Quick thought: Knowing the film is directed by Madonna, "Filth and Wisdom" unfortunately carries some added weight with it. And it looks to hit a number of the standards that permeate post-Tarantino indie films from rich folk. Strippers? Check. Cross-dressers? Check. Prescription drug addicts? Check. Silly dialogue? ("Who am I, an actress or a prostitute?") Check.
But hey, it's only 80 minutes, and it looks entertaining enough. And after all, its Gogol Bordello's Eugene Hutz that steals the trailer, and is the reason I'll see the film. He looks a bit slimy, a bit crazed, maybe drunk and completely unpredictable, not too unlike his punk rock stage presence.
His band's "Wanderlust King" scores the trailer, melding hard rock and worldly traditionalism with the ferocity of Ireland's favorite alcoholic romantics the Pogues. The loose acoustic melody provides plenty of room for out-of-rhythm foot stomping, and a lovely violin that drifts in and out keeps Hutz from being completely unhinged. (See video below.)
While Madonna scored yet another No. 1 album, it may not have been the blockbuster opening that some were expecting.
She sold 280,000 copies of "Hard Candy," according to Nielsen SoundScan, in its first week in stores. First things first: With the days of the CD as the music format of choice seemingly numbered, any album that sells in the six-figure range is a bonus for the music biz these days.
And those who rolled their eyes at yet another blog alluding to the death of the CD, ask Madonna herself, who last year signed a $120-million deal with a touring company in Live Nation. And this summer, fans will get to see that deal start to pay off. Madonna will be generously coming to a whopping 16 North American markets, according to Billboard.
Great Diva Sales Race of 2008
Yet it's also hard not to note that Madonna's "Hard Candy" sold about 180,000 fewer copies than Mariah Carey moved two weeks ago. She's still significantly ahead, though, of the 181,000 copies sold by Janet Jackson's "Discipline" when it debuted in March.
But back to Carey. Her "E=MC2" scored the highest debut of the year when it opened at No. 1 after selling 463,000 copies. In just three weeks on the chart, "E=MC2" has sold more than 740,000 copies.
Album sales may be down across the board, but Madonna would certainly be expected to be closer to Mariah than, say, Leona Lewis on the diva totem pole. Newcomer Lewis entered at No. 1 a few weeks ago, her debut, "Spirit," selling 205,000 copies.
To compare "Hard Candy's" stats to Madonna's last record: In 2005 her Euro-influenced "Confessions on a Dance Floor" opened with 350,000 copies, according to Billboard. It's rare these days for an artist to actually top the first-week sales of a prior album, but if anyone could do it, it would certainly be Madonna. And Mariah just did it.
So it's easy to view Madonna's sales tally as a disappointment, a sign that she's losing her grip on the pop marketplace. But don't.
CD sales just an added bonus
Billboard downplays Madonna's sales dip, noting that "Confessions" opened during the holiday season. The trade also fairly points out that Mariah may have benefited from appearances on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and "American Idol."
On one hand, Madonna is a bigger international brand than Mariah will ever be, and she was just inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
But on the other, the marketing campaign for "Hard Candy" was one based less on promotion than on partnerships. The album may not have been endorsed by Oprah, but the marketing campaign leading up the release of "Hard Candy" has been far from what anyone would call subtle. There are the Sunsilk commercials, the branding promotions with Verizon, the odd YouTube video and the video gift to gossip blogger Perez Hilton.
Additionally, Madonna's lead single, "4 Minutes," has been inescapable. It's still a top-10 hit, and her second single, "Give It 2 Me," has just debuted in the top 100. But even more important, "4 Minutes" has given Madonna something she didn't have at all with "Confessions on a Dance Floor," and that's a hit on U.S. radio.
But if there's a problem -- if this is a problem -- with "4 Minutes," it's that it is as much a Justin Timberlakeor Timbaland single as it is one from Madonna. It's also a song that will spur download sales, but not necessarily album sales.
For instance, as fun and silly as it may be, "4 Minutes" also could have appeared on Timbaland's 2007 album "Shock Value," or Timberlake's "FutureSex/LoveSounds." It's a song fit for an iTunes playlist as much as it is a new Madonna album.
Indeed, by lining up today's top producers and superstars -- Timberlake, Timbaland, Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, etc. -- Madonna has created an album that may sound swell stacked up with everyone else on the radio, but it also risks the danger of failing to set itself apart.
