Are audiences embracing Mariah Carey's "Angel"?
Mariah Carey is on track for a top-10 debut next week with her "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel". That's not necessarily news, as any release with the Mariah Carey name will certainly land at the top of the chart, especially in an era when 30,000 first-week sales will get an artist within reach of the pole position.
Today, Billboard - the keeper of the U.S. pop chart - unveiled early prognosis for next week's tally. Unexpectedly, Carey will vie for the top spot with Paramore, who are still riding a post-"Twilight" wave into superstardom. The early numbers posted are a bit eye-catching, even in this depressed sales climate.
Billboard has Carey and Paramore on track to sell somewhere between 160,000 and 170,000 copies in their first week. That's quite the achievement for the latter - Paramore's 2007 effort "Riot!" topped out at No. 15 - but a bit of a drop for Carey.
Let's say Carey beats those expectations and comes in with 200,000 first-week sales. That's still a fraction of the first-week sales of her recent albums. Is that an indicator that audiences are not-yet sold on "Angel", an album that received a favorable review in this publication, or just the fallout from multiple delays and a successful, if not smashing, first single?
This is Carey's first album since last spring, when "E=MC2" opened with 463,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Her album before that, 2005's "The Emancipation of Mimi", landed atop the chart with 404,000 copies sold. Furthermore, just a few weeks ago, another diva fared pretty well, as Whitney Houston's "I Look to You" debuted on the chart with 304,000 copies sold.
So what's the problem? The first official single for Carey's "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" was "Obsessed", a cut that dominated the gossip rags, especially after its Eminem-mocking video. But all that attention didn't exactly equate into any chart domination.
Of course, that's not to say the song has done poorly. Carey is a big enough brand that she will sell and radios will play her, but "Obsessed" has spent much of its time outside the top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100. The song went into this sales week at No. 11 in its 11th week on the tally (Billboard releases album charts on Wednesdays and single's charts on Thursdays).
Thus far, Nielsen SoundScan reports that the cut has sold about 875,000 downloads. That's a little off the pace of "Touch My Body", Carey's lead-off single for "E=MC2." After "Touch My Body" had been out for 11 weeks, it tallied 1.1 million downloads.
Yet further concern was raised when the album was delayed. "Angel" has already been pushed back twice, and was originally planned for Aug. 25. The delay may have had an effect on first-week sales, as Carey slowed momentum by canceling and postponing a number of her promotional appearances, including what was a planned August appearance on the "Today" show. She's now set to appear Friday on "Today".
The delay means that "Angel" is already on its second single, a cover of Foreigner's "I Want to Know What Love Is". The song will affect next weeks' chart, and it's a big ballad that should prolong the album's lifespan, even if low first-week sales raise some eyebrows.
Of course, one can argue that the lower first-week sales numbers will have nothing to do with Carey at all. The shift from August gives Carey significantly more competition to contend with. Although there may not be much crossover with the Paramore audience, Houston's album is still selling well, and this week also saw the release of a hits package from Madonna and a new release from Barbra Streisand. Carey would have had smoother sailing on Aug. 25, when Colbie Caillat's "Breakthrough" was the week's biggest release.
Ultimately, however, album sales may not have much to do with whether "Angel" is considered a success, at least from a business perspective. It's a true product-placement album, as the liner notes are a co-production with Elle magazine and come equipped with luxury advertisements. Sales may not mean as much when the album has already been sold. (Los Angeles Times)
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