Only two albums crossed the 100,000 mark last week, but one of them had a huge debut. Linkin Park's Minutes To Midnight (Warner Bros) debuted with sales of 622,000 (13% digital), giving the album the biggest single sales week of the year. (Norah Jones' Not Too Late was the previous best.) Tank's Sex Love & Pain (Blackground Records) debuted at #2 with sales of 103,000 (1% digital). Wilco's Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch) had a big first week with sales of 87,000 (23% digital) and a #4 showing. Gretchen Wilson's One of the Boys (Sony) debuted at #5 with 73,000 (5% digital). At #8, Megadeth's United Abominations sold 54,000 (5% digital).

Last week's #1, Michael Buble's Call Me Irresponsible, dropped 19% and slipped to #3. Other steady sellers -- albums by Carrie Underwood, Daughtry, Akon and Robin Thicke -- had double-digit declines. Elliott Yamin's self-titled album jumped 136% (must have been his appearance on "American Idol" last week). Amy Winehouse and Taylor Swift had more modest gains of 7% and 8%, respectively.

I guess moviegoers don't just buy the soundtrack just because the like the movie. The indie rock-heavy "Spiderman 3" soundtrack is languishing at #122 after three weeks.

Second-week fades: Barbra Streisand fell 71%, Duke Da God faded 64%, Bobby Valentino sank 63%, Travis fell 58%, Bjork sank 61%, Bones Thugs-N-Harmony dropped 56% and Elliot Smith slipped 46%.

Overall, it was a decent week. Album sales were up 1%, although they were 7% lower than last year. Digital track sales rose 6% and were 51% higher than last year. In terms of track equivalent albums (add up albums sold and one-tenth of digital tracks sold) total music sales were down 2.3% compared to the same week last year. For the year, track equivalent albums are down 10.4%.

Posted by Glenn at 3:38 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

While Ne-Yo, last week's top artist, dropped 65% in his second week, last week's #2 Michael Buble slipped only 35% and rose to the top slot on the album chart. Call Me Irresponsible (Reprise) sold 145,000 in its second week and easily held off the debut of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony's Strength & Loyalty (Full Surface/Interscope), which sold 119,000 (7% digital).

Bobby Valentino's Special Occasion (Def Jam) debuted at #3 with nearly 92,000 (3% digital), Barbra Streisand's Live Concert 2006 (Columbia) entered the chart at #7 with 59,000 (no digital) and Bjork's Volta (Atlantic) sold 43,000 (26% digital).

Many of the Top 20 mainstays had a solid week. Martina McBride jumped 35%, Carrie Underwood upped 29% and Daughtry rose 33%. Nickelback, who has moved an incredible 5.33 million units of All The Right Reasons, rose 8% and six spots to #17. Amy Winehouse, the most recent UK singer to break out in the States, rose 6% in her ninth week of release. Her Back To Black (Universal Republic) has moved 366,000 units.

All in all, album sales rose 1% over the previous week but were 23% lower than the same week last year (the week the Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium debuted with sales of 442,000). For the year, sales are down 17%. Track sales are up 52% this year but were down 6% last week (only Maroon 5's "Makes Me Wonder" broke the 100,000 mark).

Other second-week fades: Rush fell 71%, Tori Amos fell 66%, Miranda Lambert sank 61%, Blake Shelton dropped 57% and Spiderman 3 fell 56%.

Posted by Glenn at 1:31 AM | Link
|Album Chart|

One album over 200,000 is pretty rare these days, but two in one week is practically unheard of. This week's chart finds Ne-Yo's Because of You (Def Jam) atop the album chart after debuting with sales of 251,000 (4% digital). Michael Buble's Call Me Irresponsible (Reprise) sold 212,000 (8% digital) in its debut week. Warner Music Group got two more debuts in the top ten: Rush's Snakes & Arrows (Atlantic) sold 93,000 (8% digital) and Blake Shelton's Pure BS (Warner Bros) moved 49,000 (5% digital).

Those two 200,000-plus debuts helped album sales increase 10% over the previous week. The week's tally was still 16% behind the same week last year. For the year, album sales are down 17%. Digital track sales held even last week and are up 52% over last year.

Other debuts near the top of the chart: Tori Amos's American Doll Posse (Epic) sold 54,000 (25% digital) and landed at #5, Miranda Lambert's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (Sony) sold 53,000 (8% digital) and hit #6 and Feist's The Reminder (Cherrytree/Interscope) sold 31,000 (27% digital) and debuted at #16.

Two mainstays of the Top 10 were steady last week. Daughtry's self-titled debut moved another 50,000 and has sold 2.4 million in 24 weeks. Carrie Underwood's Some Hearts sold another 43,000 and is up to nearly 5.4 million in 77 weeks.

Second-week fades: Joe sank 66%, Arctic Monkeys fell 59%, Porcupine Tree faded 58%, Patti Smith fell 57% and Dimmu Borgir slipped 51%.

Posted by Glenn at 12:57 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

Avril's Lavign's Best Damn Thing (RCA) easily beat out a new album by Nine Inch Nails to debut at the top of the chart. Best Damn Thing sold 286,000 units (10% digital) while Nine Inch Nail's Year Zero (Interscope) sold 188,000 (14% digital). Two other albums debuted in the Top 20: The self-titled album by "American Idol" finalist Bucky Covington (Lyric Street) sold 60,000 and landed at #4, and Clay Walker's Fall (Curb) landed at #15 with 35,000.

Last week's top album, Now 24, dropped 24% and fell to #3. Last week's #2, Tim McGraw's Let It Go, fell 22% to #8.

