We always discuss what a flop is, but I feel a lot of us are stuck in the 2000's when albums were actually selling. Now, SPS (streaming plus sales) is the new standard of sales. Actual album sales are pretty much dead.
I was looking at some sales data from major releases that came out late 2016 through today in 2017.
0 albums sold over 1 million
4 albums sold over 500,000
So, what determines a flop now? Is it any release that doesn't get a certification?
What is a flop first week SPS wise? And what is a flop album in total SPS?
Do you have to at least reach 500k SPS?
Top Tier
Kendrick Lamar - DAMN. First Week: 603,000 SPS / 353,000 pure sales (TOTAL: 2.3 million SPS / 820,000 pure sales)
Ed Sheeran - DIVIDE. First Week: 451,000 SPS / 322,000 pure sales (TOTAL: 1.9 million SPS / 856,000 pure sales)
Drake - MORE LIFE. First Week: 505,000 SPS / 226,000 pure sales (TOTAL: 1.9 million SPS / 360,000 pure sales)
Bruno Mars - 24KMAGIC. First Week: 231,000 SPS / 191,000 pure sales (TOTAL: 1.089 million SPS / 598,000 pure sales)
The Weeknd - STARBOY. First Week: 348,000 SPS / 249,000 pure sales(TOTAL: 1.2 million SPS / 621,000 pure sales)
Jay-Z - 4:44. First Week: 262,000 SPS / 174,000 pure sales (TOTAL: 558,000 SPS / 344,000 pure sales)
Rap
Migos - CULTURE First Week: 131,000 SPS / 44,000 pure sales (TOTAL: 1.2 million SPS / 121,000 pure sales)
Future - FUTURE First Week: 140,000 SPS / 60,000 pure sales (TOTAL: 910,000 SPS / 123,000 pure sales)
HNDRXX First Week: (TOTAL: 540,000 SPS / 77,000 pure sales)
Big Sean - I DECIDED First Week: 151,000 SPS / 65,000 pure sales (TOTAL: 730,000 SPS / 148,000 pure sales)
DJ Khaled - GRATEFUL First Week: 149.000 SPS / 50,000 pure sales (TOTAL: 540,000 SPS / 105,000 pure sales)
R&B
Khalid -First Week: 37,000 SPS, 12,000 pure sales (TOTAL: 759,000 SPS / 92,000 pure sales)
SZA - First Week: 60,000 SPS, 25,000 pure sales (TOTAL: 466,000 SPS / 87,000 pure sales)
Alicia Keys - First Week: 50,000 SPS / 42,000 pure sales (TOTAL: ???,??? SPS / 138,000 pure sales)
John Legend - First Week: 38,000 SPS / 26,000 pure sales (TOTAL: 180,000 SPS / 100,000 pure sales)
Tamar Braxton - First Week: 20,000 SPS / 18,000 pure sales