In a world where hardly anyone actually buys music anymore, streaming is essentially the future and even the present barometer for how any band is judged. If only 100 people are buying your album in the first week it’s out, then what are you worth? Certainly there’s no shame in that, but it’s unlikely that said band is likely to get on major tours or even shows.
This is why, in a nutshell, first-week sales are so vital for a band. Let’s take a band like Tragic Hero Records progressive metalcore band Invent, Animate for a minute. Their debut record Everchanger was well-received and saw the band get on some pretty solid tours, sure – but it was the release of 2016’s Stillworld that has seen the band open and support headlining runs by The Plot In You and After The Burial, to name a few. That album charted at #133 on the Billboard Top 200, an impressive feat. And it’s unlikely that, if it hadn’t charted at all, IA would have gotten on these tours.
Vocalist Johnny Crowder knows a thing or two about this as well. As his new project Prison is about to reach the 1-week threshhold of N.G.R.I., it would certainly be a huge marker if the EP charted anywhere on Billboard – even getting on the Heatseekers would be really big. He recently posted a v-log about the importance of first-week sales, which you can find below. Check it out, and order the band’s new EP as well if you’re digging it.
