His best album imo but his least successful commercially. I guess the basic teenagers/Beckie’s (his core fanbase) didn’t feel them soulful R&b vibes
Contrast the commercial success and vibes of journals and the commercial success and vibes of his very next album(purpose). Two different albums with opposite vibes.
The label didn't support Journals and felt like it was too different from the music Justin was making before. In order to put it out, he did a campaign called Music Mondays where he released a song from the album every Monday for ten weeks. After that, he took all ten songs, added five more and put them together as a compilation album.
Because the label didn't support Journals, it was barely promoted and the songs didn't chart. It had two singles ("Confident" and "All That Matters"), but they barely did anything. I remember in real time hearing "Confident" and nothing else. The album was released at the end of 2013, a year that was stacked with competition and it was the same month Beyonce dropped her surprise album. Also, at that time, Justin was getting into more trouble and fukking up his image. Nothing was working in his favor for Journals to go anywhere. Nowadays, it has a cult following and most people consider it his best project. That's why when he released Changes, fans were expecting something like Journals because he considered it an R&B album.
His catalogue must not be appraising well towards future royalties/licensing because i’d think his ENTIRE publishing/masters would be worth a little bit more….
I think $200 million is just his share. The catalog is worth more than that so someone like Scooter Braun probably made out like a bandit with this sale.
