Actual current album sales

BaronVonBielski · #1 10-20-2023, 12:10 AM

I see that it looks as if eponymous Fleetwood Mac (1975) and Rumours have been re-certified putting Fleetwood Mac at 7x platinum and Rumours at 21x platinum for sales in the US. But I have a difficult time believing Tusk is still at 2x platinum, Mirage still at 2x platinum or Tango still at 3x platinum. The Dance would have to be much higher than 5x platinum by now. Probably 1x diamond. Greatest Hits would be higher than 8x platinum, it’d be at least 1x diamond. Say You Will has to be platinum by now. I suppose we can only guess. I can’t see Reprise paying for the rest to be re-certified by the RIAA.

bwboy · #2 10-20-2023, 01:16 AM

I am a little surprised that, with Everywhere being used in popular commercials recently, that Tango and Greatest Hits didn’t sell more; maybe they did, but just not enough to show.

I read recently that Tusk, being a double album, means that when one person buys a copy, it’s reflected as two copies being sold; so if Tusk is currently at two million sold, that means only one million people bought it. And two million is after nearly 25 years! That really puts in perspective how much of a disappointment the album was in sales after Rumours, at least on paper. I understand nothing FM had released would have sold the same as Rumours, and the price was really expensive, but still.

HomerMcvie · #3 10-20-2023, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaronVonBielski

I see that it looks as if eponymous Fleetwood Mac (1975) and Rumours have been re-certified putting Fleetwood Mac at 7x platinum and Rumours at 21x platinum for sales in the US. But I have a difficult time believing Tusk is still at 2x platinum, Mirage still at 2x platinum or Tango still at 3x platinum. The Dance would have to be much higher than 5x platinum by now. Probably 1x diamond. Greatest Hits would be higher than 8x platinum, it’d be at least 1x diamond. Say You Will has to be platinum by now. I suppose we can only guess. I can’t see Reprise paying for the rest to be re-certified by the RIAA.

SYW platinum? Shirley, you jest. That thing's a turd clogging a toilet. I'd rather hear Dolly Parton fartin' Jolene on the terlet than hear SYW. I watch Destiny Rules every few years, when I'm having a bad day, just to remind myself that it all isn't so bad, in comparison.

Macfan4life · #4 10-20-2023, 03:22 AM

I posted something similar awhile back but for the older Mac albums. Some albums were certified platinum while others stuck at gold and not updated for decades. I read that the band or the record company has to request and pay for the update. It appeared back then and now the band really does no care for the older certifications. I dont know why but Mirage and Tusk are sort of forgotten albums by the Mac. Both were not great with critics. Say You Will and BTM were never loved in the states during release so I would not think they grew much in sales because few know they even exist.
Didn't Stevie's OSOTM album finally go platinum several years ago? Apparently she or her record company cares to keep updating. I bet Street Angel is like BTM and SYW and will never go platinum.
Tango charted at a modest #7 on Billboard. For the amount of charting radio friendly singles it surprised me how little it sold in the states. Yes I know it was successful. I am only saying that with 3 hit videos, 2 top ten and 2 top 20 songs it should have sold more back then. There were albums released around that time that only had one or two hits and sold more.

Villavic · #5 10-20-2023, 07:07 AM

Should be interesting to know worldwide sales. For example Thriller worldwide sales is 70 million worldwide vs 34 million in the US, or Saturday Night Fever is 40 million vs 16 million (both wikipedia info).

Ok I know Fleetwood Mac is not as well known worldwide as Michael Jackson, specially nowadays, but the numbers sure are still considerable different. Wikipedia page says Rumours worldwide sales is 40 million (2013 Ken Caillat book) vs 21 million in US. Couldn't find Tusk and Mirage numbers, but Tango wikipedia page says worlwide sales were 15 million vs 3 million in US

Don't know the actual current worldwide numbers.

