Here are some top 10 lists I can get behind, if only because they are based on something slightly empirical: AOL has posted its lists of 2008′s most-searched-for musicians, songs, and music videos. The results are not completely surprising, with the Jonas Brothers taking the top slot and American Idol-bolstered David Cook coming in at No. 2. I imagine that Jonas Brothers fans are the types who comb the internet for any new morsel of information. I know I do! The top 10:
1. Jonas Brothers
2. David Cook
3. Chris Brown
4. Mariah Carey
5. Lil Wayne
6. Rihanna
7. Madonna
8. Amy Winehouse
9. Beyonce
10. Taylor Swift
Like I said, nothing too surprising, though I thought maybe Leona Lewis might sneak on, given that she shows up on the top searches for song and video (listed below). There is also a notable lack of bands and/or rock on here, besides the JoBros. AOL did make a “bands list,” on which the Jonases and Coldplay were Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. This all got me thinking—does “Internet famous” this year equal “sales famous”? Mariah Carey and Madonna arguably both released sales disappointments (I wouldn’t consider E=MC2 a disappointment at 1.2 million, but some do), and Amy Winehouse feels like a 2007 leftover. Given Mariah and Madonna’s notoriety it’s not surprising to see them turn up on here, but, then again, Usher and Kanye are nowhere to be found and they’re no strangers to the press. I decided to cross reference these top searches with sales to see if “Internet famous” is the same as “sales famous.” Here’s what I found (sales figures are for most recent releases):
Overall top searches
1. Jonas Brothers – 1,270,019
2. David Cook – 582,048
3. Chris Brown – 1,863,939
4. Mariah Carey – 1,200,000
5. Lil Wayne – 2,778,785
6. Rihanna – 2,124,656
7. Madonna – 682,000 (most recent figure I could find)
8. Amy Winehouse – 3,670,000
9. Beyonce – 1,052,543
10. Taylor Swift – 3,710,110
Besides David Cook and Madonna, everybody’s broken the million mark, which I’d call “sales famous” in this current climate. David Cook was obviously helped by his Idol notoriety, but that number is not bad at all for an Idol alum. Madonna’s Hard Candy totals might seem disappointing, but it did well worldwide and she is cleaning up on tour.
The top band, video, and song searches also yielded similar results.
Top band searches:
1. Jonas Brothers
2. Coldplay
3. Nine Inch Nails
4. Metallica
5. Linkin Park
6. Bon Jovi
7. Sugarland
8. Van Halen
9. Slipknot
10. U2
Top song searches
1. ‘Low’
2. ‘Bleeding Love’
3. ‘Lollipop’
4. ‘No Air’
5. ‘I Kissed a Girl’
6. ‘Love Song’
7. ‘Disturbia’
8. ‘Sexy Can I’
9. ‘Superstar’
10. ‘Touch My Body’
Top video searches:
1. ‘Bleeding Love’ by Leona Lewis
2. ‘No Air’ by Jordin Sparks feat. Chris Brown
3. ‘Whatever You Like’ by T.I.
4. ‘Womanizer’ by Britney Spears
5. ‘Disturbia’ by Rihanna
6. ‘Viva La Vida’ by Coldplay
7. ‘7 Things’ by Miley Cyrus
8. ‘Pork and Beans’ by Weezer
9. ‘Paper Planes’ by M.I.A.
10. ‘I Kissed a Girl’ by Katy Perry
I’m a bit surprised that Katy Perry or Britney didn’t show up in the top ten artist searches. And how much do AOL’s demographics play into this? Overall, though, I’d say that, yeah, if you’re on one of these lists, you’re probably selling okay, too. It’s funny that the acts that make a lot of noise like Tokio Hotel don’t even come close to sniffing one of these top search charts. Maybe we should say that this is the formula: “Sales Famous” makes you “Internet Famous,” but not necessarily vice versa.
11. “Animal Collective leak leak leak leak leak leak leak”
Man, I had completely forgotten Van Halen had that cash-in reunion tour earlier this year.
Regarding your analysis of sales dollars on the albums, you failed to realize that David Cook’s relatively modest number in comparison to all the rest is that it only reflects 5 weeks worth of sales. I thought that was particularly awesome for a debut album…idol related or not. In comparison, Beyonce was released the same week but she has a very large established fanbase and one would expect her to have even larger numbers. I think David Cook is holding his own quite well.