Second-week fades: Bright Eyes fell 65%, Hellyeah sank 62%, Blonde Redhead fell 54% and Tiesto dropped 38%.

Album sales rose 1% and are down 17% over last year.

Posted by Glenn at 12:58 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

Last week's buoyant album sales figures were short-lived. Album sales dropped 24% last week and were 32% lower than the same week last year. Ouch.

The reason for the drop? Yet another miserable release schedule. The top debut of the week was Bright Eyes' Cassadaga (Saddle Creek), which sold a respectable (for an indie) 58,000 (19% digital). Epic's self-titled debut by metal super group Hell Yeah debuted at #9 with sales of 45,000 (7% digital). Those two albums were the only debuts in the Top 40. Every other album in the Top 40 had a sales decline last week, most of them in the 30-40% range. Last week's #1 album, Now 24, remained at the top of the chart but sank 58%. Tim McGraw's Let It Go (Curb), the top album two weeks ago, remained at #2 in spite of a 63% drop.

The Top 20 album with the lowest rate of decline was Amy Winehouse's Back To Black (Universal Republic), which dropped 17% but jumped to #12 from #22.

Second-week fades: Hilary Duff sank 71%, Martina McBride dropped 64%, Kings of Leon stumbled 64%, Shadows Fall nosedived 63%, Chevelle faded 62%, Paul Wall sank 60%, Timbaland fell 58% and Static-X fell 58%. Six Degrees' Ceu actually increased 50%.

Posted by Glenn at 12:56 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

The 24th edition of Now That's What I Call Music (Capitol) experienced a 7% drop in sales but rose to #1 in its second week of release. The hits collection easily held off a long list of debuts. Martina McBride's Waking Up Laughing (RCA Nashville) sold 143,000 (6% digital) in its first week. Hillary Duff's Dignity (Hollywood) sold 140,000 (8% digital) in its debut week. Timbaland Presents Shock Value (Univeral) moved 138,000 (18% digital). Paul Wall's Get Money Stay True (Swishablast/Atlantic) sold 92,000 (2% digital). Alison Krauss' A Hundred Miles or More: A Collection (Rounder) was the last debut in the Top 10 and had sales of almost 73,000 (less than 1% digital).

It was a strong week for albums. Sales were up 16% over the previous week and were only 5% lower than the same week last year. Yes, only 5% lower. In 2007, that is as narrow a margin as we've seen. The increase was too large for any handful of debuts to be responsible. (The top debut sold only 143,000.) No, album sales were simply up overall. Country albums were especially strong. Other than debuts, only four albums in country's Top 50 sold less than the previous week. Hard rock albums had a similar, overall increase.

Second-week fades: Prodigy fell 65%, Redman was down 62%, Young Buck slid 61%, Good Charlotte dropped 59%, Lil' Flip sank 58%, Macy Gray slid 55%, Clutch slid 55%, Kaiser Chiefs stumbled 49%, Tim McGraw was down 46%, Mims slipped 41% and Mika dropped only 12%.

Virgin's much-heralded Sick Puppies debut at #181 with 6,100 units sold of their debut, Dressed Up As Life. That album sounds like a radio-driven project, so wait for EMI's radio department to push that one.

Posted by Glenn at 11:14 AM | Link
|Album Chart|

Country star Tim McGraw added some life to the album chart this week with a solid debut of his new album, Let It Go (Curb). The singer's ninth studio album sold 325,000 units (3% digital). EMI's Now 24 debuted at #2 with sales of 230,000 (1% digital). Young Buck's Buck the World (Interscope) debuted at #3 with 140,000 (5% digital). Mims' Music Is My Savior (Capitol) entered at #4 after moving 77,000 units (3% digital). Good Charlotte's Good Morning Revival (Epic) debuted at #7 with 66,000 (17% digital). The final debut in the Top 10 was Jennifer Lopez's Spanish-language Como Ama Una Mujer (Epic) with 48,000 (8% digital).

Debut to watch: Mika's Life In Cartoon Motion on the revived Casablanca (via Universal Republic). It sold 29,000 (17% digital). Intra-office rival Universal Motown coaxed a decent debut out of the sophomore Kaiser Chiefs album, Your Truly Angry Mob, with sales of 17,000 (16% digital).

Second-week fades: Insane Clown Posse nosedived 68%, Elliott Yamin fell 67%, Marques Houston faded 65%, Modest Mouse dropped 63%, LCD Soundsystem fell 55%, Joss Stone sank 51%, Devin the Dude dropped 51% and Crime Mob fell 41%.

Overall, album sales rose 5% versus last week but were down 15% against the same week last year. For the year, album sales are about 17% behind last year's pace.

Posted by Glenn at 9:45 AM | Link
|Album Chart|

Modest Mouse, now with The Smith's Johnny Marr in the lineup, debuted at #1 on this week's album chart. We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank (Epic) sold 128,000 units (27% digital), beating out Joss Stone's Introducing Joss Stone (Virgin) by 10,000 units. Elliott Yamin's self-titled album (Hickory Records) moved 90,000 units (17% digital) and debuted at #3. Recall the name? Yamin got third place in the fifth season of "American Idol."

There were two other debuts in the Top 20. Marques Houston's Veteran (Universal) sold 68,000 (3% digital) and Insane Clown Posse's Tempest (Psychopathic Records) sold 33,000 (1% digital).

Akon's Konvicted is still showing incredible resolve after moving another 68,000 units last week. Its 19-week total is 1.9 million (3% digital). Daughtry's self-titled debut is doing even better. In 18 weeks, the RCA album has sold just over two million (7% digital).

