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BAD25 | Charts & Sales History

I don't know what happened. Selling less than 20k seems pretty unbelievable.

I think the early sales estimates could have been just way too optimistic - after all, the first estimate of 150k was a label estimate, not HDD's prediction, and label estimates are sometimes wildly over-optimistic. Maybe selling more than 100k was never realistic because of the high price. I don't think the price is bad at all considering you get 3cds and a dvd, but the price might be just too much for non-fans. Even the 2cd edition is more expensive than a regular cd, and it only has a few demos, which probably don't interest non-fans.

But even if it's only fans who are interested in this release, surely Michael has more than 20k fans in the US? IIRC Immortal sold 42k in its first week, and I think fans are much more excited about this release than Immortal. Do the distribution problems affect the sales that much? Is there just some mistake with HDD's prediction? Their predictions are usually pretty reliable, but this just seems very strange.

I don't know, I'm just really confused, frustrated and disappointed right now. I guess we'll have to just wait for the official charts next week, but in any case, I don't think we should expect great first week sales. Let's just hope it'll sell decently in the long run. Maybe airing the documentary will help. And actually, I'd love to see the original Bad's sales increase when people see the documentary. Maybe Bad25 is more intended towards fans than the general public, but I'd be happy if people bought the original album too.
 
I agree. It's one thing if it won't sell 150k and it won't debut in the Top 3. Big deal. I never expected this to compete for Nr 1, anyway. But less than 20k? That's ridiculous when even Immortal sold more than twice of this in its first week. Something must have gone fundamentally wrong with the distribution for this to happen if it's not a mistake by HDD.
 
respect77 said:
I'm gonna wait for the final list because this seems very irrealistic to me. If it's true that the sales of Bad 25 are so poor in the US then I'm pretty much shocked and saddened. This is a way better release than Thriller 25 was and that was a big success, selling some 200k+ in its first week. It cannot even be said that Thriller 25 sold so well because of the post-death MJ hype because it was released before, in 2008.

Even if Bad does not have the same appeal as Thriller for many (especially in the US), regardless of what the actual material contains (which is way better in the case of Bad25 IMO), but this would be ridiculous. Is it the high price or what? Would it have done better if Sony just released the album+remixes like they did with Thriller, but on a cheaper price? Maybe that would have sold better with the general public? But it would have been a lot worse release for fans (to me the crown jewels are the concert CD+DVD).

I hope this is just some misinformation. :-/
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But the buyer has been given so many options. If the Deluxe 3CD/DVD is expensive, there's the standalone CD and DVD, which are priced in the $12-$13 range. So I don't think price is a reason, if sales are poor. I just can't understand what it is. It was said that some Walmarts were sold out of their Exclusive versions - so the demand seems to be there. I just wish Spike Lee's docu was aired ahead of the release at least in the major markets - US, UK, Japan, etc.

It's all confusing at the moment, but I'm hoping for the best. If this project doesn't generate the desired sales I'm afraid to think how it will impact future projects...
 
Rhilo said:
But the buyer has been given so many options. If the Deluxe 3CD/DVD is expensive, there's the standalone CD and DVD, which are priced in the $12-$13 range. So I don't think price is a reason, if sales are poor. I just can't understand what it is. It was said that some Walmarts were sold out of their Exclusive versions - so the demand seems to be there. I just wish Spike Lee's docu was aired ahead of the release at least in the major markets - US, UK, Japan, etc.

It's all confusing at the moment, but I'm hoping for the best. If this project doesn't generate the desired sales I'm afraid to think how it will impact future projects...
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Yes, but I don't think the standalone DVD counts in the sales of the album. DVDs don't. So if most people opt for buying the DVD, that won't help the album on the charts.

Yes, my worry too is how this might affect future projects. Oh well, maybe the collectors label is the way to go then.
 
"Dangerous 25", "HIStory 25"... well, it all depends on how successful "Bad 25" will be.
 
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Bad (Remix featuring Pitbull)

US
Billboard Hot Dance Club Play
#42

Billboard Dance/Electronic Digital Songs
#45

Japan
Hot 100
52 - 60 - 31

Hot 100 Airplay
31 - 43 - 22

Adult Contemporary Airplay
16 - 14 - 7

Austria
#45 - OUT
 
Hmm, is this finally the end of MJ's commercial viability in the USA? That's what wholesalers and retailers will be thinking if the sales don't pick up soon. It's really disappointing. Maybe it's too soon after MJ's death to be releasing products like this. After all, it was only 3 years ago that sales of the greatest hits packages (which probably contain most of the BAD album songs) were selling in big numbers in the USA and all around the world.

