| Wednesday 28 January 2009 |
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Record biz on skids: no sales this week
Yes, it's January. But that's no excuse for what's happened in what can only euphemistically be called the record business. According to numbers calculated by hitsdailydouble.com, the top 10 CDs sold a total of about 350,000 copies last week. Forget the rest of the "chart" - there isn't one to speak of. After the top 10, the numbers trail off into oblivion. Or more oblivion.
Last week the number 1 album, by the forgettable Taylor Swift, sold just under 62,000 copies. Mariah Carey's repurposed greatest hits, the biggest "new" release of the week, came in at number 10 with 27,000 copies sold. At that rate, the industry might as well give the music away for free. Oh wait, they've been doing that for a few years now on the internet.
From what Mariah will get on those CD sales, she wouldn't even be able to have both feet pedicured at the same time. And Sony's cut isn't enough to pay Rick Rubin's car fare, let alone a whole company of execs or the rent at the old CAA headquarters.
All eyes then will be on Bruce Springsteen's new CD for Sony, Working on a Dream, which debuted yesterday. Springsteen and the E Street Band will appear on the Super Bowl show on Sunday, hoping to get a sales bounce. Even if that works, the numbers won't turn up for a week. When Springsteen's first week sales are counted, the Super Bowl won't yet have played a factor.
I downloaded Working on a Dream yesterday (there was no one left at Sony to send me a review copy) for $8.99 from amazon's mp3 service onto my Zen X-fi. (Yes, readers, I live in the non Apple world just fine, thanks.) It's a very good album, with lots of catchy, well produced songs. It's not The Rising or Magic, but who's going to attain that quality every time out? The title track is a pop gem, along the lines of great Springsteen singles like "Radio Nowhere", "Hungry Heart" and "Tunnel of Love".
What I really like is Springsteen's audacity: he starts the album with an eight minute epic, "Outlaw Pete", before getting into lighter fare like "My Lucky Day" and the sensational "Surprise, Surprise". Springsteen even has a song named after a John Lennon classic - "Tomorrow Never Knows" - sung like Bob Dylan. You gotta love it, since he makes it his.
But how exactly "Working on a Dream" will be marketed beyond the Super Bowl remains a mystery. Frankly, I would take "Surprise, Surprise", "My Lucky Day", and "Working on a Dream" and out them forward as singles all at the same time - just inundate radio with Springsteen's rare take on pop. But, you know, no one asked me.
Here's hoping that the Boss is wise enough to play all three of these songs on Sunday, in addition to Born in the USA, Born to Run, and maybe Radio Nowhere and Dancing in the Dark. Keep it short, simple, catchy, and introduce as much of the new stuff as possible. The new CD is part of a deal at Sony Music worth $100 million, so many corporate types will be clutching antacids on Sunday hopeful that the football audience rocks right over to their computers or a local record store. (Fox 411)
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