Two Virgin albums keep plugging away week in and week out with sales around 11,000 to 13,000 a week. 30 Seconds To Mars' Beautiful Lie has now sold 881,000 and Red Jump Suit Apparatus' Don't You Fake It has sold 524,000.

Indie rock surprise of the week: Silversun Pickups' Carnavas (Dangerbird) has now sold 106,000 units in ten weeks of release. They've got big numbers in Los Angeles, San Diego, the Bay Area and Seattle. In comparison, the latest Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album has done 40,000 in eight weeks, and Bloc Party's latest has sold 95,000 in seven weeks.

Second-week fades: Last week's #1, Musiq Soulchild, dropped 64%, both Lloyd and Type O Negative sank 62%, Rich Boy faded 56%, 8-Ball & MJG dropped 49%, Neil Young slipped 42%, James Morrison fell 40%, The Fratellis dropped 33% and Amy Winehouse slipped a mere 6%.

Overall, album sales were up 3% over last week but were 17% lower than the same week last year. To date, 2007 album sales are 18% behind last year's pace.

Posted by Glenn at 10:27 AM | Link
|Album Chart|

For a change, three debuts broke the 100,000 mark last week, and none of them had a digital share greater than 4%. (That may seem odd, but urban music sells relatively few downloads compared to pop and rock.) Musiq Soulchild's Luvanmusiq (Atlantic) topped the album chart with sales of 149,000 (4% digital). Lloyd's Street Love (Universal Motown) debuted at #2 with 144,000 (3% digital) and Rich Boy's self-titled album (Interscope) debuted at #3 with 112,000 (2% digital).

Two other debuts in the Top 10 were by Neil Young and 8-Ball and MJG.

Another iTunes pre-order success story: UK singer Amy Winehouse's Back To Black (Universal Republic) debuted at #7 with sales just shy of 51,000. An impressive 31% of those sales were digital, which points to a high number of iTunes pre-orders. Normally I would expect Winehouse to drop significantly next week, but she has a good deal of momentum. One thing that is almost sure to drop is the digital-to-physical ratio. By next week it should be well under 30%.

Lily Allen's Alright Still (Capitol) was the lone non-debut in the Top 40 to post a gain last week. The Brit singer's debut album increased 11% and rose to #33 from #39.

Second-week slides: Sevendust slid 65%, Bright Eyes tanked 64%, Reliant K dropped 62%, Notorious BIG dropped 61%, Chimera fell 61%, Arcade Fire sank 60%, Air faded 58%, Korn fell 55% and Finger Eleven dropped 52%.

Overall, album sales dropped 2% from the prior week and were down 17% over the same week in 2006. To date, album sales are 19% lower than last year.

Posted by Glenn at 11:52 AM | Link
|Album Chart|

Notorious B.I.G.'s Greatest Hits (Bad Boy) topped this week's album chart with sales of 99,000 units (5% digital), thus continuing this year's dismal tendency to see an album top the chart with fewer than 100,000 in sales. Arcade Fire's Neon Bible (Merge) became the latest indie rock album to debut high on the album chart. It sold just shy of 92,000 units (30% digital, helped no doubt be iTunes pre-orders and its availability at eMusic).

Three other albums entered in the Top 10. Gary Allen's Greatest Hits (MCA Nashville) entered at #5 with 69,000. Relient K's Five Score and Seven Years Ago (Capitol) landed at #6 with 64,000. Korn's MTV Unplugged (Virgin) entered at #9 with 51,000.

The Stooges' first album in 34 years, The Weirdness (Virgin), barely moved the needle. It sold a mere 6,500 in its first week.

Daughtry's self-titled RCA debut dropped to #3 from #1 in its 16th week of release. Norah Jones' Not Too Late (Blue Note) fell to #7 from #2 in 6th week.

Second-week fades: BG and the Chopper City Boyz dropped 64%, Slim Thug & Boss Hogg Outlawz sank 52% and Bill Engvall dipped 31%.

Last week's album sales were up 2% over the previous week and were 19% lower than the same week in 2006. For the year, album sales are down 16%.

Posted by Glenn at 12:09 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

After a tremendously slow January and a sharp post-Christmas drop, the album chart is looking slightly -- only slightly -- better. Last week, album sales were up 13% over the previous week and there were nine albums over the 100,000 mark. Call it The Grammy Effect. But...album sales were 10% lower than the same week a year ago. Given albums are down 15% for the year, that's actually quite an improvement.

Norah Jones' Not Too Late (Blue Note) continued to be a welcome salve to EMI's income statement. Expectations were high -- maybe too high -- but Not Too Late is faring well. After three weeks it has sold 852,000. Last week's decline was only 12%. The album should have strong enough legs to stay at or near the top of the chart for a number of weeks. The rise of Corrine Bailey Rae should boost EMI's spirits. Thanks to the Grammy Awards, her self-titled Capitol debut rose 132% to #4 on the chart.

The Grammys were even better to The Dixie Chicks, who shot up 714% and landed at #8.

The highest debut of the week was Gerald Levert's In My Songs (Atlantic) which sold 165,00 (2% digital). Lucinda Williams' West (Lost Highway) debuted at #14 with sales of 57,000 (15% digital).

Here's an oddity: The "Music & Lyrics" soundtrack debuted at #111 with sales of about 9,700. The CD/digital split is the inverse of a typical figure. Digital sales accounted for 84% of the total.