I'm pleasantly surprised that BAD25 has maintained it's #6 position in the UK album midweek chart so far. Not a bad result if it stays there. Will be interesting to see how it does with Friday and Saturday sales added. Top 5 would have been brilliant, but Top10 is not too bad given that (as far I have seen) there has been ZERO promotion and some distribution problems at the beginning of the week.
Paul Simon's recent 25th anniversary release of 'Graceland' managed to achieve #4 in the UK album chart when it was released, but the Graceland documentary was shown on TV (on BBC during the week of release I think), which was good promotion. Pity the BAD25 documentary won't be shown any time soon.
 
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Does the pitbull remix get airplay on radio? Even if the song catches on with non-fans they are unlikely to plunk 12 bucks on the physical CD if their interest is only that song...
 
The remix brings sales becuase it peaks interest in MJ's songs. they heard speed demon and BAd and many will want to buy MJ's originals and live songs also becuase of it... They think he's BAD

Remember it a re-release so it is doing very well. its only been released a few days. plus each sale goes toward total sales of original BAd Album too. Exept for the DVD.How is it doing on iTunes ?
 
Maybe that chart isn't looking at a certain kind of sale?

IJCSL sold 5,000 copies in physical format... there can't just be another 15,000 thousand MJ fans who've bought Bad25. Immortal sold 40k and didn't have much promo.

I have faith it'll be fine...
 
^You make a very good point. With the level of anticipation surrounding this project, I can't believe there aren't 20k fans wanting to own immediately after release.

Is that prediction for the US market only or worldwide?
 
Rhilo said:
^You make a very good point. With the level of anticipation surrounding this project, I can't believe there aren't 20k fans wanting to own immediately after release.

Is that prediction for the US market only or worldwide?
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It's for US sales only.
 
... I am really disappointed... how low the album sales can be for BAD25...., BAD25!!!

The era, the tour, the worldwide Michaelmania (far bigger than the so.called beatlesmania)... and people ignore it....?
But people have been buying Number Ones like mad....

But where there is no promo there is no sales....
 
I was checking for the Canadian charts and Bad 25 isn't there. Ugh! Typical charts. Just typical.
 
PoP said:
I was checking for the Canadian charts and Bad 25 isn't there. Ugh! Typical charts. Just typical.
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Strange, because it was doing so well on Canadian Amazon (it was even #2 for a while).
 
PoP said:
I was checking for the Canadian charts and Bad 25 isn't there. Ugh! Typical charts. Just typical.
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I think it isn`t in charts of this week. Sales startet in Canada on Monday and will be count until Sunday. Right??
 
I don't think the Canadian chart for this week has been published yet. I could be wrong, but the Canadian album chart I found looks like the chart from the previous week, so Bad isn't even supposed to be on it.
 
PoP said:
I was checking for the Canadian charts and Bad 25 isn't there. Ugh! Typical charts. Just typical.
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It won't show up until next week's chart. The album was release on Tuesday, Sept 18th. merely 4 days ago.
 
respect77 said:
It's difficult to believe that Bad 25 sold less than 20k in the US. I know that the US is not famous for being particularly fond of MJ, but even Immortal sold some 40k in its first week. Unless the distribution is totally messed up there as well and Bad25 cannot be found in stores etc.
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I am positive BAD 25 sold a lot more than 20K in the US alone. Is there a rule against Box Set appearing on the BB 200?

There is NO WAY in hell MJ didn't sell 20K.

But where there is no promo there is no sales....
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That is a lie. There was plenty of promotion. Especially in the US.

2-hour Primetime TV show
Mention on a premiere daytime talk show Katie Couric
LA Times full page ad
Commercial on TV3 nights in a row.
Walmart commercial
Target commercial
Ads INSIDE Target stores since late August
Lots of media coverage & mention starting months ago. Then with Spike Lee's movie premiere.


Easy to blame "lack" of promotion..but the fact are very different.

A top 10 (preferably a top 5) entry on the BB would be great. Thriller 25 didn't have that much competition..and certainly it didn't come on the heels a sale surge following MJ's death.
 
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Well, some promotional plans are really not crafty.

The BAD 25 documentary has a HUGE potential. HOWEVER it did take too long to finish it and it will NOT be shown UNTIL MONTHS AFTER the release. Showing it at a film festival is not what gets the casual consumers buy a record or become aware of it. The news reports about it are mainly targeting the fan base as the general public CANNOT even see this documentary.
Actually the FIRST PUBLIC(!) screening of it will be on German TV channel VOX on 20th October 2012 - 5 weeks too late.
Of course the documentary will get some more sales, but seriously, it HAS TO BE SYNCHRONIZED WITH THE RELEASE to really boost sales. An album that charts high is always getting free promotion, this effect is much better than doing post-release events.

Also the Afrojack and Nero remixes just don't support the current re-issue's concept with GREAT DEMOS and "NEW" songs for the general public plus a live concert from a historic concert. "Price Of Fame" and "Al Capone" do NOT sound terribly outdated, instead they sound fresh and have thrilling beats and chorus structures, things that get people's attention. These two songs COULD get massive airplay BUT they have not been commissioned as airplay singles IN TIME WITH THE RELEASE.

