Kris Allen To Debut Under 85K Copies On First Week

Tuesday, November 24, 2009, 07:54 PM | American Idol 8
Tags: Charts, Debut, Kris Allen

Chart 01-2009-11-24.jpg

The Billboard 200 charts come out on Thursday. Nielsen SoundScan should have numbers tomorrow. However, Hits Daily Double is already predicting that Kris Allen will be the lowest-selling American Idol winner in the first week moving 84,846 copies. Justin Bieber, Carrie Underwood and the soundtrack of Twilight Saga New Moon outsold him.

Jordin Sparks previously held the record with 119,100 copies on her first week, but she went on to sell more than a million copies for her debut album. The worst-selling Idol winner’s debut album for now is Taylor Hicks with 704,000 total.

Wow. Kris Allen did not sell 100,000 on his first week, even with pre-orders.

58 Comments for Kris Allen To Debut Under 85K Copies On First Week

1

ya well music sales in general have decreased 25% since jordins album came out. fact.

alexi on November 24, 2009 at 7:57 pm
2

It’s ok. There is still hope he’ll be successful. There wasn’t much hype for his CD so that didn’t help. once he is songs get lots of radio play, he’ll grow more. he should become more successful in time hopefully.

ps: atleast he sold more than selena gomez’s debut. haha!

whatyou4 on November 24, 2009 at 7:58 pm
3

No worries Rickey will help him

Vix on November 24, 2009 at 7:59 pm
4

Alexi took the words right out of my mouth.

Let’s also note that promotion for Kris was substandard by Idol standards. For instance, in Manila, Adam’s CD is out already, and “Time for Miracles” is playing on MTV Philippines; Justin Bieber & Susan Boyle are also available now. Meanwhile, Kris’ CD is still unavailable, and I’ve been asking about it daily.

ganns on November 24, 2009 at 8:00 pm
5

Yes – Taylor has the lowest total sales, but he has a “PLATINUM RECORD.” They certified Taylor in expectation he wold sell over 1,000,000. Kris will not go platinum. I bet he doesn’t go gold.

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 8:01 pm
6

Whatyou4… There hasn’t been too much PUSH for an idol CD since Kelly’s first CD. Sure, they do shows / performances here and there, but no idol / non-idol has had the push Kelly had. Didn’t she perform FOUR TIMES on idol season 2? WE’ll see, but saying there wasn’t PUSH – that’s the norm for idol.

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 8:03 pm
7

@whatyou4 I think Kris debuting higher than Leona Lewis is more significant =D

Tony on November 24, 2009 at 8:07 pm
8

Are you serious? No Idol album has been promoted as much as Adam’s album.

PA on November 24, 2009 at 8:09 pm
9

I don’t know, but to me that sounds pretty darn good for a week of sales. I doubt Kris isn’t complaining, and all of us that bought it are very happy! I am sure it will continue to sell and somewhere down the line he will have the numbers to satisfy all those who are watching numbers and predicting his future based on a week of sales!

jen on November 24, 2009 at 8:10 pm
10

I disagree PA. It’s OPINION. Why would idol promote the non-winner more than the winner? They wouldn’t. It’s just common sense.

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 8:12 pm
11

non-winners to outsell KRIS…

Clay Aiken – obviously
Daughtry
(I think) Pickler
McPhee
Archie
Probably even Blake Lewis.

RICKEY… You should post this. Sure – sales are lower than they were years ago, but a RAW DATA is a RAW DATA.

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 8:13 pm
12

Jennifer Hudson – ADD HER TO THE LIST!

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 8:18 pm
13

I would also like to say that I expected the low number…the winners’ sales tanked for those years when the winner had a “split” win…
ie: Jordin vs Blake & Kris vs Adam…(we don’t know the actual number of votes; but the hypes between the winners and runner-ups were so close)

…whereas Kelly and Carrie enjoyed high sales when they won by a mile

PS: To refute what I’ve said (lol), David vs David had a split win too (although the number Ryan announced was not a split AT ALL, but the hypes before finale were really close), both enjoyed high sales…altho Cook did sell almost double of Archie on debut week…

Tony on November 24, 2009 at 8:21 pm
14

Add ELLIOTT to the list – and he was on an independent label!

