- Nov302011
Hot Topic: Understanding Rihanna’s Slow Album Sales
Rihanna’s ‘Talk That Talk’ entered the Billboard 200 at #3 this week and it became her sixth consecutive album to miss the top spot on the tally. However, what really baffled her fans were the relatively slow sales of the project, despite the record being preceded by its widely successful lead single, ‘We Found Love’.
With sales barely exceeding 197K copies, ‘Talk That Talk’ actually sold 10K copies less than Rihanna’s previous album, ‘Loud’. So what exactly is the reason for the slow start of the record? Well, while there may have been many possible causes, the main reason for the slow chart start lies with Rihanna’s US fans themselves.
Rihanna is the quintessential Pop star of the 21st century, appealing to the masses of the dominant iTunes generation – the 16 to 25 age bracket – who require striking visuals and simplistic hooks to stimulate their interest. Yet, although she has thus far enjoyed incredible success on the singles charts because of her ability to satisfy their demands, Rihanna’s team has overlooked a crucial fact – the children of this digital era typically do not buy albums on a large scale.
Regardless of how well her songs perform on iTunes and radio, Rihanna’s fans are generally not interested in buying complete albums. Reflecting on the trend of her past sales confirms this point as her top-selling release – 2007′s ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’ – has sold only 2.7 million copies in the US to date and none of her other albums have surpassed the 2 million mark.
On the other hand, Adele, for instance, has generated massive sales with her ’21′ LP, which has already topped 4.6 million copies in US sales after only 9 months – more than three times to total of Rihanna’s ‘Loud’. Yet, why is Adele, who only has two #1 singles, rarely moves anything except her mouth during her shows and simply sits on a stool in a her videos, outpacing Rihanna? The answer is once again found with the audience in question.
Adele is an Adult Contemporary artist and her target market arguably represents the larget album-buying audience in the US. As such, although she may not always score hit singles – the successes of ‘Rolling in the Deep’ and ‘Someone like You’ were truly unusual – with the right material and promotion, Adele is guaranteed to have a huge advantage on the album charts.
So how has Rihanna managed to sell albums at all? Similar to her close friend Katy Perry, she has to perform near excessive promotion and issue a wave of singles with the intent that those members of her fanbase who aren’t just looking for a new ringtone would buy her records. Of course, special discounts and bonus content, such as posters, pictures and video packages, also help her cause.
Hence, Rihanna’s greatest strength on the singles charts is ironically her downfall on the album tallies. The very fans that guarantee her dominance of the digital singles charts and force her song titles onto the list of Twitter’s trending topics will do almost anything except buy her albums.
Ultimately, Rihanna may enjoy slow sales that eventually result in long term success but as was the case with her ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’, ‘Rated R’ and ‘Loud’ projects, Rihanna’s team will have to launch a much larger promotional campaign than her Adult Contemporary counterparts and issue a flurry of singles just to keep her ‘Talk That Talk’ album on the charts. Rihanna may lead her fans to ‘Talk That Talk’ on iTunes but she can’t always make them click ‘purchase’.
Thoughts?
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Trent stay serving that true tea to quench my thirst!
This is one post where I actually think Trent has a point when speaking on Rihanna. Amazingly, I find myself agreeing.
Who cares about her album sales or anyone else for that matter.
No one buys records anymore, including you Trent! No one!
This girl and many of these artists make millions from touring. So even if they barely go Gold on an album, they make millions of touring and merchandise and in Rihanna’s case, through sponsership deals.
She’s a millionaire many times over. No one is sorry for her regarding album sales. The record business is never going to be the same, so why pick on her?
i love trent he speaks the truth
Also the fact that she just released LOUD, also hurted her album sales.
I don’t see how this is a bad thing, either. We are simply in a new generation that no longer puts so much emphasis on album sales. And to call Rihanna’s sales ‘disappointing’ or anything of the like given that this information is already widely known (your write-up was not needed, everyone knows this) is pretty foolish, if you ask me.
It’s also foolish to harp on Rihanna not scoring a #1 album. Chrisette Michelle sold 83K and debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts – yet her album wasn’t even certified. Rihanna has never reached the summit and all of her albums sans ‘Music of the Sun’ have been certified Platinum for higher. Again, this is simply foolish.
*stands up and applauds*
um… what exactly was the “excessive promotion and wave of singles” that you are talking about? She had no promotion at all in the US except for 1 X-factor performance, Ellen interview, and Facebook & Twitter along with WFL. She had so little and still managed to sell fairly well.
You guys are acting like the sales are way lower than usual. Her opening week sales have remained consistent. Plus she already has two hits from the album.
Nice read.
Why is everyone so hung up on first week sales?
Hunty you speak nothing but the Truth about Little Ms. Sunshine. Great Post!
