ClayManiacs

Welcome to yet another CD sales tracking thread!! Yippee!!   :bouncy :bouncy

:purpbana Clay, you keep those CDs coming and we will keep tracking!!  :purpbana

In anticipation of "On May Way Here" going on sale May 6th, I am setting up another sales thread.

Our Number Cruncher, Jerry (ACcountryfan) will be back to keep up abreast on how On My Way Here is doing on Amazon!

DATES................. May 6-May 12 May 13-May 19 May 20-May 26 May 27-June2 June 3-June 9 June 10-June 16 June 17-June 23 June 24-June 30 July 1-July 7

Week.......... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Sales #s........ 94,121 20,527 12,221   6,367   3,994   3,000*   2,000*   1,400*

Billboard Rank & (Total) 4     (94,121 18   (114,648) 48   (126,869) 106 (133,236) 163 (137,236) ^    (140,236) ^    (142,236) ^    (143,636) ^

*approximate

To see the sales being counted each week, go here:
Hits Daily Double Sales Tracking Updates (http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/sales/salescht.cgi)
This site does require you to register, but it is quick and easy to do so.  You will have to temporarily allow pop-ups to register.

(http://www.claymaniacs.com/coppermine/albums/userpics/10042/normal_513%252BcEzrDqL._SS500_.jpg)

It was a thrill to open my Target Stores flyer this morning and see On My Way Here as the first CD on the "Tune in Tuesday" page.  :bouncy :bouncy

I am going to open this thread now so we all get together and talk about the sales buzz in upcoming week.

We will officially get some numbers after the first week of sales.

I can't wait to see how this CD does. :cross

RADIOANDRECORDS (http://www.radioandrecords.com/Formats/Charts/AC_Chart.asp)

BILLBOARD (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/discography/index.jsp?pid=515161&aid=1119784)

I enjoy seeing Clay's name under "composer".  :bouncy

MEDIABASE (http://w2.mediabase.com/mmrweb/AllAccess/jump.asp?chart=A1)

TOPHITSONLINE (http://www.tophitsonline.com/newreleases.htm)

I'm looking forward to great big numbers!!! :clap :clap :clap

Thanks for doing this!!!
Woodstock :bouncy

The five AC radio stations that have added "On My Way Here" are:

1. KUMU
2. KWAV
3. WFMK
4. WHUD
5. WJKK

"On My Way Here" #5 ranked MP3 download on Amazon, this is for the single. It's ranked #5 in the Vocal Pop category.

The Digital CD is ranked #12 in the sales of Vocal Pop MP3 albums for the hour. Also, in the overall Amazon MP3 chart, it's #215 which ranks everything available as an MP3 album.

The Physical CD is ranked #4 in the Vocal Pop category and #10 on the overall best-selling albums for the hour.

AMAZON RANKING: 5-6-08

1. On My Way Here: #3 Vocal Pop

2. On My Way Here: #6 Overall Sales

3. On My Way Here: #11 MP3 albums/Vocal Pop

From HITSDAILYDOUBLE (http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/newsPage.cgi?news07087m01)

(SNIP)


For the record, they usually only mention the CDs that they believe will be the top sellers in their next week's listings. :wink

HDD (http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/sales/sales_ur.cgi?050608)

Hello Deanna...i can't wait to see what the opening is going to be for Clay's CD. It looks as if he'll have an opening week in the hundred thousands :yes

AMAZON RANKING: 5-7-08
1. On My Way Here: #5 Overall ranking

2. On My Way Here: #4 Vocal Pop

May I also add that On My Way Here is currently the #2 Pop Album on iTunes and #7 on the Top Album List.

 :smile

AMAZON RANKING: 5-8-08

1. On My Way Here: #2 Vocal Pop

2. On My Way Here: #4 Overall

AC - wonderful figures for the CD!!!!  :purpbana :purpbana :purpbana :purpbana

I brought my post over from Critical Mass for you - so many people are upset at the thought that the CD may not sell has many copies the first week as we had hoped, so I looked a few figures up: NOTE:) the dates are the dates of the magazines, not the dates of the charts).


Clay's place on the Billboard charts next week will depend entirely upon the other Cds that were released this week with his.

BILLBOARD (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003800580)

HDD (http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/newsPage.cgi?news07090m01)

MEDIABASE (http://w2.mediabase.com/mmrweb/AllAccess/jump.asp?chart=A1)

:wave That's a good story about Neil Diamond :yes

AMAZON RANKING: 5-9-08
1. On My Way Here: #2 Vocal Pop

2. On My Way Here: #2 Adult Contemporary

3. On My Way Here: #3 Overall

I read all the posts and saw the remark about Clay's CD perhaps selling less than 100,000 :dunno Is that a combined total of everything: physical CDs, on-line sales, mail orders. I think sales of CD's are going to continue to go down for nearly everyone unless an act grabs the national attention for a couple of weeks like the Amy Winehouse person or this Leona Lewis act. I also have to put some emphasis on how low-key Clay remains...aside from the usual debut week/month of a CD's release, he isn't putting his CD out there for all to see. However, in a different approach, speculation tends to say that Clay is comfortable with his own audience and releases songs or appears on TV shows just for his audience to enjoy whereas other singer's continue the wall to wall hype year after year after year...hype reaching people who perhaps are not fans of the artist and that breeds resentment. I'm sure those who groan at the music of Neil Diamond are pulling their hair out wondering how on earth he could achieve such a big sales success this far into his career...the naysayers probably wonder how he ever landed a recording contract. There are people out there like that and as we know, Clay critics are a plenty...so as i read negative remarks about Clay's new CD or read this or that from those who really aren't fans of Clay's musical selections, i roll my eyes a lot, because they don't "get it". The big music critics will never get it...they never got John Denver's appeal...they don't get Barry Manilow's...they don't get Neil Diamond's...they don't get Clay Aiken's...etc etc

AMAZON RANKING: 5-12-08

1. On My Way Here: #7 Overall Sales

2. On My Way Here: #3 Vocal Pop

3. On MY Way Here: #3 Adult Contemporary

I can't seem to find the sales figures for the week.  Have they come out yet?  If so, where are they posted?

Debbie

The first week's sales figures for ON MY WAY HERE will be revealed this Thursday when Billboard posts their updated music charts. Today at 11:59pm, just before midnight, marks the official first week in stores and the sales for this first week no doubt will be sent to Billboard. I'm sure there are other web-sites that will issue the first week's sales before the official Billboard Top 200 is published on-line but i'll wait until the Billboard Top 200 puts out their chart for this week. Clay's CD as we all know hit last Tuesday and so this week's chart should have Clay's ON MY WAY HERE on it. In earlier posts it was speculated that Clay's CD sold anywhere between 80 to 85,000 copies which is a figure rounded to the nearest thousand i assume. I would be surprised if he opens up with just 85,000+

I'll say he opens up in the mid 100,000 range...and continues to sell...but it'll be a tough road along the way without a major tour and this CD hitting right when touring season is getting underway for so many artists will no doubt hurt the sales in the long run. The high profile TV appearances will no doubt help, though...but a continuing tour through summer and into the fall would've helped even more i think.

AMAZON RANKING: 5-13-08
1. On My Way Here: #10 Overall sales

2. On My Way Here: #4 Vocal Pop

3. On My Way Here: #4 Adult Contemporary

THE PRELIMINARY HDD NUMBERS HAVE COME OUT.  ABOUT 65% REPORTED AND THE NUMBERS AREN'T GREAT.  I DON'T THINK QVC, I-TUNES, OR AMAZON REPORTED YET.  HOPE IS THAT HE WILL REACH 100,000 BUT HE ISN'T PREDICTED TO GET THAT HIGH.  NO ONE IS THAT HIGH RIGHT NOW.  FINGERS CROSSED.  I WANT HIM TO RETAIN HIS RECORD.

GWENN

Which record are you referring to?  I can't believe that his sales are this low.     Here's hoping that at least he might maintain longevity at the top of the charts for once instead of striking early but falling fast.

The record is ranking in the top 5 for all his album debuts.  ALL sales are low, not just Clay's.  Its just the way CD sales are now as opposed to the way it was back in 2006 for ATDW.  We are in a transition period now between hard copy CD's and digital downloads.  We just have to adjust our thinking according and realize that he is still ranking as high as the competitors.  Don't look at the total number....just the ranking.  He also had some very big names to compete against last week some of who made an AI appearance or have singles on the radio which are both a bit tougher to compete against.  He'll be fine regardless and we'll still be here to support him.  :thumb

Clay is doing great!!  Final numbers are 92,887!!! 
Those are excellent first day numbers!!

CHART DATE: 05/12/2008
LAST UPDATE: 05/13/2008 12:37:47
NOW IN: FINAL


LW TW artist / album label power index % change
-- 1 NEIL DIAMOND COLUMBIA 140,004 --
HOME BEFORE DARK
-- 2 TOBY KEITH UME/SHOW DOG 100,527 --
35 BIGGEST HITS
-- 3 CLAY AIKEN RCA/RMG 92,887 --
ON MY WAY HERE
2 4 MARIAH CAREY ISLAND/IDJMG 88,498 +2%
E=MC2
1 5 MADONNA WARNER BROS. 82,830 -71%
HARD CANDY
3 6 LEONA LEWIS J RECORDS/RMG 75,612 -8%
SPIRIT
-- 7 GAVIN DEGRAW J RECORDS/RMG 70,094 --
GAVIN DEGRAW
-- 8 JOSH GROBAN REPRISE 47,240 --
AWAKE LIVE
-- 9 DIERKS BENTLEY CAPITOL NASHVILLE 43,010 --
GREATEST HITS 2003-2006
-- 10 LUIS MIGUEL WARNER MUSIC LATINA 33,889 --

Those are very respectable numbers! Third isn't so bad considering the competition.  :bouncy

Whoo hoo!!! I think that's wonderful. Go Clay!!!! :cheer

Wow, he only did less than 8,000 fewer albums than Toby Keith!!  If I'm looking correctly, it's Toby's first week too.  That certainly isn't bad.  I still wish he'd get more air play so that he could win over new listeners.

Debbie

From the CB


QUOTE
"....and the number shall be THREE...not four and not two except if followed by THREE..."

 :lmao :lmao :lmao

BWAH! That is pretty funny!

I think Clay did just GREAT!!

Hits Daily Double had predicited 80,000 to 85,000 CDs sold for Clay, so I am thrilled to see him surpassing those expectations!!  :clap :clap

HITSDAILYDOUBLE (http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/newsPage.cgi?news07099m01)


HDD (http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/sales/salescht.cgi)

Here is some info on "the record" spoken of earlier on this thread:



WIKIPEDIA.ORG/CLAYAIKEN (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clay_Aiken#Music)

Make that his first four albums, thank-you very much!! :wink

WOOHOO!!!  That has put a huge   :bigsmile  on my face!!!!  Thanks, DEANNA, for sharing your research!!!!   :hugg

Thea, you're welcome!!  :bigsmile

Let's just hope that this CD keeps selling.  :cross

Angela,
My understanding is that iTunes count for sales of the CD if the whole CD is downloaded.

:confetti2 Congrats Clay!! :confetti2

A little perspective = :bigsmile I think those numbers are spectacular! :clap

Angela, I found a little more info to support my answer:


WIKIPEDIA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_200)

I AM VERY HAPPY.  HE DID JUST FINE.  BETWEEN THIS AND THE SPAMALOT NUMBERS, HRH SHOULD BE ON CLOUD 9.

AND MICKI--THAT BROTHER MAYNARD REFERENCE IS THE BEST.   :hugg

GWENN

 :bigsmile  I am thrilled the CD did better than the previous mention...selling near 100,000. I am shocked about Neil Diamond's opening numbers...i knew it would do well because of his longevity and his fan-base but opening at #1 i didn't think would happen. If anything, it shows that with proper publicity and marketing anything's possible. I don't think the buyers of the CD were grandmothers, though, like a lot of these so-called hip music critics like to say. Neil hasn't changed one bit...oh, he's gotten older and his voice has aged...but that's about it. Evolving and changing are vastly different. Too many artists today change too much and confuse the buying public instead of making gradual changes as time evolves.

I saw the comment about physical CD's and digital downloads, too. Long before i got a computer i would hear about people downloading songs and music from the internet via wherever they bought it and i don't like that practice as a rule, but in exceptions i'll buy a song/MP3 from Amazon if i'm making a You Tube video or something.

Internet CD sales are low, too, because what we have are consumers buying whatever song they're hearing on the radio and because places like Amazon for example offer people the luxury of buying songs off a CD, consumers aren't necessarily buying entire CD's worth of songs anymore whether physical or digital. When you have software available to consumers where they can legally take a song from a CD, even something that isn't a single, and download it to their computer, those sort of practices are helping the physical CD become an endangered species.