**jbrownsjr** · #6 10-20-2023, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomerMcvie

SYW platinum? Shirley, you jest. That thing's a turd clogging a toilet. I'd rather hear Dolly Parton fartin' Jolene on the terlet than hear SYW. I watch Destiny Rules every few years, when I'm having a bad day, just to remind myself that it all isn't so bad, in comparison.

SYW is a turd. A big turd with zero concept.

HomerMcvie · #7 10-20-2023, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbrownsjr

SYW is a turd. A big turd with zero concept.

It and BTM. A FEW decent songs, but not a good album overall.

bwboy · #8 10-20-2023, 02:33 PM

Does anyone have the latest sales numbers for Time?

HomerMcvie · #9 10-20-2023, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwboy

Does anyone have the latest sales numbers for Time?

Looks like maybe 50,000.

Edit- haha, I HAD I link to a British site that stated Time sold 50k. I forgot to include the link, and can't find it now.

Macfan4life · #10 10-20-2023, 02:54 PM

On another thread someone was commenting on BTM being a success. Put it this way. Both BTM and SYW sold about the same amount of copies 500k. Not too shabby but both were considered disappointments. But BTM has to be put in perspective. In 1990 there was not digital sales like when SYW came out. It was all hard copy sales and bands that had platinum sales were sometimes disappointed. For a supergroup Fleetwood Mac not to have a platinum album was shocking in 1990. Stevie also struggled with her OSOTM album the year prior. BTM was the justification to disband because all their hard work had their worst sales since Heroes are Hard To Find. It stung everyone in the band and even the record company. The headlines screamed, yes Fleetwood Mac really does need Lindsey Buckingham. The music industry was changing and it was one year before grunge. However even stupid bands could score a platinum release in 1990. People still bought music then. Janet Jackson's albums were going diamond. Platinum was a base line.

Villavic · #11 10-20-2023, 03:21 PM

I found this page. Time is not included.

BTM total numbers are far higher than SYW. But sales may be understated, and to compare numbers details and dates you have to click on each album. I guess they are no current sales.

https://bestsellingalbums.org/artist/4282

Macfan4life · #12 10-20-2023, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Villavic

I found this page. Time is not included.

BTM total numbers are far higher than SYW. But sales may be understated, and to compare numbers details and dates you have to click on each album. I guess they are no current sales.

https://bestsellingalbums.org/artist/4282

Wow, someone updated over the years and it says BTM went platinum. But this chart has been unreliable and posted here before.
When SYW was released in 2003, the music industry had slumped. No one was buying music as much. Remember when they had to crack down on illegal downloads and all this copyright stuff came to light. The point I was making that even though BTM and SYW sold about the same in the year of their debut, music still sold like crazy in 1990 so it was far more disappointing than SYW sales.
Mystery To Me needs an update on this chart and stuck at 500k. But Extended Play has a whopping 2,000 sales.

WalkAThinLine. · #13 10-20-2023, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bwboy

Does anyone have the latest sales numbers for Time?

Time sold negative 12 copies

WalkAThinLine. · #14 10-20-2023, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macfan4life

But Extended Play has a whopping 2,000 sales.

Extended Play actually performed better than that. According to Billboard in 2013, the EP's first week sales stood at 9,000 units. The same article said that Say You Will sold 864,000 copies.

https://web.archive.org/web/20130614...rling-hits-new

John Run · #15 10-20-2023, 05:21 PM

This is such a circular topic without an answer. The RIAA certification is a paid subscription service that has increasingly declined in its scope of use. The only people who know the true sales numbers are the record companies and to a lesser extent artist representative agencies. Some of these totals through RIAA have not been updated in 20 plus years. A generation has been born and can drink now. Streaming and downloads have totally changed the public uptake and monetary equation. In the new world, Tango is a streaming hit and Mirage is a dud. Easiest way to understand the continued interest in Fleetwood Mac is the value of the rights sales made by Stevie, Lindsey, and Christine. Business don't pay ~$100 million each on average for music that hasn't been bought in 30 years and has limited return on invest in the subsequent 7 year period.