Which Came First, The Chicken Or The Egg?
SMOKE BREAK By MZ on November 18, 2009 at 12:57 pm
According to Soundscan, Attention Deficit sold 28,100 copies last week. In this day and age, when album sales are as tough to pick as the winning lotto numbers it’s hard to gauge what’s a success or failure. But when you come to find out that only 30,000 were shipped it can cause one to stop and scratch their head in puzzlement for a second. So the question needs to be asked whose fault is it.
The chicken (Interscope)? Or the egg (Wale/Attention Deficit)?
“This is my biography. It’s honest. Raw emotion. It’s close to me. That’s why part of me will be a little offended if it doesn’t get heard. I don’t want people to take lack of sales as me taking a hit. This is something different. My label is letting me put out an album with a single that released seven months ago. We’re not going for first week sales. We’re only shipping out 30,000 of them. We’re going for that grind. We’re showing people that you can build a fan base the old fashioned way.” – Wale in Honey Magazine
Sure “Chillin’” didn’t set the world on fire (although it does get spins), but there wasn’t much more Wale could have done. He’s made countless high profile media appearances & been on tour with Jay-Z for the last few months. I know for a fact that he was touring before that, because I’ve seen him myself twice this summer. He’s put out new material outside of the album and has been featured on other prominent artists’ work. So dude’s done his due diligence in regards to going out and keeping his self in the forefront. Since I don’t have idea on the particulars on his contract, it appears he’s saying the right things about his album being under shipped, because you’d think he’d want units sold to recoup. Or is recouping a thing of the past nowadays?
In my mind, the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of the record label. Because if 30,000 is the amount they actually decided to ship out, they severely under shipped it. As it stands, 93% of the copies put out were sold, leaving roughly 1,99 copies on store shelves scattered across the country. I mean, 30,000 copies break down to 600 copies per state. What crackerjack executive had the envious task of diving up where the album went? You’d think they’d be able to sell 30,000 in the DMV area alone. And if they got extra copies, then it’d only makes fewer copies available for everywhere else.
Meaning people probably went out looking for the album and left the store empty-handed. I was not one of them, despite my affinity for the album. I’ve gotten into the habit of picking up multiple albums at a time when the mood strikes instead of running to Best Buy or Target every week. So I can appreciate wanting to keep album sales going week after week. . Hopefully, the old fashioned way will work for Wale & Interscope, but it hasn’t worked out too well for many other recently. Those same people, who didn’t find Attention Deficit, might not be so willing to trek out in search of it again. And that’s were under-shipping could come back to bite you.
First week sales don’t make an album a success or even good. But it’s the one time where (barring an Oprah appearance a week or so after your album release) that anything is possible. Maybe Interscope played it right and it would’ve sold that amount if they had shipped out 115,000 copies. We’ll never know now. If you want to win, you have to play the game. It’s hard to play catch-up when you’ve already dug yourself in a hole.
Posted in SMOKE BREAK, THE NEW MODEL — Tags: Attention Deficit, Interscope, Soundscan, Wale
Tweet This
Digg This
Save to delicious
Stumble it
87 Comments
Good point.
I didn’t pick it up last week because I kept hearing that it was undershipped. I’m not gonna drive 8 miles to the nearest best buy to find nothing. That happened when Cudi’s album dropped. Got to the store and nothing. I’m copping Curtis’ latest, so if I see Wale’s album, I’ll cop today.
That said, 28,000+ out of 30,000 ain’t bad at all. I hope it works out cause the guy deserves it.
the m part of the dmv is certainly not holding it down. I have not heard one wale song bumping out of anyone’s car but my own. Im talking even on the damn radio. Folks around here are bammas. Too many haters.
Theres no hate.Hey Panda, just enjoy your CD. As long as ppl got the CD and enjoying it somewhere on the Earth. Its good for the area. I think the fact that its only 100 copies left is a success.Im not a big fan of dude but Im glad to see a local do good!
I copped.
Bought Cudi (along with Jay & Rae) as well.