Second-week fades: Bloc Party fell 66%, Fall Out Boy sank 54%, Ashley Tisdale dropped 52%, Barenaked Ladies fell 42% and Patty Griffin faded 39%.

Posted by Glenn at 4:11 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

In a previous, healthier year, a new Fall Out Boy album would have debuted with a far better tally. While the 259,000 units (11% digital) sold by Infinity on High is nothing to sneeze at, and enough to beat out Norah Jones in her second week, it is not a total that would have previously indicated the popular and cultural weight of the band. Fall Out Boy's first-week numbers exemplify the state of the album in 2007. Though sales were up 5% over the previous week, album sales are down 16% year over year.

Indie rock albums, on the other hand, are now debuting with relatively huge numbers. This week, Bloc Party's Weekend In The City (Vice Recordings) debuted at #12 with sales of 47,000 (33% digital). A week prior, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self-released) debuted in the Top 50. Before that, The Shins, a Sub Pop band, debuted at #2 with sales over 100,000 and have moved past 200,000 in three weeks. All three releases are distributed by Warner Music Group's ADA.

A few bright spots on the chart: Robin Thick (Interscope) moves up to #6, and Corrine Bailey Rae (Capitol) moves up to #9.

Second-week fades: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah skidded 67%, Jill Scott sank 60%, Paulo Nutuni faded 50%, Celtic Women dropped 46%, Norah Jones slipped a respectable 42% and Harry Connick Jr fell 15%.

Lily Allen's Alright Still (Capitol) actually gained 5% in its second week.

Posted by Glenn at 10:23 AM | Link
|Album Chart|

After a miserable first four weeks, 2007 looks slightly better after Norah Janes' Not Too Late (Blue Note) sold 405,000 (12% digital). Along with a decent debut from "Idol" Katherine McPhee -- 115,000 in sales (12% digital) -- the album chart almost returned to normalcy. Album sales were up 10% over the previous week but were down 15% year over year.

As I pointed out last week, every week this year has been down about 15% year over year. A big debut from Fall Out Boy's Infinity On High (Island) will boost next week's album sales -- it is expected to do upwards of 300,000 -- but I'd guess overall sales will be down 13% year over year at best.

Celtic Women's A New Journey (Manhattan) debuted at #4 with sales of 71,000 (1% digital), Harry Connick Jr's Oh,My Nola (Columbia) debuted at #11 with 44,000 (11% digital) and Jill Scott's Collaborations (Hidden Beach) debuted at #12 with 44,000 (16% digital). Daughty's self-titled debut (RCA) continued its stay in the medal round by remaining at #3 with sales of 76,000. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's Some Loud Thunder (self released but distributed by ADA) debuted at #47 with sales of just under 19,000 (19% digital).

Last week's #1, Pretty Ricky's Late Night Special (Atlantic), dropped 53% to #5. Last week's #2, The Shins' Wincing The Night Away (Sub Pop), dropped 55% to #8.

Posted by Glenn at 10:03 AM | Link
|Album Chart|

For the first time in 2007, an album topped 100,000 sales per week. Pretty Ricky's Late Night Special (Atlantic) debuted at #1 with sales of 132,000 (3% digital). The Shins' Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop) debuted at #2 with sales of 119,000. What is most amazing about The Shins' week, other than the fact that an indie rock (legitimately indie rock, because it's on an indie label) sold that many albums, was the digital share. An incredible 30% of The Shins' sales were digital. In the past, a digital share that high would come from a lack of distribution to national accounts. In this case, Wincing The Night Away was available virtually everywhere. Still, 30% of consumers chose to buy an album download. Only in indie rock.

Two other titles debuted in the Top 10. Various: 2007 Grammy Nominees (Columbia) debuted at #4 with 77,000 and John Mellencamp's Freedom's Road (Univeral Music Group) debuted at #5 with 56,000. Saliva's Blood Stained Love Story (Island) debuted at #19 with 30,000.

Overall, album sales were up 5% over last week but were down 14% year over year. The previous week was down 15% year over year. The week before that was down 14% year over year. The first week of the year was down 17% year over year. See a trend here?

Posted by Glenn at 7:03 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

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.

Posted by Glenn at 8:21 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

Think the first week of 2007 was bad? It was stellar compared to last week, the second week of 2007. Album sales dropped 14% last week to 8.1 million units. That was 14% lower than the same week last year. Digital albums make up 11% of total album sales in the first two weeks of the year.

The top album was again the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack, but it sold 60,000 units -- 6,000 less than the previous, record-breaking-low total. Akon's Konvicted is at #2. Justine Timberlake's Futuresex/Love Sounds is at #3 after a mild 2% drop. Daughty's self-titled RCA debut is at #4 with 50,000 sold. The entire Top 10 is tightly packed. The tenth-best album, Hinder's Extreme Behavior, sold only 35,000 units.

There was only one new release of note, the "Jump In!" soundtrack (Disney). It sold 49,000 units in its debut and landed at #5. Yo Yo Ma's Appasionato (Sony) was the second-highest debut all the way down at #79.

The Evolution of Robin Thicke (Interscope) rose again last week, all the way to #16 from #35. In 15 weeks, the album has sold just shy of 300,000 units (6% digital). Last week it moved 31,000. Hinder's Extreme Behavior (Universal Republic) is about two weeks away from 2,000,000 scans (3% digital).

Looking forward to next week, The Shin's Wincing The Night Away (Sub Pop) is poised for a (relatively) huge first week. Other indie-friendly albums out next week include Clinic's Visitations (Domino), The Good, The Bad & The Queen (Virgin) and Of Montreal's Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer (Polyvinyl). Among next week's important major label releases are John Mellencamp's Freedom's Road (Universal Republic), the 2007 Grammy Nominees compilation ( ) and Saliva's Blood Stained Love Story (Island).

