Blog > August 2007 > Rock Classics Trump Any Genre
Rock Classics Trump Any Genre
August 3, 2007
A nifty little company by the name of Nielsen Soundscan catalogues how well albums two years and older are selling. The answers may surprise you, especially if you were a strong critic of 80's and 90's pop culture. The answers won't surprise you if you retained good taste throughout the years.
Turns out vintage rock n' roll is what's selling the most. AC/DC's "Back in Black", originally released in 1980, sold a whopping 440,000 copies just last year, and 156,000 already this year. Bon Jovi's greatest hits album "Cross Road" sold 324,000 last year, along with Metallica's self-titled 1991 album sold 275,000 copies last year, and is the second-biggest selling album according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Now lets venture to best-selling pop and hip-hop albums of their time, and compare how they're selling now. Mariah Carey's self-titled debut album sold 5,000 copies last year. She's not alone either, the Backstreet Boys' "MIllennium" sold an incredible low 9,000, compared to the monumental numbers 8 years ago. Asia's self-titled album was the best selling album of '92 and sold 5,000 units last year. Whitney Houston got best seller of '86 with her self-titled debut and now sells 7,000 a year on average (for her attorneys).
Compare to Radiohead's killer album "OK Computer", released 10 years ago, as of last year sold 94,000 copies. Nirvana's "Nevermind" got picked up 143,000 times in '06.
It's depressing that hip-hop has such a stronghold on the market today, when its predecessors of rock are enjoying almost as much success, 10-20 years later.
— josh
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