ABBA Voyage: General Discussion 2019

Surely you would think , that those who promote new singles would know unless chart rules change, what's the point of old acts releasing singles. It's not as if it's official yet that an album would be released, therefore the adage of the singles promoting the album will be a total waste of time.. same as Agnethas singles for A, not a hit single amongst them..

it does have the potential to be a huge disaster, but what other way to ensure a momentary successful return, thousands of physical releases..for the older generation to buy?  emmm

As much as I want new material, do I really want a chart flop...

I'm really beginning to hope that it's just a new Album now.. mind you saying that we would probably still get 3 minor hits off the album,due to streaming etc.... can't win..

   BBC Radio One will not add any New ABBA Singles to its Play List. They will not play an Artist, after
those Artists reach a certain age. However, BBC Radio 2 now has a bigger audience, than Radio One.

 You'd never guess, that when ABBA were huge in the UK, that Radio One gave them an hour long 
interview, so Tracks could be played off each New Album. ABBA were given that privilege with every
Album from 'Arrival' to 'The Visitors'. Now Radio One pretends that ABBA don't exist. A few Months
ago, Radio One played the UK's Best Selling Top 100 Singles. When it was the turn of 'Dancing Queen',
the DJ said, 'I never thought that I'd play ABBA on this Station'. He then talked over the first 40 seconds,
or so, and then he took it off before Chorus 2 started. He just was not prepared to play the whole Single...

To have a chance to be decent Hit Singles, the New ABBA Singles should be released in as many Formats
as possible. They should also be released as soon as DJ's get them, on the Radio. At present, I'm not at 
all sure if they have any chance to be No.1 Hits. However, they could reach the Top 10 - be it in the UK,
Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Australia etc. The Top 10 is an easier 'Target', than No.1. We'll just have to
wait and see...

^^ One stream doesn’t equal one sales unit. Currently it’s 100 premium streams or 600 ad-supported streams equalling one “sale”.

I’m with Hometime - hang the charts. I really couldn’t care less about them and I very much doubt ABBA could. For me, the singles chart as we knew it ended when they stopped producing CD singles for every release - was that sometime in 2009, I can’t remember.

I see it as “before and after” - a top 10 hit back in the days of physical singles equals, say, a number 97 placing now. Other than that, the two eras can’t be compared as they bear little relation to one another.

I imagine they will do something with the two new songs if there’s to be no new studio album. I can’t think what other than a boring compilation album but I imagine any album with the new songs on will chart. And if not, so be it. The excitement will be in new ABBA music. Certainly not going to spoil that by worrying about insignificant things such as charts.

Doubt if some of today’s artists could have had their number ones if they had to shift physical sales. Today’s singles charts are a shambles. So basically a few thousand fans could make a song or an artist seem more popular by repeatedly streaming a song. To reach the top 10 in days prior to streaming you had to shift thousands of physical sales and were more accurate about an artists’ popularity one single bought equating to one person wanting the song enough to buy the song unlike now. It would cost a fortune if each time you streamed it cost you the equivalent of a cd. The charts would be more accurate at a considerable cost to the streamer constantly streaming the same song.

Not sure you’ve thought that through. What you’re suggesting means that someone could stream something just once and it would count as a sale? No, at least 100 streams to one sale is fair - but I’d struggle to listen to the same song 100 times in a week. Well, I’d probably just stream it from YouTube which I don’t think counts at all (or if it does, it would be in the 600 streams to a sale category). I don’t use paid-for streaming services so YouTube would be my immediate go-to.

It’s not all that far removed from taping songs off the radio back in the day. We all did it. The main difference is that sound quality wasn’t that great (especially in the days of medium wave/AM). They never counted towards the chart no matter how many times you listened to that tape.

There’s various reasons why heritage acts can’t have hit singles but it’s just the way it is. I do remember back in 2013 that people on the ABBA forum we were on then seemed surprised that Agnetha’s singles from A weren’t big hits. I wasn’t in the least bit surprised, I never for a split-second expected them to be. They were released to radio in order to promote the album - that was their purpose. If they picked up a few sales in downloads, that was an unexpected bonus. The physical singles were for fans only, and the record company knew that.

Nowadays streams are more important than ever, people on social media do listening parties.So I guess ABBA could release in streaming services and on physical?

   We'll just have to wait and see how ABBA Singles perform in the Streaming Era. 

   I just worry that the Singles may struggle to make an impact and be a 1 or 2 Week 'Wonder', in the Charts of
the UK and other Countries. It would be rather embarrassing, after the Media hype, regarding ABBA recording
together again. At the same time a New ABBA Album would certainly be No.1 in many Countries. However, if
we are only to get a few Singles, then the 'Return of ABBA', could look like a big Firework that fails to go off,
when it is lit. That would be really sad, I think...

 

   I am aware that some Fans don't care if the New ABBA Singles do well or do poorly. I was just saying that it would
be a shame if they did poorly - after all the Media hype. I'm sure that Benny and Bjorn would not like it if they did
not do very well, as there has been so much attention on 'The return of ABBA'. Apart from anything else, the 2 Guys
want to 'launch' The ABBAtars, and it actually becomes harder to do that, if New ABBA Singles are struggling to be
Hits. ABBA will be wanting for it all to be a success - the 'Shows' and the Singles. The UK's Official Charts Company 
are calling ABBA's 'Return' the 'Biggest Comeback In Chart History'. Obviously, they are not expecting the Singles to
struggle to reach the Top 10 etc. There is huge anticipation - massive - from the UK and Global Media.

