"Listen Up!" - Debut Week Sales (Total)

[kristie]

I thought Haley-holics comment about putting on the headphones at Barnes and Noble to sample music was interesting. I had forgotten what that experience was like.

Because the album is so strong, sampling is what Haley needs.

Did they even play Haley's music while she was signing? That would be a good way to capture the attention of the casual Walmart shopper.

The record companies ought to have ought to have vans on the street that let people sample tunes. With the technology that exists today they could complete the transaction then and there.

i agree. i think that might actually work.

[Miguel]

Will Haley's sales numbers surprise in a good way?

I was looking at this Billboard article titled,
MercyMe, Slash, Sara Bareilles on Course for Billboard 200's Top 10

It's based on the "Nielsen SoundScan's Building chart."

A footnote states:

"The Building Chart reflects the first four days (Monday through Thursday) of SoundScan's tracking week (which ends Sunday) as reported by six major merchants: iTunes, Trans World Entertainment, Best Buy, Starbucks, Target and Anderson Merchandisers.

Notice the retailer that's missing? Walmart, which is the exclusive offline retailer for the deluxe version of Haley's album. On iTunes, the deluxe version has been far outselling the Standard version.

Billboard estimates those six merchants "make up about 85% of all U.S. album sales." But I've read Walmart accounts for 20-30%.

[john]

I would not be surprised if Haley's album sales showed a bit of an upside surprise.

There are more than 4000 Walmart stores in the United States. If each store sold an average of three CDs that's more than 12,000 sold. Add in iTunes and I'd guess you would be closing in on the projected first week sales. There are almost 1500 ratings for LU on iTunes, which appears to be about 25% more than for Durbin's MOABD at six days post release. MOABD had been projected to sell 26,000, which was close to the actual number. Of course his CD sales may have benefited because of greater mall traffic at the end of November.

I checked the CD racks at a local Fred Meyer "superstore" on Friday and there was a spot for LU, which in fact had had a special price, but all copies had been sold. Freddies has about 125 stores in the Northwest.

[My Alter Ego]

I would not be surprised if Haley's album sales showed a bit of an upside surprise.

There are more than 4000 Walmart stores in the United States. If each store sold an average of three CDs that's more than 12,000 sold. Add in iTunes and I'd guess you would be closing in on the projected first week sales. There are almost 1500 ratings for LU on iTunes, which appears to be about 25% more than for Durbin's MOABD at six days post release. MOABD had been projected to sell 26,000, which was close to the actual number. Of course his CD sales may have benefited because of greater mall traffic at the end of November.

I checked the CD racks at a local Fred Meyer "superstore" on Friday and there was a spot for LU, which in fact had had a special price, but all copies had been sold. Freddies has about 125 stores in the Northwest.

Interesting -- I checked at the Fred Meyer that I frequent, yesterday. There wasn't even a spot for it. Is it only at certain stores?

[Miguel]

I looked at that list again and "Anderson Merchandisers" caught my eye. I looked them up and found what I suspected:

After winning Supplier of the Quarter for both second and fourth quarters in 2011, Walmart, Inc. awarded Anderson Merchandisers the Music Supplier of the Year! http://www.amerch.com/services

Still, I wonder if both the Standard and Deluxe versions are being counted in the numbers we have seen. They obviously have different SKUs so they will appear as two distinct items in a database.

This answer on "Ask Billboard" indicates the counts will be added together. I just wonder if they are when they're compiling numbers on the fly.

All of the different versions of Alanis Morissette's "Flavors of Entanglement" will have their sales combined into one total that will be reflected on the charts.

In researching this topic, I found the deluxe version of Lady Gaga's BTW was sold at wholesale for roughly a 25% premium compared to the standard edition.

http://www.billboard.com/news/update-lad...3872.story

[john]

Interesting -- I checked at the Fred Meyer that I frequent, yesterday. There wasn't even a spot for it. Is it only at certain stores?

It took me a bit of hunting to find it. It wasn't in the new releases section, but was out in the alphabetized racks of CDs (under "R").

[greglw3]

The late news that Listen Up! is in the top 10 at #9 at Walmart paired with the fact that it was as high as #5 on iTunes AND the fact that as it has dropped on iTunes it has risen at Walmart (covering the week at both ends with top 10 position at 2 major retailers!) all could suggest a surprise number better than 15-20K. What do you think?

[My Alter Ego]

It took me a bit of hunting to find it. It wasn't in the new releases section, but was out in the alphabetized racks of CDs (under "R").

Actually, it was the alphabetized section that I started in. The clerk working in the area tried helping me, pointed out the "New Releases" but seemed unaware of the title.

[Flask Man]

I believe the Wal-Mart sales numbers for Billboard are not based on retail album sales, but on the number of units shipped to inventory.

[Flask Man]

With 68% of the outlets reporting, Haley as 14,100 in estimated sales according to HDD. Projecting that out, she should be able to crack 20k total. Surely not the number she or Interscope hoped for in 1st week sales, but the good news is she's currently predicted to be 12th overall, a couple spots ahead of Kris Allen.

http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/sales/salescht.cgi

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Not such good news over on iTunes. Listen Up has dropped like a stone, currently at #86 and sinking. She's now 30 positions below Kris Allen's Camelia.