FRIDAY UPDATE: “Icarus” has fallen to 76 on iTunes. Buzz Angle shows 5,500 in sales including streaming of singles, and just 1,800 albums sold.
UPDATE WEDS DEC 19 9:45PM “Icarus Falls” on Wednesday night is up to 1,500 copies. It’s number 61 on iTunes.
EARLIER So maybe releasing 27 tracks on a new album without a marketing plan isn’t such a good idea after all.
On Friday, former One Direction member Zayn Malik dropped his second solo album on digital platforms. “Icarus Falls” included six already released– and failed– singles. It also had three singles released in quick succession that didn’t take off.
According to Buzz Angle, which measures sales almost in real time, “Icarus Falls” has indeed fallen. It’s sold just under 1,400 copies. This is all digital — downloads and streaming. That’s because a physical CD won’t be out til this Friday.
Compare this to “Springsteen on Broadway,” the soundtrack to Bruce’s Netflix special and his Broadway show. “SoB” has sold 18,000 copies through Sunday night. And think how much marketing has gone into that release. A ton!
Zayn has no manager, and a non responsive publicist. He also has no back up at his label, RCA, which simply deferred to the outside publicist. Outside of appearing on Zane Lowe’s Apple radio show, our Zayn was not set upf for morning or late night TV, radio appearance or anything else. There’s no lead single, no impact single, and no single period. Icarus’s wings may be melting, but he doesn’t have any hooks. As I wrote on Friday, “Icarus Falls” is a somber, mopey album.
I’m worried that Zayn is going to learn the hard way– he needs to tour, he needs PR and marketing, he needs help at radio. He needs social media help ASAP. Nothing has posted to his Twitter account all weekend.