It would actually be ironic if ABBA's New Singles struggle in the Charts, as it really would be where they left
off in 1982. Three UK Singles in a row that could not enter the Top 20 - 25, 32, and 26. It really would be 
the same as 1982...Hopefully, the New Singles will do much better than that... 

In the meantime, 'ABBA Gold' broke a New UK Chart Record last Week - W/E 9th May. I'm working on a way to 
present it to the UK Charts Company and every UK Chart 'Expert' that I know. I'll present the details here too.

It’s strange, even at my grand old age (I was a teenager at peak ABBA time - you work it out), I would still like ABBA to have big chart hits again. But the likelihood is that these will only come in the album charts, not the single charts, I guess.

  When Westlife released their 1st 'comeback' Single - 'Hello My Love' - earlier this Year, their Record Company 
made a huge mistake. It was released on a Thursday, in both the UK and Ireland - their 2 biggest Markets. 
Singles are usually released on a Friday to get a full 7 Days Sales towards their 1st Chart Entry.

 So, its UK and Irish Sales only had 1 Day's Sales  towards Chart Entry 1, and it lost its biggest Day's Sales -
its release Day - towards Week 2 in the Charts.

 This crippled its chances to be a bigger Hit. In the UK it entered, (and Peaked), at No.13. In Ireland it entered,
(and Peaked), at No.2. Had it been released on a Friday, it would have entered the UK Charts in the Top 10 -
their 26th UK Top 10 Hit. In Ireland it would have entered at No.1 - their 14th No.1 Single there.

 That is what happens, when a Record Company makes silly release date decisions. Hopefully, Universal will do a
strong and sensible 'Promotional Campaign' for ABBA's Singles. Only releasing them on a Friday, and in as many
Formats as possible, to make up for any 'low' Streaming 'problems', that they may have. (They may surprise us
all, and do very well via Streaming, due to them getting so much attention, when they get released).

 In the meantime, it looks like Justin Bieber, (via his 'I Don't Care' Single with Ed Sheeran), will very soon smash
a UK Singles Chart Record that ABBA have held since 1980. ABBA got their 31st UK No.1 Singles Week in 1980.
It is still the longest No.1 Singles Weeks at No.1 since The Beatles had their 69th - and final - UK No.1 Singles
Week in 1969. Well, this Week Justin Bieber will enter at No.1 - his 31st UK No.1 Week - equal with ABBA. It
is sure to stay there for a 2nd Week, (and more), which will give him 32 UK No.1 Singles Weeks. He will then
become the Act who has had the most UK No.1 Singles Weeks since The Beatles. (Incredibly, despite all of his
popularity, he's only had 1 UK No.1 Album, and that was only No.1 for 1 Week. ABBA are the Act with the most
UK No.1 Album's Weeks, in the Decades since The Beatles - 57 No.1 Weeks out of 9 No.1 Albums. That's between
1976 and 2008).

 

Where/ who are you on you-tube, we can follow you there and join in as well , if you wish to tell of course..

I'm glad he is not a member of this forum. But if he ever joins this forum, he'll have to conduct himself properly if he wants to remain a member of this forum.

IN TODAY's 'THE SUN' NEWSPAPER...

Buried, (small article), halfway down Page 11 was this:

Here we go again

A THIRD Mamma Mia! Film could be on the way, says ABBA legend Bjorn Ulvaeus.
He also revealed the band have finished new songs but he won't say when they
will be out.
Bjorn told Magic Radio's Richard Allinson: "If someone comes up with an idea for
Mamma Mia! 3 you know I'll have a look at it".
He added: "There will be a couple of new songs released eventually".

Interview is on Magic Radio on Sunday 9th June after 7pm - 105.4 FM.


AN ABBA ALBUM - I think that most ABBA Fans would far rather have a New Album from
ABBA than a 3rd 'Mamma Mia! Film! Bjorn seems to be far more proud of the Films than
he is in what ABBA could achieve or create...(I mean most of the people in the Films can't
even Sing. Yet, Benny & Bjorn seem proud to let them loose on ABBA Songs. It is as if they
are making fun of the very Music that they created for ABBA. It seems so wrong)...

So, we are now back to us 'only' getting 2 New Songs. ABBA could have recorded an entire
Album for us, in the 14 Months since they announced the 2 New Songs. (April 2018).

I'read - it was a long time ago - that Benny and Bjorn were protective of ABBA's legacy. I think it was one of the reasons put forward for not releasing the archived stuff - the guys didn't think it was good enough. I thought then that they should be more relaxed about it and I still do. (I like what Frank Zappa is supposed to have said: that he had no interest in how his music was regarded after his death.)
 The best way for ABBA to perhaps enhance their legacy ( perhaps, because it's a risk that it won't be liked, of course) would be to record an album of good new songs.
Richard