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How many copies Chinese Democracy really sold?


ManetsBR

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No real official number other than that one we got from Billboard that said something like 5.6 million.

If that really is the case I fail to see how anyone can call it a "flop". Even by it's lofty standards...

That's exactly why I created this thread. I don't see how anyone can call Chinese Democracy a flop.

Best Buy paid all the costs, the rest is profit!

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No real official number other than that one we got from Billboard that said something like 5.6 million.

If that really is the case I fail to see how anyone can call it a "flop". Even by it's lofty standards...

That's exactly why I created this thread. I don't see how anyone can call Chinese Democracy a flop.

Best Buy paid all the costs, the rest is profit!

are you counting the studio time and revolving door personnel in them costs?

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No real official number other than that one we got from Billboard that said something like 5.6 million.

If that really is the case I fail to see how anyone can call it a "flop". Even by it's lofty standards...

That's exactly why I created this thread. I don't see how anyone can call Chinese Democracy a flop.

Best Buy paid all the costs, the rest is profit!

are you counting the studio time and revolving door personnel in them costs?

I'm counting the production cost, 14 million, which is what Best Buy paied.

I don't know what is included on the "production cost".

And you have to remember that the 14 million were used to produce more than 30 songs, which will certainly be released any time, increasing the profit.

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As far as I know it sold about 600 thousand in the States.

It sold about 1.4 million in Europe as far as I remember (there were lost of threads about European sales when it came out, if you want to search

back that far).

I can't see it selling more than 500 thousand in all other markets combined as they are a lot smaller than Europe and U.S.

The figure of 5-6 million was proven to be false, or at least unsubstantiated, several months ago. It came from a Wikipedia article that had no source.

Though maybe 5 million were shipped.

My best guess would be that CD sold 2.3-2.5 million worldwide. This figure is supported here by Billboard, which says it sold 2.6 million retail.

http://www.billboard.com/specials/axl-speaks/interview.shtml

I guess you could include download sales on top of that but I would assume that they would only be another 4-500 thousand (giving three million).

These figures are unlikely to have changed much over time. CD sold almost all of its copies in the first few months (possibly weeks) following its release.

It's one of my favourite records but it had no staying power in the charts. Greatest Hits could go back up the charts from time to time but

CD never did. Therefore there were no ongoing sales of significant numbers.

Still 2.5-3 million isn't bad.

Edited by axl666
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As far as I know it sold about 600 thousand in the States.

It sold about 1.4 million in Europe as far as I remember (there were lost of threads about European sales when it came out, if you want to search

back that far).

I can't see it selling more than 500 thousand in all other markets combined as they are a lot smaller than Europe and U.S.

The figure of 5-6 million was proven to be false, or at least unsubstantiated, several months ago. It came from a Wikipedia article that had no source.

Though maybe 5 million were shipped.

My best guess would be that CD sold 2.3-2.5 million worldwide.

It's one of my favourite records but it had no staying power in the charts. Greatest Hits could go back up the charts from time to time but

CD never did.

Still 2.5 million isn't bad.

That number was from like December of 2008, it's been like 2 years. I remember CD was the 53 best selling album of 2009 in billboard's list they had last year. That means in the U.S it sold more than Muse's last album in 2009 alone.

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As far as I know it sold about 600 thousand in the States.

It sold about 1.4 million in Europe as far as I remember (there were lost of threads about European sales when it came out, if you want to search

back that far).

I can't see it selling more than 500 thousand in all other markets combined as they are a lot smaller than Europe and U.S.

The figure of 5-6 million was proven to be false, or at least unsubstantiated, several months ago. It came from a Wikipedia article that had no source.

Though maybe 5 million were shipped.

My best guess would be that CD sold 2.3-2.5 million worldwide. This figure is supported here by Billboard, which says it sold 2.6 million retail.

http://www.billboard.com/specials/axl-speaks/interview.shtml

I guess you could include download sales on top of that but I would assume that they would only be another 4-500 thousand (giving three million).

These figures are unlikely to have changed much over time. CD sold almost all of its copies in the first few months (possibly weeks) following its release.