I'll say by 2020 if people want to listen to music and there aren't any CD players or CD's being made anymore, people will either have to buy a computer or an Ipod...or maybe buy songs off their cell-phone and listen to them on their...anything's possible. Perhaps someone will come along and create an all-in-one cell-phone, radio, car starter, battery charger, garage door opener, and channel changer with the way things are heading.

FROM DUDLEYVILLAS AT CH AND CV--


AND JERRY--I THINK NEIL D SOLD WHAT HE DID BECAUSE OF BEING ON AI 2 DAYS IN A ROW.  GREAT PR.

SO CLAY DID JUST FINE.  YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT MUSIC.  BUT I DON'T THINK IT WILL BE THAT LONG.  I BET CD'S WILL BE NONEXISTANT WITHIN 5 YEARS.  AT THE MOST.

GWENN

Congratulations to Clay for 4 straight albums debuting in the top 5  :purpbana

I don't understand what's happening to music sales these days at all. With all the digital downloads and such I'm in toal confusion how the counts work or don't! What I do know is that Clay's On My Way Here is the most beautiful music to grace our ears ever, and my hope is for it to have legs for a long time.  :clap

Thanks for your hits to Clay the Man http://ashes-clay-theman.blogspot.com/ (http://ashes-clay-theman.blogspot.com/)! I'm having so much fun with this blog. I owe it all to Carolina Clay for getting me interested in her http://carolinaonmymind-carolinaclaysblog.blogspot.com/ (http://carolinaonmymind-carolinaclaysblog.blogspot.com/) blog, then helping me start my own.


(http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j63/csmelody/ABCGIFSetc/rosesigninghaveagreatday.gif)

ACCORDING TO MTV, CLAY WAS 100 SHORT OF THIRD PLACE.   :bang :bang :bang :bang :bang

ONLY 100!!!!!!!

GWENN

BILLBOARD.COM (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003803055)

 Well, the thought crossed my mind yesterday...i was going to say 2012 or something but i didn't want to write off the physical CD too early because there will still be CD's around if not in abundance...something's gotta be in the music section of stores unless Wal*Mart is going to take out CD's and put computer screen's everywhere for people to download songs from their web-site :lol :lol I shouldn't laugh because that actually sounds like something that may in fact happen. For example: A husband and wife and their kids are walking through Wal*Mart and someone says something about a song...and presto, off they walk to the MP3 download section of Wal*Mart where customers can download songs on computer's set up at the store for their convenience and have the songs on their home computer or wherever when they arrive home. It's frightening to think about so i won't...i'll play it safe and say 2020 just to prolong the change from happening for awhile. :clap :clap

I was at Billboard just now and saw where Clay came in at #4 on the Billboard 200 but he did debut at #1 on Billboard's Internet Album chart with ON MY WAY HERE.

ON MY WAY HERE makes a #3 debut on Billboard's Digital Albums chart. For those who may be confused, the Internet Albums chart shows the physical CD's that are bought on-line and mailed to a customer's house where as the Digital Albums chart shows the CD's that are bought on-line and downloaded onto a customer's computer. On Internet Albums, Clay came in at #1 while Neil Diamond came in at #2 even though the Billboard 200 shows Clay at #4 and Neil at #1...perhaps because more people on the internet were buying physical CD's of Clay and not of Neil. I'd like to know what percentage of Clay's sales came from walk-in stores compared to sales from on-line stores like Amazon, CD Now, or Wal*Mart's web-site. Seeing that he came in at #1 on Internet Albums and #4 on the Billboard 200 further cements just how many fans Clay has on-line as compared to others.

Jerry, thanks for that explanation.  I was very confused!  :bduh

Here's some links to see the charting:


billboard.com (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Albums&f=The+Billboard+200)



billboard.com (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Albums&f=Top+Internet+Albums)



billboard.com (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Albums&f=Top+Digital+Albums)

Clay's song has risen to #8 on the Jump! Menu on Mediabase:



mediabase (http://w2.mediabase.com/mmrweb/AllAccess/jump.asp?chart=A1)

AMAZON RANK: 5-17-08
1. On My Way Here: #17

:wave For those that read the quotes from Billboard and wonder why it has #4 beside the "peak" on the two on-line charts, that's an indication of where the CD is on the Billboard 200. If it goes no higher than #4 next week, then from here on out, that will be the official peak position quoted by the media and critics even though it topped the Internet Album chart.

WORLDSCREEN.COM (http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=americanidol051608.htm)

Does anyone know how sales are shaping up for week 2 yet?

Clayistheway, this is at 28.66% from HDD...tomorrow is the final.

 
 
 LW TW artist / album label power index
-- 1 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE ATLANTIC 28,588
NARROW STAIRS
-- 2 FRANK SINATRA REPRISE/RHINO 19,375
NOTHING BUT THE BEST
6 3 LEONA LEWIS J RECORDS/RMG 19,355
SPIRIT
4 4 MARIAH CAREY ISLAND/IDJMG 15,434
E=MC2
2 5 TOBY KEITH UME/SHOW DOG 15,223
35 BIGGEST HITS
-- 6 KEITH SWEAT RHINO 13,707
JUST ME
-- 7 JASON MRAZ ATLANTIC 11,803
WE SING WE DANCE WE STEAL THINGS
-- 8 10 YEARS UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 11,689
DIVISION
-- 9 DUFFY MERCURY 11,565
ROCKFERRY
5 10 MADONNA WARNER BROS. 10,543
HARD CANDY
11 11 TAYLOR SWIFT BIG MACHINE 10,374
TAYLOR SWIFT
9 12 DIERKS BENTLEY CAPITOL NASHVILLE 8,717
GREATEST HITS 2003-2006
40 13 GARTH BROOKS PEARL RECORDS 8,058
ULTIMATE HITS
12 14 NOW 27 SBMG/COMMERICAL MUSIC GRP 7,815
VARIOUS ARTISTS
1 15 NEIL DIAMOND COLUMBIA 7,573
HOME BEFORE DARK
15 16 GEORGE STRAIT MCA NASHVILLE 7,287
TROUBADOUR
21 17 JAMES OTTO WARNER BROS. NASHVILLE 7,034
SUNSET MAN
18 18 JORDIN SPARKS 19/JIVE/ZLG 6,387
JORDIN SPARKS
42 19 KID ROCK ATLANTIC 6,130
ROCK N ROLL JESUS
29 20 HANNAH MONTANA WALT DISNEY RECORDS 5,681
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS CONCERT
-- 21 KENNY CHESNEY BNA/SBMG NASHVILLE 5,608
JUST WHO I AM: POETS & PIRATES
-- 22 RASCAL FLATTS LYRIC STREET 5,372
STILL FEELS GOOD
19 23 COLBIE CAILLAT UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 5,288
COCO
25 24 ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS RAZOR & TIE 5,232
SOUNDTRACK
-- 25 FILTER PULSE 5,097
ANTHEMS FOR THE DAMNED
7 26 GAVIN DEGRAW J RECORDS/RMG 5,085
GAVIN DEGRAW
23 27 ALICIA KEYS J RECORDS/RMG 4,931
AS I AM
-- 28 CHERISH CAPITOL 4,915
TRUTH
13 29 LYFE JENNINGS COLUMBIA 4,839
LYFE CHANGE
-- 30 CARRIE UNDERWOOD 19/ARISTA/RMG 4,786
SOME HEARTS
-- 31 BRAD PAISLEY ARISTA NASHVILLE 4,639
5TH GEAR
27 32 ALAN JACKSON ARISTA NASHVILLE 4,600
GOOD TIME
3 33 CLAY AIKEN RCA/RMG 4,526
ON MY WAY HERE
26 34 DAUGHTRY RCA/RMG 4,496
DAUGHTRY
14 35 JACK JOHNSON BRUSHFIRE/UNIV REPUBLIC 4,271
SLEEP THROUGH THE STATIC
-- 36 SUGARLAND MERCURY NASHVILLE 4,185
ENJOY THE RIDE
-- 37 CHRIS BROWN JIVE/ZLG 4,178
EXCLUSIVE
30 38 RICK ROSS DEF JAM/IDJMG 4,115
TRILLA
10 39 LUIS MIGUEL WARNER MUSIC LATINA 3,977
COMPLICES
46 40 KEYSHIA COLE GEFFEN 3,927
JUST LIKE YOU
38 41 MARY J. BLIGE GEFFEN 3,871
GROWING PAINS
-- 42 IRON MAIDEN LEGACY 3,799
SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME
28 43 DEF LEPPARD ISLAND/IDJMG 3,718
SONGS FROM THE SPARKLE LOUNGE
33 44 NATASHA BEDINGFIELD EPIC 3,594
POCKETFUL OF SUNSHINE
-- 45 FOXY BROWN KOCH 3,474
BROOKLYN'S DON DIVA
-- 46 RIHANNA DEF JAM/IDJMG 3,278
GOOD GIRL GONE BAD
-- 47 MAROON 5 A&M/OCTONE 3,227
IT WON'T BE SOON BEFORE LONG
17 48 JUNO RHINO 3,173
SOUNDTRACK
41 49 LADY ANTEBELLUM CAPITOL NASHVILLE 3,167
LADY ANTEBELLUM
39 50 TRACE ADKINS CAPITOL NASHVILLE 3,005
AMERICAN MAN: GREATEST HITS V2
 

Wow -- not so good.  Way too big of a drop.

Another HDD Update

CHART DATE: 05/19/2008
LAST UPDATE: 05/19/2008 13:02:51
NOW IN: 60.19%


LW TW artist / album label power index
-- 1 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE ATLANTIC 48,371
NARROW STAIRS
6 2 LEONA LEWIS J RECORDS/RMG 41,881
SPIRIT
-- 3 FRANK SINATRA REPRISE/RHINO 41,858
NOTHING BUT THE BEST
4 4 MARIAH CAREY ISLAND/IDJMG 32,756
E=MC2
2 5 TOBY KEITH UME/SHOW DOG 30,127
35 BIGGEST HITS
-- 6 JASON MRAZ ATLANTIC 29,417
WE SING WE DANCE WE STEAL THINGS
-- 7 DUFFY MERCURY 25,778
ROCKFERRY
5 8 MADONNA WARNER BROS. 23,542
HARD CANDY
-- 9 KEITH SWEAT RHINO 22,375
JUST ME
11 10 TAYLOR SWIFT BIG MACHINE 20,994
TAYLOR SWIFT
1 11 NEIL DIAMOND COLUMBIA 20,502
HOME BEFORE DARK
12 12 NOW 27 SBMG/COMMERICAL MUSIC GRP 17,640
VARIOUS ARTISTS
-- 13 10 YEARS UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 16,137
DIVISION
25 14 ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS RAZOR & TIE 12,415
SOUNDTRACK
21 15 JAMES OTTO WARNER BROS. NASHVILLE 11,897
SUNSET MAN
15 16 GEORGE STRAIT MCA NASHVILLE 11,789
TROUBADOUR
19 17 COLBIE CAILLAT UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 11,736
COCO
9 18 DIERKS BENTLEY CAPITOL NASHVILLE 11,720
GREATEST HITS 2003-2006
42 19 KID ROCK ATLANTIC 10,817
ROCK N ROLL JESUS
18 20 JORDIN SPARKS 19/JIVE/ZLG 10,776
JORDIN SPARKS
3 21 CLAY AIKEN RCA/RMG 10,503
ON MY WAY HERE
29 22 HANNAH MONTANA WALT DISNEY RECORDS 10,113
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS CONCERT
7 23 GAVIN DEGRAW J RECORDS/RMG 9,419
GAVIN DEGRAW
26 24 DAUGHTRY RCA/RMG 9,415
DAUGHTRY
14 25 JACK JOHNSON BRUSHFIRE/UNIV REPUBLIC 9,337
SLEEP THROUGH THE STATIC
-- 26 KENNY CHESNEY BNA/SBMG NASHVILLE 9,053
JUST WHO I AM: POETS & PIRATES
27 27 ALAN JACKSON ARISTA NASHVILLE 8,639
GOOD TIME
23 28 ALICIA KEYS J RECORDS/RMG 8,327
AS I AM
17 29 JUNO RHINO 8,215
SOUNDTRACK
46 30 KEYSHIA COLE GEFFEN 8,176
JUST LIKE YOU
13 31 LYFE JENNINGS COLUMBIA 8,167
LYFE CHANGE
40 32 GARTH BROOKS PEARL RECORDS 8,058
ULTIMATE HITS
-- 33 SUGARLAND MERCURY NASHVILLE 7,907
ENJOY THE RIDE
-- 34 CARRIE UNDERWOOD 19/ARISTA/RMG 7,865
SOME HEARTS
38 35 MARY J. BLIGE GEFFEN 7,726
GROWING PAINS
-- 36 CHRIS BROWN JIVE/ZLG 7,658
EXCLUSIVE
8 37 JOSH GROBAN REPRISE 7,589
AWAKE LIVE
33 38 NATASHA BEDINGFIELD EPIC 7,089
POCKETFUL OF SUNSHINE
28 39 DEF LEPPARD ISLAND/IDJMG 6,933
SONGS FROM THE SPARKLE LOUNGE
-- 40 RASCAL FLATTS LYRIC STREET 6,719
STILL FEELS GOOD
49 41 DANITY KANE BAD BOY/ATLANTIC 6,684
WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE
30 42 RICK ROSS DEF JAM/IDJMG 6,377
TRILLA
-- 43 RIHANNA DEF JAM/IDJMG 6,371
GOOD GIRL GONE BAD
47 44 JONAS BROTHERS HOLLYWOOD 6,299
JONAS BROTHERS
10 45 LUIS MIGUEL WARNER MUSIC LATINA 6,245
COMPLICES
16 46 TYE TRIBBETTE COLUMBIA 6,174
STAND OUT
-- 47 BRAD PAISLEY ARISTA NASHVILLE 5,933
5TH GEAR
-- 48 CHERISH CAPITOL 5,880
TRUTH
-- 49 HANNAH MONTANA 2 - MEET MILEY WALT DISNEY RECORDS 5,865
SOUNDTRACK
31 50 FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS SUB POP 5,272
FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS

Update on Hits Double Daily with 61.14% in:

3  22 C LAY AIKEN RCA/RMG          10,503

What does the 3 and 22 stand for? :scratch

Ann, that just means Clay was number 3 last week and 22 this week. But the counting is not over, I'm hoping he'll move up a little. :smile

NUMBERS AREN'T GREAT, BUT IF HE COULD DO THAT WEEK AFTER WEEK, IT COULD ADD UP.  FINGERS CROSSED.

GWENN

HDD update at 77.39%

LW TW artist / album label power index
-- 1 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE ATLANTIC 99,935
NARROW STAIRS
-- 2 FRANK SINATRA REPRISE/RHINO 60,136
NOTHING BUT THE BEST
-- 3 JASON MRAZ ATLANTIC 51,398
WE SING WE DANCE WE STEAL THINGS
-- 4 DUFFY MERCURY 51,156
ROCKFERRY
6 5 LEONA LEWIS J RECORDS/RMG 49,421
SPIRIT
4 6 MARIAH CAREY ISLAND/IDJMG 39,156
E=MC2
2 7 TOBY KEITH UME/SHOW DOG 33,002
35 BIGGEST HITS
5 8 MADONNA WARNER BROS. 32,620
HARD CANDY
1 9 NEIL DIAMOND COLUMBIA 26,983
HOME BEFORE DARK
-- 10 KEITH SWEAT RHINO 25,846
JUST ME
11 11 TAYLOR SWIFT BIG MACHINE 22,828
TAYLOR SWIFT
-- 12 10 YEARS UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 21,596
DIVISION
12 13 NOW 27 SBMG/COMMERICAL MUSIC GRP 17,640
VARIOUS ARTISTS
7 14 GAVIN DEGRAW J RECORDS/RMG 15,970
GAVIN DEGRAW
17 15 JUNO RHINO 14,789
SOUNDTRACK
19 16 COLBIE CAILLAT UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 13,783
COCO
14 17 JACK JOHNSON BRUSHFIRE/UNIV REPUBLIC 13,064
SLEEP THROUGH THE STATIC
18 18 JORDIN SPARKS 19/JIVE/ZLG 12,732
JORDIN SPARKS
22 19 CARRIE UNDERWOOD ARISTA/RMG 12,599
CARNIVAL RIDE
25 20 ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS RAZOR & TIE 12,415
SOUNDTRACK
21 21 JAMES OTTO WARNER BROS. NASHVILLE 11,897
SUNSET MAN
15 22 GEORGE STRAIT MCA NASHVILLE 11,789
TROUBADOUR
9 23 DIERKS BENTLEY CAPITOL NASHVILLE 11,720
GREATEST HITS 2003-2006
-- 24 CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CAS WALT DISNEY RECORDS 11,683
SOUNDTRACK
42 25 KID ROCK ATLANTIC 11,618
ROCK N ROLL JESUS
26 26 DAUGHTRY RCA/RMG 11,512
DAUGHTRY
3 27 CLAY AIKEN RCA/RMG 10,503
ON MY WAY HERE
29 28 HANNAH MONTANA WALT DISNEY RECORDS 10,113
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS CONCERT
-- 29 KENNY CHESNEY BNA/SBMG NASHVILLE 10,058
JUST WHO I AM: POETS & PIRATES
13 30 LYFE JENNINGS COLUMBIA 10,008
LYFE CHANGE
8 31 JOSH GROBAN REPRISE 9,234
AWAKE LIVE
23 32 ALICIA KEYS J RECORDS/RMG 9,025
AS I AM
33 33 NATASHA BEDINGFIELD EPIC 8,863
POCKETFUL OF SUNSHINE
30 34 RICK ROSS DEF JAM/IDJMG 8,840
TRILLA
27 35 ALAN JACKSON ARISTA NASHVILLE 8,639
GOOD TIME
38 36 MARY J. BLIGE GEFFEN 8,392
GROWING PAINS
46 37 KEYSHIA COLE GEFFEN 8,176
JUST LIKE YOU
10 38 LUIS MIGUEL WARNER MUSIC LATINA 8,108
COMPLICES
40 39 GARTH BROOKS PEARL RECORDS 8,058
ULTIMATE HITS
-- 40 SUGARLAND MERCURY NASHVILLE 7,907
ENJOY THE RIDE
-- 41 CARRIE UNDERWOOD 19/ARISTA/RMG 7,865
SOME HEARTS
-- 42 CHRIS BROWN JIVE/ZLG 7,658
EXCLUSIVE
28 43 DEF LEPPARD ISLAND/IDJMG 7,649
SONGS FROM THE SPARKLE LOUNGE
49 44 DANITY KANE BAD BOY/ATLANTIC 7,501
WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE
-- 45 RASCAL FLATTS LYRIC STREET 7,413
STILL FEELS GOOD
-- 46 RIHANNA DEF JAM/IDJMG 7,403
GOOD GIRL GONE BAD
35 47 ROOTS DEF JAM/IDJMG 7,265
RISING DOWN
16 48 TYE TRIBBETTE COLUMBIA 7,226
STAND OUT
47 49 JONAS BROTHERS HOLLYWOOD 7,024
JONAS BROTHERS
-- 50 BRAD PAISLEY ARISTA NASHVILLE 6,623
5TH GEAR

 

I'm crossing my fingers and toes with you Gwenn :purpbana As long as he keeps selling...I'm hoping that the album will eventually get Gold or Platinum again. :bigsmile

CHART DATE: 05/19/2008
LAST UPDATE: 05/20/2008 12:27:39
NOW IN: FINAL


LW TW artist / album label power index % change
-- 1 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE ATLANTIC 141,791 --
NARROW STAIRS
-- 2 FRANK SINATRA REPRISE/RHINO 92,810 --
NOTHING BUT THE BEST
-- 3 JASON MRAZ ATLANTIC 74,160 --
WE SING WE DANCE WE STEAL THINGS
-- 4 DUFFY MERCURY 72,276 --
ROCKFERRY
6 5 LEONA LEWIS J RECORDS/RMG 62,848 -17%
SPIRIT
4 6 MARIAH CAREY ISLAND/IDJMG 57,860 -35%
E=MC2
5 7 MADONNA WARNER BROS. 52,256 -37%
HARD CANDY
1 8 NEIL DIAMOND COLUMBIA 51,076 -64%
HOME BEFORE DARK
2 9 TOBY KEITH UME/SHOW DOG 41,376 -59%
35 BIGGEST HITS
-- 10 KEITH SWEAT RHINO 39,129 --
JUST ME
11 11 TAYLOR SWIFT BIG MACHINE 29,756 -6%
TAYLOR SWIFT
-- 12 10 YEARS UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 28,513 --
DIVISION
9 13 DIERKS BENTLEY CAPITOL NASHVILLE 23,842 -45%
GREATEST HITS 2003-2006
12 14 NOW 27 SBMG/COMMERICAL MUSIC GRP 22,897 -22%
VARIOUS ARTISTS
13 15 LYFE JENNINGS COLUMBIA 20,837 -26%
LYFE CHANGE
7 16 GAVIN DEGRAW J RECORDS/RMG 20,602 -71%
GAVIN DEGRAW
17 17 JUNO RHINO 19,904 -20%
SOUNDTRACK
14 18 JACK JOHNSON BRUSHFIRE/UNIV REPUBLIC 19,377 -28%
SLEEP THROUGH THE STATIC
8 19 JOSH GROBAN REPRISE 19,157 -59%
AWAKE LIVE
19 20 COLBIE CAILLAT UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 17,731 -26%
COCO
25 21 ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS RAZOR & TIE 17,656 -18%
SOUNDTRACK
3 22 CLAY AIKEN RCA/RMG 17,336 -81%
ON MY WAY HERE


--------------------

:wave Thanks for posting the sales numbers!! I keep forgetting that Tuesday is the day that web-site puts out the sales numbers for the week. Here's a puzzle for someone to solve...aside from Sinatra who we all know, who in the world are the acts at #1, #3, and #4 to have sold so much? ON MY WAY HERE is #24 on Amazon.

The fact that Clay went from #4 to #22 is really disturbing to me.  I understand that digital downloads, etc., are more popular now but for his total sales to be this low doesn't make sense to me.  What do you think is the main reason for this?  Do you think some of his fans have deserted him?  Do you think it's because of the economy -- people just can't afford things as much?  I just can't understand the rationale for low sales?

By the way, was Clay #3 or #4 last week?  I thought it was #4 but some of the quotes above say #3.

ACTUALLY CLAY WAS #18 ON BILLBOARD AND SOLD OVER 20,000.  NOT GREAT BUT BETTER.

GWENN

 He did debut at #4 on the Billboard 200...i never caught it or i would've mentioned something about it yesterday. I don't know why the site where the sales numbers were coming from had him listed as #3 last week. Anyway, as GWENN posted, ON MY WAY HERE is at #18 this week, instead of #22. On the Internet Album chart it is at #6, down from it's #1 debut last week.

On Amazon the CD is #31

You mentioned the fall from #4 to #20 as we know now it's #18 but nonetheless you brought up something i was going to bring up. I saw Neil Diamond and he only fell a couple spots, from #1 to #6 on the Billboard 200...but country singer, Toby Keith, who had debuted at #2 last week dropped to #9. Clay's 14 spot fall is something i don't understand, either, especially when you have some CD's ahead of Clay's that seem to drop or rise one spot from week to week...not much chart movement. You'd think if Clay could fall 14 spots with ON MY WAY HERE he could rise 14 or 15 spots the other direction, too. I don't think Clay's fans deserted him in the traditional sense of the word. I think, at times, the fan base has trimmed it's excess baggage and the fair weather fans got tired of waiting for something new...not everyone can fly to New York and catch a Broadway show. Flying to New York is costly for one thing...a Broadway show is costly as well...plus you factor in hotel costs and everything else that costs...so, his doing SPAMALOT didn't cause everyone in his fan base to drop what they were doing and jaunt to New York. So, his association with that play, while a highlight of his career, was only really enjoyed by those who could appear there in person to experience it. So, those who live far off such as myself and even the other Clay fans who live out on the west coast, there was not a whole lot of excitement. I know there will be those who read what i say and have a totally different outlook but i'm only going by the way i see things from my view-point. All i'm saying is, there's only so much fans can do and somewhere along the line those in charge need to step up. It doesn't matter if Clay nor RCA knew when this CD was going to be released...well, yes, that does matter because it shows a lack of focus and direction. RCA should have known when this CD was hitting stores and they should have known when to start promoting the first single at AC radio so the single would've been at radio a few weeks or a month before ON MY WAY HERE hit stores. If the radio stations aren't playing the single all across America on AC radio stations, the CD isn't getting much promotion as a result of that. If there's an alternative to radio airplay as far as getting sales for the CD, Clay and RCA should start going down that route soon instead of waiting too late. Amazon, for example, never even had the CD's cover to promote the image until days before. It was still called "Untitled CD" for months. There needs to be more focus on the promotion and hype of a CD...and if there's no touring at all i'm wondering what RCA is going to do. I'm just puzzled...what did Neil Diamond do this past week to insure a minimal drop from #1 to #6 but Clay drops from #4 to #18. At the start of this rambling i mentioned that i don't think his fans have deserted him...i still don't think his fans have...but those who had a little interest at one point moved on to other singers. If Clay had airplay, in theory, more than just his core fan base would be buying his material.

