Songs Of Experience sales in the United States

[wons]

well i don't know how they count streaming then cause on spotify alone each song from SOE has been played at least 2 or 3 million times with a peak at 14 millions with You're The Best Thing About Me (the last time i checked)

            The 157,000,000 streams for XXXTenacion "?" or whatever his name is, is just ONE WEEK of streams and equates to 105,000 units or albums. The 50 million or so streams you refer to for U2's Songs Of Experience on Spotify would equate to only about 34,000 in album sales or equivalent units, and that is the total since U2's Songs Of Experience was released 16 weeks ago. That is not very good when it comes to streaming. In 16 weeks, U2's total Spotify total is less than 1/3 of what XXXTenacion did in just one week.

alright cheers!
I am not into streaming at all but i tried to check and compare with a few other artists on spotify and thought U2 were not doing that bad in terms of listens

I think if you look at the catalog U2 does pretty well. But with the new music compared to new music by other artist, I think you would see a dramatic difference. Just looking at youtube which also counts towards streaming, the two recent hit songs by Imagine Dragons each have around 400 million views compared with only 10 million for "You're The Best Thing About Me".

Streaming is new, but its here to stay. In terms of how people listen to music, its at least 60% of the total now, if not more. Album purchases and digital track purchases make up the rest, but continue to decline. Were rapidly approaching a time when young people may not even know what an album is.

If you look at total views, to include U2's entire catalog, then I think U2 does better when it comes to streaming relative to other artist, but still they are not as high as they should be. Plus, whether your popular are not currently depends on your most recent music releases.

i am not sure the number of hits is necessarily a sign for popularity especially for U2 as I believe the population listening to them does not use streaming much

Well, you either have to stream it, digitally download individual tracks, buy the album physically or digitally, or obtain it for free through file sharing, CD burning, or some other free way of downloading it.

When it comes to streaming and digitally purchasing individual tracks, U2's numbers for the new album are tiny relative to other popular artist. So you would think then that millions of people are buying the album. But that's not the case. Current sales of the new album stand at only 287,000 copies in the United States and a little over 1 million worldwide. I think the best this album will do is 500,000 sold in the United States and 1.5 million worldwide. Those are small numbers compared to 10, 15, 20 or more years ago for U2.

Most people out there are streaming their music now. The next most popular thing to do is digital downloads of individual tracks through a service like I-tunes. Finally album sales are below that and dropping fast all across the industry. Its true, a lot of U2's fanbase that is still with the band still purchase the album, either physical or digital. But there must be a good portion who have simply gone to streaming all their music through a service like Spotify. Pop was considered a failure when it only sold 1.3 million copies in the United States in 1997. But today we have Songs of Experience and its at 287,000. Maybe it will make it to 500,000 eventually, but that is still only 1/3 of what Pop did in the United States. If its true that only the hardcore dedicated fans purchased Pop, then a lot of these fans must have switched to streaming because they are not buying the album either physically or digitally given that Songs Of Experience has only sold 287,000 copies in the United States so far.

Streaming is taking over everything. Total album sales continue to decline every year as are individual digital track purchases from stores like I-tunes. The option is just to attractive to most consumers. Pay $10 dollars a month and stream virtually any music you want that exist. Its the equivalent of putting a dime in a Juke Box 30 years ago and having access to all the music in the world for a full day, just on that one 10 cent dime.

Its terrible for the music business and the artist making music.

[wons]

This week, Songs of Experience falls from #63 to #115 on the Billboard 200 (album sales only) chart. It sold about 883 copies less than last week. This weeks sales were 1,882 copies sold in the United States, both physical and digital combined.

Each week of sales so far, with chart position and sales.

01. (#1) 179,772
02. (#6) 32,307
03. (#19) 21,234
04. (#19) 14,028
05. (#23) 5,717
06. (#23) 4,310
07. (#39) 3,549
08. (#57) 2,894
09. (#51) 3,584
10. (#52) 2,774
11. (#84) 2,119
12. (#114) 1,730
13. (#55) 3,257
14. (#130) 1,657
15. (#35) 4,976
16. (#63) 2,705
17. (#115) 1,882

Total sales after 17 weeks in the United States is 288,495. This includes BOTH physical and digital copies.



