Billboard and Bullets and Soundscan Oh My! Cooking up the Charts

Joined: Sep 2008

Austin, TX

Monday, September 15, 2008 - 18:19

"ahhhh, math. it never lies."
-- David Roland Cook

Welcome to the number nerd thread, official home for all-things charts related. While this thread is, by design, quite focused in terms of topic, it is rarely "just the facts ma'am." Here you will find all nature of Renaissance nerds (™CathyM-K), being effusive and emotional, pragmatic and poetic, inquisitive and inspired by David Cook and the numbers that serve as benchmarks throughout his career.

We are descended from the original and epic David Cook: You Had Me at Hello thread at TWoP, and are therefore sister-thread to the DWoP thread here at DCO. We are set in our TWoPPy ways and thus prefer a certain posting etiquette to make this thread as readable as possible: Please use proper sentence case (no all-caps or no-caps) and proper punctuation. Also, we prefer an image-free thread so please disable graphical sigs when posting, and use links instead of embedded photos. Snark is always accepted in conjunction with numerical analysis.

Chart-watching is a jargon-filled hobby, and we use a lot of different industry terms, acronyms, and nicknames that can take a little time to get comfortable with. If you're confused about anything you read here, check-out the handy CJT Glossary, maintained by FolkFan. Still not sure what the heck we're talking about? Just post a question to the thread, or send a PM to LadyM for clarification.

Here's what you can expect here:

Mediabase updates on any tracks currently seeing radio airplay will be posted daily, with published chart positions released on Mondays.
Album sales estimates from Hits Daily Double are posted Fridays, Mondays and Tuesdays as they come in.
Official Soundscan sales reports for singles and albums are generally leaked on Wednesdays.
Billboard Charts are published on Thursday and generally leak late Wednesday.

Any other day? Come join the party for insights and analysis on industry trends, promotional strategies, comparing/contrasting David's success to other artists and past Idols, etc. So break out your spreadsheets and your dog-eared copies of 'Billboard's Guide to Hot-100 Hits,' 'cause it's gonna get analytical up in here.

Some helpful general resources for the purposes of this discussion:

A run-down of Billboard Chart Methodology
Recurrent Rules for songs appearing on Billboard radio airplay charts.
Mediabase rolling charts for Top-40, AC, HAC, Alternative, Mainstream Rock, Active Rock, and AAA radio formats.
All Access (free membership required) for Mediabase summaries, Callout scores, Playlist adds, Spincrease charts, Future release dates, etc.
Real-time feeds of the Top Songs, Top Albums, Top Videos, Top Songs (Pop), Top Albums (Pop), Top Songs (Rock), and Top Albums (Rock) on iTunes
Hits Daily Double (source for industry news, weekly album sales estimates, Vibe-rators rankings, etc.)
Radio Market Rankings and Station Format Listings (Courtesy of R&R)
Contact info for PDs/MDs at Active/Mainstream Rock stations and CHR/HAC stations.

How are sales? Has he gone Gold or Platinum yet? How is he doing on the Billboard charts?

Weekly Sales & Billboard Chart History for 'Time of My Life', 'Light On', 'Come Back to Me', 'Permanent', and David Cook (The Record).
Sales vs. Airplay Trend Graphs for 'Time of My Life' and 'Light On'.
Comprehensive sales history/rankings of Past Idol Albums (updated weekly or as numbers are available).

How is DC faring on the radio?

David Cook's Yes.com Channel and the DCO Yes.com Chat Forum (Watch in real-time as TOML, LO, or CBTM are played across the country).
Mediabase QuickCut Reports (summary of spins across all formats) for 'Time of My Life', 'Light On', 'Come Back to Me', and 'Bar-ba-Sol'.
Mediabase Add Reports (real-time playlist adds and add history) for 'Time of My Life', 'Light On', 'Come Back to Me', and 'Bar-ba-Sol'.
Queenjaclyn's Comparative Graph of Radio Trends for all DC Singles (currently tracking TOML and LO).
MediaBase Request Form (replace the "XXXX" in your browser's address bar with the call letters of your target radio station (Radio-locator.com) and change "FM" to "AM" when appropriate)
Request Come Back To Me on The Pulse (or 1-877-50-PULSE) and Sirius Hits 1 (or call 1-877-MY-HITS1). Request Bar-Ba-Sol on Sirius/XM Octane (or call 1-888-3-OCTANE).

Historical Charts/Graphs:

Billboard Chart Positions & Sales Post AI7 Finale (David Cook's record-breaking assault on the Billboard Charts).
Sales totals and Hot 100 chart history for all American Idol Coronation Singles (TOML = best-selling coronation song in Idol history).
Queenjaclyn's Billboard Hot-100 Comparison Graph of all Idol Coronation Songs (TOML moved to recurrent 10/25/08).
Sales & Billboard Chart History for DCTR Album Tracks.
DC's position on 2008 End-of-Year Charts (includes Billboard, Mediabase, R&R, Soundscan, Google, and others).

