I'm afraid you'll have to get that information from someone working at a label or a management firm with Soundscan access. It costs big money for access to the data, especially to data on not just *your* albums as a label, but access to *all* albums.
If all you really want to know is RIAA certification level (gold, platinum), you can get that from the
RIAA Website --
if it's not broken by hackers!
Of course, none of it is entirely accurate. Hopefully you're aware of the fact that Soundscan does not account for sales made in the numerous non-Soundscanning stores. Also, it's not exactly common knowledge *how*, but the system has been rigged from time to time.
For the right money ($15k-$20k) and about that many CDs, you can be set up with some guys in an empty warehouse and a Point-of-Sale system transmitting to Soundscan --
scanning your album all day long. Instant 150,000 (or more) records sold. Gotta be done at the right time in a campaign, though, or it looks suspicious. It's used to get you a position on the charts, or to give you that little boost you might need to get from #23 into the Top 10. It's been done more often than you might think. Of course, success (or the appearance of success) breeds more success -- more stores stock more product when they think it's selling. Back to the guys in the warehouse: they sell the CDs you gave them to look legit. After all, they *are* selling CDs, right? (Just not as many as they say they are.)
Or, for a retail promotion of one of Mariah Carey's past albums, you would get a big huge lollypop with the purchase of the album. Well, they had the same barcode on the lollypops as on the album, so guess what -- you buy one album, Mariah Soundscans two. Tasty treat, eh?
08-20-2003, 07:54 PM
Re: Site to find out how many albums a band sold
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