The freshmen I like, I’ve tried to make it a point to support them in stores and when I get a chance to see their shows.
That undershipment thing is some weak ass bullshit.
Because if 30,000 is the amount they actually decided to ship out, they severely under shipped it
==========
Where did this rumor start?
That undershipment thing is some weak ass bullshit.
————————————————————————
Man, everytime I see that movie on Tv I start watching and get sucked in, knowing I’ma be salty the rest of the day/night when G-Baby dies.
Well, Wale said his self in the Honey interview which is in the block quote. I’m not sure they only shipped 30,000. but it probably was a low amount.
I actually tried to go cop this and had no luck. Spent the bread on some fuego lunch instead.
support wale by any means necessary. digital or retail…choose one.
Cosign Gotty….
I really like Wale and was dissapointing reading this but it wont alter my outlook on the album as a whole. He had me hooked since I heard Mixtape about nothing….
If true, shipping numbers that low is ridiculous. It benefits nobody in this day and age. It’s not as if albums are a prized commodity where one’s desire for the item is maintained or increased while supply is low. These days if it can’t be found on the shelves, you can bet people are just going to download it. Plus I’m certain a significant amount of sales are incidental, with people buying an album after catching it out of the corner of their eye at their favorite retailer.
They shipped what they thought it would sell. Why would they under ship an album they thought was going to do big numbers?
ya this looks wak to the public, but the label knows that they fucked up. question is 1) will they learn from their mistake and not fuck it up the 2nd time round 2) will they even keep him knowin lack of pop appeal he has even tho he’s obviously talented 3) will they smarten up and finally market him as the artist he really is, not this other bs they want to make him out to b… cuz thats the only way he’ll blow up
i think the albums dope, and it the only missteps on it were obvious label moves (i.e. let it loose). his next single should b either Shades (somethin different to stand out à la Kanye’s jesus walks) Diary (anotha incredible trak that would appeal to girls and niggas can still fuk wit) or Beautiful Bliss (jus a straight up dope trak).
regardless i wish this nigga the best of luck, hopin i get to hear his music 4 many yrs to come
Shipping numbers are determined based off radio play. Its how they see how popular they think you are in every region. Soundscan also counts digital album sales, so that 28k number includes itunes and not just physical cd copies. It’s crazy though, just 5 years ago they probably would have shipped 150-200k units on an artist like Wale.
Damn good piece, MZ. I tried going to the local Target near my apartment and they didn’t even have the album…and I live in the DMV.
He definitely got screwed over with this move. 600 per state? C’mon son…
“Last album they don’t like me to tell this/ They undershipped my record, they ain’t expect me to sell shit…”–Juelz
Maryland is def showin Wale love an I been listenin 2 him ever since he started makin mixtapes an continue 2 listen 2 him an show support for our artist been 2 a couple of his shows and of course bought da album
Shades is definitely a good single choice. It’s something of substance that may not drastically increase sales but it’ll establish dude as an artist, not some no hit wonder and that will attract real heads.
But meaningful content in Hip-Hop rarely gets that kinda look from the majors.
U know what this means? If this albums turns out to be a gem, 1st pressings will become collectors items. Cop two if you can find em. In south FLA, half the people listen to electronic/dance and the other listen to your average radio shit so I bet there plenty of Wale on the shelves over here. I’m coppin and hittin up eBay.
^
So they do include digital sales as well now? Wasn’t sure. But you’d think they ship out more regardless, they’re gonna have to restock anyway. Just goes to show how archaic the system is.
Now all we need is for Mickey Factz and B.O.B. to release an album. Oh and Drake. He’s not in the Freshman group but I need that one ASAP.
You would think if the label makes a point to only ship limited number of copies then the artist should get more points …
Hasn’t this happened with all of the freshman so far? (not sure on Cudi) but the same happened with Asher Roth as well. Although from what I remember, they shipped double the amount at least of what Wale got….
Cudi sold 100K+ first week.
shit was sold out in CT everywhere, unless CT just didnt get any copies lol. shippin 30k is a joke should have been at least a 100K
@SalCal, the Asher Roth album is stacked good and proper at HMV, they even got it as part of their SALES section.
