The Numbers Are In: Usher’s ‘Looking For Myself’ Sold…

Published: Tuesday 19th Jun 2012 by Sam

Early estimations saw Usher‘s latest album ‘Looking 4 Myself’ on-course for a chart-topping, yet sales-starved first week.

With the numbers now in, all eyes will no doubt be on where the megastar’s seventh LP bowed in the end? Find out after the jump…

According to Hits Daily Double, the ‘Climax’ led set is this week’s #1 on the Billboard 200 with sales of…

124,000

********

A number one is number one; hence the album’s charting will certainly allow for positive PR spin. However, for an artist of Mr Raymond’s caliber, those numbers are underwhelming to say the least.

Yes, US  TV promo was virtually non-existant during release week due to his European jaunt, yet Beyonce -who was in a similar predicament with ‘4’ (sans a major hit single) – still managed to shift 300,000+ on the basis of her name alone. Surely Usher, who many deem her male equivalent – should be doing the same?

In any case, the very fact that there was so little Stateside promo initially means there’s there’s the weeks and months ahead to continue plugging the project. What’s more, Summer is traditionally a slower sales window – with few major releases; hence with so little competition, there’s every chance Usher could be consistent seller over the 3rd quarter.

Still, while Gold is wholly attainable, Platinum will be an uphill battle. Here’s hoping his team have a concrete plan in place to ensure the album reaches that point. Releasing ‘Euphoria’ to Pop, while ensuring his Urban audience are also catered to, would be a smart move in the not too distant future.

In the meanwhile, fans can see Usher in action when he performs at the BET Awards on July 1st.

Your thoughts?

Posted under:

Comments 110

Please Post Your Comments & Reviews

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  1. -Hoars June 19, 2012

    congrats usher I still love you s*** beast!

    • JENNY JONES!! June 20, 2012

      AHH I THINK THE REASON FOR HIS POOR RECORD SALES IS BECAUSE HE’S NOT THAT S*** ANYMORE. THE CRAZY HAIR, BEARD AND JUST NOT AGING VERY WELL HAS TAKEN AWAY FROM HIS PAST SEXINESS. THE PROOF IS IN HIS SALES WHICH PROVES FOLKS AREN’T CHECKING FOR HIM LIKE THAT ANYMORE. I SUGGEST A GOOD FACIAL & A TRIP TO THE BARBERSHOP FOR A SERIOUS CUT & SHAVE………..JENNY JONES!!!

      • Stephanie Gray June 24, 2012

        I think it has nothing to do with that people just don’t know what good music is anymore cause the Cd is too good and usher has s*** written all over he even with his hair and beard maybe to s***.

      • Lamont August 3, 2012

        This is one of Usher’s best albums. He covers all the genres he’s supposed to like an international artist should and delivers a solid album. As far as looks fo I’m glad he stayed natural and didn’t start getting a lot of plastic surgery to stay looking young. good job Usher this is one of the best albums of the year so far. I can put it on and just let it play without skipping tracks.

  2. ty June 19, 2012

    he rushed it to much the promo for this album was so wack worser than beyonce 4 era

    • -Hoars June 19, 2012

      worser isn’t a word ass wipe!!!

      • sam June 19, 2012

        The word is WORST not WORSER. You children need to finish school for real

    • Virtuoso Intellect June 19, 2012

      Actually in that context, the correct comparative is “worse”. All 3 of yall need to take up 2nd chance education.

      • nippyvocalbible June 19, 2012

        ^^^Lol

      • Yolo June 19, 2012

        LMAAAAAOOOO!! !

      • Damani Mckie June 19, 2012

        Lmfaooooooo I’m dead

      • SKYLAR June 19, 2012

        LMAO @ Virtuoso Intellect… Tell them babes! Hilarious when someone tries to read someone by correcting their grammar, then they get read!!!! DEATH!!!!

      • Gilberto June 19, 2012

        Virtuoso Intellect is a Beyoncé’s stan, so he’s probably right.

      • B Lamont June 20, 2012

        LMAO…i hate bad English as well…kudos to u for settin it str8…lol

  3. Yea i said it June 19, 2012

    this evidence that number #1 album dont mean s***! (GO Rihanna!)

