Adam Lambert 24/7 News

a question: but again, this is for actual physical cd's sold of FYE (domestic/USA) sold in the USA, right??

I really think his choice of a "campy" album cover has hurt sales in US. I know his hardcore fans defend his choice no matter what, but the reality is that it was a marketing mistake. If he had a picture of him looking like a rock star as his album cover, he would have sold over a million copies by now.

I absolutely agree with you Anon @ 9:00am.

Adam is very much his own man. The album cover proves - no one tells him what to do. But we all knew that, right? He's definitely an alpha male, but the cover for Sleepwalker might prove that he is seeing the light. Adam is new to the business and, I'm sure, learning a lot. I hope to see more covers in the style of Lee Cherry. His pics of gorgeous Adam are magnif!!!

nancdruuu2

I hate to say this but I agree with 9:00.

I think if it hadn't been that AMAZING and GLAM AWESOME cover, many more people would have bought the album....Adam was THE BIGGEST HYPED ARTIST OF 2010. But then the cover came along and many people were afraid of sending it out for gifts. (I'm guilty of that).

I love the cover but it may be TOO glam for my friends and family.

i agree with all the above.

I agree but I FIERCELY respect him for basically say to us - well then, that's YOUR problem that you have to work out on your end!

I have always admired his business savvy, and he's walking the very fine line between staying true to himself and his vision and commercial success... and he shows us over and over again that he's willing to possibly lose out on total mega superstardom to do what feels right to him, for him, and how could I argue with that.

It is only his first CD, I think he is learning fast, compare his first GNC to his New Zealand show. He will be more alpha male when when he goes to Europe. With all the women around him, he has to show us some fun. Ha! His 2nd CD will be a strong come back and I just hope people won't complain he is too sexual.

What's that old saying...Never judge a book by it's cover! I find it truly sad that it's 2010 and people will not buy or gift a CD just because the cover is "different". Even though the music inside will blow your mind. How sad!
Isn't Adam's willingness to be himself and hold true to his values and decisions part of the reason you all are his fans? And yet, you are apparently ashamed to share that with your family, friends, peers? All because of a picture on the cover of a CD.
Adam's message and his spirit is about bringing change to our society's views. Maybe you should try following his lead.
I see so many of you bitch , moan and whine when he is mistreated for his orientation, etc. and yet many of you are in your "own closet" when it comes to your adoration of him.
I LOVE ADAM LAMBERT'S VOICE, SPIRIT, MESSAGE!!!
There I said it.
Serena

Serena I couldn't have said it better. I agree with all you said and then some. I love Adam for his talent, his outstanding looks and his above and beyond personality and for staying as true to himself as possible in this crazy business.

Unanimous about the album cover =/

This is SUCH a magnificent album, it DESERVES to go MULTI-platinum. I LOVE Adam Lambert to death, he is such a gift to this world & he's given us all SO much.
His hard core fans understand, but for most of the general buying public, I DO agree about the FYE album cover. I DO think it would have sold SO many more, but some people cought in the middle were scared off by that cover. =(

**The cover for the overseas realease with the hand in front of his face was AWESOME! Still glam, still made up, and edgy but a beautiful picture and much more sales friendly.
I agree the Lee Cherry photgraphs are awesome! LOVED LOVED LOVED the IIHY and now Sleepwalker covers.

Fingers crossed for the cover of the new "Acoustic" release... (Imagining a dark background, the embroidered coat from Sleepwalker/Soaked and that gorgeous face looking Angelic...) I can't wait!
Cindy

I'm a bit confused too! If FYE album was gold in Australia then this number doesn't add up! Unless this is just for the US & doesn't include international sales, then it would make sense. Ok, I'm still confused!☺

Serena, nobody is agreeing with those people who wouldn't buy FYE because of the cover, they are simply stating a fact - that the cover hurt album sales. I think it's great that Adam does what he wants to. I think he's followed his heart when it comes to business decisions, and that's the way it should be. But not eveybody is open-minded about certain things. And that is terrible. I also agree with your post anon @9:48, but while those who are guilty are working out their problems on their end, they are also, unfortunately, NOT buying Adam's CD.

