Album sales were flat last week and were 15% lower than the same week in 2006. With so few decent releases in the first three weeks of 2007, it's hard to read too much into album sales thus far this year. The health of the CD, though, is certainly on the minds of many. One wonders if digital music partcipation rose high enough in the 2006 Christmas season to cross over some sort of tipping point, that moment at which physical product enters a nosedive from which labels cannot recover.

Here's the state of the CD: After three weeks, CD sales are down roughly 20% compared to the first three weeks of 2006. Digital album sales -- a relatively small percentage of the market -- are up 76% this year.

Then again, it's hard to ascertain the state of the industry when there are no solid releases to drive foot traffic. The Shins' Wincing The Night Away (Sub Pop), out next week, comes with grand expectations. Let's see how that does.

The top album in the country last week was Daughtry's self-titled debut (RCA). Its 65,000 units beat out the former #1, the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack, by a hair. The "Jump In" soundtrack took #3 with 57,000 in sales. Akon's Konvicted remains hot after selling 52,000 and landing at #5. The Top 20 is filled with holdovers from last year; twelve titles in the Top 20 have sold over one million units, and six of them have topped two million units.

The Oprah Effect: After an appearance on "Oprah" (view clip) Corrine Baily Rae's self-titled debutt (Capitol) jumped 155% and moved to #4 from #32.

[music jobs] The Beggars Group & Matador Records is seeking a Paralegal