#1’s
Album – Certification – Date – Soundscan – Unsold units – Gap
#1’s – 3xP – 02/10/1999 – 2,150,000 – 1,800,000 – 300,000
#1’s – 4xP – 02/23/2000 – 2,950,000 – 100,000 – 950,000
#1’s – 5xP – 01/24/2003 – 3,300,000 – Irrelevant – 1,700,000
Put together three facts – #1’s was the artist only album continuously available on both main Clubs, it sold 1 million units at BMG Music Club, Columbia House had dropped below BMG by that time – and you get a realistic estimate for Columbia sales anywhere from 500,000 units to 800,000 units. This is very exactly the result we find out while studying RIAA certifications. The album moved more than half a million copies since this last award, Club sales though were already dying by 2003.
Rainbow
The last Mariah Carey album available on Clubs is Rainbow at BMG alone. Released in late 1999, it was certified 3xPlatinum just after one month, never being updated since. The album moved 2,1 million copies as per Soundscan in 1999, which were complete sales as it was still not sent on Clubs by then. When made available, it sold 443,000 unis on BMG. By now, the album is up to nearly 3 million Soundscan sales, an estimated overall shipment close to 3,5 million, explaining logically why it was not certified anew in later years.
I noticed that – against the analysis that you give in this article – that both Mariah’s “Merry Christmas” and “Rainbow” actually were available through the Columbia House music club. They even had regular catalog numbers: Mariah Carey – Merry Christmas (Columbia) – 112789 Available as of 1995: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/82467713/ As of 2001: https://archive.org/details/universityofmemp2001unse –> page 142 Mariah Carey – Rainbow (Columbia) 324608 Available as of October 2000: https://newspaperarchive.com/madison-wisconsin-state-journal-oct-22-2000-p-857/ As of 2001: https://archive.org/details/universityofmemp2001unse –> page 137 “Rainbow” is even presented with a picture, which sets it apart from less popular albums. How does that go together with your claim that both… Read more »
Hi Luminator! The last 3 links you provide are all ads of BMG Music Club (CDHQ) rather than Columbia House. I’m not able to read the first one. I once posted the full catalog of Columbia House as of 1997 and Merry Christmas wasn’t there. Clubs availability (just like Spotify availability nowadays) hasn’t always been constant, some albums could have gone in and out their lists one or two times. I went through that full 1997 catalog and also hundreds of old Columbia ads, still it isn’t impossible that there is albums I never saw that were available at some… Read more »
hello i dont really understand whats the unsold units?
Hi puffygucci!
They refer to the amount of copies shipped by labels but not sold to consumers so far, they are copies remaining on shelves / stocks of retailers!
Hey MJD, can you post a breakdown for Ariana Grande sales, please?
P.S.: I loved the new site <3
Hi dear MJD !!!
congratulations for the beautiful articles for Music Clubs 1 and 2. This weekend do you will realize CSPC analysis of some singer or groups ?
I hope you realize CSPC analysis of The Beatles !!!
Hi Anthony!
There is two classic male acts CSPC studies in the making, plus two relatively recent bands which will be treated next. As we are nearing Christmas, I’ll try to drop such an article for every major act releasing a new album. I’m already collecting various information about The Beatles at the same time, as soon as I have a free week spot I’ll post their article!
Sting is about to release a new album, let’s hope he – along with his band, The Police – are among those who will be treated next!
Fantastic job, as usual. I would like to see how high “Merry Christmas” can get if Sony requests an audit for it + streaming inclusion… it could easily get 7 platinum.
I also wonder if Eagles’ “Greatest hits” can keep up the competition with “Thriller”… it seems unlikely now that streaming is a factor.
I have one further remark: I totally agree with you on all your estimations, but i find Rainbow’s shipment of 3,5 million a tad bit too low. Isn’t it reasonable to estimate 3,6-3,7 million considering the inaccuracy of SoundScan and further shipments?
I would be very grateful if you’d have a word on this remark!
Thanks in advance!
Hello Luminator! As you can see there is slightly more than 4,4 million units confirmed. As the album is dead now, hardly stocked anywhere, nearly all copies shipped have either been sold – and track on its Soundscan tally – or returned. Also, in 1999 Soundscan was way more reliable than in the first half of the 90s. This being said, nobody – except owning all Sony bills related to the album – can know the to date net shipment number with less than a 2% margin. Considering known information and the lack of later certs to refine non-Soundscan sales… Read more »
Thank you! I guess the 4,…. numbers were a typo! Of course we’re talking about the 3,…. -range 😉
This is so well explained. Must have taken a lot of time too. Seriously, thank you!
Thank you so much MJ! You really invested a lot of your time for Mariah and cleared up all the stupid discussion concerning her “fake diamond albums”!
I hope to see her overall CSPC article very soon! It’s about time 😉