‘Random Access Memories’ by the numbers: The science behind Daft Punk’s record breaking album
Now that the dust has settled on the synthesizer-turned-hype machine known as Random Access Memories, and after one week of sales following what had felt like an eternity of anticipation, Daft Punk‘s latest album can be viewed through a statistical prism. While even the trained ear has yet to put this album into perpective with its predecessors, the cold-hard facts show that RAM has trumped Human After All, Discovery, Homework and the Tron Soundtrack on charts across the planet.
From breaking records to international accolades, take a look at Random Access Memories by the numbers.
$1,000,000: In an interview with Rolling Stone, Thomas Bangalter revealed that Random Access Memories cost over one million dollars to produce.
87: Based on 40 critic reviews, Random Access Memories received a Universal Acclaim Metascore of 87/100, with 37 positive reviews, 3 mixed, and 0 negative.
10: Following its SNL and Coachella premieres, “Get Lucky” righteously took the world by storm, peaking at number 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and giving Daft Punk their first Top 10 single.
6th and 1st: Move over, United Kingdom. Daft Punk became only the sixth French musical act to have a number one single in the UK with “Get Lucky.” But they would become the first French act to have a number one album in the UK.
165,091: Selling over 165,000 copies in its first week in the UK, Daft Punk not only became the first French act to score a number one album on that territory, but they marked the fastest selling album of 2013.
27,000,000: “Get Lucky” has broken Spotify’s record as the most streamed song in the service’s five-year history; it’s been streamed over 27 million times to date. But that wouldn’t be the last Spotify record broken…
8,000,000: Breaking a Spotify record once again, Random Access Memories has surpassed the 8 million streams of Mumford & Sons’ Babel, becoming the most streamed album in its history.
339,000: According to Nielsen Soundscan, Random Access Memories sold 339,000 copies in its first week, exceeding the projected 300,000 and doubling Human After All’s total sales of 125,000 units.
2nd: Their first week sales made for the second largest sales week of 2013, only falling short of Justin Timberlake, whose The 20/20 Experience sold 968,000 in its first week.
65%: Sixty-five percent of RAM sales were digital downloads, making for 221,000 digital copies sold. Daft Punk once again placed second behind Justin Timberlake, whose digital sales of 20/20 amounted to over 450,000.
#1: On May 29th, 2013, Random Access Memories officially debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, making it the first dance/electronic album to do so since Madonna’s MDNA on April 14, 2012. For a robotic perspective, Tron debuted at number 4 and Disovery debuted at number 44.
13: Including the United States but across the rest of the globe, Random Access Memories has debuted at number one on the sales charts of 13 nations total: Australian, Belgian (Flanders), Belgian (Wallonia), Czech, Finish, German, Irish, Mexican, New Zealand, Scottish, Swiss, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Via: Billboard, Metacritic, Gigwise, Rolling Stone
Featured image: Michael Kovac
Categories: Music