Here’s something. For the cost of invasive cosmetic surgery (full body) or a mid-level European sports car (imported), you can have the number one album in Australia! Just ask Sheffield metalcore band Bring Me The Horizon who currently sit atop the ARIA album charts with their unfortunately named LP, “There Is A Hell, Believe Me I’ve Seen It. There Is A Heaven, Let’s Keep It A Secret”.
At just 3600 units sold nationally, “TIAH,BMISI.TIAH,LKIAS” as it’s known to nobody, is the lowest selling album to ever top the album charts in Australia. At $19.99 a pop (from here) that equates to a total cost of $71,964 for the number one album in Australia, a number which probably resembles the marketing budget for a band of their stature, which is to say, I had never heard of them until this morning but I’m assuming record labels spend close to that amount on promoting their bands’ albums for the purposes of getting them to the number one position on the ARIA album charts.
Obviously, this all time low is indicative of our move toward digital downloads – both legal and illegal. That is, it’s increasingly difficult for people to divorce the notion of “downloads” from “free” and, for those who procure their music legally, there’s an unwillingness to pay for a whole album when the singles they like will suffice. You know those jokes people make about tapes as an archaic form of media? You’re next CD’s.
Bring Me The Horizon had this to say: “The band are in total awe. To have a number one album, in a country we don’t even live in, is amazing. We feel like David Hasslehoff now. He’s big in Germany, were (sic) big in Oz. But seriously, thankyou (sic) to our fans in Australia. We are beyond stoked and now we just can’t wait for Soundwave. Shit is gonna be off the hook.”
Know what else is off the hook? The album teaser for There Is a Hell Believe Me I’ve Seen it, There Is a Heaven Let’s Keep It a Secret. ROOAAAWWRRRRRRR!!!!!!
Via news.com.au