The Kid Cudi is also well stacked on the shelves.
But the Wale album wasn’t in the new releases section, nor have I spotted it within the Urban Releases rack in the HMV store, but the fact that it’s only available as an import on Play, sums it up for me.
How can you expect the artist to succeed if you ain’t pushing the product right? I know we live in an era of digital downloads, but man that album should be stacked good and proper in stores.
The label let themselves down, let down the fans and above all they let down Wale.
I could see this easily shifting 250k units and once it hits the sales rack in about two months, I think it would have gone gold (at least).
I don’t believe that 30,000 was shipped. That’s a ploy to make his numbers seem more commendable. All the marketing this negro had and he only gets 30,000 shipped. yeah right. I call bs on this one. This is a new scheme that the record companies are trying as an excuse to make up for “bad” sales because they can’t afford to buy their own records anymore
Tried to grab a copy in WEST VIRGINIA!!! and came up short… smh…
Interscope = fail
smh…
I went to Soundwaves, 2 Targets, and a Best Buys looking for this album to no avail. I finally decided to wait it out and buy it from Amazon. Now imagine that you don’t have love for dude, but you’re interested in the album. You’re not going to go to several stores.
As an older friend of mine would say, “That shit is REE-DIC!”
This is a new scheme that the record companies are trying as an excuse to make up for “bad” sales because they can’t afford to buy their own records anymore
…………………………………….
on point
@ a-game they said it even b4 the album came out that only 30k was shipped so it aint no lie. check out this article where an Interscope marketin exec admits wale had more hype then they expected, it’s a good read
http://www.hiphoppress.com/2009/11/wales-attention-deficit-debut-album-scores-an-attentiongetting-first-week-with-sales-of-28077.html
So where’s the review?
All the Best Buys in Bay Area got TWO copies each. There are like 8-10 stores too. My lil’ brother is still looking for it. Good album too. It made me a fan finally after all the mixtapes.
fuuuuuuuck.
I seen the album at my local FYE…I shoulda bought it when I had the chance…I was waiting til that next paycheck (got bills to pay, yo)…..but damn…I may have to break my lil college student bank for the album now that I know only 30,000 were shipped…hopefully that album is still there by the end of the week.
if anything…the album could become a collectible frisbee in the annals hip-hop lore?
or just a lucrative album that hasn’t become widely available….yet.
and yeah…where the review at?!?!? Being non-biased….4 CIGS is well worth the merit for Attention: Deficit!!!!
I hope Wale reads this and comments.
Great piece. Great point.
When i get paid of Friday, I have every intention of going to FYE ($10 for every CD) and buying Wale, Cudi and Slaughterhouse. Maybe Royce.
I’d also like to note that I WILL NOT be buying the new CD from one of my favorite rappers, Tech-N9ne, because his album is mediocre. It’s 23(!) tracks, with guests relatively no-name features on 85% of the songs and without a proper single. Not worth ten bucks. MLK was better.
i went looking for it on 3 different occasions at 3 different locations in Metro Atlanta (because my travels caused the BBs to be in convenience to warrant that) as well as Target. Shit was nowhere to be found. I also couldn’t find Melanie Fiona’s album anywhere either. That’s that bullshit. I hit up Amazon for it but it was like 13 plus shipping…no way pal new cds are supposed to be 9.99 first week…so I ended up getting it used for like $7 from one of their vendors.
I haven’t had trouble buying a cd in long ass time
^
LMAO, how you buy a used CD the first week it comes out?
I just picked up 50’s album from Best Buy. No Wale on the shelves and I don’t fuck with that digital shit. If I spend $$$ I need some tangible product. When interscope gets their act together they’ll see my cash. Fans shouldn’t have to go on a never-ending journey to buy some plastic.
i just got back from the mall and no wale.