Serena,
**EXTREMELY well stated! You go girl!
Adam was being honest, true to himself, creative and having fun.. but only his truest most devoted fans were going to 'get' that.

Unfortunately there is a business marketing side to all of this, and from a marketing standpoint I do think the album would have apealed to more people and sold better with the overseas cover =/

I AGREE with your loyalty and emotion whole-heartedly and you are brave to stand up and say it... you rock!
Cindy

Anon @ 10:42 cofused.

Yes, it is confusing! From what I understand, When we read these articles about albums sold, it is ONLY 'US' sales that are tabulated for Gold or Platinum status here in IN the USA, seperately. *This also does not include SINGLES which I belive have reached platinum for WWFM? and close for IIHY? or downloads... (wanna get more confused?)

The album HAS done very well overseas, GONE PLATINUM already (aside form US sales) Gold in Austrailia, Gold (or platinum?) right away in Canada (but much less densley populated there, so tabulation #s differ.) WWFM and IIHY have both gone platinum, but that is all seperate and not counted as sales for this country.

So in reality, TOTAL sales it's done very well, but sales for the album itself for THIS country are still near the 750,000 mark, not the magic million yet.
Hope that helps.

I second that Serena. An album cover has no bearing to album sales. Adam used a different cover in other parts of the world! Wrong conclusion peeps. To me, that's is being soooooo SHALLOW minded... I'm so shocked and disappointed that someone would actually say such a thing and some people would agree! How weak!!! :(

Canada has the same CD cover as US. I bought the first two singles from itunes because I heard it on radio. Then bought the whole CD from itunes that come with the same US cover. Next time I will buy the hard copy. This may show he did not get enough airplay in US.

Anon @11:20, of course it does. I've heard poeople SAY that's the reason they didn't buy it. I've even heard fans say they bought it for themselves, and would have bought it as gifts for others if not for that cover. I don't agree with that, but that doesn't make it less truthful.
Ok, anon @11:20, with all the exposure Adam has had, why, in your opinion, has his CD not gone platinum?
BTW, how is that shallow minded? We are NOT agreeing with it.

The US doesn't get Camp, it's like a foreign object. Adam's fans knew from the get go that the Album Cover was not going to encourage sales, but made a big statement from it's star. I for one don't want a fake Adam, I want the authentic Adam. That said, this in your face approach is quintessential Adam. Will be interesting to see how over the top his next album cover will be. If it's too main stream, people will be screaming about that also.

Anon 11:44 AM
First of all, I don't buy a CD just for the cover alone period. And what makes it shallow is for your reason of not buying the CD because of the cover. I/we are buying the CD for its contents & not just the cover. There are 14 great songs in the CD versus one picture on the CD cover. Now, which is more important the "cover" or the "contents". That's what I meant by shallow.

Adam can have all the exposures he can get but if some people are "stuck up" sad to say, with his orientation then Adam and marketing crew can only do so much. We know how great & amazing artist Adam is but if some people can't get pass that then that's the reason maybe why his album hasn't gone platinum & certainly NOT the album cover.☺

I get that it's hard for some people, due to their own personal circumstances. And I'm not calling people out for being shallow. I'm just stating that it's unfortunate that so many "seem" to love Adam but feel that they can't publicly support him. Maybe out of fear? Who knows?
But my reality believes that we will never be able to change this BS "status quo" unless WE are willing to stand up and make ourselves known.
Plain and simple. Not trying to stomp on people's heads! Just wanting to shed some light.
Sorry some were offended by my earlier post.
Serena

Dark Side, I can't wait to see the next CD cover and what type of songs he will choose to do. I think I'm more excited about the second CD than I was about the first! - abby

p.s. - I forgot to sign my name to my 11:44 post. I was asking anon @11:20 their opinion as to why the first CD has not gone platinum yet. I think the cover is one factor. Does anyone else have any ideas? Because I think the songs are great. I also think the singles deserved much more radio play than they got.

