FIRST WEEK ALBUM SALES...Do They Really Matter?

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Searching around the internet for the numbers on Rap sales, came up on this. Article by artist Rhymefest talking about low debut numbers, and the misconception of big sales out the gate for the first week of debut albums. Read carefully, open ya minds and discuss.



"As we all know by now, my highly-anticipated and critically-acclaimed debut album BLUE COLLAR sold about 15,000 copies during the first week. As it stands now in the mass-marketing, single-driven genre of Hip-Hop music, this is considered a flop or a failure.? Or is it?
  • Akon, the well-known R&B star, sold about 5,000 copies his first week.? And now, he holds a platinum plaque for his debut album TROUBLE.
  • Lyfe Jennings: 6,000 copies his first week; also platinum.
  • Maroon 5: 3,000 copies their first week; now multi-platinum.
While none of these artists that I named are rappers, they all understood the ingredients for success:

  1. good music,
  2. touring & great stage shows,
  3. humble attitudes (checking their ego at the door) and finally
  4. never giving up.
This is something that rap artists today have yet to fully understand the importance of. Just look at it: 9 out of 10 rap concerts are wack. After one or two singles, the rest of the album is intentionally trash, but we, as the artists, do not care because we have our singles. Also, some rappers are so insecure that if anyone gives us constructive criticism, or [in some cases] is just a little overzealous as a fan, we are ready to spaz out on them. Rappers have become divas (*******), and the rap industry, radio, DJs and journalists have become complicit, spineless cowards.
Do not get it twisted; I am not heartbroken over my first week sales because I understand that through my appearances on shows like Jimmy Kimmel [You Tube], Carson Daly & David Letterman, my forthcoming tours with Wu-Tang Clan and A Tribe Called Quest as well as many opportunities that are opened for me through the Creator ALL afford me the chance to do what no other rapper has done: truly earn fans that stick with me because of the quality of the product and not the smoke & mirrors of marketing & promotion.
Keep encouraging your friends to purchase BLUE COLLAR. And know that 35,000 Rhymefest records sold hold more power than 1 Million Laffy Taffy records. I have managed to sell a consistent 5,000 - 6,000 records a week since my debut on the charts. My hopes are to not only continue that trend, but to increase my unit sales through the word-of-mouth of how good BLUE COLLAR actually is, as well as coming to a city near YOU to show you how great Rhymefest is. So, on to the question:
What do first week sales in Hip-Hop really mean?
Talk to me..." -RHYMEFEST
 
Who knows if they matter but I went to circuit city n jay-z was SOLD OUT. Crazy!!!!
 
Shouldn't the numbers be coming out this week? I want to see what Game sold. Maybe he'll go platinum in the long run.
 
they matter becus the label wants immediate results. btw chamillionaire is a good example of a rapper who had poor early sales and went platinum later.
 
They don't matter to me. I don't think artists should stress over them either, give it some time to breathe.
 
yeah, first album sales only matter on this site..... look at reasonable doubt's first week sales... nobody was checking for that album when it dropped at all.. it just dropped at the wrong time in 96....
 
Maybe it's better to look at how sales are locally. That might say more than any nationwide record sale stats, cause if you can't conquer home court, then you sure as hell won't conquer the road. Unless you go overseas like that lady sovereign. hahah


DaOriginalBlade said:
They don't matter to me. I don't think artists should stress over them either, give it some time to breathe.
Click to expand...

Yeah especially for an artists' debut album. It seems like VERY few new artists get marketed enough to make enough noise the first couple weeks. So it's probably best to think in the long-run and deliver as much quality as you can. And if it's dope, there's no doubt that people will eventually catch on.

"...truly earn fans that stick with me because of the quality of the product and not the smoke & mirrors of marketing & promotion."

That's the goal right there. It reminds me of the BlackEyed Peas. I remember watching them perform at the Smokin Grooves concert back in like 97 when they were the opening act on the ticket - others were like wyclef, gangstaar, public enemy, mya, and I forgot who else. But the Peas actually came out a few minutes after the show was finished and rocked the crowd again (who was left of it, at least) for like another 30 minutes. They were puttin in madd work and that **** paid off cause I remember me and my friends thinkin that they really cared about puttin on a good show for the people, and that's made me a fan ever since. So yeah, if you make a dope product or put on a good show at every show, people will catch on. Alright I'm tired.
 
i was a black eyed peas fans for their first 2 lps... i just stopped liking their music altogether over the last few years...
 
yea jay [reasonable doubt] only sold 33,000 his first week. and nas took damn near 10 years for illmatic to go plat.
 
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I don't think it matters. It's not where you start, but where you finish.
 
It matters to the label...Here's why...

Marketing and promotions have to be done FOR THE SHELF LIFE of the album. For most albums, that is around 4-5 months...The label is going to be pumping money into this album to sell it...

So...there has to be some gauge as to how much money they are going to pump into what albums right? So what is it??

THAT'S RIGHT! FIRST WEEK SALES!!



Not only are debut chart posistions used as marketing/hype tools themselves, but they indicate how the public is embracing the album. Strong first week numbers basically mean that the public is feeling the album, and they can continue to go full steam ahead with pouring money into to the album to promote it, to sell more copies...

Conversely, weak first week sales tell the label that nobody's really checking for the artist, and be ready to pull the plug on the album soon, to cut the losses.


Example...Justin Timberlake (his cd just happens to be sitting on my desk) STRONG first week numbers...Thus, you're gonna see more videos from him, stores are gonna get restocked with product, and there's gonna be more of a monetary push to raise even more awareness about his album.


Method Man - Weak as hell first week sales. Did it even chart? lol. Def Jam saw that nobody was checkin for Meth's album, so they pulled the plug on it to cut their losses.