But "Hard Candy" doesn't really need to stand alone in order to be a success. The end result is an album seemingly built to sell millions of single-track downloads, ring tones, videos and bits of whatever digital accessories exist. And for pop music as business plan, that may prove to be one of Madonna's smartest moves yet, whether intentional or not.
Photo: Madonna performing in Paris on May 6 / Associated Press
"Hard Candy" is expected to debut at No. 1 next week, and should supply continued good news for the music biz this April. But while Mariah Carey just scored the biggest first-week sales total of the year -- with her "E=MC2" selling 463,000 copies last week, according to Nielsen SoundScan -- the RIAA's 2007 year-end stats arrive to remind us all just what an aberration that was. Overall CD shipments in the U.S. dipped 17.5%, after a 12.1% decline from 2005 to 2006.
There was, however, some good news. Vinyl shipments were up 36%, rebounding from a 7% dip from 2005 to 2006. Distribution of digital albums was up 54%, and digital music videos also saw a huge jump, climbing 43%. Subscription services, however, don't seem to be taking with consumers, as they were up just a tiny 7%.
Overall, though, digital sales accounted for 23% of the industry's revenue, compared to just 9% in 2005. Mobile sales, which includes ringtones, downloads and ringbacks, among other new media tchotchkes , experienced a 14% increase.
The strength of the mobile market, in fact, is illustrated this week by none other than Madonna herself. She'll be broadcasting four songs live via Verizon from her New York club gig Wednesday evening. Billboard notes this is the first live mobile simulcast. But those who miss it -- or have to take a call once Madonna takes the stage -- can access the content for up to 30 days.
Few pop stars, if any, have been able to pull off career makeovers like Madonna. Whether working with underground heroes or superstar producers, Madonna has had an uncanny ability to predict trends and react to mainstream hits.
With her new album “Hard Candy” due out on Tuesday, Madonna has returned with a new sound again. She’s jettisoned the Euro-dance that marked much of her recent works. Instead she turned to hit-makers such as Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. But is Madonna really doing anything all that new and different for her?
A little help from former teen idols? Before singing with Justin, Madonna smooched Britney. Urban producers? Before Timbaland, Madonna worked with Babyface. “Hard Candy” might be this year’s model, but it follows the same old Madonna formula.
Here, we take a look at some of Madonna’s key albums, launching with “Hard Candy” and ending with “Like a Prayer” in 1989, and examine the five or six hallmarks of a Madonna release. Hot collaborators? Check. Explosive branding? Check. And usually a controversy or two.
The latest installment of YouTube's Miley and Mandy Show upped the normal production values this week, perhaps because Miley Cyrus knew that taking on Madonna's latest single, "4 Minutes,"would raise some eyebrows. And it already has, thanks to this early morning post from Perez Hilton.
Moving beyond the bad jokes and silly faces that most teenage kids and, um, their 21-year-old pro-dancer best bud, normally film on their world tours, Miley Cyrus struts around some top-shelf dancers sporting some vintage breakdown moves in the clip below.
Miley and Papa Cyrus will be co-hosting the Country Music Television Music Awards tonight. Does Nashville know what it's getting into?
Music purists probably wouldn't equate Mariah Carey with legendary acts such as Elvis and the Beatles, but when it comes to chart-topping records, she's now outstripped the King -- and she's on pace to take down the Fab Four.
Carey's latest single, "Touch My Body," made music history this week as she surpassed Elvis Presley as the solo artist with the most No. 1 singles in the modern pop era.
The cut is her 18th No. 1 song and the first single from her "E=MC2" album, due April 15.
Carey bests a tally Presley has held for 40 years. He last topped the singles chart with "Suspicious Minds" in 1969.
Carey's 2005 comeback, "The Emancipation of Mimi," spawned two No. 1 hits, "We Belong Together" and "Don't Forget About Us." Should the new album meet with the same degree of success, she could tie or even best the Beatles' 20 No. 1 singles, a record for any pop group.
Billboard's associate director of charts, Silvio Pietroluongo, noted that "Touch My Body" would have hit No. 1 sooner if it had been made available digitally at an earlier date. Finally released online last week, "Touch My Body" had been the only single in the top 75 of Billboard's Hot 100 that was not available at digital retailers.
