West Side Story - Charts and Sales

[Dave]

Hi guys,

Following a comment by Roger in another thread not long ago, I thought it was time to start a chart and sales performance thread for the album and here in the WSS sub-board is probably a better place (for now) than the main Chart & Sales board.

I'll kick this off with the current Amazon UK rankings:

Main Amazon album ranking is: no. 109 (it's been higher).

Prerelease ranking is: missing.. but they've just corrected the release date to 13 August so it should appear here in a day or two. If it was in there now, it would be around no. 6 prerelease.

HMV has it in their Specialty prerelease chart at no. 2, just behind High School Musical 2 which comes out on the same day.

Cheers, Dave

[Mark]

Hi Dave

Thanks for the info so far and for starting the thread. I look forward to the updates

Best regards
Mark

[susieq]

Hi everyone...i confess I couldnt wait until my disc arrives later this month....so I have downloaded the album from Napster

I know...I am a huge fan of having an acutual disc and mine is still on order but I do wonder is these will become a thing of the past sadly.

anyway...the West Side Story website has links to where you can download the album or individual tracks

www.westsidestory2007.com/

and it is fabulous...all the tracks are just wonderful and I feel sure Bernstein will be smiling... i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Congratulations to Hayley, Vittorio and all the other talented musicians, singers and technical whizzkids who have put this album together...


ps...Hayleys version of "I have a love" will send shivers down your spine....wonderful xx

[Dave]

I hate to be negative about anything Hayley but facts are facts.

Less than two days before release date, WSS is ranked #248 at Amazon UK and #16 prerelease. That's poor for a major release and implies little or no advertising pre-release (has anyone seen any?).

Treasure was in the top 10 overall and top 3 prelease at this stage. The two week delay to release date after all the promotional activity in July seems to have knocked the stuffing out of this release and it has the makings of a poor chart performance unless things are done in the next few days.

We can only hope that Decca have a masterplan and some highly visible (and expensive) promotion planned for the nexrt few weeks but I've seen no indication of this so far. It is imperative that it's stocked by the major supermarkets and general stores, supported by TV advertisng.

So keep your eyes open, UK folks, and please report back on the TV advertising front (especially Sunday evening) and where the Supermarkets and record shops place it in their in-house charts on Monday. I've read that WH Smith will be promoting it so that's good, let's hope they aren't the only ones!

Cheers, Dave

[Richard]

Hello Dave!

I'll check HMV, Virgin and Borders when I buy the album tomorrow.

Fingers crossed! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Richard

[Martin]

dave said:

We can only hope that Decca have a masterplan and some highly visible (and expensive) promotion planned for the nexrt few weeks but I've seen no indication of this so far. It is imperative that it's stocked by the major supermarkets and general stores, supported by TV advertisng.

Hi Dave
Now this is what I find puzzling. There was considerable media coverage on TV etc. leading up to the FM concert at Woburn. Why so early before release date? Any interest generated then would have evaporated for those potential customers who always purchase on the spur of the moment.

If Decca spent its advertising budget at that time then surely it was premature?

Best wishes
Martin

[roger]

Hi Martin,

We believe all the promotion was arranged before the release date was postponed for two weeks. Had the album been released on the original date (30th July), the timing of the promo would have been just about right.

Roger

[Dori]

...There is still no news, not even a whisper of WWS in NZ so far!!! It's so unfair!

Dori

[Richard]

Hello everybody!

I've just checked the main record stores in Oxford Street. The Virgin Megastore has a small display in the New Releases rack near the entrance, and they are currently selling the CD at £10. I could find no more promotion within the store.

Both branches of HMV are doing a much better job in promoting the album. It is the 'CD of the Week' in the Classical department, with several copies prominently displayed at the top of the Chart rack in both branches. The price is only £9.95, so I saved myself a whole dime at the current exchange rate! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Neither Virgin nor HMV give 'West Side Story' an in-store chart position yet, but I'll look again later in the week. I also visited Borders and drew a complete blank, but I often wonder why they bother to sell CDs at all!

Let's all hope the album sells well and gets into the charts next week.

