Vital Signs #002
By Tafari West
Breaking Down The Business… By The Numbers
1 GRAMMY Nomination = more $$$
The Grammy Awards ceremony is not just the music industry patting itself on the back, its simply smart business. There is nothing like creating a great, big ole, prime time infomercial to sell more of the “struggling” music industry’s wares.
It’s a fact; a Grammy nomination will provide a major shot in the arm for artist’s record sales and send cash registers singing all over Target and Walmart.
Artists who are lucky enough to capture a nomination usually see small sales gains leading up to the awards ceremonies and significantly more increase if they win or perform on the big stage.
The industry’s big night has created household names out of niche artists (think Ricky Martin in ‘99). Unique or outrageous performances usually result in an increase in sales. This year Beyonce, Pink, Drake, Maxwell and Lady Gaga will enjoy those spoils while Taylor Swift and Kings of Leon will most certainly see a lot more cheese on their royalty statements.
10 Nominations + 6 Grammys = B-Day2010
Soul & R&B fans stand up, we were well represented. Beyonce was the MVP with 6 Grammys and 10 nominations. As a result, Beyonce’s album jumped from 11,082 units sold last week to 16,039 post Grammy Awards (overall sales to date 2,709,737) a 40% increase. Maxwell’s jumped from 6,321 units sold to 7,817 (overall sales to date 975,780); an incredible 24% increase for an album that has been on the charts for 30 weeks.
While I am cynical of an industry that makes BILLIONS annually and still sheds tears for their “sales decline”, I must admit I respect the gangster of the Grammy folks. The show averaged approximately 26 million viewers, an increase of more than 30% over last year’s event. Now that is a great ROI (return on investment) for an infomercial.
Its evident the music industry, even in a weakened state is more relevant to the fans than ever. Also the increase in sales this week means that fans will spend if they have quality music from quality musicians. Musician such as Maxwell and Roberta Flack, Beyonce, Jamie Fox, Charlie Wilson, Lil Wayne, Drake and Em, Black Eye Peas.
4-1 = 3 Taylor Swift won so many awards homegirl even dropped one…!
1 Final Thought: Personal congrats goes out to Kanye West for being responsible for Taylor Swift’s Album of The Year Award… And what’s even more amazing—he did it without producing a single beat or spitting a single over-the-top verse. I can guarantee you that the Grammy board is already planning the Kanye and Ms. Swift’s duet for next year’s show!!!!!
ABOUT THIS AUTHOR
I think Taylor Swift should send Kanye a big thank you gift, (maybe even give him one of those Grammys)and other unknown artists should hire Kanye to bum rush them when they’re accepting an award.
LOl….Kanye could have a new career…
Whether you’re a country music fan or not, you can’t argue with Taylor Swift’s record sales… 15 million worldwide for “Fearless” (9 million more than “I Am… Sasha Fierce”). In this age of illegal downloads, Pandora and YouTube, that’s impressive. Kanye’s drunken ignorant rant made her a household name but the girl has more than held her own. Let her have a moment that she deserves. To quote Jay-Z, “Men lie. Women lie. Numbers don’t lie.” Good for Taylor!
Tafari,you hit the nail on the head. Taylor should be kissing Kanye’s xxx, and trust, next year, will be a TayKan year.
I agree CRYS, she sold a lot of records but Kanye’s foolishness helped cemented her status in the minds of the casual fans…