Interesting Article Speculating on the Chances of CD Success
 

This USA Today article has some interesting people giving their opinion on FM's chances for big CD sales.

hey, thats encouraging news about thoughts of a successfull tour ...BUT I take great offence at that man suggesting I'd buy FM because I've got grey hair!! (I haven't!):D

Well
 

At least it is an honest view of the whole thing...the record may not hit #1 one...but when it comes to touring,...people go see the Mac no matter what...

Good article. My sentiments exactly.

N

That's some pretty insightful stuff. I suspect that Anthony DeCurtiss is right. The tour will sell like crazy. No doubt about that, but most people will be going to hear Go Your Own Way, Dreams and Rhiannon. Which sucks for me because I want to hear the new stuff.

I don't think this album is going to be a huge seller, but let's take into consideration what that means by Mac standards: If it sells 2 million, that's a lot of plastic pancakes. But by Mac standards it would be low. However, I don't think it will do much more than that. I put my estimate at 3 million tops.

I think we'll also see a lot of copies on used bins within a few months for several reasons:

--Some people who liked the 70s sound will not like the new sound, especially Lindsey's quirkier stuff. Even if you remove the quirky Lindsey factor, this happens with every band that's been around that long.
--Some people will not like the way Stevie sounds anymore.
--Some people will make copies of this thing with their computer and then try to sell their original.

All good points, and likely, but..
 

My theory is all it needs are 3 very big, radio-friendly hits and the whole album will be snapped up, lock stock, despite preconceptions and prejudices against about the Mac.

It worked for Rumours (GYOW, Dreams, Don't Stop) and Tango (Big Love, Little Lies, Seven Wonders, Everywhere).

The question is - do such cuts exist in this new album? (Don't ask me - I'm biased)

I think I would reframe the question more along the lines of -- Even if they have three radio-friendly cuts, will that be enough to get them on the radio in spite of the preconceptions and prejudices of the companies that now devise so many radio station playlists across this country?

See? Haven't I been spouting off as to how Rumours ruined the band?? :laugh: Since it came out, every album they do has this preconceived expectation of selling "Rumours numbers" and it will never happen again...it was a phenomenon in its own time.


So my suggestion is just buy the album (Grey Hairs?!?!? Hand me the L'Oreal!) and enjoy the music and totally disregard what kind of sales numbers it produces. (can you TELL I'm not a record company exec? :laugh: )

interesting article but critics are like weather man, getting paid to guess...

personally, as a fan, I'm just glad to get another new album out of the MAC and I will definetely be supporting the tour.

how did these guys find out about my greys?? That's pretty low especially since I use Nice-n-Easy Dark Auburn...:laugh:

There is a pic of Stevie and Linds on the front page of US Today advertising this article..then inside there is another pic,similar to the new one,but Stevie is leaning out more and Lindsey's hands are in a different position...

All I really care about is that I get a copy of the new album. It really doesn't matter to me how many other albums sell or how often they are played on the radio. I wouldn't expect much radio airplay though. Probably similar to what we got with TISL. The only benefit I can see of them having success is that it might encourage them to record further albums, which would be great. I wouldn't want to see them scared off just because this album only sells a 'piddling' 2 million copies and MTV, the worst channel ever, won't put their video into heavy rotation.

If i saw a Fleetwood Mac video on MTV i think i'd die of shock.Besides,MTV is no longer about music...it is all crap...they are not even worthy to speak the name Fleetwood Mac.

There was a similar article, published right before the release of 'The Dance,' where the author was speculating whether or not Fleetwood Mac's reunion would be successful, after poorly-received lineup changes had "tarnished the band's name value."
And we all know what a massive (and almost surprising) success 'The Dance' was... both the album and the tour.

Radio stations have been playing a *lot* of Fleetwood Mac's music lately, and almost all of the DJs mention the fact that a new album is coming out soon... so I take that as a sign that there is a deep interest for this album.

I guess we'll see if people connect with it in such a way as to really get those CDs flying out of the stores (and not being returned later).



Johnny Stew

Does anyone else remember when John Fogerty's Centerfield album came out? It was about a dozen years since Creedence/CCR was the top rock band, but it all came back in style and was huge. You couldn't turn the radio on for about a year it seemed without hearing Old Man Down The Road and Centerfield and one or two others. He even got sued for sounding so much like Creedence and himself! :^)

I hope FM hits a homerun. I hope it is as good as George Harrison's, Santana's, Boston's and ELO's last albums and not like the newer Journey or Kansas albums.

That reminds me, MTV just recently announced that they were going to cut back even further on the amount of airtime they devote to videos and music-related programs. They were going to pick about 20-30 videos at regular intervals and repeat them very, very heavily, but otherwise turn even more of their resources toward non-musical programming. I wonder then about the point of continuing to call themselves "Music Television?"