You can clearly see they do NOT know how to properly handle the possibilities they have. They are NOT convinced in the remixes, they have dropped the idea to try recreating Michael's business ideas with THRILLER 25. They have nearly dropped the idea of remixes this time, yet they don't know what else they could use for promotion, so at the last minute they reached out to Nero and also brought in Pitbull to rap on another version of Afrojack's remix and that's become the "lead" single of the re-issued album (after the first one was targeted for collectors only).
 
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Korgnex said:
Well, some promotional plans are really not crafty.

The BAD 25 documentary has a HUGE potential. HOWEVER it did take too long to finish it and it will NOT be shown UNTIL MONTHS AFTER the release. Showing it at a film festival is not what gets the casual consumers buy a record or become aware of it. The news reports about it are mainly targeting the fan base as the general public CANNOT even see this documentary.
Actually the FIRST PUBLIC(!) screening of it will be on German TV channel VOX on 20th October 2012 - 5 weeks too late.
Of course the documentary will get some more sales, but seriously, it HAS TO BE SYNCHRONIZED WITH THE RELEASE to really boost sales. An album that charts high is always getting free promotion, this effect is much better than doing post-release events.

Also the Afrojack and Nero remixes just don't support the current re-issue's concept with GREAT DEMOS and "NEW" songs for the general public plus a live concert from a historic concert. "Price Of Fame" and "Al Capone" do NOT sound terribly outdated, instead they sound fresh and have thrilling beats and chorus structures, things that get people's attention. These two songs COULD get massive airplay BUT they have not been commissioned as airplay singles IN TIME WITH THE RELEASE.

You can clearly see they do NOT know how to properly handle the possibilities they have. They are NOT convinced in the remixes, they have dropped the idea to try recreating Michael's business ideas with THRILLER 25. They have nearly dropped the idea of remixes this time, yet they don't know what else they could use for promotion, so at the last minute they reached out to Nero and also brought in Pitbull to rap on another version of Afrojack's remix and that's become the "lead" single of the re-issued album (after the first one was targeted for collectors only).
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you are assuming they wanted front loaded sale...and a quick death.

Thanksgiving & Xmas are the busiest period of the year for record sale. The documentary airing on November 22nd is perfect timing for holiday sale. I am guessing their strategy is to have a decent launch and MAINTAIN consistent sale until, a second launch around Thanksgiving/Spike Lee's Doc.

They have to find a way to keep the album in the news...releasing a single like "I'm so blue" or "Price of Fame" could help. it won't go to #1, but it will keep interest until the Holidays.

Target's exclusive was sold out at our store and we were told they wouldn't be receiving new stock until End of October (which would be consistent with a Thanksgiving sale pick up)
 
We'll see if the album will have consistent sales by then. I am not optimistic right now.
 
Korgnex said:
We'll see if the album will have consistent sales by then. I am not optimistic right now.
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Would Bad25 appear in the regular charts, considering it is a catalogue release? I remember Thriller 25 being kept from the real charts, because it was catalogue, even though it would have charted at like number 1 on the Billboard 200 if it had been eligible.

So maybe HDD is not even counting Bad25 in its predictions for next week's main chart.
 
kreen said:
Would Bad25 appear in the regular charts, considering it is a catalogue release? I remember Thriller 25 being kept from the real charts, because it was catalogue, even though it would have charted at like number 1 on the Billboard 200 if it had been eligible.

So maybe HDD is not even counting Bad25 in its predictions for next week's main chart.
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You're right about Thriller25 not being able to chart on the regular album chart, but since then Billboard has changed their rules and now catalogue albums can enter the regular chart too.
 
Yes when t25 could have charted, it wasn't allowed. The same for mj's hits albums when he died. Billboard would not change the rules. However, just before the Beatles issued their catalogue on iTunes the rules suddenly changed. Coincidence?
 
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Memefan said:
you are assuming they wanted front loaded sale...and a quick death.

Thanksgiving & Xmas are the busiest period of the year for record sale. The documentary airing on November 22nd is perfect timing for holiday sale. I am guessing their strategy is to have a decent launch and MAINTAIN consistent sale until, a second launch around Thanksgiving/Spike Lee's Doc.

They have to find a way to keep the album in the news...releasing a single like "I'm so blue" or "Price of Fame" could help. it won't go to #1, but it will keep interest until the Holidays.

Target's exclusive was sold out at our store and we were told they wouldn't be receiving new stock until End of October (which would be consistent with a Thanksgiving sale pick up)
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BAD won't be charting at thanksgiving. People will have forgotten it. It won't have longevity. I personally don't think this mess is a plan by the estate. It's cock up. They didn't get the documentary to the networks early enough for them to show it in time for the release schedule. Simple. That's also why it's being shown too late in other countries. If the estate wanted to capitalise on thanksgiving like you suggest, they would have released the album then. They didn't.
 
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