'Gimme Fiction' debuted at 47 on the billboard 200, but 15 in internet sales.

'Make Believe' on the other hand debuted at 2 on the billboard 200, but 12 in internet sales.

Does anyone else see the subtext there? (Besides, people who buy indie never leave their houses?) The way sales are counted by billboard may be helping to marginalize indie albums. These billboard figures are used by radio stations, magazines, promoters etc to decide what to invest more in. (Even record labels).

I'm starting to think more and more that indie like Spoon could sell mainstream if it weren't actively being marginalized by the record industry.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bobthespirit,

You have Spoon backwards. I was sitting here for like 10 minutes trying to figure out how those numbers supported your argument before I went and checked myself.

Anyways, I always figured they just counted up total album sales and used that to come up with the top 200. Internet sales probably don't make up a large portion of all album sales for a band like Weezer, but it does for a band like Spoon. Weezer is selling a lot more albums instore than Spoon or most other indie acts do.

Odds are, most people buying indie releases are doing so online, rather than going instore. Whereas most mainstream releases are bought instore, not online, and in much larger quantities.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
I'm starting to think more and more that indie like Spoon could sell mainstream if it weren't actively being marginalized by the record industry.

How is Spoon being "actively marginalized"? I imagine that they could sell more albums if they were on Geffen, but I'm not sure that means they've been maginalized by the industry. Spoon had an ill-fated soujourn on a major (Elektra for 1996's Telephono) in the 90's (when every alternative band had their ill-fated soujourn with a major!) but, from what I've read, Spoon/Britt seems to be fairly happy with Merge.

This goes back to the "what is indie" discussion, but describing Weezer as "indie" doesn't quite make the distinction between label support clear. Weezer's got the full support of a big label, including Rolling Stone covers, heavy airplay for the single, and distribution in every mall and chain store. Spoon doesn't get anywhere near that, mainly because Merge probably can't afford the media blitz.

If your point is a more trite one, that Spoon could sell as many records as Weezer if they were on a major label, I think you're certainly right about that. I can easily hear "Sister Jack" making waves on pop radio...it's a better song that "Beverly Hills" by far.

I'm saying that the data is being interpreted in such a way that things outside the current mainstream genres are not being given credit where credit is due.

It's a fact that if a movie comes in #1 at the box office, people will think it might be better just because a lot of other people went to see it. Same thing with albums.

The singles chart is worse. It's most heavily airplay based (Though recently internet downloads are taken into account). Which automatically gives hip-hop a huge advantage just because there are so many more hip-hop stations.

I'm not sure how the data is being "interpreted" here...isn't it the case that, regardless of what charts you look at, that Weezer will outsell Spoon? Soundscan isn't supposed to give credit...it's supposed to track sales volume. That's it. Whether or not that should matter to anyone is an open question...but I'm not sure I get your complaint here. If it's a complaint about the status of the charts, I agree with you. Commerical radio sucks, MTV is boring, and lots of good bands aren't nearly as popular as they should be. But to claim that Spoon's sales volume is being underestimated, which you seem to imply, in an effort to keep Spoon out the public eye seems ridiculous.

You're certainly right that there are some people out there who like what tops the charts, fairly thoughtlessly. But I'm willing to bet there are just as many people who thoughtlessly like/buy what some other source tells them to (Pitchfork, Metacritic ratings, etc). If you buy Spoon because the critics like Spoon, you're really no different than the person who buys Weezer because it tops the Soundscan or Billboard charts. Some people may take it even further...they might LIKE Spoon more because they've been primed by good reviews.

Point of interest: the much-discussed System of a Down record will top the Billboard charts next week, with sales of between 400000-450000.

I'm not exactly sure this has a lot to do with this discussion, but Spoon seem to be pushed pretty hard across the board. I was in Target yesterday and the new Spoon record was one of their featured albums. They must have had at least 15 copies of it, and they were selling it for $8.99. I'd say at the point when you have large quantities of your latest album in one of the biggest chain retail stores in the country, and are even front and center in a seperate display tucked neatly between Maria Carey and The Killers, you are competing on a pretty high level.

I was impressed, and pleasantly surprised, that they debuted as high as they did.

I think with a different kind of push, they could easily be played on many of the radio stations in my town, although the previous two record probably had more radio-friendly singles on them than Gimme Fiction. I hear them played on XM Radio often.