I think this CD will sell OK, but it will not be as big as The Dance, and that is fine with me. I don't need other people to validate my musical taste by buying the same CDs that I buy. If it hits big, great. If it doesn't, I'm still going to enjoy it. I just hope that it's not the last FM studio CD.

"The Dance" went platinum right? I think "Say You Will" will do good, because of what the guy stated in thre article. Most of these fans won't be burning this album, they will be buying it.

Sorcerer386 recently mentioned this too... I guess the "M" now stands for "Miscellaneous," "mismanaged," or just plain "mucked-up." :rolleyes:



Johnny Stew

I thought...
 

the "M" in Empty-Vee (aka "Mtv") stood for "misleading"...

But the article was alright...Even through stating the obvious:

"Say You Will may not reach the sales of Rumours, but it could thrive even without much radio support.

"It's not fair to expect another Rumours," Mayfield says."

I think unlike Paul McCartney last studio album release the new Mac release will sell...And the tour will be successful no matter what, Brian J.

MTV

Mindnumbing Trance-inducing Viewing

How about...
 

Mindnming Trance-inducing Vomit???...lol...Brian J.

Thats funny ChiliD... I don't have MTV out in Canada. But I do injoy much more music. It's all music TV.
They play alot of VH1 stuff.
Alison.
I think the new Mac c.d will sell about 2 mill in the States.
They didn't do that well with The Dance in Canada last time around.

It probably had something to do with them not PLAYING there during "The Dance" tour. :nod: (well, they did play Toronto, didn't they?) :shrug:

Maybe they need to do an entire Canadian leg...go from Vancouver to Banff to Calgary to Edmonton to Ft MacMurray to Prince Albert to Saskatoon to Winnipeg to Sault St Marie to Windsor to Toronto to Ottawa to Montreal to Quebec City to St John's and maybe even a Newfie show or two....maybe even START the tour by flying up to Inuvik & Yellowknife for a show or two!!! Maybe they can switch their mascot to a puffin instead of a penguin for the Canadian leg of the tour! :laugh:

to all of you who expects The Dance's sales figures i can only say that i certainly hope that i'm wrong and you're right, but i'm afraid that the musical scene has changed dramatically since 1997.
first and foremost NOBODY sells today like back then,
and second, now there is more ageism in the music biz than in the movie biz. if you are a male, you might still have a chance, if otherwise (in our case- a band or a female singer)- don't waste your time.
no veteran band really sells these days (and i mean new stuff, not repackaged classics) even aerosmith stopped selling.
we must judge their sales figures in THIS context, a few of you mentioned mtv, it made me laugh, mtv? try vh1! everytime i'm zapping my way through this channel i'm doomed to watch christina aguilera's painted face!, i've nothing against ms. aguilera, but calling it mature music would be a slight exaggeration.
i think that within this context, stevie's TISL performance was almost amazing.
if Say You Will reaches a quick us top 3 and top 10 in europe, i'd be more than pleased. more than this would be a little miracle, i believe in miracles, but i don't expect them.

Thanks for posting the article Joe.

And thats what sucks about radio today. Some very good music by these veteran acts and newer acts needs to be heard on the airwaves. There's nothing challenging or remotely different on mainstream radio. It's all the same crap that is being forced on the listener by the conglomerates and the likes of MTV. That's why I rarely listen to anything but NPR. If Fleetwood Mac is to reach a wide audience with their new music I think it's going to have to find an alternative medium to do it......internet maybe? I think the only way radio will pick up FMs new music is if it comes out real strong in sales and there's heavy demand for it by the general public.

Fleetwood Mac does have a loyal fan base much like Stevie does, and I don't have any doubts that the lp will sell at least a cool million. But it's really not about the sales at all to me, it's about the music. I'm sure Say You Will will be fantastic to listen to...I'd just like it the rest of the world to hear it too. :)


Joe

Well I would have to say THE VERY BEST OF FLEETWOOD MAC...did well, considering it a 2 cd Greatest Hits collection of songs most everyone has...it did debut at #12, and went platinum....in a few months....Based on this...I would say that the new album will do better than this Greatest Hits collection, simply because it will get much more buzz...(magazines, tv, etc)

---I would love a #1, and that could happen, but whether it's realistic I dont know...A top 5 debut in my opinion is VERY realistic...even w/o radio support....now whether the cd is a chart topper or not, does that change the way i feel? NO...but I think it is great encouragement for this great band to continue with music....so thats why I hope it sells well...and I think it will..

Chris

The USA Today article also had an outtake from the new photo session, but it was small. Here's a scan....

