Neilstein Soundscam: There’s a Ghost in HIS Ocean
Neilstein Soundscam took a one-week hiatus last week as I traveled west to the land of milk, honey and Revolver, but we’re back this week with some pretty big debuts and lots of chart movement. We’ll just pick right up where we left off two weeks ago, since in Magical Vince Land everything is made up and nothing matters!
Get this week’s detailed sales numbers at Metal Insider.
1. ↔ Ghost / Peak: 1 / Last Week: 2 / Weeks On: 7
Albums sold: 2,225 (Infestissumam, week three)
Facebook: 5.7% Fan Activity (118,493 likes · 6,769 talking about this)
YouTube: 800,000 (“Secular Haze” official video)
I’ve heard through the grapevine that Universal is very much NOT pleased with Ghost’s 15k first week sales performance. What the fuck were they expecting?? Oh, you mean to imply that spending a $750k advance (plus God knows how much on advertising, marketing, videos, staff work hours, etc) on this band was foolish? You don’t say. Still, by our standards they’re fucking killing it. The record is still selling and the Facebook (down from 10%) and YouTube (up from 700k) metrics look pretty solid.
2. ↑ The Ocean / Peak: 2 / Last Week: 3 / Weeks On: 6
Albums sold: 1,775 (Pelagial, debut)
Facebook: 14.4% Fan Activity (32,892 likes · 4,759 talking about this)
YouTube: 54,000 (“Bathyalpelagic II” official premiere)
That FB Fan Activity number is incredible. The band is picking up Facebook likes AND getting more people to actively talk about them. That’s the sign of a band on the rise with plenty of buzz. 1,775 units isn’t going to pad anyone’s pockets, but it’s a solid number for this band and represents a step in the right direction. Big things ahead with Summer Slaughter, et al.
3. H.I.M. / Peak: 3 / Last Week: n/a / Weeks On: 1
Albums sold: 20,200 (Tears on Tape, debut)
Facebook: 2.8% Fan Activity (1,529,600 likes · 44,276 talking about this)
YouTube: 352,000 views (“Tears on Tape” official video)
That’s a monstrous sales number but a low FB Fan Activity index. What does that tell us? The band’s existing fans are highly engaged but they’re not gaining any new ones. Which sounds about right for H.I.M. these days.
4. ↓ Killswitch Engage / Peak: 1 / Last Week: 2 / Weeks On: 6
Albums sold: 4,125 (Disarm the Descent, week five)
Facebook: 1.2% Fan Activity (2,093,187 likes · 24,420 talking about this)
YouTube: 977,000 (“In Due Time” official video)
Still going pretty strong five weeks in. The FB activity is low but that’s always been the case for this band.
5. ↑ The Dillinger Escape Plan / Peak: 5 / Last Week: 8 / Weeks On: 2
Albums sold: 0 (One of Us is the Killer, May 14)
Facebook: 6.3% Fan Activity (180,393 likes · 11,395 talking about this)
YouTube: 178,000 (“When I Lost My Bet” official video)
FB fan activity dropped from 13.9% but that was never gonna last, and 6.3% is still solid (plus I’m sure it’ll go back up again as the album release draws near anyway). Video views doubled in two weeks’ time.
6. ↔ Anciients / Peak: 6 / Last Week: 6 / Weeks On: 4
Albums sold: no data (Heart of Oak, week three)
Facebook: 11.4% Fan Activity (3,809 likes · 438 talking about this)
YouTube: nothing official, but rips of the album tracks are doing well (~8k views each)
This position is based on nothing other than buzz. The band has a really positive perception right now.
7. ↔ Shining / Peak: 6 / Last Week: 7 / Weeks On: 5
Albums sold: who knows? (One One One, out different dates in different places)
Facebook: 3.9% Fan Activity (13,126 likes · 524 talking about this)
YouTube: 38,00 (“I Won’t Forget” official video)
It’s been really tough to follow the progress of this band’s buzz profile, whatwith such a disjointed album release schedule. But it doesn’t seem like Prosthetic’s had a hard time convincing U.S. media outlets to continue writing about the band even though the album’s already been out elsewhere (aka everywhere) for a while, and it’s been effective in keeping the band visible, so that’s good.
8. ↑ Alice in Chains / Peak: 8 / Last Week: 10 / Weeks On: 3
Albums sold: 0 (The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, May 28)
Facebook: 1.1% Fan Activity (3,454,568 likes · 39,010 talking about this)
YouTube: 637,000 (“Stone” official video)
A bit of a lull in the album promotion run-up, but I expect things to kick back into gear again very soon.
9. Frankie Palmeri / Peak: 9 / Last Week: n/a / Weeks On: 1
Albums sold: who cares?
Facebook (Emmure): 0.8% (441,940 likes · 3,906 talking about this)
YouTube: 217,000 (Electrocution video from Russia)
Frankie Palmeri has now eclipsed Emmure as a brand.
10. Arsis / Peak: 10 / Last Week: n/a / Weeks On: 1
Albums sold: 1,000 (Unwelcome, debut)
Facebook: 6.2% (52,061 likes · 3,276 talking about this)
YouTube: 11,000 (“Unwelcome” lyric video)
I don’t have historical sales data for Arsis, but We Are the Nightmare shifted 750 units in its third or fourth week in 2008. So methinks times have gotten tougher for this band. Facebook percentage is solid, though.
