Chris Stapleton’s “Traveller” Goes Gold, Continues #1 Streak
Chris Stapleton’s Traveller is now a gold record, or it will be shortly, as soon as the RIAA gets off its duff and officially declares it so. Thanks to a sales bump after being awarded four Grammy nominations, including for Album of the Year, Traveller sold an additional 43,700 copies last week—good enough for #1 in all of country yet again, and putting Stapleton over the 500,000 mark, officially landing at 513,700 albums sold. Even more crazy, Stapleton is projected to hit #1 yet again for this week, and sell even more albums than he did last week.
Stapleton has taken the momentum he scored from winning three CMA awards on November 4th, and hasn’t slowed down one bit. Last week, tickets went on sale for a two-show stint at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, and they sold out within minutes. So a third show was added, and it sold out within minutes as well. Stapleton’s almost assured a performance slot on the Grammy awards in February, and if he actually wins anything, he might blow out the ceiling for artists who actually write their own songs and bring an independent spirit to the mainstream. Meanwhile his radio single “Nobody To Blame” rose four spots on the latest airplay charts to finally crack the Top 25.
Just to attempt to put Stapleton’s continued run into perspective, here’s how Traveller‘s 513,700 album sales stack up against some big name competition. And remember, on it’s debut week, Chris Stapleton only sold 27,000 copies.
- Blake Shelton – Bringing Back The Sunshine – 437,000 copies
- Little Big Town – Painkiller – 403,000 copies
- Dierks Bentley – Riser – 370,000 copies
And those three albums had a significant head start on Traveller since they were released in 2014, and also launched #1 singles to help support them with significant radio play. Stapleton is also easily beating:
- Eric Church – Mr. Misunderstood – 217,000 copies
- Thomas Rhett – Tangled Up – 200,000 copies
- George Strait – Cold Beer Conversation – 187,000 copies
- Tim McGraw – Damn Country Music – 73,000 copies
Convict Charlie
December 16, 2015 @ 9:33 am
Label has to submit to the riaa to have it certified. Pay also for it, it’s about $400. Do some digging on the website but I’ve seen it before the exact figure is on there.
Trigger
December 16, 2015 @ 9:38 am
They’ll get it done. Stuff moves slow in the recording industry in December.
Acca Dacca
December 16, 2015 @ 9:47 am
Is that because it’s cold or because Jesus doesn’t like music?
Fuzzy TwoShirts
December 16, 2015 @ 10:17 am
hahahaha best comment of the past few days right here!
Jackass
December 16, 2015 @ 10:38 am
No, Jesus is jealous of Stapleton’s beard.
Acca Dacca
December 16, 2015 @ 9:42 am
I was just about to ask about that. RIAA certifications aren’t free or benevolent, as they might appear. They’re pretty much a marketing scheme in and of themselves. A title to declare “Look, so many people already bought this album, you should too!” So it’s basically the other side of awards shows nominations and wins that get people to pay attention, for better or worse. In terms of Stapleton, it’s MUCH better.
Trigger
December 16, 2015 @ 11:18 am
The RIAA might have a lot to do with marketing, but I think they also perform a necessary function to certify sales and make sure no funny business is going on. For example, this Mikel Knight character is out there saying he’s sold over 1 million albums, but there’s no RIAA certs because nobody can prove it. In an industry where everyone is trying to look bigger than they actually are, there needs to be some accountability.
And the reason everything moves slow in December in music is because the majority of the industry takes the month off. That’s why reporting and charts and stuff stop at the end of November, not the end of the calendar year.
Acca Dacca
December 16, 2015 @ 11:53 am
The comment about December was just me being snarky, like I normally am, not sacrilegious or disrespectful. I think you’d given that explanation elsewhere. Gotta keep you on your toes 😛
Acca Dacca
December 16, 2015 @ 12:00 pm
Forgot to mention: I respect the RIAA for the function it performs, I just think it could do so in a more thankless fashion. Cutting through the fat is a necessary thing, but you’re telling me that there’s nothing shady with having to purchase the knife?