Well with 10 million fans on twitter and 40 + million on facebook and did not make #1. But what is strange why are her singles get to #1 in 2 days? Is itunes getting paid because you don’t really hear her songs being played on the radio like Drake,Lil Wayne, Nicki & Beyonce and others. I
Yall really need to read SG post…. Makes the most sense. That’s information Trent will never give yall.
I find it ffunny that Rihanna stand are saying “first week sales dont matter” but they are always the 1st to laugh at others 1st week sales (beyonce..). We’ll just have to see if her album can continue to sell to know if TTT is a success numbers wise. As ffar as material its a fail but people seem to love that
Anyways well done Trent.
Oh! her dear stans saying nobody buys albums. Y’all keep coming up with piles of excuses but go and attack talented artists. I guess Drake and Rihanna are both in different industries. She better seek Drake’s advice and stop using him solely for quick sex. Well, if nobody buys albums anymore then Rihanna should just stick to releasing singles since that’s where most of her success lies. She should save all the catchy/”cool” album titles for when she will become a credible artist. Until then, she should just release a bunch of singles for the Rihtards to groove to.
So how do you explain Mary’s album sales?
What do you expect from her fans but excuses? If number one meant nothing there wouldn’t be any big deal made of it. In the industry it counts. The certain award shows are irrelevant, The numbers mean nothing, It all means nothing when it comes to your fav not producing. Ask her if she wants a number one, ask her label? Why have other artist (new) come on the scene and cleaned up. No one is being bulls***ed here but the sycophants doing it to themselves.
No one cares for her albums except the UK. TTT won’t have the same success as LOUD
Mary sells only when she sings about going through hell. Her fan base isn’t about sh!t either!
I don’t fuck with happy Mary. I stay playing What’s The 411? and My Life but post Kendu is mainly mmm mm
If albums do not sell…why has Adele sold over 4 million? The Rihanna stans are always quick to say it doesn’t matter if she has a #1 album…but when any other artists has a bad first week you can’t shut them up. Lame stans.
The problem with Rihanna is that she never can now make a creative album like “Rated R” because it won’t debut at no.1, and when she puts out a pop album it still don’t debut at no.1, I think in the future her album sales will continue to dip and she will peak around the top 10.
the Khia gif is the ultimate shade. You didn’t even have to write anything. Just place that gif under Rihanna’s pic. Trent you are too much……smh
Trent is on point. The RN stans are just in denial, as usual. Look at Drake’s recent #1 on BB Hot 200 & 1st week sales numbers. Rihanna’s a bigger act than him! She should have sold more, plain & simple, especially considering the size of her Twitter (10 mil) & FB followers. She should have also debuted at #1. Black Friday sales should have guaranteed that with WFL being #1 on Hot 100. I suspect there are other things at play since TTT sold ~10K less than LOUD. Luv the Kia ‘gif’ Trent!
1. Rihanna is not an urban act 2. Rihanna needs to be missed in order to have high first week sales. yearly albums is a no no 3. Stans are not the majority who buy albums the general public is. if they dnt know u got a album coming out well……..
If albums don’t sell how do you explain Adele,Drake,Taylor,Jay-Z,Kanye,Lil Wayne,Lady Antebellum and others album sells. Please that is a crappy excuse. There are artists on the charts that are selling millions. Rihanna does sell just not the way she should. Oh and you can ask Lady Gaga the same thing because she sells millions as well. What the others have that Rihanna doesn’t is a more versatile fanbase. All types of people be on itunes Trent. Alot of artists have hit singles there but don’t do well on the album charts either. Store cds are still the biggest factor as far as full albums are concerned as they should be.
I agree with ur post but u don’t also think it has a lot to do with peoples expectations also? I think more ppl expect a quality album from some artists and not for others. I think with Rihanna, people gradually buy her album after being pounded by single by single which is why her albums start low but continue to sell. Whereas u have Adele and her fans and even non fans who listen to her quality of music (ex. Rolling in the deep) and expect that her full album will be amazing. I think that while people love Rihanna a lot of ppl (non stans) are not willing to spend $10 on her album until they’re finally convinced and succumbs to her teams extensive and brilliant promo. I mean certain songs from her album (non singles) was high on the iTunes chart which definitley supports ur post. People pick and choose with Rihanna.
this is a question of first week sales not overall sales robyn snatches wigs with her overall sales
Top-billed rap artists almost always command more attention than pop singers. Comparing Rihanna to Drake is almost like comparing Beyonce to Coldplay – certain individuals just simply don’t match. I very much understand comparing Rihanna to Katy Perry, though; both of them have very similar audiences.
@Dee “Trent is on point. The RN stans are just in denial, as usual. Look at Drake’s recent #1 on BB Hot 200 & 1st week sales numbers. Rihanna’s a bigger act than him! She should have sold more, plain & simple, especially considering the size of her Twitter (10 mil) & FB followers. She should have also debuted at #1. Black Friday sales should have guaranteed that with WFL being #1 on Hot 100. I suspect there are other things at play since TTT sold ~10K less than LOUD. Luv the Kia ‘gif’ Trent!”
