Obviously there is much more to music than the charts, though I have to say I am surprised that the album managed to sink all the way down to number 17, having been at number 8 midweek. I expected it to fall back slightly, but certainly not by that much! It’s not as if the album has been poorly received. It may be that the lead single did not get enough airplay to alert people to the fact that Mark had something new coming out. ‘Beryl’ was played on fairly heavy rotation and also had a distinctly early Straits-esque sound, which probably explains (at least in part) why Tracker charted so high after its first week. But then again, Privateering still hit the top 10 with virtually zero promotion. Perhaps it’s just a demonstration of how much more difficult it is now for older artists to attain chart success, what with younger generations, who will probably never know the joys of hearing properly crafted music, streaming and downloading all the autotuned hip-hop garbage that dominates the industry these days.
Still, regardless of charts and sales, as long as the music is out there for those of us who want to hear it and appreciate it, and as long as Mark is creatively satisfied in what he does, then that’s all that really matters in the long run.
