Madonna's Sales Tank After One Week (Big Belly Laugh Altert)

Fox News ^ | 05/06/03 | Joyce Moore

[FierceDraka]

Madonna is in trouble. Her American Life album drops from number 1 to about number 8 this week, selling a paltry 65,000 copies. That's down from 235,000 the first week.

Of course, the whole record business bottomed out last week, with the top 10 albums selling fewer than 750,000 copies. Rapper 50 Cent (search) regained first place, and two albums connected to American Idol did well enough to make the top five. Additionally, Cher (search) continues to astound with her greatest hits collection.

[MeekMom]

BUMP!
Big Belly Laugh INDEED!!!

[steve-b]

Good to see her go down. I hope that the vichy chix go down next

You might want to rephrase that....

[TommyDale]

You are correct. And by denouncing all downloaded music as "pirate" or "illegal", they will stop the flow of free and otherwise unheard new music. They are actually trying to stop freedom of expression through music. These people are much more dangerous than even THEY realize.

[Freedom2specul8]

She's too old to be rappin in my opinion. I think she looks ridiculous.

[painter]

"Where is the new material for those of us over 35? The RIAA assumes that those who are over 35 don't even buy records. It's not that we WON'T buy them, there just isn't anything appealing!"

What are you talking about? Three of my kids aging 23,19,17 can't stand Hiphop/Rap either.

[NCC-1701]

Give me The Beatles anytime, any day. They still rule the vast wasteland of pop music. Harmonies are still great and they have staying power. Nowdays, I'l take the McGraws(Tim and Faith), Toby Keith, Martina McBride, ALan Jackson etc. I used to not listen to country music, but compared to the alternative, it's not that bad. I have yet to see ANY of the country folks grab their crotch(like the subject of this thread, Jacko, and a host of others). Madonna has always been a dim bulb to me but she has a good voice. Too bad the lyrics doesn't do the voice justice.

[NCC-1701]

BTW, I left off Elvis. Though being dead for a quarter century, his music is still better than the material girl's.

[TommyDale]

Oh, I agree with you. My daughter despises it as well.
My point is, how can anyone justify the music charts and airplay? If the white man is keeping the black man down, as we are accused of, then why is this "music" even on the air?

[Polybius]

Hubby and I listen to an oldies station - - we constantly say to each other, "gee did we realize the music was THAT GOOD way back when?" I have to agree, today's stuff is a horror, with a very few exceptions. Sorry......

Not that I disagree with you in any way but, you realize, of course, that you are saying what an entire generation of parents said "way back when".

Ah, yes, I can hear it now......."Back in my day, when there was good music, the songs asked 'Will you sit under the apple with anyone else but me?'. Now the songs ask, 'Why don't we do it in the road?'". ;-)

[fooman]

You are making me appreciate my true genius ;)

[egarvue]

I agree; although I am not nearly the music scholar that you are, I can definately say that today's Top 40 music is terrible. Actually, it feels like we're in one of those musical "lulls before the storm", kind of like how it was in the early 90's when 80's pop was fading big, right before the grunge scene exploded. I'm just wondering what the next popular musical explosion will be.

[grapeape]

I could not agree with you more. Most people don't look at the music business as a whole like you do. When they criticize music it comes off shrill because they don't have the facts like you do. The talent is just not out there anymore. There is, however, a good explanation for all of this horrible crap being put on the air. Institutionalization. I cannot prove it but I think that the entertainment business has gotten so set in it's ways that it cannot change. There is probably talent out there. It is just not being developed.

[Petronski]

I agree completely.

I actually enjoyed some of Madonna's earliest music, which was pretty good pop. But by the time her third or fourth album came out, she was just another skank.

[FierceDraka]

You know, of course, it won't be HER fault - it ummmm let's see...Hmmmm... oh! It was the fault of those hackers that hacked her web site and put MP3s of her entire album on her web site... yeah yeah, that's it - it's someone ELSE's fault!!!!

Oh, nooooo! It's not the hackers, it's that pesky Vast Right Wing Conspiracy that's keeping Madonner (misspelling intentional) down!

[skeeter]

Top 40 music today really, really sucks.

Though I'm not totally certain its not the 'ol' fogey factor' kicking in, I tend to agree with you.

The stations in the bay area can be divided into these catagories - country, alternative, soul(oldies), heavy metal(mostly oldies), and oldies.

[Hawkeye's Girl]

The single "American Life" has a pretty chorus, but the rest of it sucks.