Posted by Glenn at 6:00 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

Album sales plummeted last week, typical for the time of year but atypical in magnitude. Sales fell 34% from the previous week and were 18% lower than the same week in 2006 (which were 7% higher than the same week in 2005). Here's why: J Records released Jamie Foxx's Unpredictable on December 20, 2005. In its third week of release -- the week that is comparable to last week -- it dropped 34% but still sold 131,000 copies.

Last week's best seller didn't sell half of what Foxx's album sold in its third week out. This year, The Dreamgirls soundtrack moved a mere 66,000 last week and took #1. Last year, new releases from Mary J Blige and Eminem were still selling strong. This year, the highest debut was Carly Simon's Into White (Columbia), which sold 40,000. Last year, The Strokes' First Impressions of Earth debuted with sales of 88,000.

The last two Tuesdays of January will have some big releases and should offset the slow start to 2007.

Akon's Konvicted (SRC/Universal Motown) sits at #2 after selling 63,000 and change. In just eight weeks, Konvicted has sold 1,222,000 units (3% digital) but is still 16,000 units shy of Jay-Z's seven-week total. (That should definitely change next week. I'm surprised Kingdom Come hasn't fallen further down the chart.) Young Jeezy's Inspiration (Def Jam) Nas' Hip Hop Is Dead (Def Jam) are still in the Top 10, at #8 and #9, respectively.

Robin Thicke's Evolution of Robin Thicke (Interscope) is finally getting momentum. It rose 27 spots to #35 after rising 33 spots a week earlier. "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks is going the opposite direction. The chart position of his self-titled Arista debut has gone from #2 to #15 to #36 to #47. It's currently #53 at adult-oriented Amazon.com. That's bad news for Sony BMG.

Posted by Glenn at 4:36 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

Album sales took a big tumble last week, falling 55% over the previous week. A year ago, the post-Christmas week was 50% lower that its previous week. At 14.2 million, last weeks' total was 16% lower than the same week the previous year. CDs accounted for 90.6% of last week's album sales. Digital accounted for 9%. Compare to exactly one year ago, when CDs were 95% of all album sales and digital was 4.6%.

There are a few talking points only because Columbia put out a few albums in a slow week. Omarian's 21 (Columbia) debuted at #1 with sales of 119,000 (1% digital). The next best debut was Switchfoot's Oh! Gravity (Columbia), which entered the chart at #18 with sales of 46,000 (an impressive 16% digital).

Gift cards and gift certificates must have been redeemed for hip hop albums. For a change, rappers dominated the Top 10. Akon's Konvicted continued its strong showing, coming in at #2 on sales of 112,000. Nas' Hip Hop Is Dead took #4 with 101,000. Young Jeezy's Inspiration: Thug Motivation sold 91,000 and came in at #5. Eminem Presents: The Re-Up rose to #7 from #24 on sales of 84,000.

Second-week fades: Bow Wow sank 78%, Nas dropped 71%, DJ Clue fell 69%, RBD dropped 67% and Trick Daddy fell 66%.

Posted by Glenn at 3:06 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

Like other weeks since Thanksgiving, last week's sales picture had both good news and bad news. The good news was a 34% increase in album sales over the previous week. The bad news was that last week was, as usual, 6% lower than the same week in 2005. A consolation can be found in last week's 23% increase in digital track sales, a mark that was 52% higher than the same week last year.

Nas barely beat out a fictional teenager last week. Hip Hop Is Dead (Def Jam) debuted at #1 with sales of 354,000 (5% digital). The Hannah Montana soundtrack (Disney) rose one spot to #2 and sold 349,000. In nine weeks, the soundtrack has sold 1.9 million units.

The only other debut in the Top 20 was Bow Wow's Price of Fame (Columbia), which sold 261,000 (less than 1% digital) and entered the chart at #6.

Last week's top two titles fell while nearly every other abum in the Top 40 got a healthy holiday bump. Last week's #1, Young Jeezy's Inspiration (Def Jam) dropped 48% and fell to #18. Taylor Hicks' self-titled debut (Arista) fared better, dropping 32% and falling to #15 from #2. Fantasia's self-titled album (J Records) isn't connecting with fans. In its second week of release, it fell to #63 from #19 on a 54% decrease.

Justin Timberlake's Futuresex/Love Sounds (Jive) jumped 98% and rose to #9. The Dreamgirls soundtrack had a big week as well, rising ten spots to #31 on a 97% jump in sales. Akon's Konvicted (SRC/Universal Motown)) is the hip hop album of the fourth quarter, rising to #10 on a 60% sales jump. Konvicted passed the one million mark (3% digital) in its sixth week in stores. Jay-Z's Kingdom Come has sold 100,000 more units in five weeks but will fall behind Konvicted in the next week or two.

Posted by Glenn at 8:02 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

Album sales shot up again last week but didn't match the same week last year. Album sales rose 24.9% from last week but were 5.6% lower than the same week last year. Album sales are down 4.6% for the year. A small consolation can be found in digital tracks, which rose 2% last week and 2% the week prior. Weekly sales of digital tracks have increased 16% since mid-October...so ignore the headlines at The Register.

Young Jeezy's The Inspiration (Def Jam) sold 352,000 units in its first week. That was good enough for the #1 spot on the album chart. Taylor Hicks' self-titled debut (Arista) sold 298,000 and debuted at #2. Hicks should be the more popular Christmas present of the two, though.