It's one of my favourite records but it had no staying power in the charts. Greatest Hits could go back up the charts from time to time but

CD never did. Therefore there were no ongoing sales of significant numbers.

Still 2.5-3 million isn't bad.

100 thousand in Brazil (first week). Other markets are not that small. CD was #1 in a good part of South America (including Brazil), along with other countries in Asia.

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I think a lot of people, both on the forum and in the media, incorrectly label the album as a "flop" when they may mean to say it was a "disappointment" in terms of sales. The two are completely different. A flop would mean it sold terrible, which it really didn't. A fair argument can be made, however, that it's sales were disappointing. Why? It was one of the most anticipated albums of all time. People predicted sales to be huge based on the wait alone. When the album finally saw the light of day, the response was lukewarm. It was much less than projected and not the platinum smash that was initially expected from the long awaited Guns N' Roses album.

We can continue to speculate and suggest many reasons why it never took off, most of which are valid reasons. However, that's been done to death around here and I don't want to turn this thread into that.

So, I'll leave it at that. Chinese Democracy was not a "flop". It made back it's budget (through the Best Buy deal), so in breaking even and still selling a few million copies, I'd say it did alright.

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As far as I know it sold about 600 thousand in the States.

That number is from like, March 09, no? It must have sold a little bit more.

I can't see it selling more than 500 thousand in all other markets combined as they are a lot smaller than Europe and U.S.

Wrong.

As Marlon_brando said, it was number one in most of South America, and sold 100.000 in the first week. And it hadn't even arrived in a lot of citties (mine, for example. I could only find it towards the end of the second week. And I looked everywhere, everyday). And it was number one in Brazil for 3 weeks, if I'm not mistaken.

Anyway, I think 5 million by now is a plausible number.

Edited by Deb Rose
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As far as I know it sold about 600 thousand in the States.

That number is from like, March 09, no? It must have sold a little bit more.

I can't see it selling more than 500 thousand in all other markets combined as they are a lot smaller than Europe and U.S.

Wrong.

As Marlon_brando said, it was number one in most of South America, and sold 100.000 in the first week. And it hadn't even arrived in a lot of citties (mine, for example. I could only find it towards the end of the second week. And I looked everywhere, everyday). And it was number one in Brazil for 3 weeks, if I'm not mistaken.

Anyway, I think 5 million by now is a plausible number.

I see where you're coming from but I'm dubious about massive sales outside the E.U. and Europe. They only sold 20k in Australia in the first week, and then dropped down the charts:

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=109904

Maybe in Brazil they sold a lot (though do you have a reference to support this number?)

The other south american markets would I presume be much smaller.

The problem with estimating CD sales is that people use unverified sources or mix up albums shipped with albums sold, like this poster:

http://www.mygnrforum.com/index.php?showtopic=149881

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No real official number other than that one we got from Billboard that said something like 5.6 million.

If that really is the case I fail to see how anyone can call it a "flop". Even by it's lofty standards...

That's exactly why I created this thread. I don't see how anyone can call Chinese Democracy a flop.

Best Buy paid all the costs, the rest is profit!

are you counting the studio time and revolving door personnel in them costs?

Always got to get your subtle jab in.

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The figure of 5-6 million was proven to be false, or at least unsubstantiated, several months ago.

Why? It was #1 in several countries.

No one has ever been able to prove that it sold five million copies.

It might have; but the data has not been supplied to support that assertion.

If you look on wikipedia the article says the album has sold five million copies but there is no reference.

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As far as I know it sold about 600 thousand in the States.

That number is from like, March 09, no? It must have sold a little bit more.

I can't see it selling more than 500 thousand in all other markets combined as they are a lot smaller than Europe and U.S.

Wrong.

As Marlon_brando said, it was number one in most of South America, and sold 100.000 in the first week. And it hadn't even arrived in a lot of citties (mine, for example. I could only find it towards the end of the second week. And I looked everywhere, everyday). And it was number one in Brazil for 3 weeks, if I'm not mistaken.

Anyway, I think 5 million by now is a plausible number.