    • Virtuoso Intellect June 19, 2012

      Oh shut up no1 or no no1 rihscount’s 1st week sales are always lacklustre. What kinda “star” can barely move 200k units in 1 week especily diring the holiday rush. Rihanna ain nothing but a recurring one-hit wonder

      • ALONZO June 19, 2012

        Only thing that make rihanna hot is selling her body and making videos to show how much she love s** and have men fighting over her thats why she keep making headlines

      • Yea i said it June 19, 2012

        mary j blige was same week so yea

      • Benron June 19, 2012

        What would that make Usher you h**.
        And What should we rename Beyonce
        BeYAWNce, her and her album 4closure!

    • Yea i said it June 19, 2012

      @ALONZO usher dont do same double standard

      • ALONZO June 19, 2012

        i know

    • B. Hill June 19, 2012

      A #1 album DOES mean something, you ditz…it means that that artists album was the most in demand for that weak. The problem here is that Usher has seen much better #’s than this.

      Rihanna, on the other hand, well she’s proven six times over that she’s incapable of putting out an album that is in the most demand — ever. No one see’s Rihanna’s music as a ‘must buy,’ which reflects on her.

      • Marc June 20, 2012

        The point is that Rihanna (who people say is a flop/ single artist) out did Usher. So what if it’s #1, Madonna was #1 and that s*** fell like a apple off a tree. Chris Brown will even do better then this. The piont is that the all mighty has fallen, the new gens (which are the same age that BEy and Usher were when they became big) are on top. But no one is really selling, cause 21 was #1 last week and that came out the day day as Britney Spears’ album and where is B’s album? A good album will sell just fine. It’s the ones who worry about first week sales are the ones who flop, cause the fist week is just that, the first week sales.

  4. POP ROYALTY ( Révolution) June 19, 2012

    his team need to get their s*** together …

    and it is good to see that “EUPHORIA” get some love Finally. 😀

    i’m XD , it’s a F*****’ Usher album , of course it will sell !!

    First week sales are not that important tho , if the album sell on the long run then it will be good 🙂

    i hope he do it as Rihanna did with LOUD.

    and please leave beyonce alone out of this , “4” is what i’m gonna call it a “survivor” album !! survived lots of s*** , “looking for myself” is of a better luck ….

    just leave beyonce’s name alone sam … 😡

    • sam June 19, 2012

      Come on we all know that Roc Nation bought thosuands & thousand of LOUD copies in the long run because it was not selling good. Payola to radio & itunes helped alot

      • ALONZO June 19, 2012

        IF ROC NATION HAD BUY SOME OF THEM ALBUM SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN BUY THAT ALBUM AND WOULD HAVE SOLD OVER A MILLION

      • Yea i said it June 19, 2012

        why cant accept dat she sold those and didnt do wat lady gaga with Born This GaY

      • commanderofthedancefloor June 19, 2012

        people say the most ingnorant things!!!!!!!

        if they bought all the copies of loud why the hell aren’t they buying TTT??? i mean what sense does that make? the same goes with singles and everything else!! get some dam common sense

  5. Viciousss June 19, 2012

    Albums aren’t selling on name alone anymore and album sales are low in general.

    It also depends on what kind of fans you have. Usher has fans who will want to hear more from him to assure the album is worth purchasing it.

    Beyonce has fans buying 4 albums each because it’s a special number. Next time she should name the album 100 and hope her fans hop on that.

    • POP ROYALTY ( Révolution) June 19, 2012

      that was silly , not funny !! 😡

  6. ALONZO June 19, 2012

    B****** DON’T HATE ON USHER AND BEYONCE THEY ARE THE BEST BUT I HATE CLIMAX AND SCREAM S*** BUT ANYWAYS BEYONCE SCORED 2 #1 HITS OFF HER ALBUM PARTY AND LOVE ON TOP ALMOST AT DOUBLE PLATINUM IN THE USA AND 4 MILLION WORLD WIDE

    • -Hoars June 19, 2012

      yesssssssssssssss

    • HALF AMAZIN June 19, 2012

      ummmmmmmmm #1 on the r&b chart. Beyonce aint had a Top 100 chart hit since ’08. Thats where it matters. Not hating just stating. 4 was a flop and you and Beyonce can try again

