Yes Neal, I’m saying if Barbra simply released AN album you would get a truer sense of the actual interest in it. One unit per person interested. If she only released one similar version that came out on CD, vinyl and cassette (the way it used to be) she would sell far fewer copies than when she releases 4 different vinyls each with a different cover and a different photographic print included and a Target specific CD with an extra track and a different cover.
It’s not gauging the popularity of a recording when you do that. It’s gauging the effectiveness of a marketing blitz. I find it shady because it truly messes with Billboard stats. A popular record by an actual musician who writes their own songs and plays their own instruments will get knocked out of number one because Dua Lupa “sold” an album to everyone who bought a concert ticket or bought two colors of vinyl and a limited edition picture disk.
Kylie Jenner could have a number one record if she bundled it with her lip gloss which she sells 10 million of in 15 minutes when she releases them.
The recording industry really needs to do something about this.
Babs is really tied to her albums opening at #1. Anyone will tell you that. She’ll do almost anything to make that happen.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello