Pop, pop pop music. Everyone used to want pop music. But now, not so much. With very little new product, and nothing at all from name acts. the pop sales of CDs last week was dismal. The top 10 sold a total of around 320,000 copies– and a third of those were “Frozen” soundtracks. The rest was pretty much a loss, with everything from number 20 down selling fewer than 10,000 copies each– all the way to number 50, by some act called Schoolboy Q. They sold 5,545 copies– that’s not enough to buy lunch at their school.
This week’s new releases didn’t amount to much. Next week, May 13th, gives us Michael Jackson’s
“Xscape” album. All eyes will be on that release. If Jackson doesn’t knock “Frozen” off, there will be a lot of sobbing. Coldplay comes on Monday the 19th, and Mariah Carey is set for May 27th.
Otherwise, there is very little going on. No releases from real marquee names. Nothing exciting or buzz worthy. The senior set — McCartney, the Stones, Elton, — are all out working. All the Usual Suspects– Rihanna, Eminem, Beyonce, Jay Z, et al– had their releases. “American Idol” isn’t producing superstars anymore. There isn’t much in the way of artist development.
The whole business waits for Adele. It’s like waiting for Godot. Or “Frozen 2.”