Idol sales totals from USA Today

[razorbacker]

I know there are a bunch of you that are interested in this, & even though I have always posted these totals in the AI Articles thread, I thought maybe some weren't seeing it. So I decided to begin a separate thread. If the mods decide it isn't necessary move it if you want.

Ken over at USA Today was on vacation for a couple of weeks so he is reporting 3 weeks worth of totals all at once. Look for you fave Idol.

Idol Chatter: American Idol News, Rumors & Information – USATODAY.com

Idol sales slump again

The finals provided a boost for many Idols on the chart, but now, two weeks later, the bloom is off that rose.

We've got some catching up to do in this space, so I'll give you a three-week wrap-up of sales, courtesy Nielsen SoundScan.

Here's what the figures mean in order:
This week-last week-2 weeks ago Artist: Sales this week Last week 2 weeks ago Total

29-19-15 Carrie (Carnival): 17,000 19,000 25,000 Total: 2.16 million

50-27-19 Jordin: 11,000 15,000 20,000 Total: 804,000

54-33-20 Daughtry: 11,000 13,000 20,000 Total: 4.10 million

84-70-64 Carrie (Hearts): 8,000 9,000 10,000 Total: 6.45 million

162-106-48 Clay: 4,000 6,000 12,000 Total: 137,000

Three-week trends for off-chart Idols follow.

Kelly (Breakaway): 2,000 this week, 2,000 last week, 3,000 two weeks ago, total: rounded off, she hits 6 million! (5.996 million, to be a little more precise, but congrats are definitely in order.)

Kellie (corrected spelling; brain blip originally): 2,000/2,300/2,600; total: 766,000

Josh: 1,600/1,800/1,900; total: 48,000

Phil: 1,400/1,900/2,500; total: 29,000

Bucky: 1,000/1,000/1,000 (Mr. Consistency); total: 346,000

Kelly (My December): 700/700/800; total: 768,000

Blake: 700/1,000/2,000; total: 298,000

Bo: 700/900/1,000; total: 56,000

Chris S.: 600/700/900; total: 6,000. (Those are SoundScan's numbers. Christian artists track some retail accounts that aren't included in SoundScan totals; according to his label, his sales altogether this week were 1,400 and his grand total is 11,000.)

Elliott: 500/600/600; total: 510,000

Mandisa: 400/400/400 (Ms. Consistency); total: 92,000. (That should be reasonably close to the grand total -- SoundScan's total is 57,000 -- for Idol's other predominantly Christian-selling artist; if a rep from Mandisa's label has other figures, I'll be glad to post them.)

Fantasia: 300/300/300 (co-Ms. Consistency); total 514,000.

Randy: 200/400/400; total: 30,000.

Clay (Thousand): 100/200/300; total 527,000.

Katharine: 100/200/200; total: 371,000.

Taylor: 100/100/100; total: 702,000.

Kimberley: 100/100/100; total: 21,000

Constantine went under the weekly total I'm authorized to quote this week, after selling 100 the previous two weeks. His total is 25,000. Ruben was under the Mendoza line (irrelevant baseball reference) for the last three weeks, and his total is 237,000. Paris is in the same boat, and her total is 22,000. I'll probably drop those two albums from this tally shortly.


He also posted 3 weeks of download data, but it was rather lengthy so I decided to cut it down to latest week which has the most current totals anyway.

David Cook's Time of My Life still leads the Idol troops, dropping 4-10 and selling 80,000, a 51% decline. Total in three weeks is 479,000, close to gold.

Jordin's No Air falls 13-16, selling 63,000, down 8%, but it reaches the 2 million mark (technically it's still 2,000 off, but it rounds to 2 million. Congrats are in order). One Step at a Time drops 82-107, selling 13,000, a 19% slip, for a total of 103,000. Tattoo drops 107-116, sliding 5% to the mid-11,000s for a total of 1.67 million.

Carrie's Last Name, which just hit No. 1 on the country airplay charts for next week, slides 18-26 on this chart, selling 39,000, a 19% drop, for a total of 269,000. All-American Girl slips a bit, 68-71, and is down 1% in sales, still selling 18,000, for a total of 574,000. Before He Cheats plunges 112-132, selling 10,000, down 13%, for a total of 2.36 million.