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 8:21 pm
15

Clay Aiken sold a TON of records and that was a 50% / 50% win for Ruben.

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 8:22 pm
16

19 Entertainment has nothing to do with common sense. Not that it matters to me, but it’s easy to see that Adam is the Chosen One this season. But I give up now and wish both Kris and Adam every success.

PA on November 24, 2009 at 8:23 pm
17

Pa… one thing I do agree with is that 19 won’t push anyone they don’t believe it. Perhaps that is what they FEEL about kris. “he can’t possibly be a star.”

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 8:25 pm
18

@DJ Jayito I think Kris is better off without Jive…I’ve done no research, but I don’t think Jive fosters Kris’ type of music…so independent label for Kris might not be a bad idea at all~

Tony on November 24, 2009 at 8:26 pm
19

maybe they should put it on Amazon for 3.99 according to Ricky thats what they do when someones carrer is in trouble….

Adam S. on November 24, 2009 at 8:26 pm
20

Season 7, albums, first week:

Cook approx. 280,000
Archuleta approx. 180,000

PA on November 24, 2009 at 8:26 pm
21

Perhaps.

The $3.99 special is NOT an ADAM deal. You guys need to RESEARCH and not just READ what Rickey says. $3.99 is the AMAZON (MP3 CD DEAL). It has NOTHING to do with ADAM. It’s Amazon trying to PROMOTE / PUSH their mp3 service! The FULL CD for ADAM is still 9.99. GO TO AMAZON AND LOOK FOR YOURSELF! Don’t just take what rickey said as LAW!

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 8:29 pm
22

Season 7

Votes:
Cook 56%
Archuleta 44%

First-week album sales:
Cook 60%
Archuleta 40%

PA on November 24, 2009 at 8:30 pm
23

“Measure of a Man is Clay Aiken’s debut album, released on October 14, 2003, five months after the conclusion of the second season of American Idol. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 and was, with 613,000 copies sold in its first week, the highest-selling debut for a solo artist since Snoop Dogg’s Doggystyle in December 1993.[3] It was #1 on the Billboard 200 for 2 consecutive weeks and received a Multi-Platinum certification November 17, 2003.”

“In season two, Seacrest surfaced as the lone host. Brian Dunkleman reportedly hated working on the show and the studio was dissatisfied with his performance. Kristin Holt was a special correspondent.

This time, Ruben Studdard emerged as the winner with Clay Aiken as a very close runner-up. Out of 24 million votes recorded, Studdard finished just 130,000 votes ahead of Aiken. The accuracy of the reported results remains controversial. There was much discussion in the communication industry about the phone system being overloaded, and that more than 150 million votes were dropped, making the voting results suspect. [3] Since then the voting methods have been modified to help avoid this problem. In an interview prior to the start of the fifth season, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe revealed for the first time that Aiken had led the fan voting from the wild card week onward until the finale. [4] Despite Studdard’s win, Aiken has enjoyed more widespread popularity, emerging as the season’s true breakout star.”

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 8:33 pm
24

@DJ Jayito I thought about Ruben vs Clay too. The reason why I didn’t mention it was because I feel that AI was still new at the time and AI viewers at the time would buy albums of whom they voted for…
Over the years, the hype and excitement for AI has decreased and I thought people disassociate (a word, no?) themselves from voting and buying…just my subjective pt of view on viewers’ psyc~

Tony on November 24, 2009 at 8:34 pm
25

“It has NOTHING to do with ADAM.” More lies from DJ Jayito.

Fact: Adam is only one of a handful (3 maybe?) of albums getting the $3.99 (99 cent with code) treatment on Amazon. That price point wasn’t done without Adam’s label signing off.

Someone is desperate to sell his album, even at a ridiculous price point.

Kris is still over $10, even via the Amazon MP3 service.

druzilla on November 24, 2009 at 8:39 pm
26

there’s no exact science here. Winners become winners for reasons 1/2 of america can’t understand. 1/2 of us LOVED Kris winning. 1/2 of us HATED it. 1/2 of us LOVED Archie lost to Cook. The other 1/2 agreed. You try talking to a republican about OBAMA. It’s NO different!

