By now, we're sure you've all heard the news that pop titan Lady Gaga has sold over one million copies of her new album, Born This Way (or Born To Slay, as we have affectionately renamed it).
We, ourselves, couldn't be happier for her. She has been on her grind for the past month, promoting this record to the highest of Heavens, and her record label haven't let her down - even going to the extent of plastering the entire interior of train carriages with the Gagita's album cover and release date. Not to mention the hard work she's put in over the years on the underground scene and the last couple of years in the spotlight. Without a doubt, she is one of the hardest working women in show business today.
And yet there are many who are bitter about Born To Slay's success.
To be fair, this may be down to the controversial 99c sale of BTW on Amazon, which saw over 300,000 copies of the record being sold via that website alone. Indeed, it is possible to argue the validity of such sales; question whether those who purchased it, would have without the monetary incentive. This, in addition to various other offers, has lead many (and in particular certain stanbases who shall go unnamed) to argue that these sales shouldn't have been counted by Billboard. Some have even said that 'it was against the rules'.
We beg to differ. First off, it isn't against any rules to sell an album for 99c. Indeed, one could even sell a record for 1c if they so wished. Second, that the Amazon sale had nothing to do with Universal or Gaga's people. It was one conducted on the wishes of that website alone and one that has been done in the past with Rihanna's ill-fated Rated R. Third, it was overwhelmingly obvious to anyone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of the industry that Lady Gaga was going to have HUGE first week numbers. Indeed, even without Amazon's sales, BTW would have sold over 700,000 copies.
So, why the outrage?
It is apparent that it is simply down to envy. With the debut of Lady Gaga, many white female artists have had to up their game. They can no longer get by on looking pretty and singing along (badly) to a pre-recorded vocal. When you have someone who does this - who rolls in and changes the game in a way that hasn't been seen in years - of course you're going to have those who are unhappy, envious or resent their success.
And as for those who are holding up Princess Brit's still-standing record of 1.319 million copies for Oops I Did It Again - yes, it is to be praised that it is still unbroken. And, as stans of hers for over twelve years, we're happy that it does. But crowing over it in this day and age where illegal downloading affects many an artist's first week sales, Gaga's achievement must be commended.
After all, OIDIA was released at a time when illegal downloading was largely unheard of. We're talking of a time before the iPod had made its debut and few owned an mp3 player; when many thought they wouldn't even take off at all. Huge first week sales were common then. Nsync's No Strings Attached sold 2.4 million copies first week. Only the foolish would think such a feat possible now.
So, once again, in a world where first week sales of larger than 400K are becoming a thing of the past, Lady Gaga's accomplishment is something to be held up. As is Adele's 21, which has sold almost 6 million copies in just over four months.
Congratulate these ladies and look to their example. They are clearly doing something right; something that other artists should be in order to sell records in this increasingly uncertain industry.
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