Wanna Know the rest / buy the rights

So a huge pat on the back to Savage (South Auckland's hip hop superstar if you didn't know) who has gone on to sell 1.1 million copies of his track Swing as a download and a ringtone in the USA.

It's a mighty feat and I know more than most know how much hard work and sweat, let alone nights on the road and knocking on radio and media doors goes into this sort of thing. It doesn't happen overnight and is also a mightily expensive exercise, so much so, that single sales of this sort are unlikely to have made much of a dent in the bill.

The NZ Herald, as I linked above, posted a story about it on Wednesday, which in itself is good as NZ should be making more fuss about this.

However, in it's normal fact free way (remember, this is the same paper who said the Debbie Harry was a Brit Pop singer a few months back) the Herald now tells us that Savage has sold 1.1 million:

outselling hits by OMC and Crowded House.

Now I don't wanna be a sourpuss but surely a quick check of the facts before posting this would've been in order. I have no idea what Don't Dream It's Over sold but I know exactly what Pauly Fuemana and Alan Jansson sold with How Bizarre.

The thing is, it's impossible, in the US at least, for Swing to have outsold How Bizarre, or undersold it for that matter as it was never released in that territory as a single. It's number one status in the US came on airplay charts as the licensing label, Mercury, made a decision to only release the track as a one song on the album of the same name. That album reached number 39 in the US and to date has sold just over 1.5 million copies in the US, thus making it a platinum album. The single was exported extensively from Canada to the US but that was the only way it was ever available.

Globally, to date, How Bizarre has sold some 2 million singles and just over 2.2 million albums.

So, once again, this is in no way meant to take anything away from Savage but just a note to correct the Herald's shonky reporting..again.