Caleb Johnson’s album ‘Testify’ could set sales low for ‘American Idol’ winner

Over the past few years, there has been one constant when it comes to “American Idol” winners: Watching their sales slowly decline over time.

Early this year, it was a big headline when Candice Glover could not even make it past the big 20,000 album plateau in her first week. Not, it is possible that Caleb Johnson may not even make it to 10,000 for his debut album “Testify,” which was finished very quickly following his time on the show. According to Hits Daily Double (via Mjsbigblog), it is very possible that this disc will sell somewhere between 9,000 and 11,000 in its first week. Unless there is some sort of 11th-hour miracle, this will be by far the lowest debut ever for a winner of the show.

For a brief period of time, there was a reprieve when it comes to show winners and album sales. After Lee DeWyze had the lowest-selling debut after season 9, Scotty McCreery and Phillip Phillips started to turn things around with their discs. This did change, though, with the release from Candice Glover.

There are a number of factors at play here, and none of them are actually the quality of the music. Instead, it’s about lower ratings for the show, worse reviews for the show, controversy about whether or not the right person won, and also then a lack of promotion for the winner after the fact. Johnson, like Glover, really didn’t get a ton of placement for their original music. In Caleb’s case, his album was released at a time when albums do not traditionally perform well.

Are you surprised at all by all of this? Share your thoughts with a comment, and head over here in the event you want more “American Idol” updates. Also, you can sign up now in the event you want further updates worth singing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: Fox