I live in Chicago, and last Tuesday morning, on my way to work I stopped at the Best Buy on Armitage (same Best Buy I saw Lupe Fiasco at, he was in line copping Nas’ Hip Hop Is Dead” in front of me). Not only was it not in the new releases, there was only 2 in stock, and this was right when they opened. being a early 90s hip hop head, I still enjoy buying the actual cd.. Hell, I saved my lunch money for a week, eating peoples leftovers to go buy Midnight Marauders from Tribe in High School… I would have been pissed if I didn’t get an actual cd.
I started seeing on twitter more and more people complaining that they couldn’t find it anywhere. I’ve been a fan of Wale for a while, even saw him at Abbey Pub back in April.. he’s very dope live and I’d love to go out and see him live again.
A few days ago, this dude calls my store looking for Wale’s album.. (I sell Greek music only). Anyway, I gave him some advice on where to get it, and warned him that it might not be stocked at some places cuz I heard they undershipped.
I hope homie ended up finding the cd.. I told him it was very good and its worth copping.
I went to BestBuy, they said they had 6 left but NO ONE could find it on the racks, I looked for damn 30mins before calling it a quits.. I tried
dude got under shipped like crazy. his buzz is huge, it’s def on the label. wale did what he needed to do. i’ve looked high and low and couldn’t find it anywhere and i’m a fan of physical cd’s not the mp3
The Best Buy I went to in Maryland only had two copies when I got there in the evening. Not sure why labels are under shipping ish. Cudi’s joint was stocked properly, but they messed up the deluxe edition (quickly took that back and exchanged within a week).
Its good music. Don’t expect this type of album next go around. He puts out a good piece of music and can’t find/people don’t cop. He will go in the radio direction next time.
WALE….. YOU NEED TO GET RID OF YOUR ONTOURAGE……. GET RID OF ALL THOSE LEAKING ASS MUTHA FREAKING ASS BITAAAAAAAAAACH ASS NIGZ…….OR WIGZ… THIS IS JUSTJAMES FROM L.A. SIMPLY MENTIONING THAT BECAUSE OF THE LEAK OF YOUR ALBUM… YOU SUCKED PENIS IN SALES. THANKS TO YOUR CLOSEST PEEPS…. YOU CAN’T MAKE SALES… NOW YOU HAVE TO BE WATCHING YOUR LABEL SO THEY DON’T DROP YOU…. GOOD LUCK TO YOU AND YOUR MOVEMENT….. U ARE REAL HIP HOP…. I SUPPORT YOU AND NO ONE ELSE IN YOUR CREW……….. GOOD LUCK!
PREACH !!!!!!!!!
My Best Buy didn’t have it down here in TX, had to resort to coppin off itunes
I see they have it on amazon.com. Either you don’t have internet or yoru not really supporting. U can order it from there and have it in 4 or 5 days. they even got used ones on there. I know now a days people still like having physical copies but you can also get the download off itunes or wherever. The label said they trying to build him as an artist and build slowly so we’ll see if ya’ll buy it when it is in stores. he’s lame and the album ain’t that great so that’s why it ain’t sell. how about slaughterhouse or any other artists? Fashawn? who is really doing numbers? mainstream people. Jay z and fiddy. face it.
28,000 is really impressive for Wale…this definitely isn’t a dissapointment considering he gets no airplay and isn’t even that hyped up…I personally don’t think he’s as talented as Fashawn, who someone mentioned before….there were at least 20 albums that came out this year that are better than AD
Undershipped??? Fucking bullshit my ninjaz!!! There’s a TON of copies of “Attention Deficit” sitting up here in Canada at almost every HMV store; send me the ka-ching$$$ and you’ll have a copy ASAP.
PS: If you want to talk about undershipped albums then let’s talk about the Raekwon album, not to mention the Cormega album!!! Both of those releases were sold out in stores for weeks on end up here in Toronto, couldn’t find ‘em anywhere unless you pre-ordered.
they should include zshare/usershare/megaupload/rapidshare/etc. numbers in the soundscan.
The 600 distribution to each state is inaccurate.
You would not believe this but there was a time when the Outkast and The Fugees would SoundScan 12-25 copies in an entire state (and even less than that in others).