BILLBOARD (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?f=The+Billboard+200&pageNumber=Top+11-50&g=Albums)



BILLBOARD (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?g=Albums&f=Top+Internet+Albums)

 

BILLBOARD (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/charts/chart_display.jsp?f=Billboard+Comprehensive+Albums&pageNumber=Top+11-50&g=Albums)

AMAZON RANKINGS: 5-23-08
1. ON MY WAY HERE: #32 Overall rank

2. ON MY WAY HERE: #7 Vocal Pop

3. ON MY WAY HERE: #9 Adult Contemporary

AMAZON RANKING: 5-26-08
1. On My Way Here: #48

:wave

Thanks for the numbers AC...

 :wave Hi AC!

Thanks for the numbers.

A while back I was a Neil Diamond fan. I'm not sure why I lost interest. More recently I was a Josh Groban fan (since I grew up with classical music I really liked it when he sang the Italian songs on his first CD). Clay has been my favorite singer ever since I heard him sing on American Idol.

I always seem to hear Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood's songs on the radio but I have not heard any of Clay's songs for quite a while.  That's why I normally listen to the public radio stations and if I want to listen to music I'll put on a CD.

I don't care what the music "critics," "experts" or whatever they call themselves say -- all I know is I love all the songs on 'On My Way Here,' especially the schmaltzy ones like 'Sacrificial Love' and 'The Real Me,' and of course the title track.

I'll probably get tomatoes hurled at me or just plain ignored. That's OK, but I've wanted to express my thoughts on  On My Way Here for some time. Yes, I love the songs! They are beautiful. And yes I LOVE CLAY AIKEN! I am still a fan . . . . . however I was disappointed in the CD even tho I bought 3 (car, house, camper). I'd hoped Clay would step out of the box, his comfort zone abit and show the rest of the world what we see in concert - a jiving, rocking Clay. All the songs on On My Way Here basically sound the same as all the other songs Clays done on previous CD's - same rhythm, same musicality, same schmaltz. I guess my favorite track is "Everything I Don't Need" because it's bluesy, rocky, and upbeat. It shows another side of Clay besides the beautiful romantic balleteer. I do believe some fans have fallen off. The intensity just isn't there anymore. Even though the promotion was better this time around I still don't see any radio play, or even a video. Phil Stacey, Josh Gracin, Kelli Pickler and even Chris Sligh have videos that play and play. They get their faces and music out to the public eye. Again JMO and now I'm ducking!!!! Have a great day everyone . . . . .

 Hello Boomer and company...

Boomer: I agree that interest waxes and wanes for any artist...what did or do you like about Neil Diamond? The reason i ask is because you mentioned you don't know why you lost interest. I'm a different breed of fan, i think, from a lot of people. I have shades of interest in anyone whose music i like listening to. However, having said that, I've never had an interest in Neil Diamond but i like his classic songs i hear on the pop-standard radio stations like "Cherry", "I Am I Said", "Cracklin Rosie", and the rest. So, i was curious what had caused you to not be a fan of his anymore since he's still "Neil Diamond" and still performs/sings the same way as he always has. He just recently had a Top-5 CD here :yes


 :wave I know it's difficult for many people who were either brought up in the Top-40 era of pop music or in the era where pop singer's albums bounced from one sound to the next but that isn't how it's done nowadays in my opinion because it confuses a music buying public. In earlier times a singer could get away with releasing a single or an album that was totally different than what people expected and as a result, usually, it become a hit. This isn't prominent everywhere but there is a kind of unwritten rule in the music industry that dictates to an artist or a record producer to stick with an artist's commercial strengths and do not take risks. A lot of people who do not appreciate that sort of philosophy consider the output of singers who subscribe to that philosophy to be formulaic. This is why Clay issues material on his CD's that a commercial audience would expect from him. Those who attend his concerts and see all the various sides of Clay, like you, wonder why this isn't showcased on his CD's but the reason is commercialism. When an artist's strength is ballads and if that's what people come to expect, there's rarely any room to experiment with one's sound because of money/commercialism. This takes us back to what i consider the unwritten rule that promotes the belief of sticking with your strength's and not taking chances and risks. Clay's CD's will never capture the feel of a live show unless he does a live CD from a range of concerts. Artists who play off audiences and do a lot of interaction with an audience, those artists will always perform well in concert. I am sure when Clay tours again, these songs on ON MY WAY HERE will not sound 100% the same in concert. It's a business...an artist puts out a CD of material...that part's done...then comes a tour, there won't be one, but let's say there would be...the CD gets promotion through concert stops and the songs performed by Clay in concert either faithful to the arrangements on the CD or sang with a new arrangement for a concert. Some artists purposely change songs for a concert in order to have the "studio version" and the "concert version".

Gramma, I'm not going to throw tomatos or ignore you, however, I am going to respectfully disagree with you.  I think Clay did go out of his comfort zone on this CD.  There are many different flavors to this album.......there's pop,  rock, bluesy/R & B, country, CCM, ballads.  Each song is different, IMO.  I'm not sure why you don't hear that when you listen, but then again, everyone intereprets differently.  The intensity is even stronger for me now.  As AC stated, I don't think you'll ever see "Justin Timberlake Clay" on any album.  It's not who he is.  What we see in concert is not what we'll get on a recorded album.....unless it's a live recording from one of his tours.  Maybe we'll get that one day.  I know it's frustrating when you hear everyone else in the world on the radio and not our Clay.  I'm hoping that will change someday.  But, I refuse to angst over it.  I love everything about this CD.  I couldn't ask for more from him....well, maybe a meet and greet someday would be nice.   :bigsmile  I'm really sorry you were disappointed with On My Way Here.   :hugg

 :bigsmile I'd like to just second this quote because I'm starting to see some angst here..so please! :slap no more!  No more allowed darn it (stamping my foot):lol  :purpbana I'm enjoying this CD so much that I haven't listened to the radio since it came out!

Jules

Thanks for the explanation AC. You always have good information.  I'm 65 years old and until Clay came along I never was in much of the music entertainment world. My era was Elvis, the Beatles, Frankie Avalon, Paul Anka  and the Supremes. Gosh, I'm really dating myself aren't I? Even so, I never cared much for what ever music or artist was popular at the time. I didn't buy records or listen to music on the radio. I was more into the NY Yankees and Mickey Mantle.  :bigsmile So I don't think I fall under your theory of  For whatever reason, charisma, voice, humanitarian or everything that is Clay Aiken grabbed my attention and my heart. I'm not comparing him or his music to the Top-40 era or pop music of the past. I don't want a Justin Timberlake clone or a replica of 50 Cent.  I just would like the rest of the world to know that Clay Aiken CAN ROCK OUT, that he is musically multi-faceted. I still enjoy hearing Invisible. Granted the words are goofy & suspect, but the beat is infectious and addictive. I guess I was hoping for a few songs like that on On My Way Here.  I certainly hear the bluesy song. The CCM songs have a secular slant. Don't hear rock, pop, or country. All the songs on On My Way Here have been brushed with a beautiful ballad sound. My opinion only! I can't believe there aren't new songs out there that have clean words and a message but yet are upbeat and fun.

However, I will continue to love Clay and buy any CD's he puts out. I'm a faithful & committed fan.

NOW IN: FINAL
 
 
 LW TW artist / album label power index % change
-- 1 3 DOORS DOWN UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 147,545 --
3 DOORS DOWN
-- 2 BUN B RAP-A-LOT/ATLANTIC 90,693 --
II TRILL
-- 3 JULIANNE HOUGH MERCURY NASHVILLE 67,934 --
JULIANNE HOUGH
2 4 FRANK SINATRA REPRISE/RHINO 49,304 -47%
NOTHING BUT THE BEST
1 5 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE ATLANTIC 48,361 -66%
NARROW STAIRS
5 6 LEONA LEWIS J RECORDS/RMG 47,591 -24%
SPIRIT
6 7 MARIAH CAREY ISLAND/IDJMG 42,976 -26%
E=MC2
4 8 DUFFY MERCURY 41,928 -42%
ROCKFERRY
7 9 MADONNA WARNER BROS. 37,515 -28%
HARD CANDY
8 10 NEIL DIAMOND COLUMBIA 35,676 -30%
HOME BEFORE DARK
3 11 JASON MRAZ ATLANTIC 31,968 -57%
WE SING WE DANCE WE STEAL THINGS
11 12 TAYLOR SWIFT BIG MACHINE 31,220 +5%
TAYLOR SWIFT
9 13 TOBY KEITH UME/SHOW DOG 30,096 -27%
35 BIGGEST HITS
-- 14 JESSE MCCARTNEY HOLLYWOOD 29,115 --
DEPARTURE
-- 15 FLOBOTS UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 28,414 --
FIGHT WITH TOOLS
28 16 CARRIE UNDERWOOD ARISTA/RMG 24,773 +60%
CARNIVAL RIDE
-- 17 DONNA SUMMER BURGUNDY/SONY BMG 22,310 --
CRAYONS
23 18 JORDIN SPARKS 19/JIVE/ZLG 20,114 +19%
JORDIN SPARKS
14 19 NOW 27 SBMG/COMMERICAL MUSIC GRP 20,037 -12%
VARIOUS ARTISTS
33 20 DAUGHTRY RCA/RMG 20,026 +36%
DAUGHTRY
26 21 RICK ROSS DEF JAM/IDJMG 18,452 +16%
TRILLA
-- 22 FOXBORO HOT TUBS WARNER BROS. 16,978 --
STOP DROP & ROLL
17 23 JUNO RHINO 16,925 -15%
SOUNDTRACK
18 24 JACK JOHNSON BRUSHFIRE/UNIV REPUBLIC 16,629 -14%
SLEEP THROUGH THE STATIC
13 25 DIERKS BENTLEY CAPITOL NASHVILLE 16,255 -32%
GREATEST HITS 2003-2006
32 26 GEORGE STRAIT MCA NASHVILLE 16,108 +9%
TROUBADOUR
29 27 KID ROCK ATLANTIC 16,029 +7%
ROCK N ROLL JESUS
-- 28 INDIANA JONES CONCORD 16,014 --
KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
34 29 NATASHA BEDINGFIELD EPIC 15,963 +11%
POCKETFUL OF SUNSHINE
20 30 COLBIE CAILLAT UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 15,906 -10%
COCO
40 31 KENNY CHESNEY BNA/SBMG NASHVILLE 15,565 +27%
JUST WHO I AM: POETS & PIRATES
-- 32 DISNEYMANIA 6 WALT DISNEY RECORDS 15,236 --
VARIOUS ARTISTS
10 33 KEITH SWEAT RHINO 15,088 -61%
JUST ME
24 34 CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CAS WALT DISNEY RECORDS 14,990 -9%
SOUNDTRACK
49 35 GARTH BROOKS PEARL RECORDS 14,897 +30%
ULTIMATE HITS
21 36 ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS RAZOR & TIE 14,743 -16%
SOUNDTRACK
27 37 JAMES OTTO WARNER BROS. NASHVILLE 14,597 -6%
SUNSET MAN
15 38 LYFE JENNINGS COLUMBIA 14,392 -31%
LYFE CHANGE
22 39 CLAY AIKEN RCA/RMG 14,391 -17%
ON MY WAY HERE
16 40 GAVIN DEGRAW J RECORDS/RMG 13,562 -34%
GAVIN DEGRAW
38 41 BRAD PAISLEY ARISTA NASHVILLE 12,767 -3%
5TH GEAR
45 42 JONAS BROTHERS HOLLYWOOD 12,259 +5%
JONAS BROTHERS
19 43 JOSH GROBAN REPRISE 12,023 -37%
AWAKE LIVE
-- 44 LADY ANTEBELLUM CAPITOL NASHVILLE 12,004 --
LADY ANTEBELLUM
30 45 HANNAH MONTANA WALT DISNEY RECORDS 12,001 -19%
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS CONCERT
37 46 ALICIA KEYS J RECORDS/RMG 11,165 -17%
AS I AM
46 47 RASCAL FLATTS LYRIC STREET 11,051 -4%
STILL FEELS GOOD
41 48 AMY WINEHOUSE UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 10,913 -10%
BACK TO BLACK
-- 49 SARA BAREILLES EPIC 10,715 --
LITTLE VOICE
-- 50 CHRIS BROWN JIVE/ZLG 10,684 --
 

GRAMMA--

I CAN SEE SOME OF WHAT YOU ARE SAYING, BUT I DO HEAR LOTS OF DIFFERENT GENRES ON THIS CD.  ASHES AND FALLING AND Everything I Don't Need ARE DEFINITELY NOT BALLADS.  The Real Me IS AND TEARS ME UP EACH TIME I HEAR IT. 

