via Showbiz 411
Beyonce is pregnant! Jay Z is cheating! Beyonce is cheating! Solange, Beyonce’s sister, is fighting with Jay! The headlines are all over the internet and splashed on the supermarket rag racks.
Is any of it true? No, none of it. Here’s what is true: tickets are selling slow as molasses for the Jay Z-Beyonce “On the Run” tour of stadiums that’s set to start in 10 days.
Right now, there are over 11,000 tickets in motion on StubHub for the couple’s July 11th show at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands. Several more thousand are available for the second show, on July 12th.
Even on Ticketmaster.com’s own system, a quick check shows a very bald stadium, with lots of tickets for sale and official resale. Right now, getting to see the first couple of modern R&B is pretty simple. And relatively inexpensive.
All told, Beyonce and Jay Z are going to play 17 stadium dates in the US and two in Canada beginning June 25 in Miami. But right now, tickets are available in every city and at every price.
What’s happening? Over saturation. Jay Z played a year long tour with Justin Timberlake, for an album– “Magna Carta Holy Grail”– that was given away for free by Samsung. Beyonce already toured. She just finished the worldwide “Mrs. Carter” tour in March 2014. It took in over $229 million.
Even with her “Visual” album scoring a big first month last December, Beyonce just hasn’t had a breakout single like “Single Ladies” or “Crazy in Love.” The album is off the top 200 for a while now. Jay Z’s is long gone.
Maybe this would have worked at smaller venues.
And the gossip? With no denials, but lots of “unnamed sources,” my guess it’s mostly made up to keep some interest in the couple while they’re on tour. Just wait for some “staged” episodes to lure in passive ticketholders.
Meantime, surprise, guess who’s doing well? Lady Gaga. Her tour has sold very well, and the number of available seats going into each show is fairly normal. Maybe that’s because her audience has been pining for her since illness took Gaga off the road a year ago.
Absence does make the heart grow fonder !
Diana Salangina who was born in a small city in Russia will release her new single in the US this summer titled Nothing Like Me. The track was written by Sam Salter who has written for artists such as Omarion, Tabu from The Black Eyed Peas, and Destiny’s Child. She recently signed a deal with Andrew Lane (who’s worked with Lisa Left Eye Lopes, High School Musical, Keith Sweat, Backstreet Boys, Becky G, and many more)
Contact: andrewlanester@gmail.com
This week the industry will see three big releases from Lana Del Rey, Sam Smith, and Linkin Park. This is a monumental week because all three artists are expected to sell over 100k which is rare.
As of now, Lana Del Rey is on the top of the heap with expected sales to reach 175k. Lana Del Rey is at the peak of her career and has definitely captured the public’s curiosity. Her “sad melancholic sexual songs” along with her carefully crafted Instagram videos have done well for her.
Smith could move over 150,000 with his debut album or higher. His single “Stay With Me,” has sold 697,000 downloads so far, and moved 167,000 in the week ending June 8th.
Linkin Park’s stands at 100,000 to 125,000. This band is one of the few rock acts that can still burn up the charts with a new record.
via Showbiz 411
Mariah Carey has proven to be the most elusive chanteuse. Her latest album, “Me I Am Mariah, The Elusive Chanteuse” has crashed and burned. Fast. Despite great reviews, “Me I am Mariah” is now number 157 on iTunes and 75 amazon.com. It was released on May 27th, just two and a half weeks ago. Saleswise, the album has sold a paltry 75,000 copies through this past Sunday and probably not too many more after that.
The failure of “Me I Am Mariah” should be a lesson for everyone in her age group and generation still recording and releasing music. Jennifer Lopez should be watching all of this very carefully. Carey took off five years after her last album, and even that CD was not a smash hit. Carey’s last real hit album was “The Emancipation of Mimi” in 2005.
But “Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel” (2009) had no hit singles and was already signalling that Carey had aged out of the hit pop radio market. “Memoirs” sold only 550,000 copies, a far cry from its predecessors.
Now Carey faces a total write off of “Me I Am” unless DefJam can figure out a way to resuscitate it. But even electric shock paddles may not be enough. Mariah needs to drop the Diva act (including campy stuff like being photographed on the subway in a tight fitting ball gown). Her best bet is a knock out, heart string pulling video for the George Michael gospel song “One More Try,” or something witty and self-parodying for the upbeat “Thirsty.”