CD Sales Tracking - Charting the Waters II

[lorilovesgolf]

   Thanks Jerry!
I pre-ordered 2 CD's this morning!!  Getting excited!!  I cannot believe its up to #3 already!
Thanks for the additional info on DP and GS too!!  Interesting.

[fhmmany2]

AC!!!! The CD is now ranked #1  And the price has been reduced to $9.95!

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1 in Music

AMAZON

[ACcountryFan]

AMAZON RANKING: 3-8-08
1. Clay's New CD: #1

Hello Frankie and Lori...

[fhmmany2]

AC - I read on another Board that the Amazone rankings are changed every hour, not every day - is tha true?  They were asking people to spread out their purchases of the CD, so it can stay at #1 for a long time.

[ACcountryFan]

Yes! The rankings change every hour and that is why i only peek in once a day and whatever ranking a CD is, that's what i post on here. If i were to do up to the minute rankings i'd never leave Amazon because i'd have to report every movement each hour and so way back when this thread was created i decided i wouldn't get sucked into that sort of thing and monitor an hourly changing ranking from Amazon and only post whatever ranking a CD was at that particular time i checked. Otherwise, as i said, i'd have to post the ranking each and every hour and i'm a chart kind of person but even i'm not going to become a hostage of Amazon So i only post the number at the time i look each day. It could be #1 now but be #5 next hour and then back up to #3 the next hour and go back to #1, etc etc.

Well, i usually discourage the practice of multiple CD purchasing because it gives a false representation of sales. What i would do is ask people to buy the CD through the pre-order method if they choose and those who hadn't or don't want to buy it through the mail, wait until it's in the walk-in stores because even though Amazon offers a pre-order, it doesn't mean a person will get it sooner than those who will buy it in the walk-in stores. Some feel that a pre-order will enable him or her to get the CD before the general public and that isn't the case. A pre-order just insures a person's purchase when it comes in stock. Based on a pre-order tally, Amazon will know how many copies to have sent to them from the record company.

To answer your question in more shorter words: it's always good that a CD's sales are spread out so it won't debut high and crash the next week but having said that i feel people shouldn't want to go out and buy more copies every week to insure the CD will remain near the top. It should stay there because new sales are being tabulated helping it stay there and not because the same buyers are going out every Tuesday and grabbing up copies left and right. That kind of thing is what makes a lot of critics cast suspicion and doubt on sales figures. I can't explain why some artists have CD's that seem to sell and sell and sell and other's do well a couple of weeks and then fall. Hype plays a part in it...radio airplay plays a big part in it...TV exposure plays a part in it. Any kind of publicity helps a CD i think. Radio airplay is the strongest form of publicity because it reaches masses of people daily. Listeners who wouldn't even know Clay if they heard him, for example, through radio airplay would be hearing him for the first time and would probably want to go out and get his latest CD, etc. That's the way most people in the business, i assume, feel about the artists and the public relationship.

Country singer Taylor Swift for example. I've liked what i've heard from her so far...i hadn't made the plunge yet and bought a CD of hers...but because i've been able to hear her on the radio a lot i've been exposed to her songs and like what i hear...if Clay would only get medium rotation airplay it would help out really well...but this minimal airplay to no airplay is a joke. How long will it last? I have no idea. How long can radio continue to deny Clay's popularity? Reports of fans buying 5 and 6 copies of one CD makes people in the business question how popular he is. That is why i don't like the multiple CD buying. Also, how long will RCA or any label for that matter, continue to support an artist not bringing in the big money to them and how much longer will the big name songwriters continue to submit songs if the music publishers aren't gaining much from next to no radio airplay. He's been lucky and fortunate so far...also, how long will RCA ignore the payola? If Clay's to be on the radio and have a good sized radio hit, RCA is going to have to pay for the song getting airplay and stop putting all the pressure on our shoulder's.

[fhmmany2]

Thanks for all of the informatin, Jerry (and AC, too!  ) I hope that Clay will get the support he deserves from his record label this time - we'll see. I never buy CDs just to stack them up - when I buy extras, it is with someone in mind. My whole family thinks I am in charge of supplying them with Clay music (since I am obsessed), and I do not mind at all! (And of course I have to have a second copy for myself in case - Heaven forbid! - something should happen to my original CD - I am still listening to my orginal MOAM - but I have a back up just in case!!!!!  (And if the original ever stops playing, I am going to frame it!) 

[ACcountryFan]

AMAZON RANKING: 3-12-08
1. Upcoming CD: #78

The pre-order price was slashed the other day to half the regular price.

[ACcountryFan]

AMAZON RANKING: 3-12-08
1. Upcoming CD: #11 {sub-category: Vocal Pop; not overall sales}

[geraldine]

Jerry- Thanks for the update on the up coming CD. It will be interesting to see what the numbers are when it is released.

[fhmmany2]

AC - I brought these statistics over from the Magazine Thread - thought you would enjoy reading them!

