Flop?

[APerfectLie]

Originally Posted by louielouie2000

Age has everything to do with it. As Stevie lectured us in the Destiny Rules Documentary, the people who buy albums these days are from the ages of 10-30. People that age are buying the albums by the young, hot artists who are getting top 40 radio play, whose songs are showing up in their favorite tv shows, etc. Stevie's in her 60s now, so she just isn't a force in that demographic anymore.

Keep in mind, Cher was the oldest woman to ever have a #1 hit... and Stevie's now a full decade older than Cher was when she had that #1 song. So me saying Stevie's age is a factor isn't a dig at her one iota, it's just a cold hard fact that the woman herself is well aware of.

Age sure didn't keep Susan Boyle from selling 701,000 her first week in 2009...

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by APerfectLie

LOL WUT? Yeah, if you multiply IYD's sales by 10 it is doing amazing! Why would you cut TISL's sales in half AND double IYD's sales? You either cut TISL's sales in half OR double IYD, but doing both is pointless since you are then bringing TISL's sales up ten years and taking IYD's sales back ten years and comparing them. Record sales have fallen at 8% a year over the past ten years, meaning IYD should sell 43.44% of TISL. 43.44%*500,000=217,200 which leaves Stevie almost 100,000 short of where she should be.

Agreed. Compared to TISL 2 months after its release sales wise, to where IYD is right now, Stevie would've had to sell over 200K copies to be equivalent. But that's only one simple black & white metric, and hardly a fair equivalency comparison overall for an artist who is not only 10 years older (not to mention also now eligible for AARP), but also 10 years absent from a marketplace that has changed unprecedentedly.

Considering all the variables, Stevie is doing pretty damn good! IYD is far from being a flop. Stevie's only outright flop out of the gate was "Street Angel". That's a pretty good bating record for a 4+ decade career. No doubt, Stevie's led a charmed life during the majority of her recording & touring career.

[Artemis]

I think Susan Boyle is the exception that proves the rule. She wouldn't have gotten anywhere without becoming viral after her BGT audition.

The end of the year sales for Stevie should be interesting, if you compare her to others like Heart or even Sheryl Crow, she's doing fantastically well. I think she'll have sold about 250k this time next year, not very good by TISL standards, but certainly not a flop. Successful enough to carry on doing this, which is fantastic, I would say.

[Christopher]

Originally Posted by APerfectLie

Age sure didn't keep Susan Boyle from selling 701,000 her first week in 2009...

Apples and Oranges. How you'd even compare Stevie to Susan Boyle is beyond me. Besides being in a totally different genre, Susan was a reality star phenomenon & YouTube and headline news viral sensation due to her ugly duck turns swan transformation. You would've had to be living under a rock to not have heard the Susan Boyle story in 09". Rags to riches storyline aside, how Susan Boyle will sustain even over the next 5 years in completely questionable. Susan Boyle was something of a fluke.

[skuncles]

Originally Posted by APerfectLie

LOL WUT? Yeah, if you multiply IYD's sales by 10 it is doing amazing! Why would you cut TISL's sales in half AND double IYD's sales? You either cut TISL's sales in half OR double IYD, but doing both is pointless since you are then bringing TISL's sales up ten years and taking IYD's sales back ten years and comparing them. Record sales have fallen at 8% a year over the past ten years, meaning IYD should sell 43.44% of TISL. 43.44%*500,000=217,200 which leaves Stevie almost 100,000 short of where she should be.

No, no, no, I said to make it equal you'd have to cut TISL's in half OR double IYD's sales (this is to account for the overall decline of album sales across the board). I didn't say do both. TISL has sold a total of 600,000 some odd copies SINCE 2001. So take your 44% of that TOTAL and to see if IYD is comparable. Keep in mind TISL took a decade to SELL that many (not ship). Shipped copies can sit around in stores for a long time.
All I'm saying is IYD is on track to sell about the same as TISL.

[Morgana]

I wouldn't call IYD a flop considering all the variables involved. In thinking about your question I thought back to Stevie's first album 30 yrs ago and then the rest of FM members solo careers.

The question is: So.......why was Stevie the only member to achieve such great success?

I think the question should be: Successful?

[APerfectLie]

Originally Posted by skuncles

No, no, no, I said to make it equal you'd have to cut TISL's in half OR double IYD's sales (this is to account for the overall decline of album sales across the board). I didn't say do both. TISL has sold a total of 600,000 some odd copies SINCE 2001. So take your 44% of that TOTAL and to see if IYD is comparable. Keep in mind TISL took a decade to SELL that many (not ship). Shipped copies can sit around in stores for a long time.
All I'm saying is IYD is on track to sell about the same as TISL.

No, you said "IYD is at about 121,000 sold so far. All things being equal and taking into account today's sales rate, if you cut TISL's sales in half for this point you get about 250,000 (shipped), if you double ITD's sale to date you get 242,000. It's right on par." 121,000 is not on par with 250,000 and 242,000 sure isn't on par with 500,000.