      • ALONZO June 19, 2012

        did i say on the hot 100 i say 2 #1 song now shut up and a flop in music is not selling a million now beyonce has sell over a million now get your life together

      • Virtuoso Intellect June 19, 2012

        Actually single ladies was no1 for 2 weeks in 2009. 4 is certified platinum and best selling RnB album from last year. Thats not a flop for anybody

      • RoyalKev June 19, 2012

        Hahaha 4 is far from a flop. It’s still the R&B album of the year and platinum plus after damn near a full month of leaking and silly controversies. Beyonce did very well with her senior album and all of those people insisting on calling it a flop have to apply that same way of measuring artist to just about everyone in the industry. Just about everyone is in the 1 to 2 million sales bracket (except for Adele, with her pretend 100 million copies sold). So give credit where it’s due.

        http://www.thepagewithroyalkev.com

    • ALONZO June 19, 2012

      THANK YOU BUT BEYONCE SINGLE LADIES WAS 10 WEEKS ON BILLBOARD 100

      • ALONZO June 19, 2012

        I MEAN”T TO SAY IT WAS 12 WEEKS AT #1 ON RNB CHARTS AND 4 WEEKS ON HOT 100

    • Yolo June 19, 2012

      UM THE BILLBOARD RNB CHART IS THE BIGGEST , MOST HONOURABLE, SPECIFIC GENRE CHART.. AND IN THE RNB WORLD THAT IS A MAJOR ACHIEVEMENT…

      • ALONZO June 19, 2012

        @Yolo that is correct

  7. Matthew Charlery-Smith June 19, 2012

    I can’t get why Usher didn’t promote the record heavily. Climax came in and fell off. It was a song tht could have gone Top Ten like Kelly’s Motivation but you have to appear and promote it! An RnB hit is not gonna sell your album, this isn’t 1996 with Faith, 112 and Total who could miss the Top 10 and still go Platinum!! He’s not actually too far away from Kelly’s 1st week sales of “Here I Am” with 77,000. There’s no way Usher should be on this but maybe he thinks he’s more popular than he is (Bieber’s stealing that crown…not through talent, but popularity and youthful appeal). Leona made this mistake, not promoting her 2nd album and it black-holed!

    • Theman June 19, 2012

      Climax was/is the number one r&b song for 8 wks. What are u talking about?

      • Stephen June 20, 2012

        Theman, to be honest, “Climax” wasn’t really r&b-sounding in terms of its production. The definition of R&B has been messed up in recent years

  8. BEYONCE’S WEAVE June 19, 2012

    Wow, I was rooting for this album and yet it has flopped. Oh well, I have no time for flops.

  9. Virtuoso Intellect June 19, 2012

    He dint pronote climax enough, instead focused on scream. Scream is as generic as the next katy perry single. Thats not gonna sell albums. I think the album is great. There r def bangers on it to get him some top 10 n then. Lassic track for we the core audience that appreciate quality mysic

    He can go ahead and release sins of the father already. Thankyou Ursh

    • Virtuoso Intellect June 19, 2012

      *promote

      Xcuse further typos. My phone is on its drake ish tonite

  10. ALONZO June 19, 2012

    BEYONCE STILL HAS THE BEST SELLING RNB ALBUM H**’S NOW LEAVE BEYONCE NAME OUT

    • Theman June 19, 2012

      Still not great sales though…

      • ALONZO June 20, 2012

        over a million yes it does

  11. Jer June 19, 2012

    OMG FLOP!!!!!!!!! Thats b*******. And yal give Rihanna s*** for not having a #1 album. At least the b**** has opened with better numbers on her last 4 or 5 albums AND sold better in the long run AND sold more WW. This just shows you anyone can have a #1 album as long as its released on the right day. And you wonder why people have more respect for a #1 single these days. You have to whoop b****** ASS for a #1 and pull out all the stops and tricks.