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 8:39 pm
27

Whatever Druzilla. I don’t think Rianna’s label is desperate. It’s a promotion! PERIOD! Like Sony selling their blu-ray player at a DEEP discount last Black Friday. Perhaps – it’s just about getting a #1 Top 200 CD. I could buy that, but TRUST ME – they aren’t desperate. Adam has been outselling Kris since DAY 1. Kris was NEVER ahead of Adam on the amazon chart. Calling 3.99 / mnp3 download desperate is just NONSENSE. Perhaps, they know there is some demand for his CD – so let’s push it. They wouldn’t bother promoting 3.99 for Kris, because he never even cracked the Top 20 on amazon’s sales chart. What would be the point! NO ONE CARES.

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 8:42 pm
28

kris is right behind carrie underwood though, and being infront of TAYLOR SWIFT, i think that’s pretty good. and kris doesn’t care where he is on the charts, he says he just wants to be successful in the music industry.

... on November 24, 2009 at 8:47 pm
29

Hey DJ… they are just bitter and have to try to tear Adam down to make Kris look better. His MP3 album is Number 1 on Amazon right now. Let them have their delusion… it’s all they got.

MeLovesAdam on November 24, 2009 at 8:50 pm
30

Now what does Kris’ low sales have to do with Adam outselling Kris since Day 1?

@ druzilla Maybe slashing album price for Kris’ album is a good idea too. A promotion is a promotion. Kris is lacking in promotion anyway.

Tony on November 24, 2009 at 8:50 pm
31

“Fact: Adam is only one of a handful (3 maybe?) of albums getting the $3.99 (99 cent with code) treatment on Amazon. That price point wasn’t done without Adam’s label signing off.”

Kris should try that, too? Excellent promo. Truth is, though, this thread hasn’t anything to do with Adam.

Slow and steady wins the race. That’s how Kris won, everybody. He took a lot of us by surprise. He has several high profile gigs coming up over the holidays.

I think Kris Allen will be just fine.

Out of Lurkdom on November 24, 2009 at 9:13 pm
32

Out of lurkdom I totally agree with you. Kris will make his way up there. it has only been a week people give him time! he’s been going on many talk shows promoting the album this week so that is definatley going to help.

... on November 24, 2009 at 10:01 pm
33

tbh I don’t care. His album isn’t the most commercial, therefore won’t sell the most, I could care less as long as the album is good and he keeps making music.
Though I’m sure HE cares.
But as long as I get good music then I’m good

rachel9isfine on November 24, 2009 at 10:05 pm
34

BOTTOM LINE with the amazon.com (MP3) promotion is just that… it’s a promotion to help it compete with other sites – like Rhapsody / itunes, etc. It WONT WORK, but why not try? I would never buy my MP3s from AMAZON. I only use iTunes and I don’t even own an iPod or iPhone. I just TRUST the quality of itunes for mp3s (uh – I mean – m4ps – or whatever they call them). Amazon is the farthest thing from my mind when I’m thinking about downloading mp3s.

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 10:10 pm
35

I was just reading on another blog about how Kris Allen swears he has seen big foot “many times”. Drugs are bad mmk? Lol

Kris on November 24, 2009 at 10:18 pm
36

First prediction for Adam from Billboard is “maybe above 200k.”

That’s fantastic. Congrats!

The first prediction for Susan Boyle is 600k.

PA on November 24, 2009 at 10:25 pm
37

that’s too bad for kris… i wish him all the best…
im waiting his album here in manila….
philippines love you kris!!!
pls.. come here

cam on November 24, 2009 at 10:56 pm
38

All I know is that, here in the Detroit market, the radio play for Kris’s single seems to have significantly increased TODAY (after the Adam AMA debacle). I found that very interesting. I love his CD and am curious to see which song they might release for his #2 single. Anyone have any thoughts?

areyouin on November 24, 2009 at 11:10 pm
39

wow dj jayito, what is your problem? jesus… you’ve commented on this post like 20 times already

“non-winners to outsell KRIS…

Clay Aiken – obviously
Daughtry
(I think) Pickler
McPhee
Archie
Probably even Blake Lewis.

RICKEY… You should post this. Sure – sales are lower than they were years ago, but a RAW DATA is a RAW DATA.

