Jive's "n Sync Sales Roar On

NEW YORK-With record-breaking first-week sales of 2.4 million units, "N Sync's "No Strings Attached" continues to be a strong sales driver for Jive Records at retail stores in its second week, despite a dramatic drop-off in volume anticipated by accounts.
BMG Distribution initially shipped 4.2 million units of the album, and, since street date March 21, accounts have ordered another 3 million units, which means that there are about 4.8 million units in stores.
Based on the first two days of sales in the album's second week of availability, retail accounts predict second-week sales to range from 20% to 50% of first-week sales, with most saying it will probably be in the 30% range. Hit albums typically experience a 50% drop-off in sales in their second week in stores.
Even if the album experiences a 20% drop-off, it will still see an astounding second-week sales total of 480,000 units, which would give it one of the industry's best weekly sales totals for an album all year, based on past history. For instance, 480,000 units would be in the top 10 of weekly sales totals achieved by hit albums in both 1997 and 1999.
None of the retailers surveyed by Billboard viewed the 4.8 million copies in stores as a liability. According to one distribution executive, "It's not a matter of liability; it's now a question of how long it will take to sell off the inventory."
Tom Carrabba, senior VP/GM at Jive, says he feels that the second-week drop-off in sales could be about 68% of the first week's total, "but that is nothing to be sad about."
Moreover, he adds, "we are very confident that we will sell off the inventory. The record is very deep."
While sales of "No Strings Attached" are cooling down considerably, music merchants say the album is still bringing plenty of business through the doors of outlets across the U.S.
Larry Gaines, COO at Torrance, Calif.-based Wherehouse Entertainment, says the album, which moved 97,000 units for the chain in the first week, created excitement in its stores. "What it really did was bring customers into the store [who] bought other music and videos," he says. "We had an incredible week on the "Pok mon' movie, which I would attribute to the "N Sync traffic."
In Carnegie, Pa., John Grandoni, VP of purchasing at 185-unit National Record Mart (NRM), says the chain did an analysis and found that people buying the "N Sync album averaged 1.7 items per transaction. "So it was a great boost to get traffic into the stores again," he says. "Hits are good for everything and everybody, and this was the biggest hit ever for NRM."
The No. 1 account selling "No Stings Attached" appears to have been Handleman, which racks stores for Kmart, Wal-Mart, and other discount department store chains. At the stores it racks, "No Strings Attached" moved about 475,000 units in the U.S. and another 30,000 units in Canada, reports Pete Cline, president of Handleman Entertainment Resources, based in Troy, Mich.
Dick Odette, senior VP of Musicland Stores, says of "N Sync's record-breaking sales, "The bar's gone up again." Wherehouse's Gaines agrees, saying, "It will be interesting to see what [Backstreet Boys] do when they come out with their next album."
Most retailers agree that the "N Sync set enjoyed a perfect setup, with radio playing the new music nine weeks in advance of the album's release and MTV playing a prominent role in supporting the band.
" "N Sync has been a big part of MTV for almost two years and are incredibly popular with our audience, but we had an idea that this album was going to take them to a new level when almost 8,000 fans were outside our Times Square Studio the day the album came out," said Tom Calderone, MTV senior VP of music and talent, in a prepared statement. "Multiple appearances on ["Total Request Live"] and live performances during "@MTV Week' and "N Sync Live' provided the MTV audience with exciting programming and reached over 15 million fans leading up to the CD release."
Another factor in the album's sales accomplishment was the pent-up demand for a band that has been in the public eye since last fall, when it began fighting to get out of its management arrangement and moved from RCA to Jive. During that controversy, fans were hearing that the band had an album ready for release.
"Since the lawsuit, it was in the public eye, [and] the fans rallied around the band," which helped in marketing the album, Jive's Carrabba says.

TIMELY FULFILLMENT
Another factor helping the band achieve its record-breaking week is that there was a low rate for stock-outs. BMG Distribution was widely praised for fulfilling multiple reorders from accounts during the first week in an extremely timely manner.
Joe Pagano, VP of music and video at Minneapolis-based Best Buy, which moved 170,000 units of the album in the first week, says, "The initial sales rush was greater than anticipated, and BMG was very timely with response, beginning with fulfilling reorders on street date."
Across town, Musicland's Odette says there were no inventory problems with the title. "BMG came through in all of our programs," he says. "The stores were really behind this thing. And we did some early openings, which helped us a little."
Carrabba says it was a joint effort in keeping the inventory pipeline fulfilled. "We built enough inventory, and BMG [Distribution] did everything in its power to make sure there was no out-of-stock situations," he says. "It was a great collective effort by label and distribution company to fill the need."
In Ann Arbor, Mich., Borders Books & Music rock/pop buyer Andy Sibray says that the 285-store chain sold 36,000 copies of the album during its first week out, which set a record at Borders. In its stores, the title was price-and-positioned, featured in a new-release fixture, and placed in a display at the front of the stores with the act's catalog and import titles, along with books and magazines about the band. To help stretch out sales, BMG will provide dump bins for "N Sync titles in April, Sibray says.
At Compact Disc World in South Plainfield, N.J., president David Lang reports that the chain did a mailing to 10,000 of its customers to alert them that the album was coming out. And in West Sacramento, Calif., Stan Goman, executive VP/COO of Tower Records/Video/Books, says the chain gave away a poster of the band with purchase on street date, which helped to move 48,000 units, a record for Tower.
While all accounts were relishing the business generated by the "N Sync album, Best Buy's Pagano is looking forward to the rest of the year. "I hope we get to do this three or four more times this year," he says.