    • ALONZO June 19, 2012

      ANYONE CAN NOT SO DON’T GO THERE PEOPLE WORK HARD FOR #1 ALBUM THE REASON RIHANNA DIDN’T GET A #1 ALBUM BECAUSE ADELE AND OTHER PEOPLE. RIHANNA CAN’T SING THAT WHY SHE DON’T SELL ALOT NOT SAYING #Facts

      • Stephen June 20, 2012

        Alonzo, talent and sales aren’t always related to each other, so Rihanna’s lack of a top 200 number one album has nothing to do with her talent or lack of

    • Virtuoso Intellect June 19, 2012

      Yea her last 3 albums opened better cus rhiscount always releases during the holidays. Usher’s prev. 1st week sales demolishes ms rhifund’s career

      • Yea i said it June 19, 2012

        check her current worldwide sales local b****

      • RoyalKev June 19, 2012

        There’s actually alot of artists that went #1 on the Hot 100 and never obtained a #1 album (Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye and many others). Its really not an easy feat. People earn #1 singles like it’s no tomorrow these days, but there will always be one hit wonders that conquer the singles chart (and it’s always been that way).

        http://www.thepagewithroyalkev.com

  12. ALONZO June 19, 2012

    As of June 2012, 4 has sold 1,700,700 copies in the United States. Now b****** beyonce is not a flop with 2 #1 singles

    • ALONZO June 19, 2012

      @Beyonce “4” 1,221,015.

      • Yea i said it June 19, 2012

        y lie

      • ALONZO June 19, 2012

        @YeahISaidIt you see i had went back and correct my self unlike other people will lie

    • Benron June 19, 2012

      Number one singles, most people only count the Mainstream u.s for a main stream u.s. artist but, I hear Ushers album went number one in GERMANY!

  13. CBE June 19, 2012

    This is just puzzling… I am now focused on Chris and at this point anything between 250 – 300 000 first week is solid for him, Someone said Justin Bieber is predicted to sell 300 – 400 000 first week… well we will have to see now wont we, his fans are dedicated no doubt ON SINGLES becoz no bieber album has passed 300k, I have to say I look at his twitter timeline and the amount of celebrities pushing his album is crazy!!! they are literally in his ass!!! SMH…Goldenboy.

  14. Jay Jay June 19, 2012

    I don’t think Usher cares about his album sales neither does Rihanna, Beyonce, Madonna etc. I think they release an album just so they can do a tour following the album because artists and record companies make their money from tours. Usher, Beyonce, and Madonna has nothing to prove, they all sold millions of records, had many number one singles and albums. And let’s be honest they can never out do their greatest record.

    Plus Usher is getting paid from Bieber’s earnings so he good

  15. Yea i said it June 19, 2012

    US album sales: Watch The Throne, Jay-Z & @KanyeWest 1,445,268 | @Beyonce “4” 1,221,015.

  16. Yea i said it June 19, 2012

    US album sales: @Rihanna, Loud 1,656,755 [488,659 digital copies]

    • CzarM June 19, 2012

      LOL! Is that all? The way her fans like to hype up her and that album, it should be at least 5x platinum in the U.S.

      1.6 ain’t s***.

  17. ALONZO June 19, 2012

    BEYONCE HARDEST WORKING WOMAN IN THE GAME

    • Yea i said it June 19, 2012

      rih too both are no hate

  18. Yea i said it June 19, 2012

    WW sales: @Rihanna, Talk That Talk 29,000 (2,794,000) | @NickiMinaj, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded 29,000 (864,000).

  19. Yea i said it June 19, 2012

    US album sales: Talk That Talk, @Rihanna 909,360 | F.A.M.E., @ChrisBrown 880,715.

    • Marc June 20, 2012

      Whoa whoa whoa, FAME hasn’t even gone plat?! TeamBrezzy, have several seats!!!! Rihanna is selling by todays standards, hell, Adele is old school selling. I lol at people who call Rih a flop, but she’s out selling CB with TTT that is slow selling.

  20. Benron June 19, 2012

    Ya;ll now are fake as f***, If anyone else sold this you would be screamign flop, this is a flop!

  21. Jay Jay June 19, 2012

    I think the RIAA certification status should be changed due to the fact of piracy. They should do

    300,000 -Gold
    800,000 – Platinum
    8,000,000 – Diamond

    • commanderofthedancefloor June 19, 2012

      if sales keep declining they eventually will in my opinion. i think it will be some where between what they have now and what it is in the UK.

    • CzarM June 19, 2012

      I totally disagree. They don’t need to lower their curve. Artists and labels simply need to sell better.

    • Yea i said it June 19, 2012

      single era we live in!