Time Magazine - 3/17/08 - NO CLAY
   Page 18 "Numbers - Music"
     

48% - Percentage of U.S. teenagers who did not buy a single CD last year, up from 38% in 2006

     

29 Million - Number of Americans buying music legally on line, a 21% increase from 2006

[ACcountryFan]

AMAZON RANKING: 3-14-08
1. Upcoming CD: #16; Vocal-Pop category

Hello Charlene and Frankie:

I look for that 48% number to just keep on rising. I'm guilty of it myself...it's just too convenient buying songs on-line...legally at Itunes or at Amazon. I still buy CD's in Wal*Mart if i'm wanting it for my personal CD collections but if i don't have to have it and can have the songs on my computer and make copies of the songs myself on blank CD's that's what i do. The downside, though, about internet sales becoming more and more the norm is that there will be a big change in the music itself. Where as a CD has always been filled with songs by the artist and 3 or 4 of them were released as singles...what's going to happen if consumers only buy what radio is playing? Will there be hard-core, die hard fans buying entire albums on Itunes and having the songs instantly on their computer or will consumers just buy the song they hear on the radio and not want to hear anything else the singer sings? That's a travesty for the artist and the songwriters if consumers will only buy what's on the radio and not spend their money on an entire on-line album's worth of songs. I'm an artist loyalist...not too many music buyers are like i am. I buy music because of the artist singing the song...whether the song is short, long, ballad, up-tempo, country or otherwise. I don't care what a song is saying...i just like hearing my favorite artists sing whatever it may be. They don't have to write their music or play an instrument, either. So, as long as i like their voice, i'll support whatever song/album they have out. So, having said all that, how many people are going to support their favorite artists in that kind of way? I'll guess and say this trend is going to hurt the songwriting community in the end.

I also like seeing that the legally bought music percentage is up as well. I'm hoping people will realize or have come to slowly realize how much they rip off the music industry when they get songs illegally. I'll just say ninety nine cents never killed anyone...that's all it costs to buy a single song on Itunes...and you have people not even wanting to pay 99 cents which is a steal if you ask me. 99 cents for a song...that's cheap...so it baffles me why there are those who still want to attempt to get music for free and not pay for it like you're suppose to.

[geraldine]

AMAZON RANKING: 3-14-08
1. Upcoming CD: #16; Vocal-Pop category

Hello Charlene and Frankie:

I look for that 48% number to just keep on rising. I'm guilty of it myself...it's just too convenient buying songs on-line...legally at Itunes or at Amazon. I still buy CD's in Wal*Mart if i'm wanting it for my personal CD collections but if i don't have to have it and can have the songs on my computer and make copies of the songs myself on blank CD's that's what i do. The downside, though, about internet sales becoming more and more the norm is that there will be a big change in the music itself. Where as a CD has always been filled with songs by the artist and 3 or 4 of them were released as singles...what's going to happen if consumers only buy what radio is playing? Will there be hard-core, die hard fans buying entire albums on Itunes and having the songs instantly on their computer or will consumers just buy the song they hear on the radio and not want to hear anything else the singer sings? That's a travesty for the artist and the songwriters if consumers will only buy what's on the radio and not spend their money on an entire on-line album's worth of songs. I'm an artist loyalist...not too many music buyers are like i am. I buy music because of the artist singing the song...whether the song is short, long, ballad, up-tempo, country or otherwise. I don't care what a song is saying...i just like hearing my favorite artists sing whatever it may be. They don't have to write their music or play an instrument, either. So, as long as i like their voice, i'll support whatever song/album they have out. So, having said all that, how many people are going to support their favorite artists in that kind of way? I'll guess and say this trend is going to hurt the songwriting community in the end.

I also like seeing that the legally bought music percentage is up as well. I'm hoping people will realize or have come to slowly realize how much they rip off the music industry when they get songs illegally. I'll just say ninety nine cents never killed anyone...that's all it costs to buy a single song on Itunes...and you have people not even wanting to pay 99 cents which is a steal if you ask me. 99 cents for a song...that's cheap...so it baffles me why there are those who still want to attempt to get music for free and not pay for it like you're suppose to.

JERRY- I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU!
THANKS FOR WRITING THIS INFORMATION.

[ACcountryFan]

Thanks for the comment!

AMAZON RANKING: 3-19-08
1. Upcoming CD: #37; Vocal Pop category

[ACcountryFan]

I have no idea if that's the official cover of the CD or not. I saw it at Amazon and didn't read the fine print because we know people can create their own images and add them to Amazon but it looks official. Although Amazon is still listing as the CD as "New Release" instead of "On My Way Here".

[geraldine]

Jerry Thank you so much for posting Clay's new cd cover.  The title sounds great, hope it is the right one.  And the photo is awesome!

Will you keep checking at Amazon to see if they do list the title for us?

[ACcountryFan]

AMAZON RANKING: 3-26-08
1. On My Way Here: #40 Overall Sales

2. On My Way Here: #4 Vocal Pop category

[geraldine]

Jerry- The Vocal Pop category look great for Clay's "On My Way Here"

[ACcountryFan]

AMAZON RANKING: 3-29-08
1. On My Way Here: #59 Overall Sales

2. On My Way Here: #6 Vocal Pop category

[ACcountryFan]

AMAZON RANKING: 4-2-08
1. On My Way Here: #52 Overall Sales

2. On My Way Here: #5 Vocal Pop category

[ACcountryFan]

AMAZON RANKING: 4-3-08
1. On My Way Here: #2 Vocal Pop category

2. On My Way Here: #37 Overall Sales

Country Corner
1. George Strait's single "I Saw God Today" has moved up two places from #4 to #2 on the country chart

2. Taylor Swift's single "Picture to Burn" has moved up two places from #9 to #7 on the country chart