I AM NOT SURE I HEAR THE COUNTRY THAT PEOPLE ARE TALKING ABOUT IN Where I Draw The Line, BUT THAT IS NO BALLAD EITHER.

I SEE 3 BALLADS.  DEFINITELY.  THE OTHER SONGS MAY BE BALLADLIKE IN THE FEELING THEY BRING, BUT NOT IN THE BEAT. 

I WOULD LOVE FOR CLAY TO TRUST HIMSELF TO "ROCK OUT" ON A CD.  MAYBE SOMEDAY HE WILL.  BUT MANY OF THE CRITICS ARE CRUCIFYING HIM ABOUT THE SONGS THAT THEY SEE AS NOT WHO HE IS.  I THINK HE HAS TO TAKE BABY STEPS.  ON THIS CD, I THINK HE DID.  ASHES IS JUST AS MUCH A ROCKING SONG, TO ME, AS INVISIBLE--A SONG I ENJOYED WAY MORE IN CONCERT THAN ON THE CD.

IT'S ALL GOOD.  EXPRESSING OPINIONS IS ALWAYS GOOD.

AND NEVER TOMATOES.

GWENN

 Hello all...


 There are a lot of songs out there that are clean and upbeat, etc etc, but you won't find them being supplied to a pop/rock artist. Upbeat songs, i mean, really up-beat songs...those are few and far between. Mid-tempo to slow ballads are generally what songwriter's are writing and what labels insist their acts sing. I feel that it's too late for Clay to re-direct his focus and try his hand at country music but he apparently wants to be an adult-contemporary artist and that format you don't hear a lot of upbeat songs unless they cross-over from a pop station. I think Clay would have to issue a live CD if he wants to show how he is in concert for those who have never gone to one. I mean, a good portion of a concert...not just the songs but also the interaction with the audience.

Lolita: Thanks for the sales numbers. An additional 14,391 added to what he's already sold.

It's funny you mentioned the country sound.  This morning in my car when I was listenting to the CD - Where I draw the line started and I thought "wow! I didn't realize how country sounding that song starts out!"  But I love the CD and it sounded way better than I expected it to.  The QVC appearance did not do it any justice.  I thought they all sounded the same there but they sure don't on the CD.  I love Ashes, Falling, Everything I don't need.
My husband does not like the CD - he thinks the songs sound all the same too.  He won't even listen to it and he likes Clay!!

 I'm curious, but i think i know the answer, but anyway, i'm curious as to why the phrase "the songs sound all the same" is always brought up. When you have a CD purposely filled with Adult-Contemporary music there isn't going to be anything beyond slow to mid-tempo ballads. Yes, some of the mid-tempo ballads have a back beat to them which make them dance friendly but i'm puzzled by the notion that "all the songs sound the same" when that's what the end result is suppose to be...they're suppose to sound Adult-Contemporary :para

If i listen to a country CD i want to hear country songs...i don't want to hear the singer get funky and sing something non-country. So, if i listen to an Adult-Contemporary CD then that's what i expect to find and that's what ON MY WAY HERE is. It isn't a peppy, rockish CD.

I don't know who it was that came up the idea that a CD has to have all sorts of sounds and styles and melodies...a consumer is suppose to buy a CD because they like a particular artist and how they sing, no matter what it is they're singing. Whether a CD is mostly up-tempo rocker songs or slow mid-tempo ballads...if the artist doing the songs is a favorite of the music buyer, then satisfaction should be automatic. :dunno Well, at least for me that's the case :bigsmile

AMAZON RANKING: 5-29-08
1. Vocal Pop: #10

2. Adult Contemporary: #13

Thanks everyone for your input. I'll have to listen to On My Way Here with a different ear next time.

JUST AS AN ASIDE ON THE COUNTRY ISSUE-----I ASKED CLAY AT MY M & G IF HE THOUGHT HE COULD HAVE A CROSSOVER FROM A CD OF HIS TO COUNTRY AS CARRIE HAS FROM COUNTRY TO POP.  HE SAID, NO.  COUNTRY CAN CROSS TO POP BUT NOT VICE VERSA.  I FORGET WHY, BUT THAT IS WHAT HE SAID SO I DO NOT FORESEE Where I Draw The Line EVER SHOWING UP ON COUNTRY RADIO.

GWENN

Jerry - my husband's notion about all the songs sounding the same are because he is disappointed that he didn't have a more "Pop" sound - more upbeat songs.  He loved the original songs from A Thousand Different Ways and was hoping for a CD full of those. 
I was disappointed - I wanted him to like it as much as I do.  But it's ok, I don't take it as a put down to Clay!!  He still likes him though - just not this CD.

Lori: The thing about ATDW is that it was a good CD but because it showcased a lot of the 1980's pop sounds, those who do not like that era in pop music, criticized it. This CD, the criticism stems from the music being Adult-Contemporary which is what Clay set out to do in the first place.

GWENN: Well, even though it isn't the norm, pop singers HAVE crossed over to country music. Just last year or maybe earlier this year Bon Jovi had a #1 hit on the country charts. Kid Rock and Sheryl Crowe had a big country hit with a song called "Picture" about 3 years ago. Anyway, it doesn't happen as much, speaking about the pop crossing over to country because, being a bigger fan of country music, i know the mentality of a country music fan. We're for the most part protective of the sound of country music and do not want a lot of pop or rock influence. However, there are exceptions. If a country singer has a good or unique voice, and sings songs that country audiences want to hear, the country audience will accept them no matter what instruments are being played on the song.

It's a lot easier for a country artist to cross over to pop radio because pop audiences, usually, are more open-minded. This is why you have so many country singers routinely being heard on pop radio or, if they're not being played, they at least have their singles charting on the Hot 100. Taylor Swift is the latest example of the country cross-over artist. Carrie Underwood is another example. LeAnn Rimes started the trend in the mid 1990's when her songs were being heard on pop and Adult-Contemporary radio stations. When she was doing those, at the time, country singers weren't being given much of a shot at pop stardom...so she in my biased opinion paved the way for the modern country cross-over success a lot of these women in country music enjoy. So, while it may be true that country singers cross over to pop with better frequency, it isn't uncommon for a pop singer to switch to country full time...Conway Twitty did so, as did Ray Stevens, Jerry Lee Lewis, Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers...just to name a few. I think Clay has to market himself full-blown country...not be a pop cross-over...but we shall see what happens given the bombshell news story about him and Jaymes Foster.

AMAZON RANKING: 6-3-08
1. On My Way Here: #96

2. On My Way Here: #13- vocal pop

The CD seems to be holding well at Amazon.

Lori - my husband said exactly the same - too many of the songs  on On My Way Here sounded too similar to him. And I have to trust his judgement on that. He has been to several Clay concerts, and although he is mainly a country music fan, he does not dislike Clay - he's just not a super fan, either. I asked him for his honest opinion, and that is what I got!   :para

Jerry- I stopped in to check on the numbers. They are higher than I thought they would be. Thank you for the update!

AC MOST ADDED:

CLAY AIKEN: ON MY WAY HERE  (S/19/RCA/RMG)

KBEZ, KKMY, WLHT, WRAL, WRCH, WTVR

6 stations

Scroll down once you enter the R&R Top-30 AC chart...
R&R AC CHART (http://www.radioandrecords.com/Formats/Charts/AC_Chart.asp)

In country news, Brad Paisley is spending his third week at #1 with "I'm Still a Guy".

Debuting at #57 is George Strait with "Troubadour". 30 country stations have added it.

GEORGE STRAIT: TROUBADOUR  (MCA NASHVILLE)

KATC, KATM, KFKF, KHKI, KIIM, KILT, KKNG, KNTY, KSCS, KSKS, KSOP, KUBL, KVOO, WCTK, WCTO, WGH, WGKX, WGNA, WIOV, WKCQ, WKHX, WKXC, WOGK, WOKQ, WQHK, WRNS, WXBM, WXCY, WXTU, WYRK

The thing that's quite disgusting, though, is pop singer Jessica Simpson had the hot shot debut this week...her single comes in at #41 on the country chart. If she can "go country" why can't Clay? :dunno

R&R COUNTRY CHART (http://www.radioandrecords.com/Formats/Charts/Country_Chart.asp)

AC, I didn't know Jessica went Country...I thought it was hard to cross Country when one is a pop singer. I guess when one is a big star/artist one can do almost anything she/he wanted. I had a Country CD of KD Lang, I think this may be her first and last CD, she could not sing Country whatsoever. I’m surprised the CD was even made. I also remember Julio Eglisia’s huge popularity in this country in the 80s. He wanted a duet with every big artist (Country and Pop) and he got it.

Thanks for the rest of the info.

I went to Page 1 of this thread to see the total sales of On My Way Here - but they are not listed - do we have this information - or does anyone know where it can be found?

Frankie I found this...Clay is not on the list.


CHART DATE: 06/02/2008
LAST UPDATE: 06/03/2008 11:10:13
NOW IN: FINAL
 
 
 LW TW artist / album label power index % change
-- 1 USHER LAFACE/ZLG 445,150 --
HERE I STAND
-- 2 SEX & THE CITY NEW LINE 69,288 --
SOUNDTRACK
1 3 3 DOORS DOWN UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 62,653 -58%
3 DOORS DOWN
4 4 FRANK SINATRA REPRISE/RHINO 40,163 -19%
NOTHING BUT THE BEST
6 5 LEONA LEWIS J RECORDS/RMG 38,513 -19%
SPIRIT
8 6 DUFFY MERCURY 35,837 -15%
ROCKFERRY
7 7 MARIAH CAREY ISLAND/IDJMG 34,935 -19%
E=MC2
2 8 BUN B RAP-A-LOT/ATLANTIC 33,752 -63%
II TRILL
5 9 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE ATLANTIC 33,334 -31%
NARROW STAIRS
9 10 MADONNA WARNER BROS. 33,155 -12%
HARD CANDY
-- 11 AL GREEN BLUE NOTE/BNLG 30,255 --
LAY IT DOWN
12 12 TAYLOR SWIFT BIG MACHINE 28,514 -9%
TAYLOR SWIFT
-- 13 FERGIE A&M/INTERSCOPE 28,505 --
THE DUTCHESS
13 14 TOBY KEITH UME/SHOW DOG 27,553 -8%
35 BIGGEST HITS
11 15 JASON MRAZ ATLANTIC 27,110 -15%
WE SING WE DANCE WE STEAL THINGS
10 16 NEIL DIAMOND COLUMBIA 25,404 -29%
HOME BEFORE DARK
3 17 JULIANNE HOUGH MERCURY NASHVILLE 21,939 -68%
JULIANNE HOUGH
19 18 NOW 27 SBMG/COMMERICAL MUSIC GRP 20,079 0%
VARIOUS ARTISTS
27 19 KID ROCK ATLANTIC 18,921 +18%
ROCK N ROLL JESUS
24 20 JACK JOHNSON BRUSHFIRE/UNIV REPUBLIC 18,113 +9%
SLEEP THROUGH THE STATIC
15 21 FLOBOTS UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 18,028 -37%
FIGHT WITH TOOLS
16 22 CARRIE UNDERWOOD ARISTA/RMG 17,648 -29%
CARNIVAL RIDE
23 23 JUNO RHINO 16,681 -1%
SOUNDTRACK
32 24 DISNEYMANIA 6 WALT DISNEY RECORDS 16,273 +7%
VARIOUS ARTISTS
36 25 ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS RAZOR & TIE 15,493 +5%
SOUNDTRACK
30 26 COLBIE CAILLAT UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 14,871 -7%
COCO
38 27 LYFE JENNINGS COLUMBIA 14,797 +3%
LYFE CHANGE
21 28 RICK ROSS DEF JAM/IDJMG 14,543 -21%
TRILLA
18 29 JORDIN SPARKS 19/JIVE/ZLG 13,750 -32%
JORDIN SPARKS
-- 30 WISIN Y YANDEL MACHETE MUSIC 13,661 --
EXTRATERRESTRES: OTRA DIMENSION
42 31 JONAS BROTHERS HOLLYWOOD 13,072 +7%
JONAS BROTHERS
-- 32 ONEREPUBLIC INTERSCOPE 13,018 --
DREAMING OUT LOUD
20 33 DAUGHTRY RCA/RMG 12,837 -36%
DAUGHTRY
45 34 HANNAH MONTANA WALT DISNEY RECORDS 12,612 +5%
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS CONCERT
37 35 JAMES OTTO WARNER BROS. NASHVILLE 12,595 -14%
SUNSET MAN
29 36 NATASHA BEDINGFIELD EPIC 12,583 -21%
POCKETFUL OF SUNSHINE
31 37 KENNY CHESNEY BNA/SBMG NASHVILLE 12,461 -20%
JUST WHO I AM: POETS & PIRATES
26 38 GEORGE STRAIT MCA NASHVILLE 12,395 -23%
TROUBADOUR
-- 39 SUGARLAND MERCURY NASHVILLE 12,346 --
ENJOY THE RIDE
14 40 JESSE MCCARTNEY HOLLYWOOD 11,892 -59%
DEPARTURE
46 41 ALICIA KEYS J RECORDS/RMG 11,760 +5%
AS I AM
-- 42 ALAN JACKSON ARISTA NASHVILLE 11,527 --
GOOD TIME
-- 43 CYNDI LAUPER EPIC 11,493 --
BRING YA TO THE BRINK
35 44 GARTH BROOKS PEARL RECORDS 11,298 -24%
ULTIMATE HITS
25 45 DIERKS BENTLEY CAPITOL NASHVILLE 10,881 -33%
GREATEST HITS 2003-2006
-- 46 UNDEROATH TOOTH & NAIL 10,627 --
SURVIVE KALEIDOSCOPE
48 47 AMY WINEHOUSE UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 10,370 -5%
BACK TO BLACK
33 48 KEITH SWEAT RHINO 10,308 -32%
JUST ME
40 49 GAVIN DEGRAW J RECORDS/RMG 10,072 -26%
GAVIN DEGRAW
-- 50 KEYSHIA COLE GEFFEN 10,066 --
JUST LIKE YOU


I also found this...I guss he sold $6,367 last week.


