Monday, December 9, 2024

After the Blockbuster “After Hours,” The Weeknd’s New Release, “Dawn FM,” Has Sold Only 66K Albums in 6 Weeks

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What is a weekend, Maggie Smith famously asked on “Downton Abbey”?

The Weeknd is R&B superstar Abel Tesfaye, who is still riding high on the charts with a greatest hits album called “The Highlights” and a non-Grammy blockbuster titled “After Hours.” His single,”Save Your Tears,” is an instant classic.

But on January 7th The Weeknd released a new album called “Dawn FM.” It had an ill-conceived them, and songs that sounded like castoffs. Still it debuted at number 1 with 154,000 copies sold.

Now, however, six weeks later, “Dawn FM” is in its twilight. Total sales of CDs and downloads are only at 66,000. The total including streaming is 518,000. So most of the “sales” were from streaming the album or tracks. On iTunes, “Dawn FM” stands at around number 50.

By contrast, “After Hours” stayed in the top 10 for months. It has sold to date 600,000 CDs and downloads, and a total 3.7 million copies including streaming. It was released on March 20, 2020.

On the MusicConnect chart, which monitors all sales, “The Highlights” is outselling “Dawn FM.” The former is number 5 on their overall album chart, “Dawn FM” is number 11 and dropping like a rock.

Tesfaye is an established star at this point, he’s not in any peril of disappearing from the current music scene. “Dawn FM” is a misstep that can be corrected. But it’s a big one.

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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