Seriously? Are you judging her ability to sell records on the basis of how many people liked her Facebook page or followed her on Twitter? Following or liking someone on social networking does not even compare to committing to a $10 purchase. Just ridiculous.
‘Should’ she have sold more? Considering Michael Buble and Nickelback have ALWAYS been bigger draws than her, without #1 singles. I mean, where are you people coming from? Nobody except for Trent and several other unnamed tabloid bloggers expected a #1 debut, because their focus is short-sighted and only on pop/urban artists. Nobody in their right mind expected Rihanna to debut at #1.
SG Calm down, it’s not that serious! Just my observation and opinion. It wasn’t meant for anyone’s approval. It’s.Just.My.Opinion. It’s not that serious..really.
You would think she was Jason Derulo the way folks go on about her album sales. She has had 4 consecutive platinum albums. Last I checked, her singles do what they’re supposed to do. Help her sell albums. How many artists out there can sell albums on name alone? Drake’s first album sold the same amount of copies as “Loud” and I’m sure the new one will probably do the same. But no one points that out.
Trent, I totally agree with you. She’ll probably end up going platinum eventually (whether true sells or shipments, we’ll have to wait and see). I really don’t understand how she is a platinum selling singer, 6 albums/ 6+ years deep, but no #1 album. That doesn’t seem right to me.
Let’s be honest, having a number one album does matter. The music industry is a competition and if you hit #1, you’ll be treated and looked at as better than your competition. Having a #1 single or album, whether good or bad, can take you places in which a single or album that doesn’t hit #1 can. If numbers didn’t matter, then the Billboard charts wouldn’t exist because there would be no need for them. This is Rihanna’s 6th album and she hasn’t hit the top of the album charts in the US yet, that is a problem. There are people who sell less than she does and they have #1 albums, case in point, my girl Jill Scott, who isn’t as popular as Rihanna, had her 4th album hit #1. The Navy needs to make up their minds. They were celebrating her 11 #1 singles but now all of a sudden her hitting #1 with her album is less important. It only doesn’t matter because she didn’t achieve it. Had that been anyone else, The Navy would be quick to dog them, calling them a flop and everything. Honestly, if Rihanna and her team would take the time to craft an album instead of a collection of singles, she might have a #1 album because she’ll appeal more to the album buying public.
@DOMOdotSCORE If #1 albums are really important and if that is how musicians are judged, I urge you to tell me why Tony Bennett is considered a legend by all means and measures, and yet only scored his first #1 album THIS year after forty years in the biz.
By your logic, if #1s are really that important, there are a series of deserving artists, like Bennett, who should not be considered ‘legends.’ Note that I’m not labeling Rihanna as a legend, but simply pointing out the idiocy and importance of scoring a #1 album.
As for Rihanna’s 11 #1 singles, I never pointed these out. In my opinion, pointing out the notoriety of such a feat as much as they are pointing out the fact that she was able to do it in so short a time. Scoring 11 #1 singles is a feat, but nowhere near as big as the timespan in which she did it. It reflects a new standing tradition of our generation. I am not a member of the “Navy,” and therefore I only speak for myself, here.
[...] Hot Topic: Understanding Rihanna’s Slow Album Sales [...]
This is a good write up without the usual shade. She is a singles artist and without the incessant release of singles with striking visuals and catchy hooks her singles wouldn’t move either.
Her base are the ones in the age group above & they purchase singles. She has to constantly churn out hit singles to get the buyers on the fringe to bite and get her albums. I predict that TTT won’t do as well as Loud in the states. She should take a break and concentrate on a flick or two before burning completing out. Watch how ‘you da one’ does on Itues to sense if there is buyer’s fatigue.
Yet Loud has sold 5.3 million copies worldwide, successfully outselling Britney, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, and Katy Perry. How’s that for tea?
Im curious. I would love for someone to research “shipped” platinum because whose to say that is an accurate. Numbers can be manipulate. The music industry as a whole is not what it use to be. That’s why Adele is rare because its not manufacturing.
She needs to stay out of the market for at least a year. No promo, no music. Out. Rihanna and Katy Perry are making disposable pop records. Great to listen to but no classics. Yes they perform on radio and iTunes. It would be interesting to be able to track the listening habits of iPod users. Bet all the songs aren’t listened to much after the promo.
Rihanna — Most liked Artist on Facebook. I’m not someone who’s fighting for Rihanna now. But Facebook shows what’s reality: She’s only “liked” by most people. She’s not loved by lots of people. She doesn’t have a huge fan community. The only fan communities I recognize are Britney, Bieber and Gaga fans. Those are the stars who “created” a fan-movement. Influence: That’s the key. A fan community doesn’t care about single songs. They care about albums and videos. Songs are just parts of albums for them.