On July 19, two days earlier than Barbie and its soundtrack would arrive, over 150 impartial file shops throughout the nation have been celebrating early with listening periods of the star-studded Barbie: The Album.
“We’ve truly by no means performed [that] for a soundtrack launch earlier than,” says Kevin Weaver, Atlantic Information’ West Coast president and the album’s co-producer (alongside Mark Ronson and Atlantic’s govt vp/co-head of pop/rock A&R, Brandon Davis). In the meantime, the label’s worldwide groups have been ensuring that retailers all over the world have been concerned, too, leading to a powerful international attain.
“That is the most important scale activation we’ve ever performed for one thing like this,” continues Weaver. “And the suggestions that I bought from our groups internally was that this was probably the most profitable activation of this nature that we’ve ever performed.”
Barbie: The Album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, boasting the most important gross sales week on vinyl for a theatrical movie soundtrack (33,000) since Luminate started electronically monitoring music gross sales in 1991. General, the album opened with the most important week (by items earned) for a theatrical movie soundtrack in over 4 years. (The final soundtrack to attain an even bigger week was Girl Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born).
Weaver says he and his group thought of their vinyl technique on day one in all planning for the soundtrack. “We had recognized the worth and the significance of with the ability to ship the music with sufficient time to have the ability to manufacture the vinyl and get it out into the world for road date. It was [one] of probably the most essential elements of what we have been doing.”
Nashville Report Urgent (NRP) started urgent the album in Might (the plant says a 10-week lead time is typical), guaranteeing the bodily copies can be prepared by the album’s launch date. The plant manufactured a complete of seven variants, with 5 at the moment being provided on the soundtrack’s official net retailer: sizzling pink, sky blue, milky clear (Amazon unique), cotton sweet (Barnes & Noble unique) and neon pink (City Outfitters unique). In all, the primary run was estimated at 100,000. “That’s a superb sized run for an [original soundtrack], and does point out robust demand for the title,” says Drake Coker, CEO of NRP, which is owned by GZ Media. “Which is sensible, given the power of the movie.”
Given the months-long lead time, Weaver admits he and his group have been “actually nervous” concerning the music leaking. And whereas the label has an extended observe file of profitable soundtrack releases, Barbie was its personal beast. “We have now songs from the most important superstars on the planet,” he says, noting a handful of whom have been stored a secret till the final minute.
“Traditionally on these form of tasks – I’ve performed The Best Showman, Suicide Squad, Quick and Livid – we’ve been in a position to get a bodily product on day and date. Traditionally, that’s been a CD. Often, we comply with with the vinyl and it’s an afterthought,” says Weaver. “Right here we simply knew the essential significance of that not being the case.” Whereas Barbie: The Album can be out there on CD and cassette, he and his group recognized early on that vinyl can be a key format for Barbie’s largest followers.
“We knew that the core demo was ferociously on the market shopping for up no matter merch and product they might get their palms on, and we have been in a position to work very intently with Mattel to essentially perceive their core client,” says Weaver. “It simply felt prefer it was going to be so culturally related that the vinyl was going to be a collector’s merchandise as a lot as an audio listening expertise.”
As such, numerous variations stored coming — and would possibly nonetheless. On Friday (July 21), the discharge date for each the movie and soundtrack, an expanded model of the album additionally arrived: Barbie The Album (Finest Weekend Ever Version). It featured two bonus tracks, together with Ryan Gosling’s cowl of “Push” by Matchbox Twenty (which Gosling sings within the movie) and a canopy of the Indigo Ladies’ “Nearer To Effective” — which additionally performs an integral position within the film — carried out by Brandi Carlile and her spouse, Catherine Carlile. Weaver says these two songs have been added to “numerous configurations of the bodily product.”
Followers will even discover “Barbie Desires” by FIFTY FIFTY that includes Kaliii is lacking from the unique urgent of the soundtrack. That, together with “Select Your Fighter” by Ava Max (which seems on the new prink variant) has since been added to a restricted version repress of the sky blue vinyl. It’s at the moment out there for pre-order, with a ship date of Sept. 22.
“We tried to maintain feeding what can be out there on the bodily facet,” says Weaver. “There are undoubtedly overarching conversations between myself and my artistic companions — [director] Greta Gerwig and Mark Ronson and filmmakers and the studio — about what are methods wherein we are able to proceed to assist the music manufacturers right here and the urge for food inside.” An unique Report Retailer Day launch isn’t out of the query, with Weaver promising “cool new iterations” forward. (Weaver says the best of all is the customized model known as Kevin the Album, made with unique cowl artwork in honor of his birthday.)
Whereas it appears the Barbie hype gained’t die down anytime quickly, Weaver is permitting himself a second to look again on what he and his group pulled off. “Having the vinyl and with the ability to ship it to the buyer the way in which that we did was one of many funnest elements of the entire venture,” he says. “It’s one thing that I’m actually happy with and one thing that I’m actually glad we have been in a position to determine the way to accomplish.”