Convict Charlie
December 16, 2015 @ 1:25 pm
It seems not really as its used to purchase the plaque. Isn’t a whole lot of information available on their website. All seems pretty legit too. I don’t think it’s a wild figure. From a business perspective just the cost of doing business. Digging a little deeper shows the artists, and a few other people involved can apply to be certified.
Scotty J
December 16, 2015 @ 1:00 pm
Traditionally the RIAA certifications have been for units shipped also. One of the somewhat interesting things about the Adele ’25’ phenomenon was that it reportedly shipped over 3 million units out of the gate which may be (no real records kept on this) the largest original shipment ever and this would mean that it would be eligible for triple platinum before it had even sold a copy.
There are also games that labels and retailers have played where the label ships a large quantity of units of a superstar’s new album and the retailer agrees to hold these until the RIAA certifies the album as gold or platinum and then the retailers return the excess at a discount on newer less popular albums from the particular label.
So the sales side can have some similar shady dealings as does radio it’s just not as easy to spot sometimes.
ElectricOutcast
December 16, 2015 @ 9:34 am
Three words: Holy fucking shit
Scotty J
December 16, 2015 @ 9:36 am
The staying power in many ways is more impressive than the large boost right after the CMAs. It’s also stayed in the top ten of the all genre album chart just about every week since the CMAs after topping it for two weeks. With the Christmas bump and then a possible Grammy performance/win I would say platinum is a very good possibility.
Trigger
December 16, 2015 @ 9:39 am
Exactly. Who thought we would still be talking about him at the top of country six weeks later? There’s no stopping him.
musicfan
December 16, 2015 @ 10:00 am
He was on Good Morning America yesterday and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon tonight. Someone on his team is on top of things!
Fuzzy TwoShirts
December 16, 2015 @ 10:14 am
I think, and I don’t want to get excited, but this may be what we have been waiting for. Somebody to just kick the doors down, stroll to the throne and depose the old king. Granted we still have a scheming Grima Wormtonque (Borchetta) but I think the end result will be a huge boost in quality, diversity, and Country-ness.
Marty mark
December 17, 2015 @ 5:59 am
I know you mean “no stopping him” now, on this record, but sadly what will probably stop him will be the backlash on the next album. In this case, we all (on this site) know he is no overnight success, but to the gen pop, he may be seen as just that. I wouldn’t be surprised if his alleged “easy ride” up results in a critical and public cold shoulder on the next release cycle. You see it all the time. Which would be sad, as, love or hate Traveler (I love it), it is clearly a work of depth and substance making a mark on the charts amidst all the dreck. I will be first in line to buy the next release, I just hope the rest of the world stays on board too.
Ryan
December 18, 2015 @ 8:43 am
I think Traveller is good but very flawed. If it is to be believed that he and his wife picked through all his songs to get the very best for his album, I would not be surprised if the next one is a big letdown. There are good songs but also some weak ones (e.g. Nobody to Blame). To my mind it’s a good album, and it’s great that it’s doing so well, but it is far from the best of the year.
marky mark
December 18, 2015 @ 9:28 am
Not trying to be confrontational but i am not sure how your response really relates to my comment. That said, in response to your thoughts, i have no idea whether he really culled through his 100s of songs to whittle it down to the 12 he recorded, and i am not sure if anyone really knows the answer to that. Based on what i have read, I would bet though that he recorded the songs he felt like recording at the time. If you read the recent interview with Dave Cobb, it sounds like recording with Stapelton was a very organic process, with recording happening quickly over a couple of days. Stapelton himself has said that most of the songs were inspired by a drive cross country with his wife after his father died. That does not sound like a guy that culled through his back catalogue of songs looking for the best ones. i am not sure if the album is the best of the year (clearly a subjective test anyway), but based on the fact that i keep spinning Traveler since i bought it, along with having gone back and downloaded his prior work with the Steeldrivers and The Jompson Brothers as a result of liking Traveler so much, its clearly been one of my favorites this year.
