Ariana Grande :: The "Positions" Era

[thebigham]

https://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=...TING-CONTINUES

57k album sales
135k streaming

+TEAs = 195k

[Instinct]

Excellent considering no tour bundles, no merch , just those three physical copies in her store.
Ariana is the first major artist to release an album without any bundling, as per new Billboard rules.

Excellent? I wouldn't go that far. That's basically half of thank u next's sales and that was not even two years ago. It's not a terrible result, though. Just average.

[InFamous]

Excellent? I wouldn't go that far. That's basically half of thank u next's sales and that was not even two years ago. It's not a terrible result, though. Just average.

TUN was her peak and had had two number one singles by the time it was released and she was on a serious high in terms of popularity. Completely different situation here. Also expecting her to match TUN every time is not realistic IMO. I mean ok it could have been a bit higher, i probably went too far with excellent.

[nympho]

Excellent considering no tour bundles, no merch , just those three physical copies in her store.
Ariana is the first major artist to release an album without any bundling, as per new Billboard rules.

Well, that would be an appropriate narrative if she had achieved those numbers with TUN thanks to tour bundles or merch bundles... But it was not the case.

She has three cassettes as well, I've seen in her website, by the way.

It's going to be #1 and the single #1 for at least two weeks... so it's obviously doing great. And who says otherwise is delusional.
But under 200k for Ariana and going down 50k copies from Saturday's prediction to Wednesday's prediction is, by no means, "excellent".

[Tansike]

Ariana's opening numbers in the US:

Thank U, Next: 360k SPS (116k pure sales)
Sweetener: 231k SPS (127k pure sales)
Dangerous Woman: 175k SPS (129k pure sales)
My Everything: 169k pure sales
Yours Truly: 138k pure sales

195k would still be her third biggest opening ever (though we could argue about "My Everything" would have made it there as well if SPS would have been a thing back then).
57k pure sales for "Positions" is the thing that worries me, but could be explained through the unusual album rollout (lead single just a week prior the album, barely time for pre-orders).

[Enzolorenzo]

The thing is I can’t really see positions having much longevity so the fact that its first week numbers aren’t even that high is definitely worrying. I mean My Everything was her breakthrough album and at the time it was still possible to push more hits even after the album release, same for Dangerous Woman, while it has become a pretty hard feat now. We’ll see I guess

[theMathematician]

What usually is the case is that the follow-up of an artist's most successful album ends up with an artist's (to date) highest opening, irrespective of whether that very album ends up as an artist's overally most successful album or not. This time around (It's been the same for Justin Bieber's last record), it's not the case - obviously there have been reasons (e.g. lack of a big lead single) - which may either lead to a less successful era as a whole or one that takes its time to grow.

[Kevinmakeme]

I agree with this...

[PopFan]

That's kinda low, especially her pure sales, since she had signed copies and 3 different CDS and if you think elections is the reason, check how it did in UK in comparison to her latest albums, lets hope it has longevity.

[InFamous]

Well, that would be an appropriate narrative if she had achieved those numbers with TUN thanks to tour bundles or merch bundles... But it was not the case.

She has three cassettes as well, I've seen in her website, by the way.

It's going to be #1 and the single #1 for at least two weeks... so it's obviously doing great. And who says otherwise is delusional.
But under 200k for Ariana and going down 50k copies from Saturday's prediction to Wednesday's prediction is, by no means, "excellent".

Ariana had merch for Sweetener and TUN. I am sure some of the opening numbers included merch bundled with the album plus a digital copy which would have counted for opening week. Those cassettes only count when they are sent now so they may not have made much difference anyway.

[InFamous]

What usually is the case is that the follow-up of an artist's most successful album ends up with an artist's (to date) highest opening, irrespective of whether that very album ends up as an artist's overally most successful album or not. This time around (It's been the same for Justin Bieber's last record), it's not the case - obviously there have been reasons (e.g. lack of a big lead single) - which may either lead to a less successful era as a whole or one that takes its time to grow.

I am sure I can find a thousand examples to disprove your " usually" so nah far too big of a generalisation there.

Also Ariana's lead single is currently no 1 in the US the UK and on the global 200 in fact.