      • Stephanie Gray June 24, 2012

        Yeah man whats the big deal he is #1 that all that counts because like you said people don’t even buy Cd any more they get them from off the street and thats why the artist dont sell so great but like i said he is steal #1 Usher is the best nobody can compare he has over 18 years of doing this come on every record cant have high sales

    • yeyay June 19, 2012

      Usher is a SuperStar act…he really shoulda pulled at least 250k on the low end….Jive being swallowed by RCA didn’t help…it’s like the promo plan was all wrong…people like Bieber have a great promo team…Usher should be happy with Bieber’s sales tho…money in his pocket…

    • CzarM June 19, 2012

      F*** all that. It’s an excuse to justify poor numbers. If people aren’t into albums anymore, it’s because the artists and albums themselves are so s***** that they compel people to want to buy them.

  22. yeyay June 19, 2012

    I knew Scream killed the good hype….Scream was the wrong first pop single, shoulda been Euphoria….Scream, really? That song is a generic bore, Euphoria is much better…I still thought Usher would pull 300k on his name tho…I wonder how long he stays with RCA?….LA Reid would probably love to have over at Epic…Thank God Beyonce is on Columbia….

  23. Peggy June 19, 2012

    Us. Sold Beyonce 4 1,700.015 world wide 3,890,789 Rihanna TTT US SOLD 980.555.043 worldwide 2.101.029 hmmmm SAM LEAVE BEY S BAME ALONE!!!!! Plz!!!!’ it’s Usher c’mon it’s going to sell more then that

    • Yea i said it June 19, 2012

      US album sales: Watch The Throne, Jay-Z & @KanyeWest 1,445,268 | @Beyonce “4″ 1,221,015.

      WW: 2,734,000

    • commanderofthedancefloor June 19, 2012

      umm, that is all types of wrong! even the US numbers are wrong riri sold 909,000 in the US, but over 2.5 million world wide.

  24. Yea i said it June 19, 2012

    4′ estimates WW sales:

    01ª week – 536.000 copies
    02ª week – 266,600 copies
    03ª week – 192,100 copies
    04ª week – 151,500 copies
    05ª week – 125,200 copies
    06ª week – 100,800 copies
    07ª week – 80,900 copies
    08ª week – 72,300 copies
    09ª week – 57,100 copies
    10ª week – 83,500 copies
    11ª week – 58,400 copies
    12ª week – 45,700 copies
    13ª week – 39,200 copies
    14ª week – 31,900 copies
    15ª week – 30,300 copies
    16ª week – 28,300 copies
    17ª week – 27,500 copies
    18ª week – 24,400 copies
    19ª week – 24,800 copies
    20ª week – 20,700 copies
    21ª week – 25,000 copies
    22ª week – 36,000 copies
    23ª week – 31.000 copies
    24ª week – 50.000 copies
    25ª week – 56.000 copies
    26ª week – 90.000 copies
    27ª week – 62,000 copies
    28ª week – 44,000 copies
    29ª week – 41,000 copies
    30ª week – 35.000 copies
    31ª week – 28,000 copies
    32ª week – 28,000 copies
    33ª week – 24,000 copies
    34ª week – 24,000 copies
    35ª week – 20,000 copies
    36ª week – 17,000 copies
    37ª week – 14,000 copies
    38ª week – 14,000 copies
    39ª week – 12,000 copies
    40ª week – 11,000 copies
    41ª week – 10,000 copies
    42ª week – 10,000 copies
    43ª week – 10,000 copies
    44ª week – 10,000 copies
    45ª week – 9,000 copies
    46ª week – 8,000 copies
    47ª week – 6,000 copies
    48ª week – 5,000 copies
    49ª week – 5,000 copies

    TOTAL: 2,734,000

    • Just A Thought June 19, 2012

      You have NO life!

      • Yea i said it June 19, 2012

        i dont but you mad i just copy and paste fact b**** only take a second h**

  25. blablabla June 19, 2012

    and this ladys and gentlemen prove why having a number one album aint s***! its much harder to get a number one song!

    • CzarM June 19, 2012

      F*** a number one song. If you were an artist, would you rather your album (at a $10 a pop) sell enough to hit #1 or your song (at $.99-$1.29) hit #1? Give me a #1 album over a #1 song any day.