Here are the top 10 selling albums of the week on the Billboard 200 (album sales only, physical and digital) chart

WHITE*JACK|BOARDING HOUSE REAC( 01) 120612
VARIOUS ARTISTS|THE GREATEST S( 02) 30509
FELIZ*JORDAN|FUTURE ( 03) 12349
BRAXTON*TONI|SEX & CIGARETTES ( 04) 12204
SHEERAN*ED|DIVIDE (05) 8894
BLESSTHEFALL|HARD FEELINGS ( 06) 8867
MCCREERY*SCOTTY|SEASONS CHANGE( 07) 8824
IMAGINE DRAGONS|EVOLVE (08) 7823
HAMILTON / O.B.|HAMILTON / O.B( 09) 7578
VARIOUS ARTISTS|NOW 65 ( 10) 7047

A new low has been set with this chart. Its the first time the #10 album only sold 7,047 copies. Its incredible that with sales of just 7,000 copies, you can now have a top 10 album. The #3 album only sold 12,349. It won't be long before we see a number 1 album with only 12,000 copies sold both physical and digital.

[wons]

In Songs of Experience's 18th week, the album falls from #115 to #170. This is its lowest position on the albums sales only chart to date. At 1,529 copies sold for the week, this is also it lowest weekly sales number to date.


Each week of sales so far, with chart position and sales.

01. (#1) 179,772
02. (#6) 32,307
03. (#19) 21,234
04. (#19) 14,028
05. (#23) 5,717
06. (#23) 4,310
07. (#39) 3,549
08. (#57) 2,894
09. (#51) 3,584
10. (#52) 2,774
11. (#84) 2,119
12. (#114) 1,730
13. (#55) 3,257
14. (#130) 1,657
15. (#35) 4,976
16. (#63) 2,705
17. (#115) 1,882
18. (#170) 1,529

Total sales after 18 weeks in the United States is 290,024. This includes BOTH physical and digital copies.

[laoghaire]

That reminds me, I don't recall being offered the album when I bought concert tickets. Or was that offer just for I+E?

[wons]

That reminds me, I don't recall being offered the album when I bought concert tickets. Or was that offer just for I+E?

Nope its definitely for E&I tour and is helping to sell more copies of the album. Its possible you skipped by it when you were ordering tickets. It happens during the order and checkout process. Whenever you buy a U2 ticket for this tour, you get prompted to redeem your ticket for a U2 Songs Of Experience album either physical or digital, during the order and checkout process. I have purchased two tickets and received two physical albums in the mail. Its just the basic album though, which ends with the song "13" and does not include any of the extra tracks on the deluxe album.

Obviously, if you purchased a resell ticket, you would never see an option to get the new album.

[73October]

That reminds me, I don't recall being offered the album when I bought concert tickets. Or was that offer just for I+E?

Nope its definitely for E&I tour and is helping to sell more copies of the album. Its possible you skipped by it when you were ordering tickets. It happens during the order and checkout process. Whenever you buy a U2 ticket for this tour, you get prompted to redeem your ticket for a U2 Songs Of Experience album either physical or digital, during the order and checkout process. I have purchased two tickets and received two physical albums in the mail. Its just the basic album though, which ends with the song "13" and does not include any of the extra tracks on the deluxe album.

Obviously, if you purchased a resell ticket, you would never see an option to get the new album.

And U2 aren't the first artist to do this.  I'm sure a few acts have done this.  However, I don't recall it being the case in Europe.

[laoghaire]

Damn, I would love a physical copy. I just bought it off of iTunes. Too bad I missed it when getting the tickets. I was probably overwhelmed with a bunch of options (not to mention the impulse nature of my purchase which definitely strains my budget!), plus I'm visually impaired.

