The CB's KellyKellyK has posted a fantastic 'article' about Clay's achievements:
Clay is probably one of the hardest working artists in the music industry. Last year he had 3 tours, a #2 NY Times best-selling book, a platinum Christmas CD, his own TV Holiday special, a Christmas DVD, a video for the Aladdin DVD, plus made multiple TV appearances, benefits, etc. This year he has been less visible because he is working on his new CD, but he has still managed time to appear on Scrubs, Dr. Phil and Oprah, record a PSA for the Cartoon Network to help raise funds for tsunami victims, and appeared on a telethon to raise money for tsunami victims. That's without mentioning two trips for UNICEF, testifying before Congress on behalf of UNICEF, and preparing for a new tour.
It is even more impressive when you give some numbers. MCWL did not "just go platinum." It had the Best Selling Debut-Week for a Christmas Album in SoundScan history, with 270,010 sold in one week. It completely smashed the prior record of 185,000, set by Garth Brooks in 1999. MCWL also tied Celine Dion's record for the highest debut in Billboard Chart History by a holiday album (#4 on the Billboard 200). It was the best-selling Christmas album of 2005, as well as the best-selling Christmas album of the past 3 years. Oh, and yes, it did go platinum, as he had mentioned. It also had 5 different songs on charting on the Billboard AC charts (which are airplay only charts), all at the same time. I would say MCWL did more than "just OK."
Let's talk about touring. Clay has just completed 3 tours. The first one was a co-headliner with Kelly, so we'll focus on his two solo tours. The NaT started as a handfull of fair dates and was never intended to be a full tour, but dates kept being added due to interest from venues, and ended up with 51 shows. That tour averaged $172,944 in ticket sales per venue, with an average attendance of 4,446 per venue. Both of those numbers would be even higher if all the venues had reported their sales, since the biggest concerts were not reported and are not included in those averages. Estimated ticket sales for the entire tour are over $8.1 million. The JNT was a more intimate Christmas tour in smaller venues, most of them completely sold out. It had 22 shows, with an average of $175,303 in ticket sales per venue and an average attendance of 3,179 per venue. That was just a small holiday tour, after two huge tours (over 80 dates total) earlier that year. For comparison, Kelly's recent tour, her first one in over a year and the first one for her second mainstream album, averaged only $114,847 per venue, that's almost $60,000 per venue less than Clay's third concert in a year.
Clay is again going on tour this summer, with no new album out, just because he likes touring and to keep fans happy while the next album comes out. He has also announced that there will be another Christmas tour this year, which from the starting dates appears to be longer than last year's, and which will likely include Canada. So by the end of 2005 Clay will have done 4 tours as a solo headliner (Independent Tour excluded). That's with just one mainstream album out and less than 2.5 years after leaving AI. As a reference point, by the end of 2005, Kelly will have done 2 tours as a solo headliner (again, Independent Tour excluded), with two mainstream albums out and over 3 years after leaving AI.
Now, we already know that Clay's last tour (his small, intimate Christmas Tour) grossed over 52% more per venue than Kelly's last tour ($175,303 vs. $114,487). So what about their next tours? Both Kelly and Clay are touring this summer. Kelly's is another major tour to promote her album, while Clay's is a shorter tour with no new album to promote. How do those two tours compare? Well, venue size is similar, with both playing medium size venues. Ticket prices are higher for Clay. Sales? Clay's tour is just under one month away, and 4 concerts are already sold out and several more are expected to sell out. Kelly's concert tour already started, and while some venues are selling very well, there are several where a good portion of the floor seats are still available. We can even compare venues where both are playing. For example, both are playing at the Borgata. Clay has two concerts, both of which are two months away, with the highest ticket price being $95. Both shows have been sold out for weeks. Kelly has a single concert there, less than one month away, with the highest ticket price being $75. It still hasn't sold out. So I would say that if someone is impressed with Kelly's concert sales, they should be doubly impressed by Clay's.
What about single sales? Kelly has several singles certified platinum, while Clay only has TITN/BOTW certified platinum. Well, there is no denying that Kelly is doing great in airplay and song sales, but her song sales and certifications are for digital downloads, not for physical single sales. The difference? Platinum certification for physical single sales require shipment of 1 million CDs. Platinum certification for digital downloads require only 200,000 downloads (which only cost 99 cents each, btw). Tons of songs are achieving multiplatinum certification for digital downloads, while Clay's TITN/BOTW was the last physical single to be certified platinum. No other single has accomlished that feat in the last 2 years. Or to make it more graphic, Kelly has been certified triple platinum for "Since U Been Gone," while Clay was only certified platinum for TITN/BOTW, but Clay's TITN/BOTW sold over 958,000 while Kelly's SUBG has sold 713,767.
What about accomplishments outside the music business? Well, Kelly has a shoe ad and a movie that was one of the worst flops of the year. Clay has a book that was #2 on the New York Times non-fiction best-seller lists. He has been named an Ambassador for Education for the US Fund for UNICEF, recently had trips to Uganda and Banda Aceh on belf of UNICEF, testified in front of Congress on behalf of UNICEF and will be their spokesman for the Halloween Campaign this year. He also is busy on behalf of the Bubel/Aiken Foundation, which he co-founded.
What about the future? Is Clay fading fast? Well, we already know he has a tour starting shortly that is selling well and will likely gross him more per venue than his last two tours. According to Billboard he also has a new album coming out in the next 6 months (and if history is any indication, it should sell very well indeed). Promotion for the album has not yet kicked off, and yet we already know he has a TV Guide cover in a few weeks and he also has a concert for the Good Morning America Summer Concert seriesat the end of this month. Finally, what about fan support? Have his fans gone away or do they still support him? Well, I think we can use the fanclub here for a little comparison. Kelly Clarkson's official fan club opened earlier this year, just before her Breakaway Tour, several months after her second mainstream album was released and when she already had two big hits off the album. About a month after it opened, a moderator boasted they already had almost 3,000 members. Clay's official fan club opened officially last week, with no promotion at all. It already has over 6,500 members. I think it is safe to say that Clay still has a loyal fan base, and there is no evidence that it is going away any time soon.
