What's Peeps Thinking About Now? It's Probably Random!

As you know from reading my blog, that I don’t have too many nice things to say about Rick Santorum, close-minded people, and “Red Solo Cup”.  Okay, that last one was on Facebook, but it’s making my blog debut because it’s still one of the worse country songs ever made.  If you like, I’m happy it’s out there for you.  However, beyond that opening, this entry has nothing to do with Santorum or that Toby Keith song.

It’s about having the freedom to be able to say what’s on your mind.  I love that we all have that freedom.  I try to use it to enlighten and educate people about things they may not be familiar with or just to let people know what I’m thinking about.

You know I love Madonna and I’ve blogged about her several times recently in anticipation of her new album, “MDNA” and the upcoming “MDNA Tour”.  Shhhhh!  I’ll let you in on a secret.  I’m going to blog about her again later today and I don’t expect anyone to read it except die-hard Madonna fans.

However, I want to vent about Roger Friedman, a writer for “Forbes” magazine.  I guess it’s a business magazine and it’s gained some radio cred by being mentioned in a couple of songs by 50 Cent and Travie McCoy and Bruno Mars, “Billionaire”.

So, who is Roger Friedman?  Well, he worked for foxnews.com from 1999-2009 before he was fired for writing a review of “X-Men Origins”  Wolverine” from a leaked copy of the movie.  I didn’t know anything about him until recently when I’d Google “Madonna” to get the scoop on the new album, the tour, her movie, “W.E”., and anything else I could find.

One name and one magazine kept coming up in the Google search:  “Roger Friedman” and “Forbes”.

I know Madonna doesn’t sell as many albums now as she did, current top 40 radio doesn’t really play her much any more, but the woman can put on a show and her concerts are worth every penny.  I also know there are many people out there that don’t like Madonna or her music.  I’m not one of those people and we all have a right to our opinions.

Here are some of his recent Madonna headlines:  “Madonna “MDNA” Will Have Biggest Second Week Drop in Chart History”, “Madonna May Have Problems with the New President of Malawi – She Fired Her Sister”, “Madonna “MDNA” Soft Debut on UK Charts With Just 56K Sold”, and “Madonna Bundles Album with Ticket Sales to Ensure Number 1 Debut”.

OMG, call TMZ!  As I recently blogged, that last headline practice is not a crime.  Prince, Bon Jovi, and Tom Petty have all done it.  It’s called marketing!

Yes, Madonna and these other artists have included their latest album as part of VIP tickets that fans buy for their upcoming tour.  Ray and I bought two of the lower-tiered VIP tickets to Madonna’s show in Las Vegas in October and yes, we were sent two copies of Madonna’s album, “MDNA”.  One of them remains unopened, since I went out and bought the “Deluxe Edition” of the album.  Yes, I spent money for the upsale.

It sounds like Friedman and Piers Morgan of CNN are either sore losers or intimidated by a woman with Madonna’s strength.  Morgan has stated many times that he will not allow Madonna on his shows here in the U.S. and in England.  Seriously, little boys, move on and get over it.

Yes, “MDNA” is expected to take a big tumble in sales.  That doesn’t comes as a shock.  Last week, between physical and download sales of the album and the marketing venture with the concert ticket sales, “MDNA” sold 359,000 copies for a #1 debut.

Without the concert ticket promotion, no radio hit, no late night or early morning network television appearances, and no magazine covers, a soft second week of sales is expected.  While Madonna may take a big tumble (I’m not buying the 88% drop-off prediction, even though it could happen), she wouldn’t be the first artist to see sales drops like that.

“The Hunger Games” soundtrack, which was the #1 album the week before Madonna’s #1 debut,  dropped 68% last week from its first week sales.  Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” dropped 85% in its second week from 1.1 million copies to 169,400.  Lil Wayne’s “The Carter IV” dropped 77% in its second week.

In his article, Friedman complains, ” I do think that all the people involved in the Madonna ticket-CD deal should apologize to Richie for denying him his rightful place at number 1, starting with Billboard and SoundScan. But Richie’s consolation is that he has a major hit, while “MDNA” is a total dud.”

And, he throws out the big word that all media outlets use way too much, “as I revealed exclusively and then the New York Post lifted it from us)”!!  Please Roger, the concert ticket/album promotion practice was widely talked about before you mentioned it in several national trades.

Get over yourself and go find someone else to pick on.  Madonna probably doesn’t even know who you are and if she does, she’s reading your articles and laughing all the way to the bank as she prepares for the “MDNA Tour” that will generate millions of dollars for her while you and I could only dream about making that much money in our lifetime.

Peeps