“Touch My Body” sold 286,000 downloads in its debut week, according to Nielsen SoundScan, breaking the 277,000 record set last year by Rihanna's "Umbrella." “Touch My Body” rocketed to No. 1, up from No.15 last week.
Despite the impressive digital number, Pietroluongo stresses that Carey's milestone has nothing to do with the state of the industry in 2008. Sales of digital singles may be soaring and album sales in 2008 are trailing those of 2007 by about 15%, but most of Carey's single successes came in the 1990s, when radio weighed more heavily on the Billboard Hot 100.
"This has more to do with longevity and popularity than anything else," Pietroluongo said. "She's only had four No. 1 singles this decade, so it can't be portrayed as anything to do with the state of the music industry. Mariah has been popular for about 20 years."
Presley scored the majority of his No. 1 singles in an era when the chart was based almost entirely on sales, Pietroluongo said.
But Carey isn't the only diva to start challenging the King this week. Madonna, returning with her "Hard Candy" on April 29, has overtaken Presley as the artist with the most Top 10 singles in the modern pop era. Her "4 Minutes," featuring Justin Timberlake, gives the artist her 37th Top 10 hit.
Madonna's "4 Minutes" also experienced a boost from digital sales, having sold 217,000 copies in its first week of wide release at digital retailers (prior to last week, the cut had been available only through Verizon). The sales pushed "4 Minutes" to No. 3, up from No. 68.
And late last year, rapper Jay-Z tied another Presley record. His "American Gangster" was his 10th No. 1 album when it was released in November. Again, only the Beatles have had more chart-topping albums, with 19.
There's some non-diva news on the charts. Reality TV proves again to be a healthy supplier of chart-toppers, as Day26 from MTV's "Making the Band 4" debuts at No. 1.
The act's self-titled debut sold 190,000 copies in its first week, displacing another "Making the Band"-built artist, Danity Kane, who led the chart last week. Danity Kane falls to No. 4 this week.
Meanwhile, rock act Panic at the Disco lands at No. 2, as its "Pretty. Odd." opens with 139,000 copies. It's the best sales week for the Fall Out Boy pals, who saw their debut, "A Fever You Can't Sweat Out," top out at No. 13.
Alt-rock survivors Counting Crows enter at No. 3 with a fifth studio album, "Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings," which sold 106,000 copies. It's the band's highest-charting album since "Recovering the Satellites" bowed at No. 1 in 1996.
Jack White side-project the Raconteurs lands at No. 7 with "Consolers of the Lonely." The album's release had been announced only one week in advance, but it still sold 42,000 copies. Also, the first new album in more than 15 years from the B-52's, "Funplex," enters at No. 11 with 30,000 copies.
A story in today's Telegraph (via the Daily Swarm) notes that "half the tracks" on Madonna's upcoming "Hard Candy" have already been licensed for use in various commercials around the globe.
Madonna's single "4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake just recently entered Billboard's Hot 100 at No. 68, which the magazine reports is the 53rd time in her career she's appeared on that particular tally. Yet how well the single -- or album -- performs on the charts may be completely irrelevant, if the Telegraph's story is accurate. The U.K. publication notes that Madonna has already "earned millions" from "Hard Candy," which won't be in stores until April 28.
In addition to the Sunsilk commercial already running, Madonna's music will be used to sell products from Vodafone, Unilever and Fuji, according to the Telegraph. Of course, licensing music to commercials is nothing new, and credit Madonna with finding ways to get her music heard at a time when radio's influence is being increasingly called into question.
But with so much of Madonna's music being licensed and made available to corporate entities weeks before the release of an album, the actual CD release is starting to feel a bit more like a perfunctory exercise rather than anything to get excited about. In Madonna's case, the "Hard Candy" CD is being used as a pop music portfolio to present to potential business partners.
Unlike, say, Gnarls Barkley and the Raconteurs, who designed marketing campaigns that at least attempted to allow fans to live and own the music first, campaigns like the one surrounding "Hard Candy" approach the fan with subtlety of a car salesman.
The Telegraph quotes John Reid, the president of Warner Music Europe and vice-chairman of Warner Music International, who said, "It's not about upfront payments, it's about selling the product. She is a very smart businesswoman who wants to sell a lot of albums."
