Some more up to date Van Halen album sales figures than I've seen in a while.... - Page 2

VanHalenRules · 11.03.09, 06:58 AM

The fact that FW sits where it does as far as sales just leaves me scratching my head...one would think that it would have really gained traction over all these years.

Bullwinkle · 11.03.09, 08:01 AM

A really, really awesome three-day concert would be the first ten bands on that list. In order even:
(Allowing for bringing the dead back to life, of course)

1 The Beatles
2 Michael Jackson
3 Pink Floyd
4 Elvis Presley
5 Madonna
6 Elton John
7 Queen
8 Rolling Stones
9 U2
10 Led Zeppelin

And, the weirdest three days of my life would be a festival of the next ten bands on that list:

11 Celine Dion
12 Eagles
13 Mariah Carey
14 Rod Stewart
15 Barbra Streisand
16 Whitney Houston
17 Garth Brooks
18 Bruce Springsteen
19 Eric Clapton
20 AC/DC

Boy, I'd need some brown acid for that one!

badkaraoke · 11.03.09, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Elfoid_TFS

The guy who runs the site "Fan Of Music" did a few interviews on Hitsville which made him seem like he knows his stuff. He's MJDangerous on the UKMix.org forums too, a very respected authority.

A few notes on these stats:
* They total 94 million albums sold worldwide
* This deals in sales, not shipments, and counts by the album not by the disk
* Roth's sold 54.1 million to Sammy's 29 before you innevitably check
* Last updated February '08

His world wide sales are estimates, he says so in french.

badkaraoke · 11.04.09, 07:23 AM

I'm a bit confused about how he managed to get accurate actual sales figures for the band prior to 1991. Many of these numbers seem to be a mix of label reported numbers pre-1991 and soundscan numbers after...I might be wrong, but I'm not so sure about this.

TOM_5150 · 11.04.09, 09:16 AM

I think VH was around the 65 million mark in the mid~late 90's. They've sold 30 million units since which is very good for a dormant band (up until 2007).

pal1800 · 11.04.09, 11:36 AM

I'm just interested in how many units the new album moves, that is if and when it is done.

Rare Painful Side Effect · 11.04.09, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by badkaraoke

I'm a bit confused about how he managed to get accurate actual sales figures for the band prior to 1991. Many of these numbers seem to be a mix of label reported numbers pre-1991 and soundscan numbers after...I might be wrong, but I'm not so sure about this.

I think a lot of sales stats pre-soundscan may not be all that reliable. Prior to soundscan, new releases would seem to climb the album charts. Afterwards, and now, they often reach the highest charting position in the first week of release.

Still, if those figures are somewhat ball-park accurate, VH has sales that very few of their contemporaries can match. Factoring out VH III as kind of an anomoly, every studio release has gone at least triple platinum.

The Elfoid_TFS · 11.04.09, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Little Dreamer

I find that list hard to believe for one reason: looking at the difference between US sales/international sales, i was expecting the gap to narrow in the Van Hagar years. Meaning that during those years VH did not sell well overseas. No promo, no airplay, no tour. But looking at the list you don't see a significant different between the Roth and Hagar years overseas. The ratio is pretty much the same. No drop in overseas sale.

I find that very hard to believe, having lived in Europe during that time. And I don't think Japan would've totally made up for the drop in European sales. What gives?

Let's look at the breakdown shall we?

http://fanofmusic.free.fr/BestSellers.php?Act=VanHalen is the page you'd be wanting

VH1: Japan 0.25 mill, Europe 1.56 mill
VHII: Japan 0.12 mill, Europe 0.87 mill
W&CF: Japan 0.12 mill, Europe 0.94 mill
FW: Japan 0.075 mill, Europe 0.66 mill
DD: Japan 0.1 mill, Europe 0.49 mill
1984: Japan 0.7 mill, Europe 2.03 mill

5150: Japan 0.3 mill, Europe 1.6 mill
OU812: Japan 0.2 mill, Europe 0.86 mill
FUCK: Japan 0.2 mill, Europe 0.33 mill
RHRN: Japan 0.15 mill, Europe 0.39 mill
Balance: Japan 0.575 mill, Europe 0.65 mill

BOV1: Japan 0.9 mill, Europe 1.03 mill

VHIII: Japan 0.25 mill, Europe 0.19 mill

BOW: JApan 0.1 mill, Europe 0.38 mill

One thing I realised from this? VHIII is actually selling ahead of a lot of other records in some markets. Fuckin' weird!

Quote:

After what...1986 or 87 or so likely it was the CD that was bought first. Do many people now actually buy the "digital albums" to make much of a difference? Seems it is songs.