Daughtry's Feels Like Tonight is just slightly down, 98-100 and 1% in sales, generating 14,000 downloads for a total of 459,000. Home falls off the chart, though.

Iz's Over the Rainbow lingers, 123-130, selling 10%, down 4%. Total is 1.25 million.

[Ellender]

Josh's second album has sold only 48,000 total to date?

Bucky Covington's debut album has sold more (346,000)? Wow!

Blake Lewis (Season 6 runner-up) has sold only 298,000 in all this time?

Glad to see Elliott (total: 510,000) doing so well on an indie label.

But Season 5 runner-up Katharine McPhee has sold only 371,000 in a 18 months?

Kimberley Locke's (21,000) sales are surprisingly low considering her high profile appearance and promo spot on AI7, but she is with a small label (Curb).

And Bo's total (56,000) isn't too surprising given that only Wal-Mart carries his second CD.

[razorbacker]

I think your point about Bo is a bit off base. First off being Wal Mart exclusive certainyl didn't stop The Eagles from selling 7X Platinum (actually 3.5 million, but due to the fact it was a double album, they get 7X certified) & many others have also experienced some big time success with this same tactic. Garth Brooks anyone?

What I will say though is Bo is an example to be held up to those folks that are constantly throwing out phrases such as "I hope XYZ doesn't win Idol because they will have more control over their career." " Or I hope XYZ doesn't get signed by 19 because they will have more success elsewhere." Bo certainly has more control, but what did it cost him in the log run? Perhaps 100's of thousands in lost sales. Without the marketing & advertising clout that a big label contract affords an artist, Bo has been left in the dust. It is a sad thing because so many loved the guy on Idol, but forgot to support him Post Idol.

Also, take note of the sales totals for the independent albums from Constantine & Paris, both of which have been out for months now, but both of which are still well short of even 30K. I sort of suspect that we may see the same thing for the next release by Taylor.

[Ellender]

Ken over at USA Today was on vacation for a couple of weeks so he is reporting 3 weeks worth of totals all at once. Look for you fave Idol.

Idol Chatter: American Idol News, Rumors & Information – USATODAY.com

Idol sales slump again

The finals provided a boost for many Idols on the chart, but now, two weeks later, the bloom is off that rose.

We've got some catching up to do in this space, so I'll give you a three-week wrap-up of sales, courtesy Nielsen SoundScan.

Here's what the figures mean in order:
This week-last week-2 weeks ago Artist: Sales this week Last week 2 weeks ago Total

29-19-15 Carrie (Carnival): 17,000 19,000 25,000 Total: 2.16 million

50-27-19 Jordin: 11,000 15,000 20,000 Total: 804,000

54-33-20 Daughtry: 11,000 13,000 20,000 Total: 4.10 million

84-70-64 Carrie (Hearts): 8,000 9,000 10,000 Total: 6.45 million

162-106-48 Clay: 4,000 6,000 12,000 Total: 137,000

I'm wondering why Clay's album is not named? To people who don't follow these things closely it wouldn't be clear which album Ken was talking about.
Daughtry's and Jordin's album titles are eponymous, but none of Clay's CD titles are.

I could ask the same question about some of the listings below.

Three-week trends for off-chart Idols follow.

Kelly (Breakaway): 2,000 this week, 2,000 last week, 3,000 two weeks ago, total: rounded off, she hits 6 million! (5.996 million, to be a little more precise, but congrats are definitely in order.)

Kellie (corrected spelling; brain blip originally): 2,000/2,300/2,600; total: 766,000

Josh: 1,600/1,800/1,900; total: 48,000

Phil: 1,400/1,900/2,500; total: 29,000

Bucky: 1,000/1,000/1,000 (Mr. Consistency); total: 346,000

Kelly (My December): 700/700/800; total: 768,000

Blake: 700/1,000/2,000; total: 298,000

Bo: 700/900/1,000; total: 56,000

Chris S.: 600/700/900; total: 6,000. (Those are SoundScan's numbers. Christian artists track some retail accounts that aren't included in SoundScan totals; according to his label, his sales altogether this week were 1,400 and his grand total is 11,000.)

