Forbes: Madonna's New Album Is Already A Commercial Flop

[daviddarko 144]

 MADONNA'S NEW ALBUM IS ALREADY A COMMERCIAL FLOP

How well an album does during its first week charts and numbers-wise is important, but what really makes for a successful album campaign is continued sales and longevity, typically fueled by big singles. Even though it’s only been available (legally) for a handful of weeks, Madonna’s latest studio effort Rebel Heart seems to be missing both of those. After several decades and thirteen albums, it’s looking like Madonna may finally have a true flop on her hands.

Last week, fans and plenty in the industry were shocked to learn thatRebel Heart had debuted at number two, becoming Madonna’s first album in close to twenty years not to make it to number one. The last time the singer released an album that didn’t make it to the top slot was back in 1998 when Ray of Light also came in second. Eight of her thirteen studio albums have made it to number one, and she has eight additional top ten titles to her credit when taking into account compilations, live recordings, and soundtracks.

While coming in second with a brand new collection certainly isn’t great for an artist as massively popular as Madonna, her second week sales figures are where the album’s fate is truly seen. Rebel Heart dropped from the runner up slot to number twenty one in just a single sales frame. 

That fall represents a massive decline in sales, from 116,000 copies to just 24,000 copies moved, and those numbers aren’t likely to rebound. Here’s how those figures compare to her previous two records: 

Album Title – First Week Sales / Second Week Sales (provided by Nielsen)
Rebel Heart – 116,000 / 24,000
MDNA – 359,000 (though 180,000 traditional sales) / 48,000
Hard Candy – 280,000 / 94,000

What is really killing the promotion is a lack of a hit.

Rebel Heart is the first album of Madonna’s career not to have a top 40 hit. Holding onto her place on radio and the Hot 100 is something which she has struggled with in the past ten years or so. Her last three records have only released one hit single each, and so far lead cut “Living For Love” hasn’t impacted radio almost anywhere in the US and has missed the Hot 100 entirely. 

In fact, Madonna hasn’t seen the inside of the top 40 on the Hot 100 since the week of March 3rd, 2012, when her single “Give Me All Your Luvin’” was on its last legs. The track was the lead single for her MDNA album, and spent one week in the top ten and then dropped immediately to number 39. Madonna’s appearance at the Super Bowl—the biggest public stage on the planet—was likely responsible for sending the track to the top tier, after which it dropped back down the charts.

Her steady decline over the past decade is what many artists have seen thanks to streaming and pirating, but such an incredible drop is indicative of other problems. Is Rebel Heart going to be able to mount a comeback? Time will tell, but it’s not looking great for Madge.

FORBES: http://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2015/03/30/madonnas-new-album-is-already-a-failure/

[AgusPop 4,141]

The decay

[Cody Draco 2,531]

They used the word "flop". ARTPOP's impact.

The tag should be Bling News not Music News by the way.

[Ladey Gagz 2,512]

 Why am I not surprised you'd post this :rip:

You can hate on her on your own free time we don't need this negativity ty 

[Diamond Heart 4,400]

Was this not already posted ages ago ? seems really familiar 

[OBEY 57,109]

her album is a flop, so what?

not even a madonna fan, but she's already a legend and proved herself

keep on hating, haters, she doesn't even care

 

[Alii 2,039]

Still The Queen. The Quee-ee--en.

She really should stop before it hurts her legacy more.  

[gagzus 16,011]

irony 

[lego 44,165]

Could you make the font any bigger?  

[Swan Heart 7,382]

Too bad because I actually enjoyed most of it..

Oh well..

[Enhsa 2,043]

We already Know that hah

[bionic 50,107]

Well at least she'll reap her money with the tour. 

[Vernier 3,786]

I feel like this has been posted before

Anyways, wonder if she lost Interscope $25m

[HANZ 4,380]

[Dunk96 2,526]

 Why am I not surprised you'd post this :rip:

You can hate on her on your own free time we don't need this negativity ty 

​It'd be different if it were an article from PerezHilton.com. This is from Forbes,which is an extremely reliable source.