Does a lack of a pre-release single help CD sales? In a recent post, Hits suggests that very thing.

The impending chart-topping debut of Def Jam/IDJ Urban songwriter-turned-performer Ne-Yo's debut album, In My Own Words, would appear to offer powerful evidence that album sales were maximized by not allowing iTunes to sell the hit single, 'So Sick,' prior to release of the full-length disc. Industryites who have been arguing that download sales are cannibalizing album sales have some ammunition in what looks like the CD's estimated 250-300k figure.

Cannabilizaiton of CD sales is a favorite topic at Hits. Who can forget last month's rampaging guest editorial by Victory Records head Tony Brummel that called a la carte downloading "ultimately detrimental to the artists who created the music"?