So first week sales do matter. If you want your favorite artist to continue to put out music, buy the album in the first week. If you want them to get dropped from the label, then bootleg the album, or buy it 3 years later, after they've already been dropped.
 
Troup is 100% on... The arguments Im reading in this post seem to be "Well you dont need college, cuz look at Bill Gates."


No need to add anything really to Troup's post
 
Troup is right. That is all there is to say about 1st week sales.

However, the stuff Hitz posted from Rhymefest is absolutely golden. See, there is really 2 ways at looking at an album release. First way is what Troup wrote, the one for financial gain. This is why most people put out records. And Troup was on point with his examination of the thing. If you have a record that aint cleaning up in the first week or 2, they drop promo and look at other things in their stables to bank on. This is fact.

The 2nd way of looking at a release is creating something to build from. Which is what Rhymefest was talking about. Rhymefest has been around a long time in some form or another, and has gotten very litle spotline or shine until recently. Rhymefest is using what he did as a supplemental tool to go along with his touring schedule and build a more solid permanent fan base. His results are going to take longer to achieve because he is creating his buzz via touring and merch, via word of mouth. Nothing wrong with this approach either. It happens all the time in other genres like rock for example. A group will press an album, carry it on tour with their merch stock, and base sales expectations on tour sales over in store sales. Of course, you cant really look at the final outcome until the tour is over. Nothing wrong with this approach either. Sales are a marathon, not a sprint, for these guys. They are creating the buzz for their album by doing the public appearance route. It pays off alot of times too.

I guess it mostly boils down to expectations. Usually artists know what they are looking for when they make a release. Alot of albums are unfairly labelled flops cause the people that cast judgement dont know or understand what the basis for the release is in the first place.
 
i think first week sales have more to do with hype and promotion than the quality of the cd. if its good then it'll sell after the first week when people start listening and buzz goes around about how good/bad a cd is. if its bad it won't sell much after the first week. why do you think you see some cds do great out the gate but flop because after all the hype the album didn't deliver. a good album should find a way to sell. to labels of course first week sales are important, all sales are important. they want their cds selling a lot all the time.
 
I have a better question, "Do album sales even matter?"
 
MySpace Gangsta said:
I have a better question, "Do album sales even matter?"
Click to expand...

Naw they dont, matter of fact albums don't matter, artist just need to tell us they're artist n not really cut albums. </wise-ass>
 
This ain't the movies first week sales don't mean ****. When people look back on an album nobody cares about where it debuted, they care about where it peaked, how long it was on top, and how many sales amounted in total.
Rhymefest may not sell too many more albums, but the thread starter brings up great examples of nobodys that didn't get any sales to begin with and they became huge leading artists(not Lyfe so much).
The problem with Rhymefest is that he was hyped on MTV as being almost a major artist to begin, so when he didn't sell that's really because he didn't attract. Akon and Maroon 5 were absolute nobody's at their album releases but both became big with the huge success of their lead singles over time after the album was released (Locked-Up for Akon, This Love for Maroon) They then followed those singles with popular follow singles, that was how they achieved such success.
Black Eyed Peas are another example of a poor first week sales eventully leading to the group becoming the biggest group in pop music.
The Massacre sold so much in its first weeks, but by June and July nobody cared about the Massacre anymore, and now its an irrelevant aged album.
First week sales are pointless, don't think you have to buy an album in the first week, just buy an album if you think its good, it gets recorded down either way. If everyone starts buying their albums the first week then music will become like the movies and an artist will be completely dependant on their first week sales.

j.troup said:
It matters to the label...Here's why...

Marketing and promotions have to be done FOR THE SHELF LIFE of the album. For most albums, that is around 4-5 months...The label is going to be pumping money into this album to sell it...

So...there has to be some gauge as to how much money they are going to pump into what albums right? So what is it??

THAT'S RIGHT! FIRST WEEK SALES!!



Not only are debut chart posistions used as marketing/hype tools themselves, but they indicate how the public is embracing the album. Strong first week numbers basically mean that the public is feeling the album, and they can continue to go full steam ahead with pouring money into to the album to promote it, to sell more copies...

Conversely, weak first week sales tell the label that nobody's really checking for the artist, and be ready to pull the plug on the album soon, to cut the losses.


Example...Justin Timberlake (his cd just happens to be sitting on my desk) STRONG first week numbers...Thus, you're gonna see more videos from him, stores are gonna get restocked with product, and there's gonna be more of a monetary push to raise even more awareness about his album.


Method Man - Weak as hell first week sales. Did it even chart? lol. Def Jam saw that nobody was checkin for Meth's album, so they pulled the plug on it to cut their losses.



So first week sales do matter. If you want your favorite artist to continue to put out music, buy the album in the first week. If you want them to get dropped from the label, then bootleg the album, or buy it 3 years later, after they've already been dropped.
Click to expand...

**** Def Jam, they didn't premote his album in the first place, they set him up for failure and he'll get along fine without them if they drop him. They didn't even premote The Roots' album the only reason I knew it was coming was cause of some MTV news articles
 
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They really do matter more than most of yall think....I remember jayz broke it down and he pretty much said that depending on how well your first week sales are will make or break you as far as promotion go and getting another video or not.
 
Big numbers on the first week of sales is like getting some pu$$y on the first date...not a big deal...
 
emsiwun said:
Big numbers on the first week of sales is like getting some pu$$y on the first date...not a big deal...
Click to expand...

No big numbers on the first week is like getting pu$$y on the first date.....If you dont hit right you might not getting another chance again

emsiwun said:
Big numbers on the first week of sales is like getting some pu$$y on the first date...not a big deal...
Click to expand...

No big numbers on the first week is like getting pu$$y on the first date.....If you dont hit right you might not getting another chance again .............a very big deal!
 
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