Best Wishes,

Richard

[roger]

Thanks for the info, Richard. Your results look more hopeful than mine...

WH Smith have it at No 32, priced at £11.99 but it is not prominently displayed.

It is not included in the Sainsburys chart (which goes up to No 130) and therefore, they are not stocking it.

Roger

[Dave]

Hi guys,

I visited my nearest Asda and Tesco megastores and a Sainsbury superstore on Monday evening and... I could see no sign of West Side Story anywhere. Ths means I will have to wait until later this week when, I hope, it will be stocked by WH Smith in my nearest town Fareham. But they are usually £2 more expensive than everywhere else

This also means that there is only a 50/50 chance of it getting to the main album charts (top 75). However, it may be impossible for it to get in the main chart anyway, because it may be classed as a compilation (Various Artists) read on... and check the compilation sections at the stores! However, there could have been an initial coding error so we will have to wait to find out which chart it does appear in on Sunday.

A little bird tells me that WSS sold enough copies yesterday to reach #36 in the midweeks compilation chart! If it had been in the main album chart, it would have been #84, which is OK when you don't get into the Supermarkets. This is the problem... and probably explains why there has been no TV advertising as far as we know. Or the other way round! It would rocket up the chart if at any time UCJ did TV advertising and got the supermarkets to stock it.

Certainly the delayed release date seems to have been a major problem - the clever thing to do is to promote with TV shows and the concert, TV advertise then release, over a period of a few consecutive days but the co-ordination was messed up with WSS and sales have suffered big time, I am certain of it. "Nul points" to UCJ.

However, all may not be lost. The actual anniversary of the Broadway debut of WSS does not occur until 26 September and that will, I think, generate a lot of press reaction maybe TV too. So UCJ may have decided to promote it at that time instead of now. Or at any time between now and then.

We shall see.

Cheers, Dave

[Stephany]

Very interesting, Dave. It is a shame that the CD isn't available in most supermarkets. How do they expect to sell it?
I see that West Side Story is now ranked #115 at Amazon UK but I have no idea if this is supposed to be a 'good' ranking.

Stephany

[Dave]

Hi Stephany, the Amazon UK rankings are a rough but useful guide and #115 is very poor for release week. It has slipped further down since you posted.

Treasure was well inside the top 20 at Amazon in release week, top 10 at one point I think.

Cheers, Dave

[Stephany]

West Side Story is currently No. 12 in the WHSmith UK Top 20 Compilation Chart.
'High School Musical 2' leads the chart - no real surprise there!

See full chart HERE

Stephany

[Dave]

Hi guys,

The new charts are now out and we finally know what chart WSS is in. Here it is:

Classical Compilation Chart - Sunday 19 August 2007

This Week (Last Week) Artist -Title (Weeks in Chart)

01 (NE) VARIOUS ARTISTS - West Side Story (NE)
02 (01) VARIOUS ARTISTS -  Classic Fm Babies (4 weeks)
03 (02) PAVAROTTI/DOMINGO/CARRERAS THE 3 TENORS - (4 weeks)
04 (03) VARIOUS ARTISTS -  Myleene'S Music For Romance (7 weeks)
05 (04) VARIOUS ARTISTS -  Classic Fm At The Movies - The Sequel (14 weeks)
06 (05) VARIOUS ARTISTS -  Ballerina Magic (44 weeks)
07 (06) CARRERAS/DOMINGO/PAVAROTTI WITH MEHTA -  The Essential Collection (4 weeks)
08 (07) VARIOUS -  Classic Fm At The Movies (65 weeks)
09 (08) VARIOUS -  Pavarotti/Domingo/Carreras (258 weeks)
10 (09) VARIOUS ARTISTS -  The Best Cinema Classics Ever (20 weeks)

So well done to Hayley, Vittorio and all other "Various Artists" involved

This album had no TV advertising that I can see and is not stocked by the Supermarkets, where most Hayley sales come from.

Albums in this chart qualify for the Classic FM Chart too, which is announced on Saturday (though sometimes I get a copy on Tuesdays) and from the information I have, it has a good chance of being No. 1 there too (but it isn't certain.)

Cheers, Dave