Billboard 200 Numbers from Pulse:

106 AIKEN*CLAY ON MY WAY HERE 6,367 -48 12,221 133,236


 
 

Oh my gosh Jessica Simpson going country!  I guess she can't sell CD's so give country a try as they are kinder I guess.  Once again I disagree with Clay don't see why he can't go country just like I didn't agree with his statement of him saying Ashes and Falling would not be played on the radio,.

GRAMMA, Just reading the back posts and saw yours.  I see what you are saying because that is what my husband says too.  Everyone has a different ear.  My self I loved "Touch" on Measure of a Man CD.  I thought that was really hot and loved the instrumental to it.  Most people hated it.  We all like different things.  I like the new CD.  I love some of the songs and like the rest.  I think that is great as I have bought CD's for a particular song of some artists and ended up only liking a couple of the songs I am lucky on Clay's new CD as I like most all of them.

It is true that each person who buys a cd has their own taste. For me, I love the whole cd because Clay took the time to make it for us
during his busy schedule.  I especially LOVE 'On My Way Here', it tells the story of Clay himself.  Any song he sings is angelic and realxing.  Like the saying goes, I CAME FOR THE VOICE BUT STAYED FOR THE MAN!

Frankie: :wave I see Lolita posted the most recent sales number for ON MY WAY HERE and the Top-50 albums on the Billboard 200. I'm sure the final numbers will be added to the post on the first page.

Thanks for the other posts as well and the opinion of radio in general.

I don't truly believe Jessica Simpson has "gone country" in the traditional sense even though that's the phrase being applied in the country media...i feel this is a fluke record and a plot by country radio to revive mainstream interest. It's been years since country music artists have consistently shared space on the Billboard 200 with pop acts. Every once in awhile a country artist will release a CD that makes a big splash on the Billboard 200 but then drops from that chart in a matter of weeks all the while keeping a higher profile on the Country Album chart for a matter of months. I don't have an opinion on the matter since i'm not a music executive but i'll assume record companies and the country format are attempting to try and market outside their audience again. The recent acceptance on country radio of Jessica Simpson being a good example. Hannah Montana star, Miley Cyrus, is another recent example. Although the character or her songs are not on country radio, Miley and her dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, had a big country hit with "Ready, Set, Don't Go". If he had recorded that song with someone else it wouldn't have been the big song that it was and it isn't the fact that Miley is his daughter which caused country radio to jump on the song and play it a lot. If his daughter were an unknown it would've been a different story. A cynical view would lead one to believe country radio played the song because Miley's 'Hannah Montana' character would serve as the selling point of the song. Her voice is the same no matter if she's going by her real name or her character's name. So, in a lot of ways, that duet was a gimmick record because it married the Miley Cyrus name to the song which in return exposed it to Hannah Montana fans...and country radio knowing how big the song could be given Miley's participation, jumped on it. So, in other words as i'm sure others have figured out, money is the primary influence on radio everywhere...no matter how bad someone may think a song may be or no matter how terrible one may think a singer sounds, if he or she brings in the money then that's who gets all the fame and glory anymore in the mainstream.

Country music has long been known for selling to it's own audience...this is why a very large chunk of the country singers are unknown to a pop audience. If a country singer isn't marketed outside the country audience chances are very slim a pop audience will take notice. I've never understood why pop audiences traditionally like to avoid listening to country music altogether.


Lolita: I'd never been a big fan of her primarily because i've not actually understood a lot of things she's done. In the realm of alternative country she's quite famous but the song that brought her acclaim was her duet with Roy Orbison, "Crying". In his later years Orbison was being embraced by the country audience. I suppose country fans had re-discovered Roy's material and noticed how similar his songs were lyrically to country music. Anyway, she's never had a huge mainstream following with the exception being her duet with Roy Orbison. I like Roy's songs. You brought up Julio...he had a couple of duets with Willie Nelson in the mid 1980's that i bet you've heard. The biggest of the two was "To All The Girls I've Loved Before". It was so huge that Johnny Carson and his writers decided to put on a now classic sketch where Julio is on stage at the TONIGHT SHOW and Johnny strolls out dressed as Willie Nelson and sings that song with Julio. It was very funny and convincing since Carson had Willie's mannerisms down to a tea. If you had never seen Johnny Carson and Julio singing that song, look for it at You Tube or somewhere. I have it on one of my Johnny Carson video tapes.

Julio and Willie's second big song was their version of "Spanish Eyes". Charlie Rich had a big country hit with it originally. It had been a pop hit prior to that. Julio and Willie's recording was a big hit as well...but not the monster hit that "To All The Girls I've Loved Before" was.

AMAZON RANKING: 6-9-08

1. ON MY WAY HERE

#222 Overall ranking
 
#28 Vocal Pop

#32 Adult Contemporary

Frankie,
I just updated the chart on Page 1 of this thread.  I am so sorry that I hadn't gotten to that little task as yet. :cry
It has been baseball season here (my son plays and my hubby coaches) and we just had the Prom and Graduation activities that have kept me hopping in real life.  I apologize for being behind.  Sorry!!  I know I am making excuses, so just let me say I will try to do better.  :wink

:hugs
Deanna

CHART DATE: 06/09/2008
LAST UPDATE: 06/10/2008 13:26:11
NOW IN: FINAL
 
 
 LW TW artist / album label power index % change
-- 1 DISTURBED REPRISE 249,267 --
INDESTRUCTIBLE
-- 2 NOW 28 CAPITOL 183,162 --
VARIOUS ARTISTS
1 3 USHER LAFACE/ZLG 139,370 -69%
HERE I STAND
-- 4 WEEZER DGC/INTERSCOPE 130,820 --
WEEZER (RED ALBUM)
-- 5 JOURNEY FRONTIERS 107,562 --
REVELATION
-- 6 ASHANTI UNIVERSAL MOTOWN 89,246 --
DECLARATION
2 7 SEX & THE CITY NEW LINE 58,589 -15%
SOUNDTRACK
-- 8 JEWEL BIG MACHINE 49,066 --
PERFECTLY CLEAR
3 9 3 DOORS DOWN UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 47,579 -24%
3 DOORS DOWN
-- 10 CHRIS BROWN JIVE/ZLG 38,691 --
EXCLUSIVE
7 11 MARIAH CAREY ISLAND/IDJMG 35,546 +2%
E=MC2
5 12 LEONA LEWIS J RECORDS/RMG 32,978 -14%
SPIRIT
-- 13 RADIOHEAD CAPITOL 30,193 --
BEST OF
12 14 TAYLOR SWIFT BIG MACHINE 30,142 +6%
TAYLOR SWIFT
10 15 MADONNA WARNER BROS. 29,940 -10%
HARD CANDY
4 16 FRANK SINATRA REPRISE 29,258 -27%
NOTHING BUT THE BEST
6 17 DUFFY MERCURY 29,233 -18%
ROCKFERRY
14 18 TOBY KEITH UME/SHOW DOG 25,052 -9%
35 BIGGEST HITS
8 19 BUN B RAP-A-LOT/ATLANTIC 24,180 -28%
II TRILL
-- 20 NOW CLASSIC ROCK CAPITOL 24,012 --
VARIOUS ARTISTS
9 21 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE ATLANTIC 23,517 -29%
NARROW STAIRS
19 22 KID ROCK ATLANTIC 22,422 +19%
ROCK N ROLL JESUS
15 23 JASON MRAZ ATLANTIC 22,416 -17%
WE SING WE DANCE WE STEAL THINGS
24 24 DISNEYMANIA 6 WALT DISNEY RECORDS 20,519 +26%
VARIOUS ARTISTS
16 25 NEIL DIAMOND COLUMBIA 19,322 -24%
HOME BEFORE DARK
18 26 NOW 27 SBMG/COMMERICAL MUSIC GRP 17,351 -14%
VARIOUS ARTISTS
21 27 FLOBOTS UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 17,304 -4%
FIGHT WITH TOOLS
17 28 JULIANNE HOUGH MERCURY NASHVILLE 17,019 -22%
JULIANNE HOUGH
22 29 CARRIE UNDERWOOD ARISTA/RMG 16,198 -8%
CARNIVAL RIDE
-- 30 GAVIN ROSSDALE INTERSCOPE 15,615 --
WANDERLUST
23 31 JUNO RHINO 15,534 -7%
SOUNDTRACK
25 32 ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS RAZOR & TIE 15,189 -2%
SOUNDTRACK
-- 33 VAN'S WARPED TOUR '08 SIDE ONE DUMMY 14,910 --
VARIOUS ARTISTS
26 34 COLBIE CAILLAT UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 14,149 -5%
COCO
20 35 JACK JOHNSON BRUSHFIRE/UNIV REPUBLIC 13,789 -24%
SLEEP THROUGH THE STATIC
11 36 AL GREEN BLUE NOTE/BNLG 13,782 -54%
LAY IT DOWN
34 37 HANNAH MONTANA WALT DISNEY RECORDS 13,105 +4%
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS CONCERT
28 38 RICK ROSS DEF JAM/IDJMG 12,820 -12%
TRILLA
31 39 JONAS BROTHERS HOLLYWOOD 12,702 -3%
JONAS BROTHERS
39 40 SUGARLAND MERCURY NASHVILLE 12,486 +1%
ENJOY THE RIDE
36 41 NATASHA BEDINGFIELD EPIC 12,295 -2%
POCKETFUL OF SUNSHINE
42 42 ALAN JACKSON ARISTA NASHVILLE 12,270 +6%
GOOD TIME
-- 43 OPETH ROADRUNNER 12,233 --
WATERSHED
35 44 JAMES OTTO WARNER BROS. NASHVILLE 12,154 -4%
SUNSET MAN
37 45 KENNY CHESNEY BNA/SBMG NASHVILLE 11,868 -5%
JUST WHO I AM: POETS & PIRATES
29 46 JORDIN SPARKS 19/JIVE/ZLG 11,808 -14%
JORDIN SPARKS
38 47 GEORGE STRAIT MCA NASHVILLE 11,427 -8%
TROUBADOUR
-- 48 BRAD PAISLEY ARISTA NASHVILLE 11,046 --
5TH GEAR
-- 49 LADY ANTEBELLUM CAPITOL NASHVILLE 11,023 --
LADY ANTEBELLUM
33 50 DAUGHTRY RCA/RMG 10,292 -20%
DAUGHTRY

Clay is not on the list...

Daughtry and Carrie CDs are still selling...radio play sure helps a whole lot.

AC, yes, I have Julio Iglesias' duet CD with Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton, but I didn't know he had a duet with Roy O.


 
 

CLAY'S SINGLE, "On My Way Here", has charted nationally. It's at #29 on the Adult-Contemporary chart. Here's the chart...

R&R AC (http://www.radioandrecords.com/Formats/Charts/AC_Chart.asp)

Here's a Janet Jackson story that's quite idiotic but yet paints the music business perfectly...from Billboard...


