Just when you thought that Christmas couldn’t get any more commercial (and the music business couldn’t get any more bizarre), Kylie Minogue’s festive new single is – in fact – an Amazon exclusive.
What’s more, thanks to the retail giant’s power to influence and sheer number of eyes on their Amazon.com prize right now (plus their associated music and video offshoots), it looks like both ity and its host album are almost certain to be Christmas number ones.
Yes, anyone wanting to listen to Kylie’s chart-topping (at the time of writing) new single – the seasonally appropriate XMAS (capitals obligatory) – will have to head to Amazon Music in order to hear it. That’s right, for Spotify listeners and Apple Music fans, Kylie’s latest will remain a complete mystery.
However, given that there are currently around 230 million Amazon Prime subscribers globally and around 19 million in the UK alone (all of whom – like it or not – get the service bundled with their ‘free’ delivery of next-day nappies and cat food) that’s still quite the audience.
And – it seems – enough to ensure that in this era of charts = streams = sales (via an algorithm that nobody really understands) a record that nobody is actually listening to, can be pushed all the way to the top.
That’s good news for Amazon – the notion of an Amazon Music exclusive is just another escalation of the platform’s TV and movie exclusives designed to keep you paying your monthly dues – and Minogue alike, who’s pocketed an unrevealed cash injection upfront in exchange for willfully keeping the majority of music lovers away from her latest hit.
Minogue’s Amazon-sponsored chart assault is two-fold:
Firstly, there’s the re-release of Kylie Christmas in a new ‘Fully Wrapped’ edition – an album that currently sits atop the UK album charts and seems set to stay there.
Kylie Christmas – an album of predictable standards given a Kylie spin – was first released in 2015 and was reissued as the ‘Snow Queen Edition’ the following year, featuring bonus tracks. Now, a decade on, ‘Fully Wrapped’ combines a ‘best of’ both previous releases plus four brand new songs (including new single XMAS) to mark the collection's 10th anniversary.
It’s worth noting that you CAN still listen to Kylie Christmas Fully Wrapped on the likes of Apple Music and Spotify but those extra tracks (including XMAS) are conspicuously absent. Want to own the track physically? That’s fine… So long as you buy the Amazon exclusive edition…
And they’ve even kept Minogue busy, manually putting her to work signing thousands of Signed Exclusives too.
And – after literally putting popstar Katy Perry into orbit earlier this year in advance of her album release – it’s a strategy/trick that looks like it's paid off.
Stats entertainment
The album’s number one placing makes it her 11th in the UK with a consumption of 23,279 units (according to the Official Charts Company), comprising of an impressive 10,125 CDs (it’s out now physically on Rhino Records), 9,510 vinyl albums, 1,441 cassettes, 1,057 digital downloads and 1,146 sales-equivalent streams.
The achievement now puts Minogue on a par with David Bowie, Eminem and Rod Stewart for the most UK number one albums.
And she’s not over yet. XMAS, that lead single from the album, is an entity that’s similarly heading for number one in its respective chart.
Released via Parlophone (part of EMI) the Official Charts Company's First Look chart (with BBC Radio 1) has placed it into an early lead.
The single moved from number 24 to number 16 last week with consumption up 25.3% at 21,946 units. Meanwhile, while it WAS eclipsed by Wham!’s ever-lasting Last Christmas, Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You and other festive tracks, Minogue’s single is NOT subject to ACR (Accelerated Chart Ratio) because it is a NEW release… (In the modern chart Christmas classics must achieve DOUBLE the streams to register the same number of units as new songs – a move designed to handicap the same old tracks making number one every Christmas forever, and which gives newcomers – such as Minogue, Olivia Dean and Raye this year – a clean run at the top.)
And, with Amazon footing the bill for limitless front-page promo on their platforms and more (including a cameo by ABBA's Björn Ulvaeus at 1:51 in the video) it looks like nothing can stop Minogue.
“XMAS is featured across many of our Christmas music stations and playlists as well as other relevant editorial placements, including our Brand New Music playlist and Feeling Happy Radio, which helps to ensure maximum visibility,” Alex Nutton, principal, label relations at Amazon Music UK told Music Week. “Strong playlisting combined with the high volume of music fans heading to Amazon Music to request XMAS, has significantly contributed to the song’s chart success to date.
“On the activation side, we collaborated closely with Kylie and her team on an exclusive fan event in London (December 12). The event gave a handful of lucky fans the chance to view the music video before anyone else, as well as an exclusive Q&A with Kylie, creating an elevated and memorable experience for her fans.
“The official music video was released on Friday on YouTube and will be available in the Amazon Music app. Throughout the campaign Kylie has supported the track across social media posts, TV performances, radio interviews, and much more, with plenty more to come in the run up to the Christmas number one announcement.
“Physical music continues to play an important role in chart performance, and Kylie fans can buy or pre-order a variety of exclusive album and single editions on both CD and vinyl via our retail site, as well as directly from Kylie’s artist store. On YouTube we set up a teaser counting down until the video’s release – building hype for the fanbase."
So how likely is it that Kylie will be number one on the big day?
“This is right at the top of my personal Christmas wish list! But we all know it’s one of the most fiercely competitive chart weeks of the year, so we’ll all have to wait until December 19th to see!”
We wish the all-conquering media powerhouse – and Amazon – all the best.
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