  26. YouDoRealize:… June 19, 2012

    I see Looking 4 myself being very 4 era. Except he won’t get pregnant half way through and announce his pregnancy in two months at the vmas.

    • Yea i said it June 19, 2012

      smh

  27. Teacher June 19, 2012

    ‘recurring one-hit wonder’

    ^^^ Really? LOL! Funny S***! SMH

    • commanderofthedancefloor June 19, 2012

      what exactly is a recurring one-hit wonder?? thats a paradox! if it is recurring then it can’t be one-hit!!

      i can’t with some people on here, its like they don’t even realize what they type!!

  28. Toby Paul Martin Donastorg June 19, 2012

    I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS CD…..I CARE FOR YOU I NEED IT TO BE A SINGLE BUT YES MORE PROMO IS NEEDED.I DO NOT KNOW WHY SOME ARTIST FEEL THEY ARE ABOVE PROMO

    • Yea i said it June 19, 2012

      because 50% of the time this dont work

  29. Gilberto June 19, 2012

    His album is actually good, but it doesn’t appeal his urban audience so it’s flopping because of this.

  30. aishaaguilerakeys June 19, 2012

    Oh, no ! How sad, that’s an excellent album, I listen to it all the time ! But I think album sales and number one albums are beyond Usher, the man’s been in the game long enough. But he IS on a record label ….

  31. Theman June 19, 2012

    If this era is consistent then he’ll be all good, this is a really good album. He has alot of great material on it.

  32. Blackman June 20, 2012

    Usher shits on Beyonce, Mj shits on both.

    • ALONZO June 20, 2012

      b**** please don’t compare mj cause if you do adele shits on mj

  33. Arie June 20, 2012

    I hope he does well in the long run, I do hope he finds himself soon thou.

  34. the real xoxo June 20, 2012

    im not surprised. the record-buying public have terrible taste. bieber is expected to do 400-500k. i dont give a f*** how much it sells, i like an album if its good. unlike 99% of people on this forum. climax is the best r&b song of 2012 so far, and the album is solid apart from the 3 or 4 dance tracks.

  35. Real talk June 20, 2012

    Having #1 album is more important than how much it sold.
    I would rather have it sell 34k & debut #1 than selling 300k and debuting #2
    Good job Usher!!!

    • Lamont August 3, 2012

      Real talk fo sho!!! And this album just has to grow on urban fans. Usher is a POP star not a R&B star. He puts those songs on his album because he knows that’s where he came from but Usher is a POP star. So is Chris Brown thats why they have dance/techno/house whatever you wanna call it at the end of the day Usher is a POP artist.

  36. Ginou June 20, 2012

    We always here riding hard for Usher he does not respect his fans at all

    I blame Usher New management Team Grace Miguel ! Cause Usher has what it takes to sale more!!! She is old and has no clue how to manage an artist ! she made him fired mostly his old team came in with Coup D’etat witch means (overthrow) in French Did not do a good job at all !

    Congrats Usher your personal life again! cost you money STOP DATING YOUR EMPLOYEES!

  37. Ms. Unfortunately Blunt June 21, 2012

    I’m not really all that surprised about his lackluster sales. The songs he’s put on the radio from the album are slightly misleading. I mean… Climax was R&B but that’s probably one of maybe three R&B songs… the rest were… “Popish” with a mixture of Techno…

    I don’t really like Pop… so.. Disappointment.

    • Failure 03 June 21, 2012

      Out of the 18 tracks, 14 of them are mostly r&b. Heck 10 are pure r&b.

      There are 4 dance tracks out of 18. Your pick really. I would understand if you don’t like electronic at all. (But to the hypocrites, crunk is a derivative of electro and hip hop…)

  38. The truth July 4, 2012

    Usher’s album is real good you know what the damn problem is…. Everyone gets their damn music for free I bet you if people bought it instead of downloaded it for free it would be number 1 for a long time

  39. Christina K August 5, 2012

    Now days most people dont even buy cds they just look up the songs on the cd and illegaly download the ones they like so tht might be a contributing factor? idk but ushers past like 3 cds havent really sold tht well and y r ppl bringing up rihanna? they are 2 diffrent people and have 2 diffrent fan bases..just stop it

Recommended Posts
..**