I wrote a post about this in the Chart thread. I don't know how to post the whole post here. I copied most of the text here instead.
Here’s the reasons I think sales are low:
- supply is TOO low, demand is high
Some fans have to wait through October for a product they pre-ordered September and earlier. Walmart, HMV and others sold out of the product before the first week of release even ended.
- no need for the 2cd set & too few demos/unreleased material
The executors knew fans wanted the concert dvd more than anything so why even have the 2 cd set? The set is technically the special edition with 6 demos that are now on YT where fans who haven’t even received their orders and/or only brought the dvd (and will rip the audio from the dvd probably) are listening to them for free.
How many Bad 25 owners who brought the cd/dvd combos have even listened to the original cd before watching the dvd or listening to the demos? Bad was supposed to have 30+ tracks in 1987. Where are all of those songs?
- the concert dvd was the prize and was packaged wrong
Michael didn’t have a live solo cd all this time so many of his fans were not trained to even want one or expect one. Why not sell the dvd with the live cd ONLY so that the success of the live cd was ensured? If someone finds out the number of dvds sold and if the live cd sold AS MUCH, Michael would be # 1 now and not the Pink person.
- all collector’s edition items can be brought separately online
It’s a smack in the face to fans who spent so much to buy this. It should of came out during the holidays with the Spike Lee documentary included for the same price it’s at now.
-promotions were not good
Most were on the Internet. The Pepsi commercial was very short with no clear product information. Walmart and Target ads switched between the cd and the dvd which was confusing for a non-fan who doesn’t know all of the package choices. Also, not advertised in international markets that don’t have Pepsi (but have Coke) and don’t have Walmart and such.
Vogel’s articles were very good but, only fans were interested and they were only on the Internet. Spike Lee’s documentary is the best ad for Bad and won’t be seen in its entirety until February 2013! Why did this not have a theatrical release like TII? Airing on television during holidays will only give a boost if fans buy for non-fan family and friends. When fans buy the documentary dvd next year, will they buy the Bad cd again? No!
THE TRUE PROBLEM WAS PACKAGING!!!
Why not pair the documentary with the original cd and demos as one product and the live dvd with its cd as another???
To sell someone something they already have, one must repackage correctly. If the live cd was packaged with the dvd, MJ would be number one NOW and not just on the catalogue chart. Sony and the executors are responsible for packaging and did not do it correctly.
I would love to know how many dvd units were sold.
We never knew how far off we were from reaching 1,000,000 units of Bad25 sold so we can see a clip of the Bad doc from the estate. No transparency.
I guess it is a moot point now. I've enjoyed my Bad25 products and I will wait for the documentary DVD next year.