I would stunned if he moved six figures worth of box sets. It is totally unbelievable. Box sets are a niche product at a high price point in a market of diminishing sales. It isn't exclusive to Springsteen; most deluxe, large-scale boxes have limited production runs, maybe in the 5000 range, sometimes less, sometimes a bit more. Granted, when entities like the RIAA count units moved, they will take a multi-disc set and multiply each set sold by the number of discs in each set -- for example, if the Grateful Dead do a 5,000 production run of a box set with 20 discs in each box, each box set is then multiplied by 20, so even though only 5,000 boxes were sold, they would be credited for 100,000 (that is why Springsteen's Live 1975/1985 has such a big sales number associated with it). Even with that wonky math, I can't see how The Promise or TTTB could be credited in the six figure range. Springsteen's new commercial releases, single disc sets priced at around $10, are only moving half a million on average, so there is no way massive, expensive box sets are selling in the same range.
Sony is a big bloated company famous for squandering huge sums of cash. It’s quite possible they are taking a bath on these Springsteen boxes and they don’t even know it.
Well it sure didn't feel that way at the time. Bruce had been laboring away at the Hit Factory making The River album, and this was the band's first chance to play out in some time. Felt more like a celebration than anything else.
I don't see it in 2021. The only box set that was a big seller was Live 1975/1985, and that was out of the gate back in '86 at the tail-end of the BITUSA hype, but ultimately it underperformed with many retailers stuck with excess stock. Seriously, how many copies of The Ties That Bind sold? I would be surprised if more than 10,000 worldwide.
well.. i meant springsteen himself. in a box lol forgive me my sense of humor has become darker and more macabre of late ( as if such a thing were possible ). sign 'o the times
If you’re looking to get rid of some excess $50 bills, you can grab a couple of these… Bruce Springsteen and President Barack Obama to Release Interview Book - Variety
I very much doubt this is the case. I think he had 7 top 10 singles from that album, she appears (fairly briefly) in one video. All these multi-disc boxsets are niche product, for fans who have everything else. That is the case for all artists. Don't know why people really care how many they sell, if you want it buy it, if you don't stream it or do something else. They certainly will not be producing massive amounts of any of them. For Bruce I expect they probably sell in the 20-30K numbers. As they likely cost more than $100 each that is probably much more profit than you get from single disc new releases these days.
Well, it’s all conjecture of course, and some people find sales figures interesting. Born in the USA happened almost four decades ago. In the popular media, it was roughly a 12 month phenomenon. It was also almost exclusively a white persons phenomenon. Based on those factors, I’d guess that very few average Americans in 2021 remember who Bruce Springsteen is, much less what Born In The USA was. Courtney might trigger it for some folks, that’s all. I agree these are niche products although I think your estimates might be high.
I would say he is one of the most recognisable rock related persons on the planet, up there with Jagger, McCartney, Dylan etc but I may be wrong. Probably not amongst under 30s (like the others), but he is not selling product to that age group.
Maybe. I think he is right with those guys in the US, Canada, Australia and Western Europe. In fact, I’d guess Springsteen’s fan base in Europe is now bigger than the US. But those other guys are truly worldwide, from end to end.
I wouldn't even buy the ebook and doubt I could read the whole thing. Not because of Obama either. At least he sounds like a regular guy and not a replicant. I think now Bruce thinks he was president at one time.
Bruce is really starting to remind me of my Uncle Jack. A self-obsessed old guy that keeps telling the same stories over and over. When you gently indicate you’ve already heard the story, they just plow ahead and keep telling it anyway.
Broadway/Autobiography/Western Stars film/Letter to You. After nearly 5 years of telling the same stories, he really needs to get out on the road again and tour.
He needs grandkids. Grandkids command attention, and keep the old folks occupied. His kids need to get down to business.
Garth Brooks was notorious for putting out a boxset that was nothing more than a collection of his previous albums and selling it for near cost just so he could use to multiplier of “copies sold” for each disc in the set in his quest to become the biggest selling artist of all-time.