the pistolero
December 16, 2015 @ 9:41 am
Good for him, not least of all because it’ll be a thorn in the side of people like Chris Richards at the Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/are-you-listening-to-country-music-or-just-gossiping-about-it/2015/12/14/edeffdc0-a031-11e5-a3c5-c77f2cc5a43c_story.html
Acca Dacca
December 16, 2015 @ 9:46 am
Trigger also threw that up in the newsfeed (not sure if you didn’t notice or are just presenting the link to make it easier to find). I was wondering why he would do that until it dawned on me that it was something of an ironic inclusion. As many have said, I don’t think Sam Hunt’s music is especially offensive as pop. But selling it as country and forcing it on the genre is too much. Reading this guy’s take on Hunt as some revolutionary and a “victim” of Stapleton’s surprising success pisses me off.
the pistolero
December 16, 2015 @ 9:57 am
Reading this guy”™s take on Hunt as some revolutionary and a “victim” of Stapleton”™s surprising success pisses me off.
Yep. I will be ranting about that elsewhere. A snippet:
“I suppose I could give Chris Richards credit for pointing out Stapleton”™s questionable mainstream oeuvre, but for the fact that Richards didn”™t think that was of any use beyond pointing out the hypocrisy and double standards of CMA voters. And that”™s something that does deserve to be commented on, but not for the benefit of somebody like Sam Hunt, not least of all because at the end of the day ”” in the context of country music ”” Hunt”™s music is little more than a different flavor of crap than what the bros are serving up.”
And I did see it in Trigger’s newsfeed, and yes, I put it in my comment to make it easier to find. 😀
Trigger
December 16, 2015 @ 11:20 am
I’m just happy to hear anyone’s paying attention to the newsfeed. 🙂
Acca Dacca
December 16, 2015 @ 11:50 am
You didn’t ask for my opinion (and nobody around here ever does), but it might be easier if there were a click-through or other manual option. Often I catch the end of something interesting but don’t have the time or inclination to wait around to see it again (and that’s more of a problem when I do wait and I misread the title).
Nice to see you include the articles about Scott Weiland, though. I wasn’t aware you were very steeped in Stone Temple Pilots. Not that putting an article link on a website makes you a fan, but you’ve told me several times that you aren’t very well-versed in the rock world (and Weiland’s death, however tragic, has little to no effect on what we discuss around here).
Brett
December 16, 2015 @ 1:52 pm
I’ve read a lot of stuff from the newsfeed. Doesn’t matter whether it’s country-related stuff or just general music business machinations.
I could understand the viewpoint of the WaPo article (even if I disagreed), but then it took that crazy left turn into Sam Hunt hagiography. Then it just seemed like trolling specifically targeting us.
Jack Williams
December 18, 2015 @ 10:07 am
@Brett
Richards has written glowing things about Sam Hunt before, not long after praising Sturgill as well. I think that’s because there’s some zeitgeist sizzle (with Sturgill, Turtles, The Promise, Ain’t All Flowers, etc.) that he could grab onto with both of them, even if they are vastly different. He probably sees Stapleton as a retrograde waste of his time. I know I have wrote this before on these pages, but in a review of a Jason Isbell show that I was at and that was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen, he damned Isbell with faint praise by coining the term “undislikability” to describe him and threw John Prine and other great artists in that category. Half the article or more was dedicate to this undislikability “treatise” and not nearly enough was on the actual show. Also, he misrepresented some of Isbell’s banter so as to support his premise. Once again, it seems that Isbell just doesn’t have any pop sizzle that Richards seems to need.
cilla
December 16, 2015 @ 10:01 am
Two words: Good music.
albert
December 16, 2015 @ 10:33 am
Stapleton’s success certainly bodes well for the ” direction ” of mainstream country .There will , no doubt , be labels chasing Stapleton clones and wannabes but rather that than labels still chasing the Rhetts and LB wannabes for sure. Substance-driven emotionally delivered traditionally arranged country music . What a welcomed return for the folks who’ve maintained their integrity and have always ” done it that way ” . Maybe even guys like Jamey Johnston will stand a chance of getting played mainstream next time out . He certainly has the following . Or Rodney and Emmy-lou …..hell even George Strait has been blasphemously overlooked by mainstream with his most recent outing and there are some absolute radio- friendly integrity -driven GEMS on there. One can only hope fans will be loud enough to wake up the labels .
