Taylor Swift “Midnights” sells 1.54 million copies first week.

[ShaDynasty]

How much did CLB sell? Not counting the house album. I thought he was the biggest streaming artist?

Seems like Taylor has done better than everyone expected this time.

 

[O.Red]

I guess her and some legacy acts are thee only real stars left.

Hip hop/rap / r and b no longer have stars.

The current legacy artists was the last run of "stars"

It's not just music. There are no more movie stars either

 

[David_TheMan]

The current legacy artists was the last run of "stars"

It's not just music. There are no more movie stars either

I agree

 

[ZEupTWN]

I mean this is not surprising at all...The industry was never not on her side on top of that no real competition in her lane



I don't really get involved with the poltics on this site, but as time goes on I def see what certain brehs be sayin

 

[mobbinfms]

Drake' sings. Bigge and Pac didn't unless it was something like "Playa Hater" or an occasional hook.

That's not an excuse. Justin Timberlake used the same producers as Jay Z and 20 years ago, they both dropped albums that had Timbaland and The Neptunes all over the albums like a week apart. I don't recall anyone comparing Justified and BP2.

The fact that singing is now a part of hip hop is what I mean when I say it’s watered down.
I agree with you that no one compared Justin and Jay in terms of sales.
I guess it just goes to the lines between hip hop and pop have blurred to such an extent that people are now including pop stars in sales discussions.
It’s interesting that someone like Justin was reaching out towards R&B and hip hop.
Nowadays it moreso feels like the rappers are reaching towards the pop sound, more than the pop artists are reaching toward hip hop.

 

[Rembrandt]

Vinyl only would appeal to certain types of rappers and a good amount of them are already on the wave

Alchemist and the artists he works with have been feasting off vinyls. I saw Tyler The Creator vinyls at a friend's crib

Tyler, Travis, Kendrick and a few others had them. Drake could. Griselda definitely could.
.
I genuinely think most rappers with an actual fanbase outside of singles probably could make them work

 

[O.Red]

Tyler, Travis, Kendrick and a few others had them. Drake could. Griselda definitely could.
.
I genuinely think most rappers with an actual fanbase outside of singles probably could make them work

Griselda does vinyl too

 

[Rell84shots]

Funny how no one is talking about multiple platforms and label purchases like we do for black artists.

 

[Street Knowledge]

What’s weird is for how big she is, I think I only know one song. Yet I knew all the songs from Madonna, Britney, pink, Christina, Gwen, fergie, Kesha, Katy, Gaga even Ariana - even had most of their albums. She really is white america’s champ and doesnt even try or need to flirt with black audiences to sell a bajillion

I never actually thought about this but you are right

 

[Piff Perkins]

Here are vinyl sales from the first half of 2022:

Not a lot of rap on there, but the rap artists that made the list are largely the ones you would expect. Also a looot of rap vinyl is sold yearly these days that doesn't make a top 50 or even top 100 list, but is a substantial amount. I know Alchemist's albums have been doing really well on vinly sales, from Boldy James to Roc Marci this year. If you're a smaller, independent artist you don't have to ship a lot of physicals in order to turn a profit.

 

[FluffyEyes]

Funny how no one is talking about multiple platforms and label purchases like we do for black artists.

Of course not. If a Black artist did what Taylor is doing no one would say it was smart, they would say they're taking advantage of their fans. It's amazing the difference in treatment, from Black ppl even.

 

[Sad Bunny]

Tem’s wrote this

 

[Sad Bunny]

 

[Awesome Wells]

The important thing to highlight here, is that this is actual units. Like back in the day.

Not streams. Casuals talk streams all day and "platinum" this and that, but the units aren't moving. Labels are even giving artists bullsh*t fake plaques now for streams and telling them they've gone platinum. I've been in a couple different records shops over the past week, they're all carrying this album. Mad different covers, and mad people coming in looking for this project. This is what it used to look like for Hip Hop releases. Mostly in the 90's.

When you have a TRUE following, they're not just streaming your sh*t for free all day long. They're actually willing to pay money for physical copies of your projects. Or paying for downloads. They're showing up at the record shops and spending their money. This is the business model that artists need to get back on. Because this sh*t where people started bragging about streams, is really what f*cked up the game. Not only for the artists' pockets, but also for how you can measure if people are really out there supporting your work.

 

[Artificial Intelligence]

Geezzeeee