Hi folks,
after reading many posts about comparing the chart sales of the last 3 studio albums, I just wanted to point out that ABB sales cannot be compared with Babylon for example,
as todays media situation is different from those of the 90`s...
when all the internet hype just came alive.
These days lot of "sales" are hidden and they "dissapear" because of internet, itunes,downloading stuff and so on...
selling the Cd is just one of several ways publishing a new album.

by the way...never seen such a bad and miserable marketing strategy
for publishing a new album like it has been done by Virgin records.
evry public relation student could have made better marketing for ABB than Virgin has done...no album support at all...it even seems as if they want to hide the album from the audience.

That said the ABB album is still selling well worldwide....
and maybe ABB will again hit the charts next summer when the Stones are conqouering europe in 2006.

I agree that the marketing of ABB could have been handled much better right from the start.

Very poor marketing strategy on the release of this album....the Stones should have released it around August 21st to time it with the beginning of the tour in Boston. They did not take advantage of the free publicity that always surrounds the start of their tours. I truthfully think sales would have been better if they had done so.

i think it did as well as it could with todays record buying public..
they hooked up with the nfl and monday night football...nascar auto...and a big tour...
most kids are into rap, etc..and with out a record for the past 8 years...well like in the old days (63--68) if you didn't have a new release every 6 months the teenage kids would forget you...
god, how many hard core stones fans have died in the last 8 years?

i think the album will sell more than many, ie. sir paul, etc..and will sell througout the year with the tour going on..
what the stones need to do is follow up with a new album, after the tour...
keep the name ofn the front page...the kids will see this album and buy the next...

=====and with out a record for the past 8 years...well like in the old days (63--68) if you didn't have a new release every 6 months the teenage kids would forget you... ++++++

Good point. And I think it is still relevant today.

The fact that the Stones with ABB were #1, two weeks, WORLDWIDE without real promotion (yet), even without any video (yet), in my opinion is almost great!!

I agree with Stickydion and it is still in a lot of countries in the top ten.

Yeah, relaese date of the "Here are the RS again and they still are rocking hard in your face" - Single Rough Justice (B-Side Back Of My Hand , 8 minute version) could have been August 1st. Release date of the great new "Stones still can do lots of styles and still write great songs" - album could have been the day after the first Fenway show. Taking all the hype to push that fvcker! No downloading at Virgins official site! Haha, joke of the year. JukeBox!! 100.000 copies lost in space.

I still do like the artwork and the promos and the posters - Virgin always does a great job on that.

There's an 8-minute version of "Back Of My Hand" available someplace? Where can I find that please?

I'm not sure that timing the album's release with the Boston opener is all that effective or important. I take your point about getting their ducks in a row and all that, but I think that fans in other cities may not be so tuned into the Boston date to have it make a difference about when they buy or if they buy the album.

I think it's more important to have micro-campaigns and an ongoing strategy to keep the album in the news and on the radio over the next 8-12 months to insure its success, rather than a big release. This past weekend I saw a tv ad for the album in Toronto, that quite surprised me, given its timing--they played in Toronto a week ago. On the other hand, they're reminding folks who've seen the concert that the album's out there. In addition they've made the news this week by promoting SOL on a soap opera, and while I personally think that soap operas suck and SOL isn't the best of singles or songs, they've made the right move insomuch as they're keeping the music in front of a demo that will likely be interested in their music--women who watch soaps--oh how the world has changed. And of course the Superbowl performance will be another instance of keeping the music in front of people.
So, while the front end of the campaign could have been better run (particularly with the release of a video to support the singles), I think they'll do alright in the longer term. They always do.

In your dreams. Nothing on tape, since there was no tape.
BUT despite the time since B2B (#3 in US, 1.3 million US) they have toured the States FOUR times, so hardly out of the public eye, & (forgetting the live albums NS & LL for a minute, tho the 4Flix box was very big) Forty Licks doubled the sales of B2B, & of all things Jump Back has been on the Billboard chart (substantial overlap w/ 40L, too) for over a year. Why is the marketing so uninspired? The cover is unrecognizeable to the casual music fan of any age, yet NO sticker ("NEW! The ROLLING STONES ABB", or a slipcase or one of those paper bands ID-ing the cd like Ryko used to put on their stuff), or point of sale bins, or cardboard thingys w/ new RS foto, press quotes, etc not to mention a few TV/radio ads for appropriate outlets, where you'd at least hear snippets of new material for a minute as you likely wont hear any of it actually programmed. I've seen nothing of the NFL (dont watch football) - is it effective in focusing on ABB? Hell, Rod scores (just as an example) w/ an older (& way less cred w/ young people than the RS) demo, thanks to the 'high concept' of his last 3, ditto Santana (multiplatinum, at least once) & some others thanks to the superstar guest nonsense, & since Sinatra at least other 'heritage' artists' have had sales spike thanks to the tired old duet concept.

sf37 Wrote:
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> There's an 8-minute version of "Back Of My Hand"
> available someplace? Where can I find that please?


Are you really short of humour? It was wishful thinking.