I see where you're coming from but I'm dubious about massive sales outside the E.U. and Europe. They only sold 20k in Australia in the first week, and then dropped down the charts:

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=109904

Maybe in Brazil they sold a lot (though do you have a reference to support this number?)

The other south american markets would I presume be much smaller.

The problem with estimating CD sales is that people use unverified sources or mix up albums shipped with albums sold, like this poster:

http://www.mygnrforum.com/index.php?showtopic=149881

I'd love to have a reference, but I don't think anyone from any country really does. Just applying a bit of logic. :shrugs:

Another thing that gets my hopes up is that after the tour in Brazil, I was looking to buy another one, as the rain in Rio wrecked mine completely (I was carrying it around in case I met someone, for autographs :tongue2: ) and I saw like 20 in a store (that's a lot, stores here usually have like 5 or less copies of an album out on the shelves) but I had no money. 2 or 3 days later I went back with the goddamn maney and they were all fucking gone. That made me smile :)

Anyways, maybe one day we'll get the actual number, but I don't think it was a flop like people say it is.

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No real official number other than that one we got from Billboard that said something like 5.6 million.

If that really is the case I fail to see how anyone can call it a "flop". Even by it's lofty standards...

That's exactly why I created this thread. I don't see how anyone can call Chinese Democracy a flop.

Best Buy paid all the costs, the rest is profit!

are you counting the studio time and revolving door personnel in them costs?

Always got to get your subtle jab in.

more like bringing a dose of reality to a fantasy statement.

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uh for those of you who think that this CD 1 did not make its money back ...uh trust me it did, and you guys are also forgetting the most important thing its just CD 1! Its not a matter of when or if Axl will ever release the rest (which were all pretty sure he will eventually) the point is those costs over that era of X amount of million of dollars (which we all dont know if any of those cost figures are even true) the ponit is hundreds of songs are likely out there at least a few dozen id imagine are up to Axl's liking so you cant look at just the money made from those first 14 songs, there was more than 14 songs made off them production costs .......so you would have to add all the albums that ever get released from this previous work to the revenue made off those costs and im farily certain 3+ albums of material will more than make a profit......get it now guys? its called analyzing.

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As far as I know it sold about 600 thousand in the States.

It sold about 1.4 million in Europe as far as I remember (there were lost of threads about European sales when it came out, if you want to search

back that far).

I can't see it selling more than 500 thousand in all other markets combined as they are a lot smaller than Europe and U.S.

The figure of 5-6 million was proven to be false, or at least unsubstantiated, several months ago. It came from a Wikipedia article that had no source.

Though maybe 5 million were shipped.

My best guess would be that CD sold 2.3-2.5 million worldwide. This figure is supported here by Billboard, which says it sold 2.6 million retail.

http://www.billboard.com/specials/axl-speaks/interview.shtml

I guess you could include download sales on top of that but I would assume that they would only be another 4-500 thousand (giving three million).

These figures are unlikely to have changed much over time. CD sold almost all of its copies in the first few months (possibly weeks) following its release.

It's one of my favourite records but it had no staying power in the charts. Greatest Hits could go back up the charts from time to time but

CD never did. Therefore there were no ongoing sales of significant numbers.

Still 2.5-3 million isn't bad.

You're shooting low and might wanna rethink the 500,000 elsewhere statement.

The CD went 3x platinum in Canada within the first few weeks, you're looking at I'm guessing 300,000 or so copies sold by now. Platinum here is 80,000 copies. It sold 70,000 the first week (source: Blabbermouth/CRIA) and the 3x platinum is 240,000, and that was by early 2009. Assuming sales dropped off past that point naturally, 300,000 is a decent figure.

And that's just one country. Add in Brazil, Australia, etc - you'll probably pick up a million copies pretty quick. 5 million is probably not far off.

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http://www.bravewords.com/news/124382

here. calculate for each country what does Platinum stands for and what does Gold stand for...

as I did back then..

now I don't feel like it.

but yes! it sold good, considering the long wait,

that GNR were out of the spot light for so much time!

that there were no major interviews of the band around it's release,

NO VIDEO! NO TV APPEARANCE!

so it did more than good in considering all above!

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