Madonna‘s “MDNA” album had the biggest second week drop in chart history last week according to Forbes.
“Wow. The first week’s sales, as I revealed exclusively (and then the New York Post lifted it from us), most of Madonna’s first week sales were CDs that were included in the sale of concert tickets. That promotion artificially inflated Madonna’s numbers, putting her first before Lionel Richie and his “Tuskegee” album. In the second week, Richie fell only 47% and sold about 110,000 albums–which is normal. “Tuskegee” will now finish much higher than “MDNA.” I do think that all the people involved in the Madonna ticket-CD deal should apologize to Richie for denying him his rightful place at number 1, starting with Billboard and SoundScan. But Richie’s consolation is that he has a major hit, while “MDNA” is a total dud. So far, “MDNA” has not produced anything like a hit single either, no radio play or anything to provide organic promotion. But Madonna’s concert tour with Live Nation will be a big hit, so it’s not like we have to worry about her financial situation.”
Buzz Track: Cannibal
Fight The Machine just released their debut EP titled ‘The Assayer’ which they self released on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify. The EP was produced by Gus Cryns (Escape The Fate, Foxy Shazam, Hedley, Panic! At The Disco) and the video for Cannibal received 20,000 views in the first week. The band will perform at the Viper Room in West Hollywood w/ The Dreaming on May 4th.
Contact: wearefightthemachine@gmail.com
Adele is set to sell another 155k CD’s this week and has no signs of slowing down. Adele recently told a magazine that she never thought her latest CD would have such an impact.
“I was saying, “I don’t think this record is going to do anything. I can’t feel the buzz in America,”‘ she said.
Rob Stringer, CEO of Columbia Records was quite surprised as well.
‘When everybody heard the record, they knew it was special,’ he told the magazine. ‘But not one person could honestly tell you they thought it would sell this many.’
It’s hard to predict the sales of artists today with the changing variables and moving parts.
Buzz Track: Pretty Pretty
Check out the track Pretty Pretty by Lauran Irion which was produced by Matthew Hagar (Duran Duran, Mandy Moore). Lauren is the star of ABC’s show GCB with Kristen Chenoweth, Annie Potts and Leslie Bibb as well as the recurring guest star on Disney’s “I’m In The Band” and ABC Family’s “Melissa And Joey”. She has opened for Lifehouse as well as Ryan Star and a new EP will be released in May.
Contact: Matthew@76steps.com
Update/News: Erin Martin is currently battling it out on NBC’s The Voice. The performance can be seen here.
Buzz Track: Come Together
Erin Martin, a Kings favorite falls between Amy Winehouse and Nelly Furtado. Martin has performed at Chicago’s Summerfest and Lollapalooza, opened for De La Soul and “American Idol” finalist Amanda Overymeyer, and was featured on the Roy Davis Jr. track “I Have a Vision,” which reached No. 3 on the UK dance charts.
Contact: roger@kmamanagement.com