BILLBOARD (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003813980)

I took that story quite humorously and i couldn't tell you how many times i wanted to scream "contradiction". All anyone has to do is read the last sentence in the quote from the record label.  "Unfortunately we haven't experienced the results we would have liked with this new album but we respect and support Janet". I am in no way, shape, or form a fan of Janet Jackson but a remark like that irks me to no end because if the record label's promo department did their job, they would've had the results they were looking for. That's an industry cop-out to end all cop-outs...not wanting to accept the blame for a CD not doing well. The murky "the results we would have liked" leads me to believe that the label had grand expectations and didn't see to it that the results came through.

In other news...the David Cook singer is currently the darling of AC radio. His song has only been charted 3 weeks and it's already at #15 on the AC chart.

George Strait's most recent #1, "I Saw God Today", spends it's second week at #11 as it moves down the chart. His new single, "Troubadour", climbs up to #34 in it's second week. He debuted last week at #57...but this week it's officially in the Top-40. Strait's main competition it appears will be the current new song from Keith Urban. Urban's song has a title which is typical for a sex symbol, "You Look Good In My Shirt".

Without even hearing the song i think i can make an assumption based on it's title that it's a song designed to have women swooning and cooing and a title like that causes one to think of a morning after scenario of a woman waking up in bed next to a man and she putting on his shirt. I know, i know, it's uncanny that i have this ability to predict what songs may be about based on their title.

Carrie Underwood's single "Last Name" is the current #1 song in country music...zooming up to #1 from #5 last week. This clearly shows how bonkers country radio is for any song that has a TMR feel. TMR is an acronym i made up to stand for Too Much Rock. I've aired my thoughts about that song at various times. I still don't like the song.

The pop singer, Jessica Simpson, is currently at #36 on the country chart, up from #41. I think country radio needs to visit the psychiatrist...or at the very least, some of the radio programmers need to be put in padded cells for a month or two.

CHART DATE: 06/16/2008
LAST UPDATE: 06/16/2008 09:34:28
NOW IN: 45.86%
 
 
 LW TW artist / album label power index
-- 1 LIL WAYNE UNIVERSAL MOTOWN 360,105
THA CARTER III
-- 2 PLIES SLIP-N-SLIDE 119,481
DEFINITION OF REAL
2 3 NOW 28 CAPITOL 81,679
VARIOUS ARTISTS
5 4 JOURNEY FRONTIERS 69,695
REVELATION
3 5 USHER LAFACE/ZLG 63,028
HERE I STAND
1 6 DISTURBED REPRISE 47,470
INDESTRUCTIBLE
-- 7 N.E.R.D. INTERSCOPE 44,317
SEEING SOUNDS
-- 8 MONTGOMERY GENTRY SBMG NASHVILLE 21,820
BACK WHEN I KNEW IT ALL
14 9 TAYLOR SWIFT BIG MACHINE 21,737
TAYLOR SWIFT
12 10 LEONA LEWIS J RECORDS/RMG 21,347
SPIRIT
6 11 ASHANTI UNIVERSAL MOTOWN 20,653
DECLARATION
18 12 TOBY KEITH UME/SHOW DOG 19,330
35 BIGGEST HITS
22 13 KID ROCK ATLANTIC 19,114
ROCK N ROLL JESUS
-- 14 ALANIS MORRISETTE MAVERICK/REPRISE 18,090
FLAVORS OF ENTANGLEMENT
7 15 SEX & THE CITY NEW LINE 15,802
SOUNDTRACK
11 16 MARIAH CAREY ISLAND/IDJMG 15,378
E=MC2
-- 17 MY MORNING JACKET ATO 14,413
EVIL URGES
8 18 JEWEL BIG MACHINE 13,818
PERFECTLY CLEAR
10 19 CHRIS BROWN JIVE/ZLG 13,464
EXCLUSIVE
47 20 GEORGE STRAIT MCA NASHVILLE 13,335
TROUBADOUR
-- 21 TOTAL CLUB HITS THRIVE 13,311
THRIVEMIX (VARIOUS ARTISTS)
42 22 ALAN JACKSON ARISTA NASHVILLE 13,055
GOOD TIME
4 23 WEEZER DGC/INTERSCOPE 12,946
WEEZER (RED ALBUM)
29 24 CARRIE UNDERWOOD ARISTA/RMG 12,517
CARNIVAL RIDE
45 25 KENNY CHESNEY BNA/SBMG NASHVILLE 11,944
JUST WHO I AM: POETS & PIRATES
26 26 NOW 27 SBMG/COMMERICAL MUSIC GRP 11,654
VARIOUS ARTISTS
20 27 NOW CLASSIC ROCK CAPITOL 11,636
VARIOUS ARTISTS
-- 28 GARTH BROOKS PEARL RECORDS 11,574
ULTIMATE HITS
40 29 SUGARLAND MERCURY NASHVILLE 11,395
ENJOY THE RIDE
28 30 JULIANNE HOUGH MERCURY NASHVILLE 11,273
JULIANNE HOUGH
9 31 3 DOORS DOWN UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 11,119
3 DOORS DOWN
-- 32 ICARLY NICKELODOEN 10,411
MUSIC FROM & INSPIRED BY THE HIT
44 33 JAMES OTTO WARNER BROS. NASHVILLE 9,879
SUNSET MAN
24 34 DISNEYMANIA 6 WALT DISNEY RECORDS 9,808
VARIOUS ARTISTS
35 35 JACK JOHNSON BRUSHFIRE/UNIV REPUBLIC 9,786
SLEEP THROUGH THE STATIC
34 36 COLBIE CAILLAT UNIVERSAL REPUBLIC 9,530
COCO
16 37 FRANK SINATRA REPRISE 9,177
NOTHING BUT THE BEST
19 38 BUN B RAP-A-LOT/ATLANTIC 9,160
II TRILL
25 39 NEIL DIAMOND COLUMBIA 8,865
HOME BEFORE DARK
41 40 NATASHA BEDINGFIELD EPIC 8,830
POCKETFUL OF SUNSHINE
32 41 ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS RAZOR & TIE 8,574
SOUNDTRACK
46 42 JORDIN SPARKS 19/JIVE/ZLG 8,067
JORDIN SPARKS
50 43 DAUGHTRY RCA/RMG 8,005
DAUGHTRY
15 44 MADONNA WARNER BROS. 7,964
HARD CANDY
-- 45 RASCAL FLATTS LYRIC STREET 7,383
STILL FEELS GOOD
-- 46 LINKIN PARK WARNER BROS. 6,800
MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT
21 47 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE ATLANTIC 6,655
NARROW STAIRS
-- 48 KEYSHIA COLE GEFFEN 6,553
JUST LIKE YOU
31 49 JUNO RHINO 6,516
SOUNDTRACK
17 50 DUFFY MERCURY 6,507
ROCKFERRY

Clay is not on the list... :scratch


LIL Wayne is projected to sell under a million…who is he?

:wave Hello Lolita! Clay's CD won't be in the Billboard Top-50 again unless there's a major, major resurgence in his CD sales for ON MY WAY HERE. I don't know why the site you get those chart numbers from don't feature the entire Billboard 200 instead of just the first 50 positions. They need to give a more in depth look...there's 200 positions on the chart, some would like to see more than just the first 50 CD's. So, anyway, that's why Clay isn't on that list because his CD has fallen below the Top-50 of the Billboard 200. Your guess is as good as mine about this Lil Wayne person. The CD sold over 300,000 copies and the label has a Motown tag on it so i bet he's a R&B singer. I like seeing a lot of country singers on that list.

What is Clay's official sales total for On My Way Here as of today?

I just updated the chart on the first page of this thread.  Prior to this week, On My Way Here had sold 137,236 copies. See SALES CHART (http://www.claymaniacs.com/forums/index.php/topic,15236.0.html)

I don't have this week's numbers as yet.   :para I will keep my eyes open for them.  :hugs

Is that a good number?   

EDTA:   Are these copies sold just from Amazon, or is this a total number of copies sold?   

Those numbers are actually the "Soundscan" numbers sold.  That means all the sales by distributors that report to Soundscan.   That is a pretty accurate number of CDs sold overall.

AC, curiosity got the best of me and I search for LIL Wayne, he is a rapper or was it hip hop, and I would not even repeat here what I’ve seen on YouTube. I would have never spent a dime on an album like his but that is just me. He sold 969,235…go figure.

:wave Lolita: I've stopped trying to figure out the buying public many years ago when rap music was given mainstream acceptance. Pop radio thrusts this rapper hip-hop crap on the youth and it's no wonder you see these young unhealthy looking skinny white girls hanging all over these humongous, big as a house black men who wear thick necklaces and other jewelry dripping off of them and there pants down to their knees. These mis-guided women must feel it's a status symbol to be seen with men who could pass for being a rapper, or murderer. :rolleyes

Anyway...

ON MY WAY HERE moved up just one spot on the Adult-Contemporary chart this week. It moves from #29 to #28.

AC, you said it all :clap I was going to add more but I'd rather not. :para

Good to know ON MY WAY HERE moved up...here's hoping :cross for it to keep on moving up.

AMAZON RANKING: 6-25-08
1. ON MY WAY HERE: #385 main ranking

2. #50 Vocal Pop category

3. #57 Adult Contemporary category

:wave

:wave Jerry, I wanted to stop in and say hi, and check on the numbers since it's been a while since I have been here. Would you do an update soon? :bigsmile

:wave Clay keeps dancing around in the lower half of the AC Top-30. He's moved back up to #29 from #30 last week. His peak so far is #28...he hasn't risen higher than #28, yet...but if the single doesn't reach the Top-20, i think, in it's 10th week, it'll automatically be removed from the chart. This is the single's 4th week on.

AMAZON RANKING: 7-9-08

1. ON MY WAY HERE: #552 Overall rank

#77 Vocal Pop

#96 Adult Contemporary

I just updated the sales chart:
CHART (http://www.claymaniacs.com/forums/index.php/topic,15236.msg912273.html#msg912273)

The approximate sales number thus far is 144,000.

:wave Thanks for the sales update! I just came from the R&R AC chart and in another week of unpredictability, Clay's single moved up 3 places from #29 to #26...to date, the highest the single has gone is #26...when it slipped down to #29 last week i thought for sure that would be it's last week on the singles chart...but with this being his fifth week on the chart, he's at #26...

ON MY WAY HERE: #26 Adult Contemporary

AC CHART (http://www.radioandrecords.com/Formats/Charts/AC_Chart.asp)

Thanks AC, #26 is great. :purpbana

I still do not understand the sales for On My Way Here.  This is a beautiful cd and I am so disappointed in the numbers.  I realize that there are many artists who are not selling as well also, but... :bang and am so frustrated that this cd is not out there for everyone to hear.

 The belief of mine as i've stated at various times is lack of promotion. The lead off single re-bounding from #29 to #26 is a good sign but it needs to get into the Top-20 by a certain week on the chart or it's removed. I believe by week ten if a new single hasn't hit #20 or higher, the chart rules indicate that a single is removed. There are songs below #20  that have been on longer than 10 weeks but those songs are recurrents that have already hit and are on their way down the chart. The rules apply to new songs on the chart. 

The sales are tied in with lack of airplay and lack of focus, for the time being, on the part of RCA's promotional department. RCA and, or, Clay have to put more into the promotional end of a CD and not just throw a CD out into the stores and magically think it'll be a success. Since the CD's been released there's been next to no promotion for it. He was busy with UNICEF just recently as his CD sales remained stagnant and no major push at AC radio with his single...making it clear to those who pay attention that UNICEF and that sort of thing takes precedence over his recording career. I said it months ago i think...nobody's going to buy a CD of a UNICEF Ambassador that dabbles in singing. It should be the other way around...a singer who finds the time to deal with UNICEF matters. The priorities are flip-flopped. Radio programmers can sense when an "artist" or "singer" isn't taking their recording career seriously and so can the public. This is why i feel a lot of people grew disillusioned...lots of TV appearances in the past were basically advertisements for some kind of trip over-seas or something UNICEF related...nothing about his recordings or anything...those who bought this latest CD are his core audience that will buy anything he releases. The public at large, or those who did buy previous Clay CD's, i think grew impatient with the long silence, no tours, and the UNICEF over-load. 

We'll see what happens next week on the AC chart if the single rises from #26 or stays there or drops back down again.

This may dis-spell some rumors...

A lot of experts like to say that AC radio is slow to add songs, etc etc. This may be true but after looking at charts for years, as i have, there are favorites among AC radio programmers and the favorites, or the "chosen few", get instant airplay and universal acceptance. Here's some examples:

An artist named Natasha Bedingfield who i've never heard of has been on the AC chart just 3 weeks with a song called "Pocketful of Sunshine" and yet her single is sitting at #21, up from #23 the previous week. Jordin Sparks has been on the chart for 9 weeks and she's at #16 already with a song called "No Air". Some more examples...

