U2's ATYCLB slipped one spot to #24 this week, further
suggesting that the term "plummeting down the charts"
is inaccurate. And once again, despite dropping on the
charts, ATYCLB saw one of the biggest sales *increases*
this past week (as noted on Billboard's chart).
I don't know the exact number sold, however, position
#21 sold 118,000 copies and position #26 sold 108,000
copies. Therefore, I estimate that ATYCLB at #24 sold
approximately 113,000 copies - up about 13,000 copies
(13% sales jump) from last week.
Here are U2's U.S. chart positions for ATYLCB:
3-5-12-22-23-24
Sales for those weeks (rounded to nearest thousand):
The last two values are solid estimates based on chart
and sales data from various web sites.
Total U.S. sales after 6 weeks: 1,061,000
U2's ATYCLB is now definitely a Platinum selling album
to *consumers* and most likely getting close (if not already
surpassing) double Platinum in stores (which the RIAA
certifies).
Estimated sales for "POP" during the same time frame
is 798,000 copies, meaning ATYCLB is selling about
33% faster than "POP" (again, based on estimated sales
data for each week for the two albums).
Congratulations U2 for a Platinum selling album in the U.S.!
This week's charts are once again misleading. Many
albums, like Madonna's "Music" saw increases in sales,
yet drops on the chart. Last week, "Music" actually
slipped a bit in sales but rose in the charts! Therefore,
please do not over-interpret any chart news. This is
why I try to stress sales a bit more.
For comparison, Jay-Z dropped from #24 to #33 on the charts,
meaning that even though Jay-Z started out stronger than
U2, U2 is now clearly beating him in sales and on the charts.
Ricky Martin has slipped to #22, Outkast is down to #13
and, as many of you probably know, The Beatles have regained
the #1 spot from the Backstreet Boys.
In even better news, "Beautiful Day" has sky-rocketed to #28
on the Hot 100 charts - this, even though there is no official
U.S. CD single for this song! For comparison, "Staring at the
Sun", which did have a U.S. CD single release, only hit #26.
"Beautiful Day" is now a bigger hit than many other U2
songs with U.S. CD (or 45 rpm record) singles, including
"In God's Country", "Even Better Than the Real Thing",
"Who's Gonna Ride...", "The Fly", "Stay", "All I Want...",
"When Love Comes..." and "Last Night on Earth".
"Beautiful Day" is also marked as having a huge increase in
air play suggesting that it might not have reached its peak
on the charts just yet. Congratulations U2 for another
top 40 hit!
"Beautiful Day" slips to #16 on the Modern Rock charts
suggesting that this song's success is due to cross-over
appeal - that is, it has transitioned from the Modern
Rock stations to Adult and Top 40 stations. This is
indeed true as on the Adult Top 40 chart, "Beautiful Day"
has reached #8, its highest position, and again is marked
as having a huge increase in air play (suggesting further
increases are possible). Another reason why "Beautiful Day" has shot
up on the Hot 100 charts, despite dropping on
the Modern Rock Charts, is not just the Adult
Top 40 success (currently #8) but the fact
that it's now #19 on Billboard's "Hot
Dance Music/Club Play" charts. Go U2!
As I hoped, U2 have appeared to sell 100,000+ copies
throughout the holiday season. This feat, not an easy
one by the way (see Madonna and Jay-Z), will help
keep their album going strong in the new year - perfect
timing for the release of a second single and the start
of the tour.