse. It that good.” Comparing Carly’s botched first record to Amy Winehouse’s brilliant debut? Alrighty, then.