DJ Jayito on November 24, 2009 at 8:13 pm”

this post made absolutely no sense… if sales are lower than they were years ago, the point is you CAN’T compare the raw data from one year against the raw data from another year… you have to take into account the decrease in the entire industry

and the whole thing about “it’s common sense they would push the winner’s album harder”… why? common sense does not work in the music business and it’s completely obvious adam has been promoted WAY more than kris

Kyle on November 24, 2009 at 11:14 pm
40

hope next single will be one among these – written all over my face, let it rain, before we come undone, red guitar, from the ashes

kk_gage on November 24, 2009 at 11:14 pm
41

Well, If Kris goes on stage kiss a guy, stimulate BJ, middle finger , rolling on stage and do all kind dirty stuffs as that Madam did, he would outsell everyone.

keith on November 24, 2009 at 11:14 pm
42

also it’s laughable to defend the $.99 thing as if it really means nothing… i’m with rickey on that one… and how are we supposed to take any of your other points seriously?

Kyle on November 24, 2009 at 11:17 pm
43

For those who think that it’s important that Adam outsell Archuleta, start buying multiple copies now! You can do it! David’s first-week numbers were 180,000.

Just kidding…

PA on November 24, 2009 at 11:22 pm
44

Kris is just starting his meager promotional tour now, which should have happened prior to the album’s release. Also, he’s suffered from being in Adam’s shadow, as far as Hollywood is concerned. I predict he’ll never get too high on the charts with this album, but he’ll keep up steady sales for a while. There’s no way he won’t go platinum in 2010 unless they discontinue his album (they won’t).

He won’t end up like Taylor Hicks, at all. He is a songwriter, musician, and also down to earth and quite attractive; he has nowhere to go but up, at this point.

Matt on November 25, 2009 at 12:03 am
45

“also it’s laughable to defend the $.99 thing as if it really means nothing… i’m with rickey on that one… and how are we supposed to take any of your other points seriously?”

Kyle on November 24, 2009 at 11:17 pm

I pulled the following from a thread over at mj’s.

“The Amazon special offer doesn’t help his sales. The albums sold for 3.99 won’t count for Billboard.”

There was a link in the thread leading to soundscan. It’s true, the .99 mp3’s don’t count.

This isn’t about Adam, anyway. Ye of little faith –think in terms ‘the long haul’, Kris Allen will be just fine.

Out of Lurkdom on November 25, 2009 at 12:22 am
46

Oh, PA … you crack me up … glad you still have that dry witt!! … that’s something you definitely need a lot of around here LOL

MomWithODD on November 25, 2009 at 12:31 am
47

…the Amazon offer doesn’t count towards sales!? That sucks! Imagine all those people who went ahead supporting Adam and now find that they didn’t…

And wouldn’t that hurt the first week sale? I’m sure people rather purchase the cheaper version than the original price version…some people cannot differentiate quality difference…

Note to Kris’ staff: Don’t slash the price! lol

Tony on November 25, 2009 at 1:19 am
48

Less than 85,000 copies? With Presales? OUCH!

PhDude on November 25, 2009 at 1:32 am
49

wow, I took a closer look at the list … what happened to leona lewis … and sir paul mccartney!? … and i really don’t get the excitement over justin bieber … mehh.

I heard kris’ “live like we’re dying” on the radio for the first time … while I don’t care for the song, it is catchy and the song is well suited for the radio … he sounded good too on the radio … he’s got an earthy soulful vibe … his style is more down to earth, which goes farther in this business IMHO … after all, you can only go so far when you rely on flashy gimmicky shock and awe, that gets old after a while … so I think kris will be fine. This is my honest objective opinion coming from a non-fan, on the outside looking in.

MomWithODD on November 25, 2009 at 2:06 am
50

I do feel bad for him though because of the comparisons … as long as he doesn’t let it get to him and feel the pressure, he will be fine. He should just enjoy it all … I’m sure he is … for one thing, it helps that he doesn’t seem to have a big ego. Types with a big ego can’t deal with the pressure and comparisons. Yep, I think he will be fine.