Elliott: 500/600/600; total: 510,000

Mandisa: 400/400/400 (Ms. Consistency); total: 92,000. (That should be reasonably close to the grand total -- SoundScan's total is 57,000 -- for Idol's other predominantly Christian-selling artist; if a rep from Mandisa's label has other figures, I'll be glad to post them.)

Fantasia: 300/300/300 (co-Ms. Consistency); total 514,000.

Randy: 200/400/400; total: 30,000.

Clay (Thousand): 100/200/300; total 527,000.

Katharine: 100/200/200; total: 371,000.

Taylor: 100/100/100; total: 702,000.

Kimberley: 100/100/100; total: 21,000
...
... Ruben was under the Mendoza line (irrelevant baseball reference) for the last three weeks, and his total is 237,000.

Josh Gracin has 2 different albums out since Idol, as do Fantasia, Kim Locke, Ruben Studdard and Bo Bice. It would help to specify which albums we are talking about.

Iz's Over the Rainbow lingers, 123-130, selling 10%, down 4%. Total is 1.25 million.

Glad to know it's Iz's own version of OTR/Wonderful World that's gotten the real bump from AI7. Jason did a decent job, but he ain't no Iz.

[razorbacker]

I'm wondering why Clay's album is not named? To people who don't follow these things closely it wouldn't be clear which album Ken was talking about.
Daughtry's and Jordin's album titles are eponymous, but none of Clay's CD titles are.

I could ask the same question about some of the listings below.
Josh Gracin has 2 different albums out since Idol, as do Fantasia, Kim Locke, Ruben Studdard and Bo Bice. It would help to specify which albums we are talking about.


Glad to know it's Iz's own version of OTR/Wonderful World that's gotten the real bump from AI7. Jason did a decent job, but he ain't no Iz.

As to your first question, I think you'll notice that for the most part the only albums named are when the artist has more than one album in the listing. Such as Carrie & Kelly. And further down the list you will notice that there is a listing for (Thousand) by Clay.

All the others artists (Josh Gracin Fantasia, Kim Locke, Ruben Studdard and Bo Bice) have only one album currently on the chart so there really is no need to distinguish between which one is being referenced. Due to soundscan reporting rules Ken or anyone else for that matter are prevented from giving out sales figures for an album that is moving fewer than 100 units a week. (He actually got in a bit of trouble a few months back for updating sales figures for Ayla Brown & JPL because they were so miniscule).That's why you see only 1 album listed for those that you are referencing.

This whole update is written in an IDOL specific blog, so I would presume Ken's feelings are that everyone is pretty aware of which album is currently being tracked.

Hope that helps.

[Ellender]

My point, razorbacker, is that a lot of readers don't follow the charts that regularly, so they don't know which albums are and which are not currently on the charts. It would not surprise me if a lot of readers don't even know Josh Gracin and Bo Bice have new albums out this year. I'll bet a lot of people don't know Clay has a new album out either. People like that may think those stats are for those artists' last albums. It would have been easy to identify the albums. Billboard does.

I would not assume that just because it's an Idol-related blog, we Idol fans all know who has a new album out and who doesn't. If I hadn't happened to catch Kim Locke on AI7, I wouldn't have known she did.

Ken's columns are regularly linked to on Sir Linksalot, but the articles fall off p. 1 in a day or so, so it's easy to miss weeks or months of these updates.

[razorbacker]

Here are this weeks sales totals:

Idol Chatter: American Idol News, Rumors & Information – USATODAY.com

Carrie, Daughtry gain a little in album sales

In a good week for album sales in general (up 23%, largely attributable to Lil' Wayne's million-selling debut), Carrie and Daughtry registered gains for their chart albums. Not sure what the connection would be, unless it was a more-people-in-stores, rising-tide-floats-all-boats scenario.

No Idol album is in the top 30, as Carrie's Carnival Ride drops from No. 29 to No. 33 on the Billboard chart, but it's up 9% in sales to 18,000, bringing its total to 2.18 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Daughtry slips 54-57 on the chart, but is up 16% in sales to 13,000, totaling 4.12 million now.

Jordin drops 50-66, but slips just a tad (1%) in sales to a rounded 11,000, for a total of 816,000.