Luv,
Shel

LOL....
 

what the heck is Lindsey doing with his fingers and why does he looked po'd?...Thanks for sharing that outtake shot Shel (I know a few Shel's who are FM fans...), Brian J.

my 2 cents
 

I happen to think that at this stage in their career....The "general" public is more interested in the classics of Fleetwood Mac rather than new songs and a new studio CD. Aug. 1997 was almost SIX years ago...and face it....They took too long to really capitalize on the momentum of that success....besides many things are different now...

back THEN- MTV actually embraced the Mac..airing the DANCE special first!! and ran a big promotional commercial campaign for it...AND also aired the Silver Springs video repeatedly, this of course spilled over to VH1. And most important, Radio played Silver Springs and Landslide with open arms!..and lets not forget the big public television exposure they received durining PBS's annual pledge drives the fall of 97.

NOW- Music is more youth obsessed...and their is a huge slump of record sales across the board....Nobody has been selling very many records......with few exceptions....
MTV will most likely ignore this new release.
VH1 will embrace it, but VH1 is going through its own growing pains and not nearly as popular or widely viewed as it was in 97 thru 99......and its once trademark shows like "Behind the Music" are now stale and losing ratings, so as VH1 revamps its programming will FM get lost in the shuffle as too OLD or too nosatalgic ???

It will take a small miracle to get this new CD played on main radio. PERIOD- that is why warners is getting creative and inserting songs on TV spots (perhaps they will turn up in a tie in commercial like Sheryl Crow did with American Express or Sting did for Jaguar(or some car I cant remember)...otherwise I am expecting something on par as what Stevie experieced 2 years ago....a sprinkling of AOR and Adult Alternative stations. So this 1st single better be great.

If this CD goes double platinum in this current music climate...I think it would be considered a BIG success. hopefully it will!!! (I am betting 1 million for sure)
Santana's and Bruce Springsteens latest both did 2 mill. so far...

Even Sheryl Crows' latest is probably considered a sales disapointment- "C'mon C'mom" has been certified only platinum..and she and her record co. DID major promotion...she was everywhere...and her 1st single was played to death.....BUT even that was fleeting... as her 2nd and 3rd single releases received little radio support and did not take off.....

CD Success!
 

:wavey: Well at least they got in USA Today!
That is Great!:D I use Light Golden Brown!haha!
Wish I knew about this I would have bought it...
was it in todays paper????:confused:
Thanks very much Shel for the pix!:nod:
Lindsey must have a hang-nail!HE Looks Fine!:D
That makes it more real!I needed a FMac fix!Sky:)

um. yeah. k.

i know for a fact that radio stations don't just play whatever song they want. our music director spends lots of time on the phone w/wrekkit companies who are asking what their particular song's rotation is every week. he decides the rotation from the chart & requests. it's all about what the people who are listening are gonna like. its the dolts who respond to surveys & tell billboard et. al. that they like {insert ****ty song here} best this week who screw us over.

don't blame it on radio. blame it on the general population. if it wasn't for radio and artist exposure on MTV (channel x) , we'd be in an even more horrible popular music situation than we already are. granted.. mtv is pretty damn horrible. and yup, it is a conglomerate. but, the brain dead drones love it, so, whatever.

We have USA Today to save us. That's right.. I forgot. :shocked:
It seems like there's something WAY wrong when the only outlet for praise for your favorite band is USA today. Hmm. Maybe when they get a little more mainstream.


Sarah

Music Success!!!
 

Sarah...Can we as Fleetwood Fans call our radio stations
and ask for what we want to hear? They did not pay
any attention to my request! Who can I call near Pittsburgh?

This is very exciting for us! The Dance sold 1mil. did it not?
Perhaps the day of huge concerts and numbers is over!Sky:)

Originally posted by Sarah:


yeah, dont get me wrong- I am estatic that they are getting press...But what about: Billboard, RollingStone and other notables....I keep looking at those sites for updates...and now that there IS a press release...They have seemed to ignore it...hmmmm very interesting.....are they dissing the Mac ??.

Also Sky, "The Dance" has sold 5 million copies and counting.......

CD Sucess!!!
 

:wavey: Thanks Christopher for correcting ME!!!:)
5 million is wonderful! :blob1:They're rich!!!:blob2:
Gosh, the guy said 1 million on Lindsey's BTM so...
that is where I got that figure! Thanks a LOT!!!Sky:)

I thought the article was very realistic. :D The author gave the album promise, and talked about the probable success of their tour. Thanks for posting that, DownOnRodeo!

:wavey: :wavey: :wavey:

umm...yeah...that's pretty much what I was complaining about. :)
How do you get to like a song unless you hear it and why would you request a song if you've never heard it?!


