[Sahn]

For once and for all:

Madonna has the no. 1 album on this week's Billboard 200. She sold 359,000 copies of MDNA compared to Lionel Richie's Tuskegee, which opens with a really impressive 199k first week. But many of Madonna's sales came through a bundle option, in which fans who purchased tickets for her upcoming tour received a code that could be redeemed for either a physical CD or a digital download of the album.

There are plenty of people crying foul on both fronts. Those people should probably calm down. Both examples offer a glimpse into the complicated, largely experimental and ever-changing world of marketing, distributing and monetizing new releases in today's marketplace.

Of Madonna's 359,000 sold, trusted sources tell Billboard that somewhere in the area of 185,000 came from the bundle/redemption code. Sacre bleu, you say, doing math: 359 - 180 = 179. Mr. Richie's 199,000 is the true king-making total this week!

But that's completely ridiculous. With all respect deserved and paid to the beloved songs of Mr. Richie, think about two important points. One: Madonna fans who redeemed that code are not receiving the album for free. The price of Madonna's album was bundled into the ticket purchase. I can understand why there's confusion about this. Even the CEO of Ticketmaster tweeted that fans buying tickets got "a free copy of MDNA." (The March 30 tweet has since been taken down). Such is the less-than-fully-transparent nature of bundling.

But let's take a hypothetical for a second: the cost of MDNA wasn't bundled into the ticket price, or that Billboard doesn't count those sales. All 185,000 fans who used the Madonna redemption code were the first in line to buy tickets to her tour. These are her top fans, each of whom were eager to shell out anywhere from $50 to more than $350 for a seat. If no bundle existed, do you really think a large portion of these fans wouldn't have purchased the album? We'll never know for certain, of course. But I think it's a more than safe bet that Madonna has the no. 1 album in the U.S. under any circumstance - joining her deserved no. 1 debuts in at least 17 other countries, according to manager Guy Oseary's tweets.

For context, here are her recent albums' first-week sales, per Nielsen SoundScan:

2008 - Hard Candy - 280K
2005 - Confessions on a Dance Floor - 350K
2003 - American Life - 240K
2000 - Music - 420K
1998 - Ray of Light - 371K

So you can see, given that MDNA has a nice buzz and single going, it's pretty much beyond reason to think that suddenly this album would sell substantially less than any recent one Madonna has released.

That said, let's wait and see what the drop-off is next week on sales of MDNA. Second weeks tend to follow a fairly predictable curve. And while it's far from a perfect science, it's one of the best bullsh-- detectors out there for an inflated first week. Billboard's head of charts Silvio Pietroluongo says that an iconic pop star's album will generally drop anywhere from 65 to 80 percent second week. If MDNA drops a lot more than that, it'll be an indication of the degree of first week inflation caused by bundling.

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/indus...06670752.story

[KoreanDream]

And once again the haters have been proven wrong.

[madonnas]

Well I am still happy for her sales even if they're ~cheated~ or whtaever you want to call it. They're legit, and she got them fair and square.

[berberocka]

Let the predictions for the 2nd week sales begin

Here for 100k +

[Cap10Planet]

I mentioned this in other threads, but everyone just cried foul. I do predict a steep fall, but I don't think what she did was foul.

[Jennifer]

I hope her second week is over 75k but I fear like a 80-90% drop.

[Dephira]

Not the ******** with the 65-80% figure when they know that a 80% drop would be utterly unprecedented

Billboard's head of charts Silvio Pietroluongo says that an iconic pop star's album will generally drop anywhere from 65 to 80 percent second week

And not them straight up lying out of their asses

So you can see, given that MDNA has a nice buzz and single going

Not them defending themselves with the 2nd week drop when they know full well it's going to be precipitous I fully think that Madonna deserved all her first week sales but this article makes Billboard look really bad. Making fun of your readers doesn't automatically make you as an author smarter.

[RatedG²]

When people said Gaga dropped 80% it was horrible...

Anyways, Madonna remains unbothered by her number 1 album

[GaGaFan]

Holy crap! That's a LOT of units sold through tickets.

[Remixed]

Wow, the ticket bundle really helped her sales. The 2nd week sales should be interesting, hopefully not a big drop!

[Cap10Planet]

Originally posted by RatedG²

When people said Gaga dropped 80% it was horrible...

Anyways, Madonna remains unbothered by her number 1 album

Gaga dropped like 86%, though...

[chris1991]

Tell the monsters. Whers the one who who tried M?? Expose yourself.

[Swag]

Only a true Queen.

Of course she would never give anything out under markup price.

[Sahn]

Madonna on her LiveNation deal, 2007:

"The paradigm in the music business has shifted, and as an artist and a businesswoman, I have to move with that shift," she said in a statement. "For the first time in my career, the way that my music can reach my fans is unlimited. I've never wanted to think in a limited way and with this new partnership, the possibilities are endless. Who knows how my albums will be distributed in the future? That's what's exciting about this deal — everything is possible. Live Nation has offered me a true partnership, and after 25 years in the business, I feel that I deserve that."

[Green]

Originally posted by Dephira

Not the ******** with the 65-80% figure when they know that a 80% drop would be utterly unprecedented

unprecedented?
Several artists have had drops like that or even bigger.

1 7 KANYE WEST ROC-A-FELLA/IDJMG 106,003 -80%
MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED...

2 3 50 CENT AFTERMATH/INTERSCOPE 128,866 -80%
CURTIS

1 1 LADY GAGA: BORN THIS WAY - INTERSCOPE 169,387 -85%

[toyboy]

that's my biatch

[toyboy]

Originally posted by Sahn

Madonna on her LiveNation deal, 2007:

"The paradigm in the music business has shifted, and as an artist and a businesswoman, I have to move with that shift," she said in a statement. "For the first time in my career, the way that my music can reach my fans is unlimited. I've never wanted to think in a limited way and with this new partnership, the possibilities are endless. Who knows how my albums will be distributed in the future? That's what's exciting about this deal — everything is possible. Live Nation has offered me a true partnership, and after 25 years in the business, I feel that I deserve that."

[Reza]

Billboard spilled the tea on all the pressed haters

That writer needs to join atrl

[Onen]

TELL them!

[brIt-()nstar]

Originally posted by Remixed

Wow, the ticket bundle really helped her sales. The 2nd week sales should be interesting, hopefully not a big drop!

These tickets are more expensive than albums though. Those who bought Madonna's pre-sale tickets can probably buy many copies if they want to but Livenation offered them a tour ticket plus the album. It's nothing special. Bundles aren't the same thing as freebies or .99$ albums. People who think Madonna cheated her way to a number 1 album are a mess. Bundles aren't free. That's all.