1987 was the year CDs outsold vinyls for the first time. I read it in an article on Def Leppard's Hysteria that spoke about the year in general, commenting on it being a 'year that shaped rock' (1987, Appetite for Destruction, Hysteria, Permanant Vacation, Among the Living, Girls Girls Girls, Scum, Keeper of the Seven Keys Part One, it was a nuts year)

Quote:

Also, and this thought really is kind of off the reservation, it has always been interesting to me that the music business uses units sold and the movie business goes by gross. Gone With the Wind is still FAR and away the number one movie of all time if you go by ticket sales or do an inflation adjustment like on boxofficemojo. A lot of the newer movie grosses look impressive, but it really diminishes the true popularity of movies like Jaws and earlier if you don't look deeper.

Yeah. Michael Jackson's HIStory cost more than 2 standard standalone albums do, wheras typically a double album costs slightly less - it may well have earned him more money than Thriller, in-fact. On the other hand, The Clash put out London Calling as a double album (it was, in the pre-CD era) and insisted the price must remain the same as a standard record.

Quote:

His world wide sales are estimates, he says so in french.

Yeah, but his sales breakdowns (if you click the bands) are pretty detailed. He's got access to reams and reams of information, more than he indicates on the Van Halen page - he's only listed the ones where they sold enough for the discs to be worth counting. He totals what he can get and there's some estimation at the rest, but they're as near to accurate as you're gonna be able to get.

http://www.hitsville.org/2009/07/12/...loyd-and-more/

You don't think that reads like an expert?

The Elfoid_TFS · 11.04.09, 08:03 PM

http://fanofmusic.free.fr/BestSellersWorldAlbums

In this list VHI creeps in at number 127.

I find it funny that the best-selling album this decade, and best-selling disk by The Beatles disk, is Number Ones. Best selling debut this decade's Hybrid Theory, which for a 21st Century album is monsterous.

badkaraoke · 11.05.09, 06:22 AM

Any way you look at this, the guy's pre-1991 numbers have to be derived from Recording Industry Association of America reward figures, which are based on SHIPPED units minus returns to the label and not sales.

Also, while the awards process the RIAA conducts is audited by independents hired by the RIAA the only audit comes when the record label first registers a product for certification, not on subsequent shipping reports by the label.

So unless this guy works for Warner Brothers and has some sort of inside skinny, or there's some sort of secret source out there, these numbers aren't completely based on sold records. It's really really unlikely.

I don't even trust record companies to tell the truth about the amount of product they shipped. That's a call that is up to the individual, obviously.

The Elfoid_TFS · 11.05.09, 08:31 AM

This guy's within the industry. He has access to accurate figures that we don't get - the industry don't like them to get out because they prefer to give us the (larger) shipment figures. He makes it quite clear in a lot of his forum posts (under the alias MJDangerous - read that Hitsville article) that people who go on about shipment figures are wrong....he's got in a lot of "yes but that's what they've shipped" arguments...so I know he doesn't use the RIAA as a main source at all.

badkaraoke · 11.05.09, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Elfoid_TFS

This guy's within the industry. He has access to accurate figures that we don't get - the industry don't like them to get out because they prefer to give us the (larger) shipment figures.

I view this with a high degree of skepticism however I will read more of this guy in the near future and check the RIAA figures before I go all the way with my opinion.

Have a good one.

Daisy Hill · 11.05.09, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eddymon

I find it amazing that what is considered my many to be their best album, Fair Warning has the worst sales of all studio albums with the exception of their worst, Van Halen III.

yeah really! If VH did a "play through the entire album" deal ala Springsteen, Fair Warning would be what I'd want to hear....Diver Down? not so much

Little Dreamer · 11.05.09, 04:28 PM

I donno about that list.
It shows no decrease at all in Europe during the Van Hagar years whereas everyone having lived in Europe during that time knows VH practically fell off the face of the earth in that part of the world. Warner Bros. Europe had no interest in promoting them in Europe. I remember talking to one of their reps during that time who told me: "Van Halen? We don't care. It's all about Madonna."

And that other list of total world wide sales lists Dire Straits 'Brothers In Arms" at 32 millions sold!! Give me a break, that can't be.

Ain't Talkin' Bout' Love · 11.05.09, 04:47 PM

If you average out sales per album per singer (studio albums only), roughly 9 mil per each Roth album and 7.25 mil per each Hagar album, it kind of gives it a little more perspective.

Also, as FW was not the least bit commercial and had no singles, it's no surprise it has not sold as well as some might think.