Besides, I listen to heavy metal, so I'm waiting for the new Metallica album.

[SamAdams76]

The early 1990s was an exciting time for music. It was when "alternative rock" went mainstream. It was just the kick in the butt that the music scene needed at the time, as the "haircut" metal bands were getting old and so was the pop scene, which was dominated by middle-of-the-road, dance-oriented pap by Phil Collins, George Michael, Paula Abdul and even Milli Vanilli.

Nirvana, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Pearl Jam, Green Day and a host of other "grunge-type" bands hit with the musical force of a nuclear bomb. For a while, it was fun to listen to the radio again. But then Kurt Cobain got hooked on drugs and killed himself, the other bands got tired and dozens of uninspiring grunge clones (i.e. Everclear, Blink 182, Goo Goo Dolls) came upon the scene and eventually gave way to the horrible dance/rap that proliferates today.

The music industry too busy promoting the "flavor of the day" and are spending what money they aren't already spending suing file-sharing services on "eye candy" that does not serve their long-term interests very well. Teen acts like Britney Spears and Eminem are going to go the way of New Kids on the Block (remember them?) and Tiffany very shortly. Their albums will be curiosities found only on E-Bay in another 5 years. Meanwhile, catalog albums from talented superstars from the 1960s and 70s continue to sell well today despite the high price tags. It is my conviction that if the record labels dropped the price of their catalog to about $4.99 a CD, they will receive an enormous boost in revenues. Think about it. The average Joe knows that he can get a stack of blank CDs for about 20 cents each. Why then would he pay $15 for a CD that has been out for 20 years or more? The $4.99 price point will bring these people back to the record stores. At that price, it becomes less desireable to hunt for and burn MP3s from the Web in the same manner that most folks don't think it worth the bother to tape a movie off HBO when they can get the DVD at Wal-Mart (with all the extra features) for cheap money. This price-point for catalog is doable because the recording industry already has the finished product. No studio overhead. No promotional expenses of any significance (other than to advertise the new price-point). All they have to do is burn it into CDs and ship it out to retailers.

When adults over the age of 30 realize they can buy Beatles or Neil Young albums for $4.99, the record stores will be mobbed again. The sheer volume of sales will drive total revenues higher than they ever have been before. I guarantee that I will be browsing the local record store every day at lunch. I'll buy a CD instead of having lunch so I'll lose weight and increase my collection at the same time! Sounds like a plan.

[gridlock]

Institutionalization

Ossification

Have you noticed in music, but even more in the movies, everybody is somebody's kid? I saw a teaser headline about Tommy Lee Jones' son this morning, about how he was some hot new hunky eligible bachelor. I'm sorry, but he's already got two strikes against him in my book. Add in the Algore connection, and he has three. Tommy Lee Jones can't act like he's in pain when you drop a hammer on his foot. Why should his son do any better?

Any yet Hollywood keeps pushing these marginal talents on us, all children of the elite. None of these kids has even remote appeal beyond the hype. And now they wonder why nobody bothers to go to movies anymore...

I mean, Paul Sorvino is an interesting looking, if not quite handsome, man. Mira Sorvino gives me the creeps because you I keep on putting Paul's head on her body, and I don't swing that way...

[grapeape]

Well the stars are one thing. The name sell tickets. What I am more concerned about is the actual writing, production, ect… If you look at someone like a Madonna you will see the quintessential butt kisser. She does everything it takes to become the darling of gay Hollywood. She makes an effort to piss off the social conservatives which they love. Then she fawns all over gays and their issues which they just can’t control their giddiness when she does that. They bend over backwards to give her a career over. Most people don’t realize that Madonna has never written a song in her life. We all know she can’t act so why does she continue to get parts? Because of who she panders to. There are just too many people to name that still have careers who shouldn’t. The individuals who give these people careers are the real losers.

[jejones]

Hubby and I listen to an oldies station - - we constantly say to each other, "gee did we realize the music was THAT GOOD way back when?"

Yup...the ironic part is that if you go back and listen to the Monkees, that everybody called phony, plastic, etc., the songs they recorded is vastly more interesting musically than most of the popular music you hear today. Also, the Top 40 back then was vastly more varied than it is today. On KOMA in the 60s and 70s, I'd hear rock, folk, novelty songs, and country. You won't find that now. One could argue that stations are more specialized, but the variety across stations is far less now than it was on individual stations in the past.