You do not evenly distribute albums. You ship the most units to where they are most likely to be purchased.
(For instance, you do not ship 600 units to Nebraska… you just do not do it)
I was pretty sure it wasn’t 600 per state, but I was just trying to break it down. I really wanted to pick your brain on this while I was writing it TRA.
Not sure what that one cat is going on about, but tons of spots in Toronto had more than enough copies of Rae’s album. I was able to get Wale’s on first attempt as well.
Well Folks – It is official … Canada is now more Hip Hop than the U.S.
I will now get back to work to keep from mourning.
Y’all do know you can check whether it’s in stock on the Best Buy site, right? Lazy ass employees hadn’t stocked it the first time I went, but I had class so I didn’t cop. Second time I asked someone, and they got it out of the back for me. It’s a damn shame when they have copies of the album but don’t even put em on the shelves.
And if labels are shipping off radio numbers alone, how come I saw ~30 copies of Warning Shots 2? I know that he released it on an independent so they may do things differently, but how the hell does Saigon get more copies on the shelf than Wale?
Even if the album isn’t your favorite piece of work of his, you should feel obligated to buy it after all the classic mixtapes he’s given us. We got those for free.99, the least we can do is support now.
speaking as someone from the M part of the DMV… i attempted to pick up this album on the release date to find no copies of it, and then found the same situation when i went out this week to pick up the Rakim album. luckily for me the internet allowed me to purchase it, because it seems like a pretty common situation
I dont really like the music.
I fuxt with B.O.B (barely) but Wale & Cudi just dont have any interest to me. Im trying my hardest to co-sign pill at the moment but theres only a couple tracks off both those tapes that i can repeatedly listen to. the rest just sounds like shit i heard a million times before.
no hate or anything im just not particularily interneterested thats all
^^ same with Drake actually, seems like the internet people are just desperate to champion / discover the next big new thing, but then the emperors new clothes start to looking a little see-through…….
its a premature internet hype thing right
havent found it in KY yet…
@ ATI: Oh yeah? I guess you were one of the lucky ones to get Rae’s album first because on the release date it was sold out. I have friends who own/work at stores so I ain’t bullshitin’ my ninja.
how bout,Wale just aint that good.
if there was no j cole or drake wale wouldve done much better. my word
The Epic fail of Wale.
1. Wale isn’t as talented as alot of his fans think. People who know him know that he doesn’t come up with all these “great” concepts himself. It’s these jew boys like his manager and Ronson and other people behind the scenes telling him to do Seinfeld mixtapes, songs about skin tones and cali jumpoffs, and strategic songs with artists like Gucci Mane. I know people who know Wale, Cudi, and Drake and from what they tell me Wale is definitely the least inherently talented of the three.
2. Dude has always had a shitty attitude. Dude is mad arrogant but wants people to believe he’s this humble dude. It’s all a marketing scheme (shout to elitaste). Come across humble and seem personable so the consumers can relate to you. Watch early footage of him on youtube from when he was with Studio 43. Definitely not humble. Dude is in the club taking his sneakers off and holding them up. WTF? GETHIMOUTTAHERE! I remember way back him saying “my SB’s cost close to G?” Who pays $1000 for some sneakers that aren’t designer? But now he’s doing ‘deep’ songs, gethimouttahere. Wale runs his mouth way too much. I’m surprised nobody has put a nike boot on his face yet.
3. There’s no excuse for him to complain and be mad. Dude performed on the VMA’s and BET Awards (what was up with that wack ass cypher freestyle…El-Amiiiin?), performed on numerous talk shows, done appearances and interviews on MTV, video is getting spins on MTV Jams, he’s on tour with Jay-Z. What else do you need for promotion? True he only had one single out but so did Cudi. Just accept you have no talent and you didn’t move units.
4. The reason he gets no love in his own hometown is b/c people there see through his smoke screen. Why you think he gets no airplay on the radio there? He already rubbed all those DJ’s the wrong way with his stank attitude. And the real DC heads ain’t rockin with him. Maybe people the pseudo hipsters or “I listen to whatever is on the radio” type of people.