I got my FYE from US. I couldn´t wait till May 2010 when it was released here in Sweden. I got it for my birthday in january. I didn´t think twice about the cover. It was beautiful, it was Adam. When I read that the american ppl was shocked over the cover, I couldn´t believe it, but then I didn´t understand your reactions after the AMA:s either. We love that he´s different. He´s exciting, he´s not like everybody else. I don´t want him any other way and that cover is just perfect.

Eva

Thank you for your replies Serena and @12
:15.

Forgot to sign my name again. It's abby @12:47.

Oh, and one more reason maybe the album sales is on the low side compared to previous Idol from many, many years is because maybe of what's happening in our world economy. This is another huge factor to the reasons behind the lower sales. Remember, it's not just Adam who is affected by this but all artists. Actually Adam is doing very, very well considering the economic situations. So, at the end of the day Adam is actually doing soooo well peeps. ☺

I was in Best Buys and Walmart this week and neither had a single copy of FYE. :(

Anon 1:36

It´s not the first time I hear that you can´t find FYE in stores. I hope you ask for it when that happens. Perhaps they are ashamed to have that campy cover among those with country boys in jeans and plaid shirts.

Eva

And Serena 12:15. I totally agree with you. You said it all so well. Thank you!

Eva

this is narrow minded America, of course the cover stopped people from buying, the #'s would be tripled..if not more! and we all know this is true.

i do not want to say this but some of you above has mentioned it, YES, i think it is the cover photo of Adam that people are hesitant to buy the cd to give away to friends and relatives. i say this because i felt it. i bought 3 copies and gave the two to my son and nephew but afraid to give away to friends, hate to think their reactions will be because of the cover. hope next cd cover will be different.

I don´t get it. Please explain, what´s wrong with the cover? If you´re afraid to give it to friends you must be ashamed of Adams way of expressing himself. I remember that awful Huston "review", that said that the fans were "slinking away" from Adam, knowing that he would never be one of them. We were all upset then.
I don´t know any record sales numbers in my country. I guess they are low, but not because of the cover but the lack of promotion. It´s a disgrace. I don´t think the concert is announced, no posters nothing but it´s still sold out. If Sony had made an effort and really worked for Adam as they should, I´m sure the concert could have been in a larger venue.


Eva

I haven't read all the posts yet, just wanted to add, that I have never brought or not brought a cd for its cover. In fact most of the time I don't even look at the cover, I buy a cd because of the artist, And I find it hard to believe that people are so shallow that they wouldn't buy it because of a picture.

HK fan

Amen Eva!

HK fan: I think the CD cover debacle is really just a "cover" to the truth: Adam is gay...most the world knows it. Some find themselves in a pickle...if they give it as a gift, what will people think of them.
(Only speaking in MY opinion).

"BE the change you want to see in the world".

Serena

As to sales numbers, I still don't get why on singles, its the digital downloads that are counted towards gold certification etc, but on albums its only the physical cd sales. I read months ago that FYE had had something like 2.5m downloads which would make the numbers much more what people would have expected.
BTW Asia had the same cd cover as USA, and its gone gold and platinum in some of those places.

HK fan

Serena, I think you´re right. If he looked like Bruce Springsteen on the cover, it wouldn´t be so embarrasing. But Adam is gay an proud and we should be proud of him that he is so brave. Change will come, I´m sure of it. But it is up to us.

Eva

Yes, Adam is very brave and much more than most people that we know and that is why we love him to death. Never felt so emotional and I start feeling some of his pain that his own country not accepting him as who he is. Hope time will change.