MomWithODD on November 25, 2009 at 2:11 am
51

Listen, Kris should have never won AI. There were plenty of better, and more personable, singers…Gokey, Adam, Allison. These numbers don’t surprise me…Arkansas is feeling the economic hardship the same as everyone else (i kid i kid). Also doesn’t help that Kris is just not that original in the big wide world. Of course, who is nowadays? Still, I picked up the John Mayer CD this week and filled my soft rock quota.

jj on November 25, 2009 at 2:31 am
52

Reg: .99 on Amazon. One only needs to check Amazon’s own site – his $9.99 physical CD is still sitting at #4 firmly. If Amazon is so desperate to dump their #4 album, what should they do to anything that’s lower than that? 9 cents? Where is Kris’s CD by the way? Ouch on which page is that?

tnt on November 25, 2009 at 2:56 am
53

Hey, Kris will sell fine. Jason Mraz doesn’t sell gangbusters either but I buy everything he does. Certain artists are just good singer songwriters who will do ok but not sell millions because they do not rely on flash and tabloid controversy. Don’t think Kris fans are the bitter ones to all the posters implying that lol All Adam cares about is being a spectacle and being a STAR; music doesn’t mean a rats azz to him and that to me is not a musician. I’ll take the real thing over theatrics and stunts any day.In the end Adam will be remembered not for that truly remarkable voice he DOES have and only for the stunts.As long as I get new Kris Allen Music occasionally I am happy. But Glamberts what are you going to do every time Adam goofs? No one has to help Adam ruin anything… he is doing a good job of it all by himself. Wait until all they hype goes down and then we’ll talk. Because when its gone he has no musical integrity left. But I will enjoy listening to Kris’s album for years as part of my MUSIC collection. Whether he has 1 or 20 CD’s I’ll be content.

Kathy on November 25, 2009 at 8:02 am
54

Rickey sweetheart, I don’t know why you are so surprised. American Idol and 19E KNOWS where their bread is buttered, and to them, Kris Allen is like trans-fat laden margarine. In six months, Kris will be dropped from the label like Hicks and others who have under performed. It’s a sad fact of life in the music business. I still say that if fans had to purchase a CD for every vote they cast, the votes would plummet and the most deserving contestant would win every year. But we know that’s not gonna happen because Idol makes mega bucks off of the voting process too! IT’S ALL ABOUT MONEY, and it ALWAYS HAS BEEN. Idol is gonna promote the hell out of the one they think will make them the most MONEY. I don’t understand why people don’t “get” that!

Hannah on November 25, 2009 at 8:23 am
55

Well sound scan numbers are out, and HDD was wrong. Kris barely made 80,000 in sales. By a LONGSHOT that makes him the lowest selling “winner” of American Idol ever. I am still not surprised…this wasn’t VOTING, this was where the rubber meets the road and his sales are abysmal. His fans voted for him a lot more than they bought for him. Kris Allen’s fans have LET HIM DOWN in a MAJOR way. This is worse than the Taylor Hicks fiasco!

Hannah on November 25, 2009 at 5:28 pm
56

He wasn’t the “winner”, faghag. He was the winner. They also said that the vote was “not even close” and that there was no voting conspiracy. The rumors about all those votes coming from Arkansas was shot down by Fox and by the phone companies involved.

Matt on November 25, 2009 at 10:06 pm
57

LOL Matt….”faghag”…seriously?? I didn’t ONCE mention ARKANSAS or any other contestant in my post. Let me try and clarify and type real SLOW so maybe you can understand: If VOTES were CD sales for ANY Idol contestant, they would have sold more CDs than any other artist in history…imagine 100 million SOLD in the first week. That’s why Kris’ fans let him down, they were willing to fight the good fight when voting, but when it came to BUYING, they didn’t go that extra mile. Just think, if all 80,000 who bought it had just bought ONE EXTRA COPY, Kris wouldn’t be on the bottom of the Idol “winners” (LMAO) pile!

Hannah on November 26, 2009 at 8:01 am
58

As an Adam fan I am very sad about how he sold 80,000 in the first week.

Ugh, I really actually LOVED the album, this is unfair and once again….

DIDN’T KRIS WIN IDOL!? Where are you Kris fans?

Damn, it just pisses me off how he won Idol and he didn’t even get in the top 10

Boooo if he gets dropped I seriously will cry.

meliisa on November 26, 2009 at 8:35 am