Mary J. Blige's Reflections: A Retrospective (Geffen), the only other debut in the Top 10, sold 171,000. Fantasia's self-titled album (J Records) debuted at #19 with sales of 133,000.

As expected this time of the year, most albums had a big increase last week. Carrie Underwood's Some Hearts and Josh Groban's Awake were both up 83%. Tony Bennet's Duets: American Classic was up 65%. Fergie's The Duchess was up 52%. A few albums are holding strong in the Top 20. Daughtry's self-titled debut increased 17% and has sold a total of 795,000. Akon's Konvicted, one of the few hip hop albums not dropping down the chart, rose 20% and has sold 818,000 in five weeks.

Even in this season of big increases, two of last week's big albums dropped mightily. Ciara's Evolution, last week's top album, dropped 52%. Eminem Presents: Re-Up dropped 51%. Gwen Stefani's The Sweet Escape dropped 39%. Stefani fell to #14 from #3.

Other second-week fades: Lil Scappy dropped 59%, Brian McKnight sank 57% and the Dreamgirls soundtrack fell 31%.

There is no Christmas cheer for some of the year's biggest disappointments. Janet Jackson's 20 Y.O. sits at #184 and has sold only 580,000 in 12 weeks. Audioslave's Revelations is at #182 and has sold 357,000 in 15 weeks. The Who's Endless Wire rose two spots to #136 but has moved only 182,000 in seven weeks. Diddy's Press Play dropped another 11% and fell to #130 in its ninth week of release.

Posted by Glenn at 7:29 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

Album sales increased 28% over last week but were down 5% over the same week last year. Columbia Records has seven titles in the Top 20.

Ciara's Evolution (La Face) debuted at #1 and was the leader of three debuts in the Top 10. Evolution sold 339,000 (2% digital). Eminem Presents: The Re-Up (Shady/Interscope) sold 308,000 (6% digital) and took #2. Gwen Stefani's Sweet Escape took #3 with 242,000 (7% digital). Ciara's sales are good. Eminem's sales will raise some eyebrows, but remember, it's a legit mixtape and not a proper Eminem album. Gwen Stefani's first week was surprisingly low given her sales history, celebrity status and pre-release exposure (the Grammy Awards, for example).

The Dreamgirl's soundtrack (Columbia) debuted at #20 with sales of 92,000 (7% digital).

Some of this holiday's key releases had big gains last week. One of the week's biggest gainers was Il Divo's Siempre (Columbia), which increased 64,000 units units -- a 128% jump -- and rose to #6 from #16. Sarah McLachlan's Wintersong (Arista) increased 20,000 units -- an 18% increase -- and is now at #9. The Beatles' Love (Capitol) increased 5,000 units and has sold 570,000 in three weeks. In the Top 10, not dropping is almost as good as rising. Daughtry's self-titled debut (RCA) is proving to be a hit. It stayed level at 155,000 units. James Taylor's Christmas Album (Columbia) increased 44% and rose to #16.

Hip hop death watch: Jay-Z's Kingdom Come (Def Jam) followed a 79% drop with another 27% drop. In a week that saw increases from every other album in the top 20, Kingdom Come was the lone album that sold less. Its three-week total is 923,000.

Second-week fades: Clipse dropped 70%, Incubus sank 65% and Ying Yang Twins fell 59%. And that's it. Every other album still in the Top 200 rose in its second week. Even Twisted Sister's Twisted Christmas.

The full Top 20 after the jump.

Continue reading "Chart Recap: Ciara Tops Album Chart" »

Posted by Glenn at 1:22 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

Honestly, I hadn't heard the word Incubus in what seems like eons. The band still has a good core group of fans, though, because its album Light Grenades (Epic) debuted at #1 by selling 164,000. If any album is destined for a 60% second-week fade, it's this one. The only other debut in the Top 20 was Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury (Re-Up/Jive). The Neptunes-produced album sold 78,000 in its first week. Reviews have been excellent and there's a good chance it will have a lighter-than-average fade next week.

Sarah McLachlan's Wintersong (Arista) rose 38% and now sits at #7. It has sold 346,000 in seven weeks. A few weeks back, Bob Lefsetz pronounced McLachlan to be over. At the time her album was starting slowly and was down further in the charts. Lefsetz made the mistake of seasonal ignorance. Wintersong is a Christmas album. Like other Christmas albums, Wintersong has been steadily rising up the chart. Clive Davis isn't trying to teach Terry McBride a lesson, as Lefsetz posited. The fact is that holiday albums peak late in the year. Christmas albums by Wynnona, Aly & AJ and James Taylor have had similar upward trends.

As for last week's top album, Jay-Z's Kingdom Come (Def Jam), it dropped an amazing 79% and fell to 139,000 units after selling 680,000 in its first week. This time last week people were saying that Jay-Z is back. Obviously that was premature. Granted, first week sales were boosted by Black Friday shopping sprees, but 79%?!

Second-week fades: Jay-Z sank 79% (I think that's a 2006 second-week fade record), Tupac skidded 67%, Snoop Dogg fell 66%, Killswitch Engage fell 64%, Brand New sank 63%, U2 fell 56%, RBD sank 54%, Daughtry dropped 49%, Now 23 dropped 47%, The Beatles fell 46%, Tom Waits dropped 35% and Il Divo slid 32%.

The entire Top 20 after the jump.