Joe

Here's part of the problem....
 

Sarah, I don't blame radio, the medium. I love radio so damn much I've chosen a career in it and want to stick with it. But there are certain GREEDY radio monopoly conglomerates that manipulate what gets played so much and make way too much money by cheating the system and the result is mass-marketing that doesn't make sense and forcing it down people's throats even if it's crap. Did you know that a certain radio conglomerate in kahootz with record labels allows them to pay for advertising spot time to get 2 minute ads in for new "hit records." The radio stations play enough of the song in these ads that it counts as a "spin" and all the trade mags and billboard say this song got x number of spins. It's called payola, folks! You'd think people actually requested them, but this greedy conglomerate doesn't actually take requests much anymore because all the djs are voice-tracked (that's when all their "breaks" are pre-recorded as early as days before) and the studios are unmanned and those phones are ringing with requests to play and not play stuff, but the dj is as his other job because he won't get the salary or health benefits he needs from the ugly corporation. So when billboard says the songs get played, the rule is, you gotta play them more, the record companies make a gazillion dollars and they give tons of cash to the radio conglomerates in the form of "perks"...lots of free tickets for their listeners to win and other stuff. There are SO MANY examples of these unethical practices, many of which can be found here. I'm telling you, these sweet litle deals are just one of the reasons there is such tight, tight control over what gets played on the radio these days. It encourages the already big problem of ageism in the music industry (I've said before the reason Sheryl Crowe can be such a mainstream "pop" star at 40 and not just an adult rock artist is because she looks and sounds 30 and is buff in a tank top)...it also has to do with the freshness of what's new, so we'll buy, buy buy....implying that older artists can't do anything "new."

As for TV, they know sex and youth sells and they abuse that to the point where it ain't "music" television unless it's a young, hot, panting Britney Spears. Faith Hill was a conservatively dressed country singer but her record execs could tell she was pretty and had a lovely voice, so to make lots of money off her, now you don't see her in a video where she's not either writhing in a bed or in the rain or something sexy in the cliché sense.

Ugh. Sorry if all this is depressing. It sure is to me :distress:
-Sonia

This is why so often a new song or group breaks through on a college station, pirate or net station, NPR (CBC in Canada), or some low budget small station left that still wants to have some character or won't pay for one of the programming 'services' where what gets played is some kind of screwy science based on number son pieces of paper which initially seem to come out of thin air. It's amazing how many songs are labelled as hits the very day they are released if not sooner! Some stuff that gets the big machine backing it is still good though, but who knows how compromised the artist had to become to get there. It seems to me FM is compromising by catering to the market as what the market has said is Buckingham & Nicks. If it had said Bob Welch and Bekka Bramlett instead they'd go for that I guess.

Re: Here's part of the problem....
 

see also "Clearchannel," "Citadel," and "Journal." (et. al.)

voice tracking is highly effective if used properly.. if you path the voice tracks straight to the automation system (we use SS32), then it's instant.. you dont have to wait to upload. (which is a pain in my ass.. cuz dispatch never works.. its always sorting. grrrr..) if i VT for say, 10 to 2.. i start at 9:30.. and do it in intervals.. its just like planning ahead.. and most times, even after factoring in requests, you wont change the log much ANYWAY because there's a good reason everything is in the order it's in. plus.. i'm a perfectionist.. so i like being able to redo what i'm doing if i dont do it perfectly. (or up to my specifications.) i am much relieved that i dont have to dj much.. (pm news director)

and as far as the tight deals and junk.. i dunno about all of that. on satellite programming.. perhaps. if you hire a consultant to do your log & playlist.. maybe. but i think it's dead wrong to say that stations dont keep their listeners in mind. stations DO keep their listeners in mind.. very strictly.. if for no other reason than.. ARBITRON.

btw.. thanks for clearchannelsucks.org. i didnt see that till after i started typing. i like that. i like tradeouts though.. tradeouts will get you a new set of tires... internet service.. yadda yadda.

and.. sorry, but.. i HATE npr. i hate it. i think it is the suckiest bunch of sucks that have ever SUCKED spreading their suck messages and suck programs on SUCKY frequencies. npr sucks.

..phew..

Sarah

Re: Music Success!!!
 

its all in who you talk to. if you get the receptionist.. if shes anything like the receptionists at the stations i've worked at.. she'll forget to write the thing down.

if you talk to a dj & he's in the middle of somethin or pushed for time.. he'll forget.

if you call & ask for the same thing over & over.. they wont play it on purpose because you annoyed them.

yeah, djs are annoying.. offensive.. blahblah.. but if you offend them, you wont get what you want at all.. and they will laugh at you.


Sarah