5. He name drops almost as much as Game, that ain’t poppin my G. But did you ever notice no other artists name drop him? Hmmmm.
6. He can ride a beat, has a flow, and his words actually “rhyme” but he doesn’t really say much in his songs. I think a lot of people get blinded by his flow, which is somewhat understandable. It’s like a boxing match. He’ll hit you with a flurry and he’s somewhat graceful but none of the punches are connecting or doing any real damage.
7. “You got a lot of cars, well I got a lot.” Nuff said. I don’t care if he means an actual lot of cars, that rhyme should never be uttered from someone’s mouth.
I went to best buy to by that shit and they didnt have it, didnt even have a section for it
i didn’t cop the album only cuz im broke. ill be pickin it up as soon as i get paid tho
Well, apparently 56% of the copies sold of the album were digital, which means that only 12,364 physical copies of the album were sold. Selling just over a third of the shipped copies is not under-shipping in my opinion.
But not shipping to Best Buy was just dumb, I’ll give Wale that.
Youchy –
“6. He can ride a beat, has a flow, and his words actually “rhyme” but he doesn’t really say much in his songs. I think a lot of people get blinded by his flow, which is somewhat understandable. It’s like a boxing match. He’ll hit you with a flurry and he’s somewhat graceful but none of the punches are connecting or doing any real damage.”
thats the nuts and bolts of it right there
It’s the tail end of 2009. Why do people continue to insist that record sales matter?
Wale’s (ie. any rapper/artist in the game today) strengths are in touring and publishing. If he continues to rock sold out club shows like his last tour and possibly move to bigger venues as a support act to GaGa or Hov or whomever, he will see more dividends than if those sales were tripled. If he owns his publishing and gets a couple of his songs in commercials, TV shows, Movies, etc. he will again see more money that those record sales. How much do people think he gets paid per CD? If he sells 100K and only gets a $2 per CD (high end), compare that to doing a 50 show tour w/ merch and coming away with 5,000 per show (low end).
I dl’d and copped Wale along with Trey Songz and Ryan Leslie.
All good purchases in my book. All getting rotation. I’m happy this week.
Out!
ALL my friends love this album but NONE Of my friends legally purchased it. That also explains a lot.
it’s wale’s fault for being really bad.
i don’t buy fakeass club/radio shit. i want real rap.
100k is the new Gold. Do that, that’s enough, for them. new artist (internet’s mixtapes) new generation (web’s gener@tion) new era (internet’s free downloads).
yea that should be bout rite cause wen i went to go get the album 2 days after it dropped it was hard for me to find it. there was like 3 left and they all was in the back. im glad i found it doe cause its a dope cd
Compared to the mixtapes I was def disappointed straight up. Too much record company influence
I’ve been a fan of Wale for a while and I was very disappointed by the album. I was really excited for that live, exciting, unique go-go inspired sound and instead this album sounded generic. I would have bought this if it had that Mixtape About Nothing sound.
Why cant you just blame the album for being GARBAGE!?!?!
Why cant you blame the album for being GARBAGE!?!?!? I know even the Wale supporters know this is disappointment cause this album is bad and not bad meaning good but bad meaning TRASH!!!!
I live in Maryland and I really didn’t hear about this dude until his album dropped. If you don’t get that local support you won’t sell nationally.
Big up to Wale…he doin his thing but My dude J-Mill is crushin a lot of dudes independantly with no backing and is performing all over the DMV….AD is a good album..I think Wale did the best he could do with it…Now the question is,is his best good enough?
The best-buy in my area has a big selection…went there to pick up this CD and it was nowhere to be found. No name card, no shipment on the way…nothing.
nolia.slim if you never heard of wale prior to the album the you must not have been listening to the radio stations that played him, bcuz 93.9 and 95.5 had a few of his songs on heavy rotation. his album is very creative and different from what the dmv is use to hearing from him. i love the cd. everyone should give it a try, i think most will be surprised.