Most successful prerecorded MDs "ever"?

[alxwz]

Hi,

just came to my mind that I'd like to know which of all the (few, *lol*) prerecorded MDs that were ever released were the most successful (commercially, in terms of sales) worldwide?

Anybody have some valid information on that?

Although I generally don't dig the sound of prerecorded MDs, I'd like to collect a few, maybe some 'bestsellers', some personal favorites and some rarities.

Alex

[ke4mcl]

the only pre-recorded set i ever saw i own, the soundtrack to forrest gump. its a two MD set.

[Glantoir]

I don't have any pre-recorded mds myself, never thought too much about them tbh.
The Forrest Gump s'track sounds pretty cool though!

[close652]

I have some -- see the picture. Two of them was donated by a friend who gave up minidisc and sold his deck. Unfortunately the sound quality is inferior to a good home recording. I think they did not care much about quality, even clipping occurs. That is said the Morcheeba, Sade and the The Clash are fine and I recommend buying them if you can find them cheap.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-G0OaOSH06oM/Trb1S48r6_I/AAAAAAAAADc/uNl8jr4m6ig/s720/IMG_1872.JPG

[El Monte Slim]

The companion releases from Bruce Springsteen of Lucky Town and Human Touch seem to be very prevalent on eBay. Those were big releases back in the day.

I reallyl like Human Touch, so when I had the opportunity to pick it up on MD, I did so. I think it sounds very good!

[alxwz]

the only pre-recorded set i ever saw i own, the soundtrack to forrest gump. its a two MD set.

Funny you mention this one. This was the first prerecorded MD I got. It came with a deck I bought. Unfortunately, only disc 2 and without any cover/box.

For the record, the other three albums I have are:
Billy Joel - An Innocent Man
REO Speedwagon - The Hits
Electric Light Orchestra - Greatest Hits

I also have three test MDs that also contain some music tracks.

The Forrest Gump soundtrack might have been the most successful MD on this forum *g*

Actually, I thought, that the best-selling MD would have been something from Michael Jackson or such.

Alex

[ke4mcl]

here's forrest gump on epic records. sound quality on these is great. it was given to me by a buddy who owns a car stereo shop. i came in to buy some speakers and he hands these MD's and says "you're probably the only person i can think of that has a player".

[Naknut]

I only have two prerecorded MDs and both sound OK, the Stevie Ray Vaughan "The sky Is crying" sounds better than the Richard Thompson "Shoot Out The Lights", (a little too sterile for my taste). Even at that I cherish both of them and would like to collect as many as possible

[alxwz]

@ ke4mcl:
Intersting you also have the 32-songs version (with 16 songs on disc 2). My disc 2 also has only 16 tracks. There must have been a 34-songs version as well. I've seen it in fleabay.

[hawkster27]

Here's a bit of history from 2002 on UK sales. It's my understanding that Minidisc was never as popular in the US as it was in the UK; these very low numbers are telling.

"Retailers review policies on ‘declining’ MiniDisc format

Saturday January 19, 2002

Leading music retailers are planning to review their stocking policy on the troubled MiniDisc format after fewer than 2,500 pre-recorded units were sold across the country during the peak Christmas week.

With over-the-counter sales last week tumbling to just 1,300 units in total, both HMV’s head of music Jonathan Rees and Virgin Megastores product controller Rod Maclennan say they will now be looking carefully at which titles they should be stocking and which stores should still carry the format.

"It is a format which is declining," says Rees. "It is dead in the water as a format for pre-recorded music really. Sales of pre-recorded MiniDiscs are massively down on the year and we are probably selling a quarter of what we were a year ago."

BPI trade delivery figures reveal that in the UK – the world’s largest market for the format – sales up to quarter three had reached 66,000 units compared with full-year sales in 2000 of 300,000 units. In Christmas week, the peak period for music sales, Official Charts Company data shows just 2,462 units were bought in total across the counter. Rees believes MiniDisc’s speedy decline can only become a "self-fulfilling prophecy".

Warner, which last released a raft of new MiniDisc titles in September 1999, says it has no plans to issue anything further on the format in the future. Only MiniDisc originator Sony, and EMI and Virgin among the other majors have issued albums on the format, with BMG and Universal never having committed to MiniDisc.

Among the top-selling MiniDiscs in the UK last year were Madonna’s Music (2,119 units sold); Stereophonics’ Just Enough Education To Perform (1,819); Robbie Williams’ Sing When You’re Winning (1,600); and Toploader’s Onka’s Big Moka (1,391)."

[alxwz]

the UK – the world’s largest market for the format
Interesting. I thought that would have been Japan. Prerecorded MDs didn't even succeed in Japan, where MD as a format flourished?

Regards,
Alex

[close652]

Here is a cheap Cher 'best of' to buy. (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=330677554401)

[close652]

three recently acquired prerecorded MDs

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RUrvaWeYZtY/T1PaarMhUtI/AAAAAAAAATQ/4GWKauqvDgE/s720/IMG_2665.JPG
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-xa1ngBqAqJY/T1PadzmsILI/AAAAAAAAATg/tWAHkeQVkrE/s720/IMG_2667.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-O3sM0bSEkdI/T1Pa8oL0NiI/AAAAAAAAAUI/jpFKy9dGZZ0/s720/IMG_2675.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8Pc9ocEOh1g/T1PbBf5ciOI/AAAAAAAAAUY/sdINdab2nQs/s720/IMG_2679.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-DnrzOWdyVdQ/T10mmfXJn0I/AAAAAAAAAV0/BTjbVIE2XDI/s720/IMG_2706.JPG
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-n9g6vaI6S3M/T10mlNXXYnI/AAAAAAAAAVw/5vwVOq_Fh-k/s720/IMG_2709.JPG