To 5:26. Just look at the political situation with some rather strange people running for office. Some are clearly racist. I lived through the 1960's with the civil rights movement, and I am shocked over the backwards attitudes of some of our politicians. That there would be a backlash against entertainers like Adam is not a surprise. When we have a candidate who says God told her to run and also says masterbation is evil, practiced witchcraft when young, I'm ready for any negative opinion about Adam. Adam represents the devil for some of these people. It's really too bad and not unlike the hostility encountered in Malaysia.

Basically Malaysia loved Adam.....just 100 protestors......it was like the Westalo or whatever that church is........no big deal....

Read all the intelligent comments above! Thank you. I believe that the cover did keep people from buying the CD (as ridiculous as this is). And of course the fact that he's gay is another reason. All the straight boys out there that bought that douchebag emimens CD (around 900,000 copies in its first few weeks alone) are never gonna buy anything by Adam. And arent they the main consumer of music? Just asking and if someone has the answer I'd be interested in hearing from you. Adamluv

excuse me u r not a ture fan of adam if u agree that because of the cover it didn't sell enough. Please you narrow minded people get the hell out of here u r not a true fan.

SNOREEEEEEEE! WTF, it has been a year and people are still arguing about the cover? Unfuckinbelievable!!!! I love the cover, its so Phresh! I love it. I gifted my friends, my grandma, my mom, my brother and my niece and they all love it. Btw, if you don't like this cover, flip it the other way round, you'll have the black and white hand on face cover. simple as that.....

ZZ

and WTF is this all ALpha male crap? The dude is always manic people. Or Maybe he needs to put a cover of Glambulge to prove that he is not feminine??? Relax people, let the man be himself. thats one of the reason why we all love him, besides his amazing voice and beautiful face ofcourse. And that Glambulge *thud*

ZZ

I agree that the cover would have gone over better if it were something else. With that said, when my conservative anti-gay sister was visiting here from Ohio last year, she knew how much I love Adam and so I put on his CD. She fell in love with it and so I gave it to her and bought another copy for myself. After the wedding she and her daughter came her for, I found her and her daughter in their rental car rocking out on ADAM! Once in awhile she makes a comment to me on my facebook and includes lyrics from Adam's songs!! Many people WILL get over it if we give it a chance!

daydreamin

I agree with you, Adamluv. I personally heard several criticisms of the cover, several eye rolls from guys when seeing it. One said the music was good, but he wouldn't be caught dead with that " girly album picture in his car." and unfair as it is, it has affected some sales. I think the one with the hand in front of his face was edgy and definitely more rock and roll. I also think for his debut album it wasn't the smartest choice, but it was his choice and I respect whatever he chooses to do. I love Adam no matter what,and that being said, he's not infallible. He's still new to this business. If he wants to appeal to a broader audience he'll have to make some compromises. If not, he'll have a smaller group of fans that prefer a more feminine look and he can totally be himself. He prefers smaller venues anyway. That's just the way this industry works, like it or not. Just stating a fact of what a majority prefers does not in any way imply you are not a fan. It may not be your personal opinion, only stating what you observe from others. Both sides have valid points and it's always good to hear all sides. funbunn40

If you can´t buy FYE in stores it will never be gold or platinum. Downloads don´t count, which is strange if you think of it. So I hope that you good passionate fans ASK for the album in stores. It should be there beside Kris Allens and Danny Gokeys. If not I´ll become a conspiracy theorist again.

Eva

I hope you´ve seen RCA:s question on Adamofficial about the GNT DVD. That would be the best thing to have for christmas.

Eva

to anon: 6:48, you need to grow up!, we are all true Adam Fans, we are speaking what we see and hear, the comments have been respectful and honest..we don't need mud slinging from you!

@daydreamin October 28 12:48AM -
I enjoyed your story/post (and all the comments/discussion in this thread too. Old topic, sure, but the essence of the topic/discussion continues to play out with Lambert and his decision making process currently, as I think it always will :)). Anyway you look at it 'though, gotta love the guy's integrity. MGF.

People don't buy music for the cd cover, they buy it for what is inside - the music, IMO.