No doubt, but the plan seems designed to sell a whole lot of singles rather than albums. Indeed, with with half an album already licensed before its release, one wonders why Madonna is releasing "Hard Candy" at all. (For Grammy eligibility?) An artist could record a collection of songs, license them off and then let the agencies on Madison Avenue work their magic. Various album-like packages of singles could then be sold after the fact, based on what songs worked with audiences.
It may not be an attractive reality for a fan of the album, but take heart, it's really only an approach that could be successfully used by pop-and-single-oriented artists. In fact, some singles-minded artists may find that releasing an actual album could be detrimental to his or her career.
Take the case of Flo Rida. The rapper has already sold close to 4 million digital downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and who knows how many ringtones and other digital tchotckes have been moved in the name of Flo Rida's hot single "Low." Nevertheless, the excitement surrounding his singles resulted in a collective shrug for the release of an album, as his momentum-killing debut, "Mail on Sunday," sold 86,000 copies in its first week.
Janet Jackson's "Discipline" is officially two days old.
Mariah Carey just released a new video, courtesy of a blockbuster Hollywood director. The clip, from "Rush Hour" director Brett Ratner, features "30 Rock's" Jack McBrayer, and effectively stole some of the thunder from Jackson's release.
And next week, Madonnawill get inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, with a little help from pop star Justin Timberlake.
Nielsen SoundScan figures for Jackson's "Discipline" won't be released until Wednesday, but there are already signs she's falling behind in the diva grand prix of winter/spring 2008.
Witness: Only a few year's ago, Timberlake was around to derail Janet's career as part of The Great Wardrobe Malfunction of 2004, and now here he is, parading Madonna in front of rock 'n' roll's most upper-class citizens. He also happens to be on Madonna's upcoming single "4 Minutes to Save the World," allowing Madonna the opportunity to turn her induction into the Rock Hall as the launch of the marketing campaign for her "Hard Candy," due April 29.
But worse: In the latest singles charts released today, Jackson's coldly synthesized "Feedback" isn't gaining much ground. In 9 weeks on Billboard's Hot 100, "Feedback" hasn't risen above No. 51, and this week rests at No. 53.
By comparison? Carey's slight-but-sly "Touch My Body" is at No. 34 -- after only two weeks. The song debuted last week at No. 54. Carey's "E=MC2" won't be released till April 15, but it's on target to be issued with something Janet's album wasn't -- a top-20 (if not higher) single.
Madonna's directorial debut, "Filth and Wisdom," premiered this week at the Berlin Film Festival, and the early verdict?
The international superstar doesn't embarrass herself.
The Hollywood Reporter's Ray Bennett sort of compliments the film and sort of slams it, writing, "Ragged, uneven and potholed with some dire dialogue and performances, the film's cockeyed optimism and likable leads conspire to bring a smile by the time it's done. Barely feature length at 81 minutes, it will likely appeal to Madonna's fans for its echoes of various threads of her own life story and the grunge style of 'Desperately Seeking Susan.' To many, however, it will remain an oddity."
Sheila Johnston in the Telegraph also has mixed feelings. Her review reads, "Madonna describes 'Filth and Wisdom' as 'essentially my way of putting myself through film school,' and it is an extremely canny assessment. The movie is -- disappointingly, perhaps -- not an outright embarrassment; there are even a couple of intentional laughs in it. It's not an entirely unpromising first effort. But the director would do well to hang on to her day job."
And the trend continues over at the London Times, which ultimately recommends the film. The paper's review concludes, "despite its many shortcomings and an ending so mushy and neat it would embarrass Richard Curtis, Madonna has done herself proud. Her film has an artistic ambition that has simply bypassed her husband, the film director Guy Ritchie. She captures that wonderfully accidental nature of luck when people’s lives intersect for a whole swathe of unlikely but cherishable reasons."
At the very least, the film stands to bring more attention to the music of the eight-piece Gogol Bordello. Lead singer Eugene Hutz plays the narrator/main character in "Filth and Wisdom," a wannabe musician who ends up trafficking in the bondage trade, and falls for his neighbor, a wannabe ballerina-turned-stripper.
The music of Hutz and Gogol Bordello supposedly dots the film, and the band's gypsy punk is a bit removed from the music associated with Madonna. Gogol Bordello mixes songs of politics, religion, sex and booze with an Eastern European flair and a rebel's attitude, and the act's "Super Taranta" is the place to start.
While 