Continue reading "Chart Recap: Incubus Debuts at #1" »

Posted by Glenn at 12:32 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

Black Friday pushed album sales up last week. Sales rose 36% overall and 43% at mass merchants. Most encouraging to labels, last week's total was basically in a dead heat with the same week last year -- only 2,000 units lower.

Jay-Z debuted big on the album chart. Kingdom Come (Def Jam) sold 680,000 (6% digital), over double the total of Daughtry's self titled debut (RCA), which moved a very impressive 303,000 (6% digital)

The Beatles' Love (Capitol), a mashup produced by Sir George Martin and his son Giles, debuted at #4 with 271,000 sales (zero digital). Snoop Dogg's Blue Carpet Treatment (Geffen) moved 264,000 units (5% digital) and debuted at #5. The last debut in the Top Ten was another hip hop album, Tupac's Pac's Life (Interscope). It sold 159,000 (2% digital).

A couple sure-fire holiday hits also debuted high. U2's U218 Singles collection (Island) sold 134,000 (7% digital). Il Divo's Siempre (Columbia) sold 107,000 (1% digital).

Hits' Rumor Mill recapped some big, Black Friday-related increases and the retailers responsible for them. Justin Timberlake was up 134% due to a Best Buy promotion. Beyonce rose 155% through Best Buy and Circuit City. Tony Bennet was upped 194% because a special version was available at Target (and he had a special on NBC). Promotions at Best Buy, Circuit City and Target helped The Killers rise 77%. Nickelback, which has been on the chart over a year, rose 99% with the help of Circuit City.

It was a predictably good week for album sales. Only three albums in the Top 40 -- Akon, The Game and Josh Groban, all in their second week of release -- saw sales drops. All other titles in the Top 40 had a sizeable sales increase or debuted this week.

Second-week fades: Fat Joe tanked 66%, +44 fell 64%, The Game dropped 63%, Tenacious D faded 58%, Neil Young and Crazy Horse fell 48%, Damien Rice faded 46%, and Akon and Staind both sank 42%,

Posted by Glenn at 1:43 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

The Game turned in a big first week with his album Doctor's Advocate (Geffen). It sold 358,000 (4% digital) and debuted at #1. Akon's Konvicted (SRC/Universal Motown) debuted at #2 with sales of 284,000 (5% digital).

When Your Heart Stops Beating (Interscope) by blink-182 offshoot +44 landed at #10 in its first week after selling 66,000 (18% digital).

Fat Joe's Me Myself & I (Terror Squad/Imperial) debuted at #14 and sold 60,000 (2% digital). That's a great sign for Caroline Distribution, for which the album is the first important release of the Bill Hein era and the first test of its urban development unit.

Meager debut of the week: Staind's The Singles 1996-2006 (Atlantic) sold 26,000 and debuted at #41. Far below Staind was the debut by supergroup Army of Anyone, which sold just shy of 20,000 units of its debut (The Firm). The album was released not by a major label but by a label created by the band's management company, The Firm. The difference between a more artist-friendly contract and a typical major label deal was probably tens of thousands of units just last week alone -- but their breakeven point is certainly lower.

Format mix of the week: in its first week, Joanna Newsom's Ys (Drag City) sold 56% CD, 36% digital and 4% LP.

Second-week fades: Dave Matthews Band nosedived 70%, Foo Fighters stumbled 65%, Tech N9Ne fell 62%, Sugarland dropped 61%, Jim Jones sank 60%, Bowling For Soup dropped 54%, Josh Groban fell 44%, Now 23 slid 42% and Ricky Martin faded 41%.

Album sales were up 4% over last week and are down 5% for the year. Digital tracks were down 2% and are up 68% over last year.

Posted by Glenn at 1:30 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

There are currently six debuts in the album chart's top ten, the highest of which is Barry Manilow's The Greatest Songs of the Sixties. (Arista). Once again, the top album is the Hannah Montana soundtrack (Disney). After debuting at #1 last week, the soundtrack dropped 26% to 203,000, less than 2,000 units more than Manilow (which sold 1% digital)

Birdman & Lil' Wayne's Like Father Like Son (Cash Money) debuted at #3 with 176,000 scans (3% digital). The Who's Endless Wire (Universal) sold 82,000 (5% digital) and debuted at #7. Meat Loaf's Bat Out Of Hell III (Virgin) moved 80,000 (4% digital) and debuted #8. Kellie Pickler's Small Town Girl (BNA) sold 79,000 (4% digital) and entered the chart at #9. At #10 was The Deftones' Saturday Night Wrist (Maverick), which sold 76,000 (8% digital) .

Other debuts: Pitbull's El Mariel (TVT) at #17, Jeremy Camp's Beyond Measure (BEC) at #29, Lady Sovereign's Public Warning (Def Jam) at #48, Newsboy's Go (Inpop) at #51, Craig Morgan's Little Bit Of Life (Broken Bow) at #57, Willie Nelson's Songbird (Lost Highway) at #87 and...Kevin Federline's Playing With Fire (Federation) #151 with 6,485 units sold (and many, many, many more to be returned, I'm sure).

Big jump of the week: Fergie's Dutchess (Interscope) rose 46% to #14. Beyonce's B'Day (Columbia) increased 37% and went to #13 from #16.

Second-week fades: My Chemical Romance was down 64%, Paul Stanley was down 63%, Brooke Hogan skidded 54%, John Legend dropped 50%, Jibbs dropped a not-terrible 47%, Taylor Swift faded 42%, Alabama dropped 29%, Hannah Montana dropped only 28%,

Overall, sales were up 6% over last week. For the year, album sales are down 5%.

