Thursday, March 28, 2024

Mariah Carey’s Album Comes in At Number 3, With Disappointing Sales So Far

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Mariah Carey’s “Me I am Mariah” got the best reviews for the singer in about ten years. But sales have not immediately translated. Carey came in at number 3 this week with around 56,000 copies sold. That’s over 100,000 less than her last studio release did in its debut week.

Also known as “The Elusive Chanteuse,” the album is suffering more from a marketing problem than anything else. While all the tracks are strong and there are plenty of possible singles, the release may have been hampered.

For one thing, the album was due a year ago. Then Carey announced it would be released on May 6th. As that date approached, and it was clear there was no album, there was also silence. Then the singer announced May 27th.

There’s little a record company can do when chaos ensues. A more planned attack would have given DefJam 90 days to set the record up, place songs in movies or commercials, work a real single at radio. Carey had already had two singles early on. “#Beautiful” and “You’re Mine (Eternal)” were not big hits. Given time, DefJam could have worked “You Don’t Know What to Do” or “Thirsty” a few weeks ahead of the album. But it didn’t work out that way.

Now it’s a matter of radio catching up to those two new tracks. No one is better at entertaining radio stations than Mariah. She has charm to spare. “Me I am Mariah” is not over, by a long shot. But it’s going to take some old fashioned elbow grease to get it moving.

Who’d ever a-thunk it? Mariah as the Underdog. I’m rooting for her.

 

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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