Comments on: Janet Jackson’s Label Not-So-Subtly Hinting “Discipline” Was A Flop

By: alec_baldwin

alec_baldwin — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 05:02:35 +0000

@Maura Johnston: 'scuse me for butting in, but was that first week sales? If so, wow. I kinda liked 20 y.o. In fact, I liked it much better than this one. I have all of her CDs, including her latest, which I forgot to put on the list of purchases last week. I just don't think she's movin' units like an industry veteran and it has to do with her, not the label. She sang the same song when she was at EMI. I'm just a weary fan.

By: Maura Johnston

Maura Johnston — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:15:34 +0000

@cosmiclove: that was total sales. first-week sales were 296,000.

By: Maura Johnston

Maura Johnston — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:48:50 +0000

@rekoil: a disingenuous comparison, no? it's not like janet is a new artist or anything. i mean, 20 y.o. was considered a flop -- because it didn't break the seven-figure mark and sold about 750,000 copies.

By: alec_baldwin

alec_baldwin — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:47:06 +0000

Records used to bow big in 2002/03, including “Get Rich or Die Trying” at 801K; Shania Twain’s Up at 861K; and Norah Jones at 661k. Now, those numbers are just a twinkling of an eye.

By: rekoil

rekoil — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 09:08:29 +0000

You know, remember back in the day when selling ~400K copies of an album was considered a smash success?

By: Nunya B

Nunya B — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:32:58 +0000

@Nunya B: I know how to spell accede, by the way. I blame the heat.

By: Nunya B

Nunya B — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:57:20 +0000

They are saying that Janet really wanted “Luv” and the label really wanted “Rock With U” and LA Reid killed the project when Janet wouldn’t acceede- which sounds plausible to me. I think either song would have done okay had there been any real push behind it. They definitely screwed her over in favor of Mimi.

By: cassidy2099

cassidy2099 — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:22:03 +0000

“Rock With You” is kinda amazing, but other than that the album is filler city. So, I’m not that surprised.

By: GhostOfDuane

GhostOfDuane — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:02:49 +0000

Lemme ask you this — what in hell does a record label do if they aren’t promoting singles and albums? I’m not a big Janet fan, but it seems clear that the label is beyond useless, they’re actually a destructive force, with their lack of effort (resources?) to do their job, and their eagerness to trash their own artist to Billboard and others (it ain’t the first time Damita Jo’s good name has been dragged through the mud).

By: Halfwit

Halfwit — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 02:46:08 +0000

Feedback seemed to be a pretty solid club hit in my neck of the woods. I was never a huge fan of the song, but I’m surprised that the whole thing got written off like that.