Leona Lewis, who i've heard of but never listened to, her single "Bleeding Love" is stalled at #2 because the #1 song has claimed the top spot for 9 weeks. Leona's single reached it's #2 position fairly quickly considering this is her 13th week on the AC chart...and her multiple week at #2. Enjoying their 8th week on the chart is a group i've never heard of called Room For Two with a song called "Roots Before Branches", at #23 up from #25.

I do not know what an artist has to do to be among the "chosen few". It happens in any radio format, though...but for the purposes of this matter i'm focusing on AC radio specifically. AC radio to it's credit, if they play a song and it becomes a radio hit, they often play it to death. Currently on the AC chart the longest charted song is something called "Bubbly" by an artist named Colbie Caillat and that particular single is ranked at #3 in it's 49th week on the chart. Three more weeks for that single and it'll have charted for 1 year.

An artist named John Mayer sits at #4 on the AC chart...this is his 18th week on the chart and in spite of the single being a huge Top-10 hit as it sits at #4 for multiple weeks, it was awarded "Most Added" honors this week with 21 additional AC radio stations playing the song. Songs high up in the Top-10 and Top-5 usually are not awarded "Most Added" honors that long into their chart run...which is a good example of a song that was slow to have much AC adds but the stations that did indicate they were playing it, played it so much it rose to #4.

Now we get to Clay...he is in his 5th week on the chart and moved from #29 to #26...there were 114 plays of the song on the radio detected the previous week. If we look at other artists, upward movement should happen with Clay...but given the experiences with the past singles, they get close to the Top-20 but in the end they don't get that much needed help any single needs to become a bona fide radio hit song...elevating a single from being labeled a 'chart hit' which is what "On My Way Here" is considered until it gets massive airplay in the thousands week after week.

Radio charts that are published, they are published weekly. Singles do not have a new chart position each day on a radio popularity chart. Amazon ranks products hourly...it would be impossible for me to keep track of ON MY WAY HERE if i followed Amazon's method. I check it's rank and post it here at random. If i didn't have a life I maybe could sit at the computer each hour and report each hour's ranking  :roflmao but i'll never do that. So, aside from Amazon's unique chart updating policy, the radio charts at Billboard are published weekly. There are 4 weeks in a month...this means "On My Way Here" has been on the AC chart for 1 month and 1 week. This is a relatively short time on the AC chart...barely over a month...even though it seems longer because the charts are updated weekly, 5 weeks is not a long time on a radio chart. Having said all that, it will give one the ability to ponder that since Clay's only been on the AC chart for 5 weeks and it's at #26...wonder how many airplays those other songs have gotten to be so high up with chart runs shorter than Clay...the answer is hundreds and thousands more. Airplay acts as a promotional tool for any artist's CD...if airplay is lacking, sales are going to suffer.

Each and every week, we hope the single rises up the chart or at the very worst stays the same chart position before moving upward. "On My Way Here" still has it's airplay bullet...the white filled in circle behind the chart number. If one were to visit Radio and Records AC chart you will see what i mean. The songs with the white filled in circle behind their chart number indicates songs that are new and being played. A single without a bullet are those that have reached their peak and are on their way down the chart.

RADIO AND RECORDS: AC singles
1. ON MY WAY HERE: #28

This is the single's sixth week on the chart, and it's dropped down from #26 to #28 and it's also lost it's airplay bullet. So my prediction is it will more than likely be off the AC Top-30 next Thursday...another blown opportunity for RCA to get Clay on the radio and have a healthy, instead of a bleak, chart run. :yes

I did a longer post on the previous page for those who didn't catch it. It's the last post on the previous page about radio/chart numbers. I didn't want the one who asked the question to not see the reply because it's been awhile since anyone's been here.

AMAZON RANKING: 7-21-08

1. ON MY WAY HERE: #522

Vocal Pop category: #83

Adult Contemporary category: #88

I found this link on the News Thread and felt it should be posted here as well...

CLAY's HIT SINGLES (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:myaqoauaqijd~T51)

"Invisible" charted on five separate music charts...for those not familiar with reading music charts, this isn't to indicate that Clay had a hit 5 times with the song...it's only a break-down of which radio chart the single was a hit on so don't count "Invisible" five times and "This is the Night" twice when adding up his hit singles. 14 songs to date have been released as singles, including the last one, "On My Way Here", his 14th.

Surprisingly, "On My Way Here" remains on the AC Top-30 for a seventh week, spending a second week at #28, though :yes

In country news...

George Strait's single, "Troubadour", moved up one spot from #17 to #16. Brad Paisley is leap-frogging...he jumped from to #14 from #19 with his single. Sitting at #20 on the country chart is Jessica Simpson. The #1 single this week in country music is Alan Jackson's "Good Time".

AMAZON RANKING: 7-25-08
1. ON MY WAY HERE: #992

I'm glad that he is still showing in the top 30.  Recently I have been in Walmart.  His CD is no longer in the hit section and under recent releases.  It is in the old section under his name.  At Zellers (which is sortof like a Walmart here in Canada) it was listed as a hit at #14 in May (even before it was released and put on the shelf as that).  In June it was give the same spot.  In July it is in the old section.  I think that retailers were expecting his CD to do better and a heck of a lot of CDs have been now been returned.  So it is no longer highly visible to the browsing buyer.

In response to your earlier posts AC, I don't think that programmers are reacting negatively to his UNICEF trip necessarily.  If he hadn't gone, I think that the result would be the same.  Unfortunately, though, it is taking some of his possible promotion time.  He should be on tour.  It seems that release of the CD was "fit in" to his schedule.

Considering it has been a long time since a CD of all new tunes, it was done quickly.  He did it during the day while performing on Spamalot.  Jayme wa his executive producer.  I think once it was realized that she was indeed pregnant, they had to get on with the CD if she was going to produce it.  He finished Spamalot and bam it was released and the appearances began and publicity work of the CD before going to Somalia.  It was "fit in".

Now what?  Well the baby will soon be born.  If he is Daddy Clay, well I guess he will be busy.  If not, maybe Uncle Clay will be supporting his friend.  None of my business.

What does concern me is that maybe he didn't release the CD at the best time when he didn't have such time constraints and could go on tour and do even more promotional work.  Maybe he won't be making any appearances until he starts with his Christmas tour which he seems to enjoy doing. I dont' think that will help CD sales or his single. I hope the relatively poor CD sales don't cause his label to drop him.  If his profile is not too high, UNICEF might not want him either.  But then maybe it is not a priority anymore since I think he can have a career in the industry as long as he wants to.

One question I would like for Team Clay to answer - why aren't Clay's CDs sold at his concerts? I don't remember going to any other concert where the artist's CDs were not sold. I assume Spamalot would not have allowed it, but I bet a lot of CDs could have been sold after every Spamalot performance. It is as though he has no one in charge of marketing!  :bduh

Agreed Frankie.

Bucky Covington was selling them like crazy after an appearance as a country headliner at a small park festival atmosphere in Dayton. We all met him, he signed, took photos..spoke to us..it was awesome!

Any LARGE entertainer also has sold latest CDs at concerts from Rascall Flatts to Kenny Chesny, Sugarland, Toby Keith.

Heck- even after little shows at a comedy club, the entertainer tries to sell his CD, tshirt, whatever afterward.


More Cds of any release of Clays may have been sold at a concerts to NJU listeners.

another opporunity lost.

Maybe they (TC) aren't paid well...

Lora

:wave


That is what i was trying to say...but i never said it directly. There was basically no promotion for the CD until a few days BEFORE it hit stores and then afterward there were no interviews or promotion of any kind...the Clay is a father story took over everything. You're probably right that had Clay not even gone on this UNICEF trip it wouldn't have mattered on the radio because as i indirectly pointed out, the damage has been done...years of putting charity work and civic work ahead of his music career. How many times had he blogged to tell people of the latest UNICEF trip or what the latest money amount was in some charity function he attended? Whenever he did blog about music it was him promoting the CD's of other people suggesting people give a listen to singers he likes when he himself is a singer and could've used his blog to promote his songs. He ignored A THOUSAND DIFFERENT WAYS and i believe that he truly loves the pop music of the 1980's but i'll always feel that because the CD got so many harsh reviews for it being a covers album that he hid from it instead of trying to promote it. He had out "Without You" then "A Thousand Days". Then, nothing. End of CD promotion and the fans sensing that Clay was upset took it upon themselves to play mother and lash out at Clive Davis and make him be the problem. The problem wasn't the CD and it wasn't Clive...the problem was lack of promotion...


:yes I don't go to many concerts of "new country" but the concerts i've been to of George Jones they also have a merchandise table set up along with a concession stand...it's just something i'm used to. When i went to Clay's concerts they did offer those tour books...and i think LEARNING TO SING was being sold there?? I can't remember much but the prices were high on several items. I don't remember seeing any CD's being sold and i will make a wild guess and say the reason for that has to do with contracts? Perhaps Clay isn't allowed to sell those CD's at concerts because they're not adding to his official sales totals tracked by SoundScan?


I feel that may be close to the truth...there's a marketing team I bet but they're no good or do not have the ability to market Clay the right way. His lack of publicity ties in with marketing...you can't market an artist if he or she insists on controlling their every movement. There should be a give and take approach...Clay give up some of his privacy and allow a marketing team to do their job. The way it's always been, Clay's said yes or no about everything when it came to publicity...if he doesn't want to do an interview anymore, he leaves in the middle of one instead of seeing them through and being professional. I suspect his run-in's of late with the media caused reporters to shun him...not knowing what to expect if they ask a tough question. I'll bet some editor of a magazine or newspaper takes the attitude "did ya see what Clay said to so and so when they asked this..." or "did ya see Clay pushing camera men out of his way...i don't want any of our reporters injured by seeking an interview from him". I have no way of proving those sorts of things but i'll imagine someone out there in charge of magazines and newspapers and even TV talk shows are cautious when having him on...not knowing if he'll behave or storm off the set.

AMAZON RANKING: 8-23-08
1. ON MY WAY HERE: #750

R&R (http://www.radioandrecords.com)

I think it's nice that the radio station up there is changing format's. Classic country music has always had an audience, one that continues to grow each year...when you have an entire segment of the country audience not hearing the type of country music they want to hear on the radio because of "modern/new country" then it means instant ratings success for classic/traditional sounding country radio stations where "desired target audiences" are meaningless. One of the complaints charged at modern country radio is that the format caters to a pre-selected age group instead of encompassing or at least trying to please the country audience as a whole. Here's some history about it...

It has long been a practice in country radio, going back to the late 1980's and early 1990's, to cater to younger people and ignore the sounds in country music that older listeners prefer...making new country radio's ratings and target audience reflect what advertisers were wanting to sell their products to. It created alienation and resentment among traditional country artists and fans alike because if one wanted to hear what is now called "classic country", one would have to luck out and find it on an NPR station that may program it for a couple of hours a week or resort to listening to their own personal collection of music in their home or car...no radio station was programming traditional/classic country music in any wide abundance.

Along comes satellite radio, for example, offering consumers and listeners a large variety of music. Classic country stations start popping up on the AM dial...long been a home of talk-radio and oldies rock. Then as the late 1990's progressed, FM stations started programming classic country...now, in this latest scenario, an oldies format in rock is being changed to an oldies country station. It's a good sign...another good sign is that RFD-TV is a gigantic success...I only wish my cable provider carried the network but they don't. That network is being promoted as "The New TNN". For those unaware, TNN was The Nashville Network, a cable channel, that existed in a country music format from 1983 until 1999. The channel went berserk in 2000, dropping the country music format in favor of television re-runs in the mold of TV Land. Then it changed it's name to The National Network...later, it was bought out and re-named Spike TV. TNN liked to promote the legends of country music and some of the newcomers...but TNN always had room for the legendary country singers and they aired some really country, rural programming...and the RFD channel is in that same pattern. Time will tell if it comes available in my area.

AC - are you still here?  :para Have the figures on the New CD been released? I think they should have come out yesterday (maybe today). I will go check the ANN - maybe the figures will be there.

FRANKIE, how can they even track the numbers since none of the stores are even carrying it.  What is going on, is RCA punishing Clay by doing this?  I have never seen anything like it before.

Sales update for the Playlist CD:


USATODAYBLOG (http://blogs.usatoday.com/idolchatter/2009/04/david-cooks-sales-go-up-kelly-clarksons-go-down.html)

Thanks for the link, Deanna - that is even worse than I feared, but at least now I know.