Scroll Down for a Comparative Sampling of Singles From Recent and Upcoming Albums
With its
eight #1 singles, is
Katy Perry’s 2010 album
Teenage Dream changing the business model for big-time pop acts? How many smash singles can a major pop artist have during an album cycle? Is the prevalent strategy that says you need to go away after three or four hit singles outmoded? Perry’s remarkable run proves that audience fatigue is no longer an issue, provided the consumer appetite for the artist’s music remains voracious.
Perry isn’t the only pop star to successfully buck the conventional wisdom; look at the number of pop smashes
Lady Gaga,
Rihanna and
David Guetta have had over a short period of time as well.
Maroon 5’s come-from-behind second act has raised the band’s profile and clout higher than ever, with a huge assist from
The Voice. Is the group on the verge of joining the above artists’ exclusive club? And could
Fun. be next in line? The New York-based trio didn’t merely hit the pop-culture radar this year, it became one of the handful of rock bands able to penetrate the mainstream. Observers have marveled at the rapid rise up the sales and airplay charts of Fun.’s second straight smash single, “Some Nights.”
Fun. and Maroon 5 aren’t the only acts to double down in the singles sector:
One Direction and
Carly Rae Jepsen have also accomplished this feat, while
Justin Bieber’s
Boyfriend has spawned a pair of chart singles so far.
Pink’s upcoming LP is expected to kick out a string of singles as well, and
Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know” has moved enough units by itself to outsell the combined totals of most of his competitors.
The enormous buzz surrounding
Taylor Swift following her live
YouTube chat last week, during which she revealed details of the upcoming
Red and introduced the single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” cements the multitalented 22-year-old’s rarefied status as a genre-transcending superstar who also commands the respect of her fellow artists. That single, by the way, hasn’t budged from the #1 slot at
iTunes since it became available immediately after Swift’s chat. The track debuted with about
625k in first-week sales, breaking
Ke$ha’s female artist one-week record of 610k for “Tik Tok,” set in Jan., 2010, and topped only by
Flo Rida’s “Right Round” (636k, Feb. 2009).
As for upcoming albums in the rock arena,
Reprise’s
Green Day and
Interscope’s
No Doubt, both streeting Sept. 25, are expected to bow with 125-150k each, while their lead singles are doing just OK thus far in terms of sales and Top 40 airplay. Although the sales ceiling tends to be lower for albums from acts like these two and
Linkin Park, the bigger bands make up for their limitations at retail via massive tour revenues.
Also hitting Sept. 25 is
Mumford & Sons’
Babel (
Glassnote), which is projected to have a robust first week in the
400-450k range, while lead single “I Will Wait” has yet to go to Top 40... Mumford’s improbable mainstream success has opened the door for fellow acoustic groups
The Civil Wars,
Of Monsters and Men and
The Lumineers, who are on the brink of a major breakthrough—the band’s self-titled debut album (
Dualtone) has been steadily climbing the charts all summer behind the still-growing hit “Ho Hey,” and has hit #2 at iTunes—with Of Monsters and Men’s
My Head Is an Animal (
Republic) rising to #4.
The new look
American Idol was all but set on bringing in
Nicki Minaj as a judge, but now the producers and
Fox are said to be getting cold feet because of Minaj’s recent run of last-minute cancellations, while
Mariah Carey reportedly doesn’t want her on the show.
The longer
UMG’s negotiations with the
EC drag on, the more likely it becomes that
Parlophone and its roster may have to be divested on a worldwide basis. If this scenario comes to pass, it will undermine the entire reason for the merger, resulting in what many believe is a bad outcome for both Universal and
EMI.
The prospect of losing
Coldplay,
David Guetta,
Gorillaz and the other Parlophone-signed acts has resulted in another morale hit for EMI’s U.S. staffers, who have gotten up off the canvas as often as Rocky Balboa in recent years. Meanwhile, those successful acts can’t be too thrilled about the possibility of being separated from the label in their biggest market. And what about teenpop newcomer
Conor Maynard, the latest prospective star to emerge from the Parlophone U.K. roster, who is now breaking in the U.S.?
Names in the rumor mill:
Bradford Cobb,
Troy Carter,
Jay Brown,
Dave Holmes,
Jordan Feldstein,
Scooter Braun and
Jim Guerinot.
PERFORMANCE OF SINGLES FROM SELECTED ALBUMS |
ARTIST | TITLE | SALES | RADIO AUDIENCE |
Adele | 21 | 9.7m | |
| Rolling in the Deep | 7.4m | 4.87b |
| Someone Like You | 5.2m | 3.79b |
| Set Fire to the Rain | 4.1m | 3.42b |
Katy Perry | Teenage Dream | 2.47m | |
| Firework | 5.81m | 4.75b |
| California Gurls | 5.35m | 3.97b |
| E.T. | 5.33m | 3.70b |
| Teenage Dream | 4.35m | 4.12b |
| Last Friday Night | 3.24m | 2.96b |
| The One That Got Away | 2.4m | 2.80b |
| Part of Me | 2.3m | 1.90b |
| Wide Awake | 2.13m | 1.42b |
One Direction | Up All Night | 1.13m | |
| What Makes You Beautiful | 3.3m | 1.87b |
| One Thing | 910k | 322m |
Rihanna | Talk That Talk | 980k | |
| We Found Love | 4.6m | 4.46b |
| Where Have You Been | 1.65m | 1.83b |
| Birthday Cake | 935k | 984m |
Justin Bieber | Believe | 780k | |
| Boyfriend | 2.9m | 1.14b |
| As Long as You Love Me | 770k | 230m |
Gotye | Making Mirrors | 645k | |
| Somebody That I Used to Know | 6.2m | 3.45b |
Fun. | Some Nights | 515k | |
| We Are Young | 5.9m | 3.01b |
| Some Nights | 1.5m | 332m |
Maroon 5 | Overexposed | 465k | |
| Payphone | 3.87m | 2.47b |
| One More Night | 480k | 149m |
Linkin Park | Living Things | 415k | |
| Burn It Down | 680k | 351m |
Flo Rida | Wild Ones | 80k | |
| Good Feeling | 3.46m | 3.23b |
| Wild Ones | 3.3m | 2.29b |
| Whistle | 1.9m | 489m |
Carly Rae Jepsen | Kiss | Release 9/18 | |
| Call Me Maybe | 5.3m | 2.39b |
| Good Time | 950k | 324m |
Pink | The Truth About Love | Release 9/18 | |
| Blow Me (One Last Kiss) | 703k | 494m |
No Doubt | Push and Shove | Release 9/25 | |
| Settle Down | 195k | 187m |
Green Day | iUno! | Release 9/25 | |
| Oh Love | 50k | 95m |