Jackass
December 16, 2015 @ 10:36 am
If Johnny Lee and Warren Haynes had a lovechild it would be Chris Stapleton.
Richk
December 16, 2015 @ 10:38 am
The Washington Post guy is a *pop music critic* — says so in his bio. Read his “review” with that in mind and it makes sense. Trigger is a country music fan (critic). Their points of view and reference are worlds apart, even as they comment on (some of) the same music. Within that tension and between those lines lies the source of every frustration and complaint this site has ever put forward, and the stakes of the battle being waged today for the hearts and wallets of country music listeners…it’s also how both sides can be “right” to some degree…
Trigger
December 16, 2015 @ 11:23 am
Believe it or not, I appreciate Chris Richards’ perspective. Obviously I don’t agree with all of it, but he stated his case, and it gives good insight into the mindset of pop fans. I’ve been saying all year that it’s Northeast media who really don’t know much about country music who’ve been propping up Sam Hunt as some country music critical darling.
Convict Charlie
December 16, 2015 @ 12:09 pm
I never thought of that perspective as in northeast media. I’m from buffalo were considered medium market I think around 79 for market size. We have a pop critic who writes the country stuff for the paper. Met him at the Garth brooks press conference. Boston and Cleveland being more of the major cities can’t be much different on a size scale compared to us. New York City has their own ideas on everything and would assume in others eyes carry that weight/thought process. That’s 7 hours away from me as far as driving and a whole other world. Just a few more hours on top of that and I’m in Nashville. Even most country sights think he’s the greatest thing in the world, which is beyond me. They don’t ever trash anyone or the music though.
Sam hunts music isn’t the thing I despise about him the most. That’s bad in its own right and doesn’t belong in the country genre. It was the classless part of dissing Keith urban a few years ago on the acm awards, when Sam was a nobody. Keith isn’t in my top artist but what he said can’t be construed any differently than how it came across, perhaps worse as you look at it.
Nadia Lockheart
December 16, 2015 @ 11:05 am
I’ve said this twice before already and I’ll say it again: this album is going to outsell Luke Bryan’s “Kill The Lights” by early summer of 2016 at the latest.
Last time I checked, “Kill The Lights” has sold 736,000 albums as of November. Somewhere between 250,000 to 300,000 units separate the two at this point in time, and as we barrel towards the Grammy Awards in February, “Traveller” isn’t slowing down any time soon as it has returned to topping the Hot Country Albums chart.
Trigger
December 16, 2015 @ 11:13 am
I think you’re right. And I think if he gets a performance slot at the Grammy Awards or happens to win Album of the Year, it’s a forgone conclusion, and won’t take until the summer.
Nadia Lockheart
December 16, 2015 @ 11:28 am
Exactly.
Chances are, he’ll already outsell Bryan’s album the week after the Grammys. All he’d need is his live televised performance and perhaps at least two category wins.
Robert S
December 16, 2015 @ 11:12 am
It’s been an interesting and fun journey to follow, especially since he’s just now getting some play on mainstream radio. Time will tell if this success story is truly part of a trend back toward more traditional styles, or an anomaly.
Nadia Lockheart
December 16, 2015 @ 11:33 am
It may be both.
The success of Chris Stapleton and Adele may prompt major labels to focus on artistic development more again and a re-evaluation of the album format.
On the other hand, I’m looking at the country/”country” airplay chart and I’m seeing one of the year’s worst songs, Chris Lane’s “Fix”, earning over 70 adds in its opening week while “Break Up In A Small Town” is speeding towards the top of the chart. Stapleton may, sadly, remain an anomaly at radio since radio is largely about instant gratification and commerce.
cilla
December 16, 2015 @ 11:57 am
Question: After the Grammy awards there’s the summer concerts coming, so how is this going to play out through the months after Grammy awards for ticket sales for those who are well-known for selling well for shows?
Will the BROS still sell as well or will country music fans want to venture
to the smaller venues to now get the live show from the Country music Grammy nominees? Jason Aldean and Luke Bryan along with Sam Hunt are touring next summer. Have the Aldean and Bryan fan base matured enough to venture to
the “grown folks” circle?
