What happened to the Jonas Brothers' unstoppable sales power? Their new album, Lines, Vines and Trying Times, opens in the top spot on this week's Billboard 200 chart after selling 247,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That's a perfectly respectable number for a young act, and it was plenty enough to unseat last week's winners, the Black Eyed Peas. Yet consider that the JoBros' previous proper album shifted a hefty 525,000 in its first week — not in some long-gone commercial utopia, but last summer. And this year, the Peas, Dave Matthews Band, U2, and Eminem have all had no trouble topping the 300,000 mark. The Jonas Brothers clearly still have a devoted fan base, and they have decades ahead of them to continue expanding their audience the way those much more established artists have. But it seems like high time to start thinking of the Brothers as a solid mid-sized act instead of a sales juggernaut, at least for now.
Elsewhere on the chart, Incubus' greatest-hits set Monuments and Melodies moved 70,000 units to come in at No. 5. And that was it for Top 10 debuts this week. So what do you think of the Jonas Brothers' chart performance? Is this just a fluke, or are their blockbuster days already gone for good?
More from EW's Music Mix:
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Black Eyed Peas take the No.1 album spot
Jonas Brothers' tour openers the Wonder Girls: Will they conquer America?
New Jonas Brothers video: It makes no sense, but their hair sure does look nice
Their fanbase is teenage girls. Don’t count on it going any further than that. They seem like good kids, but their vocals are horrendous. Sorry boys.
This ROCKS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIqXNXjJnqs&feature=related
if they actually put out some decent music people will buy it.
Their base is starting to grown up and are moving on. Plus they can’t sing and the music isn’t that great. Somewhere Taylor Swift is laughing.
I think they are fading. Sure they are still selling. And the CD business had decreased. But I think they have hit their peak. They are getting older. While I think “Paranoid” is catchy… I don’t care the tit for tat with Taylor Swift over their breakup. She writes songs about the breakup and they come out with a song that says she is crazy and paranoid. But regardless; I think they are reaching their peak and it will be downhill from here… Unlike Miley Cyrus (who can’t sing; and is worse than the Jonas Bros. in her singing ability) who can sell the sexy vibe as she gets older… which will keep in the public’s eye for longer before her own fade. The Jonas Bros. can’t really do that. People will tired of them. The kids will move on. The fact their new televison series can’t even get good ratings has to tell us something.
This album is too soon after their previous album… it has been a Jonas onslaught and it is overwhelmin, even for fans. Go away for a while… let people miss you instead of letting us get sick of you.
Well, I love ‘em, and will continue to love them…their music is simply too good for some of the younger fans, and the Disney label hurts them with older (stupid) people (who can’t think independently of mass preconceived notions).
Anyway – their music is sound, and I am sure they’ll keep going, with nothing to be ashamed of. How many acts NEVER experienced a phase of being a “sales juggernaut”? Plenty. MOST.
To what extent does being one mean you are really a quality act? In the cases of the Black Eyed Peas and Taylor Swift, I’d say it’s a reverse indicator – both are the real bottom of the quality barrel, in my opinion.
The Jonas Brothers are awesome! End of story
I think their next album will sell alot. This was probably just a fluke. The Jonas Broters are an amazing band and are still young. They will have a lifetime of best selling albums but some may not be. Every artist has this and it’s no big deal. The Jonas Brothers are awesome hands down! =)
“They have decades ahead of them to continue expanding their audience”, really? They’re like Hanson, Busted, or McFly – incredibly popular with the core audience, and the opposite with pretty anyone else. Once their target demo grows up – trust me, this generation grows up fast – they’ll be quickly replaced by other Mickey Mouse “bands”.
Oh EW, always doing your best to be a snarky killjoy. There’s a lot of artists that would love to have that kind of album sales.
they have a good strong fanbase always will, these sales numbers are great, the cd is awesome even my parents love it!
EXCUSE me? EX-CUSE ME? How can you say that? Troy? Stacey? mick? chris? Hello are you BLIND? You know what? I am SICK and TIRED of dealing with people who undermine the Jonas’ AND their musical ability. Troy, you think it’s THEIR fault for the stupid promotional Disney crap? They are just livin the dream and LOVING it. Stacey, although I agree that Cyrus is an AWFUL singer, you think kids will move on? Big mistake. Haven’t you noticed that the Jonas Brothers have tried to move on too? They need to break from Disney while they’re still hot and get a GOOD record label. They’ve tried moving on, but Disney’s trapped them in the Mouse House. mick, have you LISTENED to their songs? How does “World War III” not make you want to dance? How does “Love Is On It’s Way” not touch you? They are EXTREMELY talented. chris, same thing. You want to write songs day and night and try to make the songs appeal to a massive audience, plus MORE? What’s your problem people? There are two sides to every story.
Lexie, sweetie, calm down, take a chillax pill and WAKE UP ina few hours. The JoBros were originally signed to a NOn Disney related label that could do NOTHING with them, and their debut (now out of print) didn’t even go anywhere near platinum. Its not til Hollywood (an affiliate of Disney) signed them that they began to scortch the charts. They sold their souls to Disney tobecome famous and aren’t going to be let out of that contract til its either up or their flame no longer burns bright. I undestand you’re probably a superfan, but at the dn of the day, the Jonas Brothers are now just another cog in the mighty Disney magnate which is all about getting as much money out of families as possible. Please respect other SMARTER people for realizing this and not being blindly loyal as you to Nick, Keivn and Joe. The world does go on without lsitening to “Paranoid” every hour.
I am older and i like this new sound i just became a fan. This is a good cd!
You need to consider ages of fan-bases and their purchasing power in regards to the economic crisis.