Originally Posted by Christopher

Apples and Oranges. How you'd even compare Stevie to Susan Boyle is beyond me. Besides being in a totally different genre, Susan was a reality star phenomenon & YouTube and headline news viral sensation due to her ugly duck turns swan transformation. You would've had to be living under a rock to not have heard the Susan Boyle story in 09". Rags to riches storyline aside, how Susan Boyle will sustain even over the next 5 years in completely questionable. Susan Boyle was something of a fluke.

I wasn't making a comparison, I was simply pointing out that a woman over 40 can sell albums. Everyone uses Stevie's age as a huge reason she isn't topping the charts. Sure it plays a factor, but it isn't inconceivable for someone over 40 to sell an album. I'm not saying her album was a flop, because it sure wasn't. What I am saying is all everyone is saying here is "well when you consider her AGE" or "given her absence" or "nobody sells records these days" so SHE IS DOING GREAT, is bogus and are completely opinionated thoughts without any factual basis. Looking at the numbers, IYD is not as much of a commercial success as one would expect. We can make all the excuses we want to tell ourselves Mama is still a hot selling bitch, but on paper it doesn't matter. I definitely think IYD could have sold more. It sure has the opportunity to turn around in the next few months, but it doesn't change my love for Stevie either way. I just simply refuse to let the chiffon get to my head and convince myself IYD is a commercial masterpiece.

[Jondalar]

Originally Posted by michelej1

It was hard to choose either of the last two categories, because the reason I feel it's NOT a flop is not because I think it has sold well or because it will sell more. I think it's not a flop because it's been generally well received.

It's not an embarassment to the artist, the critics, and certainly not to Stevie fans. Stevie has done a lot of publicity for it and the jubilant kind -- not the "I can't wait until this press cycle is over" kind. No one has run away from the album in shame, as if they want to be absolved of responsibility for it. Dave, Stevie, everyone is as proud now as they were before it came out. Fans feel that they are taking away at least two or three classic songs from it that are as good as anything in Stevie's repertoire.

I don't know . . . regardless of sales, it's hard to consider this album a flop on any level.

Michele

I sorta agree with this post. This album is not Street Angel—it's good. It's a quality album and one of her best ever. It came out at a strange time in her career for the general public but came out at a great time for her real fans. It's a good album. She did the best she could with this and critics even like it. Somehow I think it will find its way into people's home.

[jellyman10]

I think it's her best solo work. She took risks on this one, and it paid off. I love the emotion, both joyous and melancholic, that's on display. The palette is interesting. The music is vibrant. And her voice really does carry all the weight of the life she has lived.

Dave deserves a lot of credit for the album's musical infrastructure, I'm sure, but I'm also sure that he isn't the first person to try and get Stevie to step outside of her comfort zone. The fact that she allowed herself to go there, at this point in her career, is noteworthy.

I can't bring myself to get excited or depressed or even interested in the sales figures. I know they matter somehow, in some way, but I really do think that the way that LB is releasing his album might be really good for Stevie too, as a future model if the traditional labels won't touch her again.

It seems obvious to me that all the signs point to Stevie (and Lindsey's) career coming full circle: they started out making music sort of in a vacuum, where nobody cared whether they did it or not.They just had to follow their own muses, and make what was in their hearts. I don't think they'll ever fall quite to the level where no one cares, but it will end up being all about the music again.

Loz

[STEVEHEDRICK]

I think she has exposed herself alot with this release, but cd's just don't sell anymore? too easy to steal off the internet!

[jwd]

None of the above. It's a fantastic new album from Stevie. Sales are irrelevant. It's all about artistic accomplishment. STEVIE NICKS IS INTERESTED IN MAKING NEW MUSIC AGAIN!

[AliceLover]

NOBODY from the ages 10-30 buys music. I didn't even buy In Your Dreams yet, my mother bought a copy, but I ripped her copy onto my computer. No one has money to buy anything these days.

The era we live in has EVERYTHING to do with why IYD isn't selling right now. Internet piracy was no where near what it was in 2001 than what it is now. People were still buying music then.

[jrpjr]

no way is it a flop...overall the reviews are great...her fans are loving it.....its just not high up on charts due to volume...the world is a different place than it was 25-30 years ago...stevie made this album for her fans...herself...its a great piece of work..i love it...mostof us on here love it..i would say NO WAY is it a flop

[Bryan]

Originally Posted by jellyman10

I can't bring myself to get excited or depressed or even interested in the sales figures. I know they matter somehow, in some way, but I really do think that the way that LB is releasing his album might be really good for Stevie too, as a future model if the traditional labels won't touch her again.

Loz

Yes! I'm shocked she's still doing things the same way. Just about every artist I love has ditched (or been ditched) by their labels due to interference/and or grievances with the people there. They set up their own labels,do things smaller but still meet the fans needs to a certain point.
Of course it's much more difficult to get things done and get out on the road beyond their home country but it's so worth it when it does happen.There are too many people in the Nicks camp for it to ever be scaled down though,sadly..she'll probably continue on the same path ,depending on what's in her contract though.I'd rather she got out of it.

[Bryan]

Really good points from everyone! & great discussion.
Good to still see that everyone gets their two cents in on here..there was a time on the Ledge however many years ago where there would be a few overbearing characters ,scaring some of us off So glad it's much more inclusive and civilised