**************************************************************
Weekly sales snapshot (numbers updated as leaked or reported - last update 7/16/10):

Off-chart: DCTR - Last known total = 1,310,000
Off-chart: COME BACK TO ME - Last known total = 489,000
Off-chart: LIGHT ON - Last known total = 1,086,000
Off-chart: TIME OF MY LIFE - Last known total = 1,348,000
Off-chart: PERMANENT - Last known total = 167,104

**************************************************************

Comments for this Forum Topic

Joined: Sep 2008

Kansas City

Friday, July 30, 2010 - 18:09

MaryG:

As David finished up the lead vocals on the first batch of songs for the new album today, DCTR started showing signs of recovery at both iTunes and Amazon. Here are all the updated sales rankings:

Currently at iTunes:
David's album is not on the Top Albums list (#244 in Pop) on this feed:

http://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wpa/MRSS/topalbums/sf=...

CBTM is not on the Top 120 Music Videos list, while CBTM, LO (Album), and TOML (Single) are not on the Top Songs list on this feed:

http://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wpa/MRSS/topsongs/sf=1...

In Pop CBTM is #431, TOML (Single) is #494, and LO (Album) is #632 on the Top Songs list on this feed:

http://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wpa/MRSS/topsongs/sf=1...

Currently at Amazon:

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #901 in Music (Up from #1,324 - Amazon's current sales price is $10.97)
#10 in Music > Alternative Rock > American Alternative > Post Grunge
#62 in Music > Pop > Adult Alternative
N/A in Rock

Amazon MP3 Top download rankings:

DCTR - #106 (Sales price is $5.00)

LO (Album) - #1,726
CBTM - #1,803
TOML (Single) - #2,297
TOML (Album) - #2,437

Currently, at Walmart:
David's exclusive track album is not on the Top Sellers list

Walmart MP3 Downloads:
David's exclusive track album is not on the Top Album Downloads list, while CBTM is not on the Top 100 Song Downloads list

Currently, at Target:
David's album is not on the Top Sellers list in Rock, and not on the Top Sellers list in Pop

Currently at Tower Records:
David's album is not on the Music Top 100 list

Currently at Best Buy:
David's album is not on the Best Selling (Top 250) list

Currently at Borders:
David's album is not on the Music Bestsellers Top 150 list

Currently at FYE:
David's album is not on the Top Sellers list

Currently at Barnes and Noble:
David's album is not on the Music Bestsellers list

Currently on Twitter:
David (@thedavidcook) has 136,082 followers

VH1 Top 20 Countdown:
David does not currently have a video on the Countdown. It's time to look forward to the next single and video, and be ready to vote.
Link:
http://www.vh1.com/shows/series/top_20_countdown/vote.jhtml

AOL Streaming counts toward the Billboard Hot 100, so let's stream big here!
Links:
http://music.aol.com/song/come-back-to-me/11560011===

Donate to David and his Team in the Race For Hope - DC
Link:
http://www.braintumorcommunity.org/site/TR/Events/RFH-DC?px=1754121&pg=p...

Joined: Oct 2008

Baltimore, MD

United States

Friday, July 30, 2010 - 07:31

janlin:

We need a new CD or single to track. Is it release day yet???

Joined: Sep 2008

Atlanta, GA

Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 18:01

FolkFan:

@magicrainbow: More tequila, BBS. Keep it coming.

@ydniW: ?pu s'thaW

@Windy: The Rainbow wasn't on the Billboard AC Recurrent chart. First time that's happened outside of the Christmas freeze.

@magicrainbow: Dublin, go fetch some PBR.

@ydniW: .ytterp toN

@Windy: True. So, who's going to remind the Rainbow that, as a creature of light, he is incapable of getting drunk?

@zenny: That would not be wise. Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

@heroes: I am *so* not going to come down, down off of these clouds any time soon.

@zenny: Later guys. I'm off to hide my stash of meditation pillows....

@dctd: Fetched zenny's meditation pillow stash for Rainbow friend.

@magicrainbow: [Roar of flames] Thanks, Dublin. I feel marginally better. Now about that beer?

--
CJT Glossary.

Magic Rainbow thread.

Joined: Sep 2008

Kansas City

Thursday, July 29, 2010 - 17:37

MaryG:

Unfortunately, DCTR appears to again be headed in the wrong direction today. Here are all the updated sales rankings:

Currently at iTunes:
David's album is not on the Top Albums list (#309 in Pop) on this feed:

http://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wpa/MRSS/topalbums/sf=...

CBTM is not on the Top 120 Music Videos list, while CBTM, LO (Album), and TOML (Single) are not on the Top Songs list on this feed:

http://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wpa/MRSS/topsongs/sf=1...

In Pop CBTM is #394, TOML (Single) is #469, and LO (Album) is #636 on the Top Songs list on this feed:

http://ax.itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wpa/MRSS/topsongs/sf=1...

Currently at Amazon:

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,324 in Music (Down from #1,069 - Amazon's current sales price is $10.97)
#17 in Music > Alternative Rock > American Alternative > Post Grunge
#94 in Music > Pop > Adult Alternative
N/A in Rock

Amazon MP3 Top download rankings:

DCTR - #172 (Sales price is $5.00)

CBTM - #1,467
LO (Album) - #2,298
TOML (Album) - #2,592
TOML (Single) - #4,875