[wons]

Songs Of Experience shoots back up from #170 last week to #124 this week on a 225 increase in sales from 1,529 to 1,754.

Each week of sales so far, with chart position and sales.

01. (#1) 179,772
02. (#6) 32,307
03. (#19) 21,234
04. (#19) 14,028
05. (#23) 5,717
06. (#23) 4,310
07. (#39) 3,549
08. (#57) 2,894
09. (#51) 3,584
10. (#52) 2,774
11. (#84) 2,119
12. (#114) 1,730
13. (#55) 3,257
14. (#130) 1,657
15. (#35) 4,976
16. (#63) 2,705
17. (#115) 1,882
18. (#170) 1,529
19. (#124) 1,754

Total sales after 19 weeks in the United States is 291,778. This includes BOTH physical and digital copies.

[wons]

The source that usually reports soundscan data did not have it this week. Songs Of Experience did not appear in the reported list of the Billboard 200, top albums sales only first 100 positions, and top current album sales first 100 positions. There is a chance though that it did sell enough to still make the top 200 albums giving it a 20th week on chart. Unless something changes though, will have to wait to see what data gets released next week.

Each week of sales so far, with chart position and sales.

01. (#1) 179,772
02. (#6) 32,307
03. (#19) 21,234
04. (#19) 14,028
05. (#23) 5,717
06. (#23) 4,310
07. (#39) 3,549
08. (#57) 2,894
09. (#51) 3,584
10. (#52) 2,774
11. (#84) 2,119
12. (#114) 1,730
13. (#55) 3,257
14. (#130) 1,657
15. (#35) 4,976
16. (#63) 2,705
17. (#115) 1,882
18. (#170) 1,529
19. (#124) 1,754
20. ( ?  )           ?
Total sales after 20 weeks in the United States is 291,778+. This includes BOTH physical and digital copies.

[laoghaire]

I think you can stop now. This is painful. Report back if you have any good news.

Is there any chance sales will pick up with the tour?
... I guess I doubt it. Only the hard cores are going anyway. We already bought the album.

[ian ryan]

Kind of connected: Worldwide SOE was the 6th best selling 2017 album, tied with Kendrick's "DAMN." It came out in December. That's pretty shocking/cool. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

[wons]

I think you can stop now. This is painful. Report back if you have any good news.

Is there any chance sales will pick up with the tour?
... I guess I doubt it. Only the hard cores are going anyway. We already bought the album.

There is a chance it could pick up. There might be some last minute ticket buyers who will also choose to get the new album. The US leg though ends in early July. Unless the new single "Love Is Bigger Than Anything in its way" takes off where other singles have not, I'd say the album will definitely be gone by August or September. But, it could get another boost in November or December when Grammy nominations are announced.

[laoghaire]

I mean, I don't know why I care. I really don't care a fig for their wallets. But I think the album is great and I think they are great, so it's just sad seeing their album disappear - and against such a thin field (ancient albums). I know it's gotta hurt.

[wons]

Kind of connected: Worldwide SOE was the 6th best selling 2017 album, tied with Kendrick's "DAMN." It came out in December. That's pretty shocking/cool. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

One thing you have to remember though is that most people who listen to Kendrick stream his music or purchase individual songs. Album sales are dying. This is the worst global top 10 for the year in album sales since the 1950s. Look at that top 10. The only band or group in the top 10 is U2. It appears U2 were the only band or group to sell 1 million PLUS copies of an album in 2017. The metric is still important for U2 since most of the people into the new album don't stream or purchase individual tracks from it. They buy the album. They are old hardcore fans.

[Fastcars12]

I think you can stop now. This is painful. Report back if you have any good news.

Is there any chance sales will pick up with the tour?
... I guess I doubt it. Only the hard cores are going anyway. We already bought the album.

No. Don't stop. I've been enjoying these updates and am curious to see if it picks up when the tour is underway.

Thanks for the updates Wons