And Carrie's Some Hearts is down 84-92 but up 9% in sales to the mid-8,000s, totaling 6.46 million.

Clay's On My Way Here falls off the chart this week; figures can be found in the non-charting Idol summary that follows.

Doing an album his way doesn't seem to have helped Clay in the sales arena so far; he falls off the top 200 after selling 3,000 copies, compared to last week's 4,000. Total is now 140,000. A Thousand Different Ways sells 100, same as last week, for a total of 527,000 -- a total On My Way Here will have to really accelerate its pace to match or come close to. Part of the slowdown is the general decline in sales of the industry, so that you can't expect to match your last album automatically, but also it would seem that Clay needs to expand his fan base. Maybe a change in labels would help?

Anyway, continuing, Kellie sold 2,100, up from 2,000, for a total of 768,000.

Kelly sold 2,000 copies of Breakaway, same as last week, and is still just shy of 6 million (although the total easily rounds up to 6 million, so it's fair to call it a 6-million-seller). My December sold 700, same as last week, for a total of 768,000 (same as Kellie).

Josh sold 1,500, down from 1,600, and hit 50,000 total.

Phil sold 1,200, down from 1,400, and hit 30,000 total.

Bucky sold 1,200, up from 1,000, for a total of 348,000.

Elliott sold 700, up from 500, total 511,000.

Blake sold 700, same as last week, total 299,000.

Bo sold 700, same as last week, total 57,000.

Chris S. sold 500 by SoundScan tally (will update with additional Christian bookstore figures when I get them), down from 600, for a total of 6,000.

Mandisa sold 400, same as last week, for a total of 92,000.

Fantasia is down to 200 from 300, totaling 514,000.

Randy sold 200, same as last week, for a total of 31,000.

Taylor sold 100, same as last week, total 702,000..

Katharine sold 100, same as last week, total 372,000.

Kimberley sold 100, same as last week, total 21,000.

Ruben, Constantine and Paris are below the reportable limit this week.


And the download data:

Status quo for Idols on download chart

Nothing dramatic occurred this week for the Idols on the top 200 digital songs chart, based on Nielsen SoundScan information. The same eight songs are represented; three went up on the chart (slightly), five dropped; two were up in sales (not dramatically), six were down (two of them substantially). But enough generalizations; here's the actual info:

Jordin regains the top spot among Idols as No Air climbs from No. 16 to No. 12, selling 66,000, a 4% increase, for a total of 2.06 million. Tattoo is up by the same margin exactly 100 places downward, 116-112, selling 11,000, a drop of 2%, for a total of 1.68 million. One Step at a Time continues its soft launch by dropping 107-121, selling 11,000, a decrease of 15%, for a total of 114,000.

David Cook slides 10-23, selling 44,000, a 46% drop, for a total of 523,000, enough for gold status.

Carrie's Last Name is down 26-32, selling 37,000 (down 6%) for a total of 306,000. All-American Girl is up 71-68, selling 19,000, up 8%, for a total of 593,000. Before He Cheats slips a tad, 132-134, selling a rounded 10,000, down 1%, for a total of 2.37 million.

And Daughtry's Feels Like Tonight falls 100-146, selling 10,000, a 31% drop, for a total of 468,000.

A couple of requests:
Fans of Kelly were hoping for a new million-selling download from three promising candidates, but it hasn't happened yet. Never Again has sold 961,000, Breakaway (the song) has sold 955,000 and Walk Away is at 918,000 as of this week.

Ace's Addicted has sold 5,000 to date (100 this week).

[talldede]

David Cook went gold. Great! Thanks for the sales totals razor!

[razorbacker]

Here are the sales figures for the week. Download data is not yet available.

Charting Idols' sales slide some more - Idol Chatter - USATODAY.com

Charting Idols' sales slide some more

Last week, album sales were all about Lil' Wayne. This week, they're all about Coldplay, with a healthy proportion allotted to the new Disney TV movie phenomenon, Camp Rock. (Which sounds like it should star Rupaul, Freddie Mercury and Boy George, but instead features the Jonas Brothers.) Idols made little splash this week.

