Fetch the Champagne!
Fiona Apple’s “Fetch the Bolt Cutters” sold 30,000 albums and paid downloads this week. Apple’s fifth album since 1996 sold the most of any release, almost three times as many as the album by Da Baby (who will not be here in 26 years. Or months, maybe.)
Even so, “Bolt Cutters” finished in fourth place because it had little streaming– just 15,000 copies’ worth. Da Baby (yes. him again) streamed the equivalent of 115,000 copies. Plus his 11,000 downloads. So he wins. The Weeknd’s hit album, “After Hours,” finished in second place.
Fiona’s “hit” (30,000 copies is like nothing, really) was nevertheless a success for Sylvia Rhone at Epic Records. It was very well marketed. I mean, Fiona Apple? How they pulled that off, I’ll never know.
Will “Bolt” cutters even sell 250,000 copies in its lifetime? Who knows? I’m sure it will get Grammy nominations, as will The Weeknd’s record. If we have the Grammys. Good lord.
This week’s top 100 even with streaming was another low in the history of sales charts. Without each week’s new number 1, there would be no chart. Nothing is selling. Everything is stagnant. But at least the Rolling Stones are number 1 on iTunes today.
