It is kinda apt that rock nyc, the little engine that couldn't, celebrated its 3rd year anniversary with a scoop nobody noticed:
On March 20th, 2012, I wrote a post about Madonna giving away free copies of her album with every concert ticket you buy. I wrote in part "This is somewhat borderline, it is not unlike buying up 20,000 copies of a Pretenders singles back in the 1970s, so they could get all the publicity from a hit song"
Yesterday, April 4th, {Page Six broke the story.
Here is what they wrote: "In a heated war for No. 1 on the Billboard charts this week, Madonna found herself in a battle with an unlikely opponent — Lionel Richie. And she’s being accused of using a sneaky move to win the crown. Heading into the Billboard 200 chart’s unveiling last night, Richie’s "Tuskegee" was projected as No. 1 over Her Madgesty’s "MDNA," which would end Madonna’s streak of five No. 1 album debuts. Richie’s album of duets with country stars Shania Twain, Kenny Chesney, Blake Shelton and Taylor Swift was No. 1 on the Nielsen SoundScan Building Chart, which tracks sales of music merchants including iTunes, Target and Best Buy before the Billboard chart comes out. But Madge’s new disc was able to handily surpass Richie’s thanks to a promo campaign with Ticketmaster, in which her fans received a copy of "MDNA" when they bought a ticket to the Material Girl’s US tour — and those copies were counted in her sales tally. (The same scheme has previously helped propel Jon Bon Jovi and Tom Petty to the top of the charts.) "It’s not a free album," an industry source explains of the promo copies of "MDNA." "While the public may view it as free, it’s actually bundled into the price of the ticket." Madonna’s album sold 359,000 copies in its debut, including the promo copies. "Tuskegee" rang up 199,000 copies, which was Richie’s best start since SoundScan began tracking sales back in 1991"
Just from her New York Yankees gig, Madonna "sold" 80,000 copies. And since the difference between Ritchie and Madonna was 150,000, there is zero doubt she would have entered the charts at # 2.
Also, you get the "clean" copie of MDNA so if you are a fan, you are forced to buy it again.
So, anyway, rock nyc, the blog with perpetual nervouseness, is essentially six writers, four girls, two guys, three under twenty, three over forty. Two over forties of each sex, do all the editing, and the writing is also split down the middle.
Are we proud of it? I don't knonk that's the word. I would quote Tom Stoppard to define my feeling: In life, always a little effort. If it is terrible or great, if no one or everyone reads it, a little effort goes into it every day. Quite a little effort.
Happy Birthday, Helen, Alyson, Mary, Layna and Henry on the writing staff, Joe, Donna and Lewis in publishing.