Carrie's Carnival Ride does hold its own on the Billboard chart, remaining at No. 33, but sales were down 16% to 15,000. Total is now 2.19 million. Some Hearts hangs on in the top 100, sliding 92-97, with a 17% sales drop to 7,000 and a total of 6.46 million.

Jordin slips 66-69, with a sales decline of 13% to 10,000 and a total of 825,000.

Daughtry falls 52-77, dropping 26% to 9,000 for a total of 4.13 million.

This part of the post seems to shrink every week, but rest assured, there are plenty of off-chart Idols to track in what follows.

Clay's On My Way Here leads the off-chart contingent with 2,000, down sharply from last week's 3,000. His total is 142,000. A Thousand Different Ways remained at 100 and 527,000 total.

Kelly's Breakaway dropped from 2,000 to 1,700, but in the process formally exceeds 6 million total U.S. sales. (It has been a rounded 6 million for a few weeks now.) My December sells 600, down from 700, to total 769,000.

Kellie sold 1,600, down from 2,100, for a total of 769,000, which is one heck of a country debut, I should mention.

Josh sold 1,500, same as last week, for a total of 51,000.

Bucky rounds out the selling-in-four-figures subgroup by selling 1,000, down from 1,200, for a total of 349,000.

Phil sold 800, down from 1,200, to total 31,000.

Elliott is down to 500 from 700 last week, with a total of 512,000.

Blake is also down to 500 from 700, and his total is just over 299,000. A couple more weeks ought to put it over the 300,000 mark if he maintains this week's pace.

Chris S. stayed at 500 SoundScan-tablulated sales for a total of 7,000, minus the extra Christian sales.

Bo sold 400, down from 700, total 57,000.

Mandisa sold 300, down from 400, total 93,000.

Fantasia sold 200, same as last week, total 515,000.

Randy also stayed at 200, total 31,000.

Taylor sold 100, same as last week, total 702,000.

Katharine stayed at 100, total 372,000.

Kimberley stayed at 100, total 21,000.

Ruben is still under the reportable limit, but maybe his marriage will get him back over the mark next week. Constantine and Paris are also below the line.

InsertNameHere requested an update on Ayla Brown, who's now up to 3,000 for her album. Jon Peter Lewis' Break the Silence has been pushed back to July 22, so no sales there yet.

[razorbacker]

Download data for the week is now available.

Idol Chatter: American Idol News, Rumors & Information – USATODAY.com

Idols not newsmakers on download chart

It was a pretty exciting digital songs chart this week, but more if you were a fan of Disney's Camp Rock, which placed 10 songs on the top 200, according to Nielsen SoundScan, or Coldplay, who notched eight tracks from its new album plus a reprise for Yellow. Idols, under the circumstances, were fortunate to hold their sales as well as they did.

Jordin's No Air is a victim of the Camp Rock/Coldplay onslaught, falling from No. 12 to No. 20, but some attrition has to be expected at this point in any case. It was down 14% to 57,000, and has sold 2.12 million downloads. One Step at a Time is the only upward-moving Idol track on the chart, jumping 121-105 and selling 14,000, a 28% increase, for a total of 127,000. Tattoo drops 112-128, with a 6% decline to just under 11,000, for a total of 1.69 million.

David Cook's Time of My Life falls 23-39 thanks to a 20% drop in sales to 35,000, and its total is now a robust 558,000.
Carrie's Last Name falls 32-42, dropping 11% to 33,000, for a total of 339,000. All-American Girl slides 68-76, declining 7% to 18,000 for a total of 616,000. And Before He Cheats is down a bit, 134-139, losing 2% in sales to a rounded 10,000, for a total of 2.38 million.

And, for the first time since late last year, the chart is a Daughtry-free zone, as Feels Like Tonight, his last charting track, falls off. All in all, a fantastic run.

A few of you asked about the progress of Jennifer Hudson's Spotlight single. So far it hasn't made the chart, selling a rounded 6,000 its first week and 4,000 this week.

And Madonnafan asked for the totals on a bunch of Clay's songs, which I will place in order of most sold:
Invisible: 104,000
Mary, Did You Know: 71,000
This Is the Night: 34,000
Solitaire: 33,000
On My Way Here: 12,000
Without You: 6,000.