Extra coverage: Billboard.com's chart recap

Posted by Glenn at 1:10 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

No blockbusters last week, and overall sales were pretty average compared to other weeks in 2006. Album sales were up 2% last week but for the year are still down 5%.

The Hannah Montana soundtrack (Disney) sold 281,000 units (3% digital) in its first week of release and debuted at #1.(Montana is played by Miley Cyrus, daughter of BIlly Ray Cyrus.) It was one of three debuts to land inside the Top 10 -- all of them comprise the top three albums. My Chemical Romance's The Black Parade (Warner Bros) came in at #2 with 240,000 units (10% digital), and John Legend's Once Again (Columbia) took #3 with 231,000 (8% digital). (Today's Wall Street Journal profiles Legend, who used to be an associate consultant for the Boston Consulting Group.)

Jibbs debuted at #11 with 46,000 scans (2% digital) of Jibbs feat. Jibbs (Geffen). His "Chain Hang Low" is a smash ringtone and the single has sold pretty well -- 563,000 digital downloads in 14 weeks. The album, though, isn't going to keep up. I just don't see this having any legs. If Jibbs feat. Jibbs has a typical fade over the next three weeks, the first month scan total will be in the 90,000 to 95,000 range. Unless Geffen can squeeze more life out of "Chain Hang Low," or unless there's another single lurking somewhere, the album will fall past #100 and make its way off the chart. Such is the life of a full-length album by a ringtone star.

Second-week fades: Dierks Bentley, Frankie J and Ruben Studdard all faded 67%; Diddy dropped 65%; JoJo sank 57%; Vince Gill was down 53% and Sarah McLachlan dropped only 9%.

Big gain of the week: Dixie Chicks' Taking The Long Way (Columbia) rose 39% and is now at #90. The band was on "Oprah" last week to promote the documentary "Shut Up And Sing."

Jet Watch: Shine On (Atlantic) dropped another 22% and sank to #129 from #100 after four weeks of release.

Posted by Glenn at 12:49 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

Given the starpower, the television appearances, the YouTube channel and the Best Buy promotion, 170,000 first-week scans (5% digital) for Diddy's Press Play feels like a disappointment. It was good enough to debut at #1 on the album chart. Watch that second-week drop. If it's a typical fade, Diddy will be under 100,000 next week and on his way down the chart.

Billboard.biz's recap points out it was Diddy's first #1 album in nine years but also the lowest first-week total of his career. Hard to knock Bad Boy in 2006, though. Overall, the label has been hot.

Jojo's High Road (Universal/Blackground, with production by Swiss Beatz and Scott Storch) debuted at #3 with 108,000 scans (6% digital). Dierks Bentley's Long Trip Alone (Capitol Nashville) came in at #5 with 82,000 (5% digital). "American Idol" contestant Rubben Studdard debuted at #8 with 70,000 scans (2% digital) for Return (J Records).

Impressive: Vince Gill's four-CD set, These Days (MCA Nashville) moved 42,000 units (3% digital) and debuted at #17. Unlike most multi-CD sets, Gills album is comprised of new material. Just about everybody is on it: Bonnie Raitt, LeAnn Rimes, The Del McCoury Band, Patty Loveless, Guy Clark, Michael McDonald, Diana Krall, Trisha Yearwood, Phil Everly, Gretchen Wilson...

Continue reading "Album Recap: Weak Week" »

Posted by Glenn at 12:37 PM | Link
|Album Chart|

Rod Stewart continues his string of cover song success with Still The Same...Great Rock Classics Of Our Time. The J Records album debuted at #1 this week after selling 184,000 (a scant 3% of that was digital). That was 20,000 more than Evanescence sold of The Open Door (Wind Up) in its second week of release. In third place was the debut of Lloyd Banks' Rotten Apples (Interscope) at 142,000 (4% digital). Jimmy Buffett's Take The Weather With You (RCA) debuted at #4 with 121,000 (5% digital).

The big gainer of the week was Corinne Bailey Rae's self-titled Capitol debut. After an October 7th appearance on Saturday Night Live, the album gained 33% and moved to #34 from #54. The album has been steady since its release. In 17 weeks it has sold 429,000 units and has been in the Top 40 almost the entire time.

Congratulations to Gnarls Barkley. St Elsewhere (Downtown) went over the 1,000,000 scans mark.

Second-week fades: Jet plummetted 70%, The Killers were down 68%, Monica faded 68%, Evanescene dropped 63%, George Strait sank 62%, Beck dropped 56%, Fred Hammond dropped 42% and The Decemberests faded only 32%. That drop by Jet took Shine On (Atlantic) to #56 from #16 in its second week. Horrible album reviews must have caught up with it.

For the week, album sales were down 3%. Non-traditional (think digital and online) was down 11% and mass merchants were down 10%. There wasn't a big digital single, either. Hinder's "Lips of an Angel" stayed at #1 with 74,000 units sold.

Posted by Glenn at 10:53 AM | Link
|Album Chart|

Not even an appearance on "Oprah" and numerous magazine covers could help Janet Jackson's 20 Y.O. debut atop the album chart. Ludacris' Release Therapy (Def Jam) debuted at #1 with 309,000 in sales (5% digital). Jackson's 20 Y.O. (Virgin) sold 296,000 (4% digital).

There were three other debuts in the Top 10: Tony Bennet's Duets: American Classics (Columbia) sold 201,000, Alan Jackson's Like Red On A Rose (Arista Nashville) sold 148,000 and Weird Al Yankovic's Straight Outta Lynwood (Volcano) sold 72,00