Trigger
December 16, 2015 @ 12:02 pm
I would say that’s a good question, but I wouldn’t anticipate any seismic shift on concert attendance, especially as early as next summer. It will be interesting to see what Stapleton’s touring capacity is in the next six months. Will they put him on a large club / theater tour first, or graduate him right to big theater /small arena size? Unlike Sturgill Simpson and some others, he really doesn’t have a ton of touring experience as a solo artist. This remains a big question.
Six String Richie
December 16, 2015 @ 12:36 pm
I have been a bit surprised at how little touring Stapleton’s been doing lately. I guess his label is focusing on publicity appearances for the moment.
He’s in a tough spot in terms of touring. A lot of breakthrough acts will spend their first summer of stardom as an opener on a major tour. I just can’t see Luke Bryan or Jason Aldean picking Stapleton up as an opener. So Stapleton will probably have to tour on his own. This further keeps him away from the mainstream masses, which might hurt his chances at radio.
Trigger
December 16, 2015 @ 2:45 pm
You can’t ramp up a major tour in just a few weeks. I think everybody was caught completely off guard when Stapleton won at the CMA’s, and are still being caught off guard by how his momentum refuses to subside. All these people that think his success is a conspiracy, if that was the case, they would have already had a tour in the works before the CMA’s to take advantage of all this interest in him. Major labels traditional hate to book tours in the Winter. Too much risk, and it’s tour to bisect a tour with the Holidays. By guess is they’re in the planning stages of something for Spring/Summer.
cilla
December 16, 2015 @ 12:47 pm
Chris Stapleton will be at “Crash my playa”. This is a Luke Bryan gig in January.Dierks Bentley will also be on the bill. This is a Three day weekend event in Mexico. Sam Hunt also makes an appearance.
Interesting things to pay attention to coming for next year in Country music.
Jordan K
December 16, 2015 @ 12:31 pm
Love that song Nobody to Blame, ever since the R&B article about Stapleton’s vocals I’ve really started to notice that. But I do definitely think it gives a fresh take on country without straying too far from tradition in other aspects of his sound. Needless to say, this is awesome. I really hope he doesn’t meander to far from good music though. I’d like it if he included a slight Steeldrivers influence on his next album even, just to keep him from going pop on his own stuff. I don’t care at all that he writes music for other people that doesn’t exactly signify country. He’s just good at writing, and a true artist can interpret other types of work too.
PETE MARSHALL
December 16, 2015 @ 4:55 pm
GO CHRIS STAPLETON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
bamstrait
December 16, 2015 @ 6:46 pm
Making nearly every top ten list for the year and keeping that tired Carrie Underwood off the top of the chart. So happy to hear someone who sings from their heart have success, no caterwauling. Carrie had yet another Media Base #1 song that her fans manipulated to number then totally fell off the charts. They fool no one.
jeffro
December 16, 2015 @ 9:27 pm
I can’t believe Southeastern is yesterday’s news. It blows away anything the Chris Stapleton has recorded. And Chris put out a great record. I love what he does. I just wish Isbell could be rich for what he has done.
mick
December 17, 2015 @ 11:47 am
I’ve been reading all the comments and just to put a different perspective since I’ve never been a big fan of country music….I LOVE Chris Stapleton and Morgane. If it hadn’t been for Justin Timberlake tweeting about him a year ago this month I probably would have never heard of him. After that tweet I immediately went to youtube to listen to him and have been hooked since. I bought his album the day it was released and have watched all his videos too many times to count. I sat through the CMA awards just to hear both Chris and Justin and could not believe what bad music and singing I was listening to. If that is what has been passing as country music I can see why fans hate the whole Bro/country. Sorry but I don’t think Luke Bryan and especially Sam Hunt are any good. Give me the Chris’s and Morgane’s that are out there and have been being ignored. I will buy every album Chris releases and I’m hearing Morgane is working on her own first album which I look forward to. Also the popfans I follow on twitter, because that CMA performance are flocking to Chris also. Pop fans also like real music and singing like Adele and a lot of us hate the Biebers and crap of that kind. Just my thoughts. lol