[theMathematician]

"Usually" implies that there are exceptions and yeah, I have a few in mind as well. I wouldn't have expected 'positions' to join that list either considering the fact that Ariana Grande had her commercial peak with her 5th album (when most artists have it with their 1st or 2nd album), but things do happen and the hype surrounding this project seems to be smaller than with 'thank u, next!' (which seemed to me like a sure-fire success back then).

[InFamous]

I agree with this...

Completely agree with this too.

[InFamous]

"Usually" implies that there are exceptions and yeah, I have a few in mind as well. I wouldn't have expected 'positions' to join that list either considering the fact that Ariana Grande had her commercial peak with her 5th album (when most artists have it with their 1st or 2nd album), but things do happen and the hype surrounding this project seems to be smaller than with 'thank u, next!' (which seemed to me like a sure-fire success back then).

Actually if there are many many many exceptions then it is not usual which negates the use of the word. hype? She announced the album and single a week ago basically. In contrast TUN had an eight week number one over Xmas and another huge single at one before the album had dropped. The situations couldn't be more different in fact.

[BeeBoy]

https://hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=...TING-CONTINUES

57k album sales
135k streaming

+TEAs = 195k

I think I told someone 200k or below would be impossible. Well it really comes down to rollout and material nowadays in order to achieve 250k+. In the end she has another #1 album and they could stretch the campaign by re-releasing soemtime. Would be her first to do so, if they don't I don't see this having much longevity either tbh

[nympho]

UK Midweeks (Thursday)
1 Ariana Grande - positions (23.3k) *
2 Sam Smith - Love Goes (20.0k) *

#1 is secured for tomorrow. Around 26k I guess.

[InFamous]

UK Midweeks (Thursday)
1 Ariana Grande - positions (23.3k) *
2 Sam Smith - Love Goes (20.0k) *

#1 is secured for tomorrow. Around 26k I guess.

How much did the big albums this year open with in the UK ? Just out of curisoity. Like Taylor, Gaga , dunno was Halsey big in the UK ?

[nympho]

How much did the big albums this year open with in the UK ? Just out of curisoity. Like Taylor, Gaga , dunno was Halsey big in the UK ?

Gaga = 53k (biggest opening of the year so far)
Taylor = 37k
Dua = 34k

[InFamous]

Gaga = 53k (biggest opening of the year so far)
Taylor = 37k
Dua = 34k

Wow that was inpressive for Gaga in the UK, seeing as how sales in general are so low this year.

Just checking Ariana's certs in the US :

Yours Truly, Sweetener and Dangerous Woman are certified Platinum. ( RIAA)
My Everything and Thank you next are Double Platinum ( RIAA)

This will probably go Platinum eventually with streaming ?

[Enzolorenzo]

Wow that was inpressive for Gaga in the UK, seeing as how sales in general are so low this year.

Just checking Ariana's certs in the US :

Yours Truly, Sweetener and Dangerous Woman are certified Platinum. ( RIAA)
My Everything and Thank you next are Double Platinum ( RIAA)

This will probably go Platinum eventually with streaming ?

It seems like most hit albums in the UK nowadays easily scan gold but then they struggle to hit platinum so it’ll take a while

[InFamous]

It seems like most hit albums in the UK nowadays easily scan gold but then they struggle to hit platinum so it’ll take a while

I meant US. This will take a long time to go platinum in UK tbh.. if it ever gets there. Sales are down a lot.

[Kevinmakeme]

[ViviLittleM]

Débuts #8 France.
https://twitter.com/snep/status/1324...755590145?s=21

[nympho]

UK
1 (New) Positions

IRELAND
1 (New) Positions

NORWAY
1 (New) Positions

NETHERLANDS
2 (New) Positions

SWEDEN
3 (New) Positions

BELGIUM Flanders
3 (New) Positions

GERMANY
7 (New) Positions

ITALY
8 (New) Positions

BELGIUM Wallonia
14 (New) Positions

[thebigham]

Mediabase USA from Pulse:

POP:
(19) 16 ARIANA GRANDE positions 7355 5888 +1467 33.107

+222 Spins
-626 Bullet
+1.193 Audience

HOT AC:
(32) 24 ARIANA GRANDE positions 879 379 +500 2.079

+44 Spins
-44 Bullet
+0.189 Audience

RHYTHMIC:
(46) 32 ARIANA GRANDE positions 986 472 +514 2.298

+64 Spins
-38 Bullet
+0.152 Audience