US Chart Talk: 12/08/07

[Guest Beautiful Stranger]

Fergie will cross 3 million next week since she increased so much this week.

[Guest amit1234]

Got nothin' to do with being old news or not- I was wonderin' about that and often don't have the time to read every article, thanks.

Do I sense some tension between my two favorite online chart queens?

[thebigham]

Yes, he doesn't have time to read the chart news, yet we are supposed to have time to go read the articles and post a link for him????

[Guest nothingfails0603]

I knew B. Day would boost quite a bit with the $5 sale price at Wal-Mart, but didn't expect it to rechart at #19

[Guest nothingfails0603]

I was wondering the same thing! was her cd completely off the charts and is back on at # 19? that's pretty impressive. Madonna had a network tv special and couldnt get the cd back on the chart, but Beyonce has a commercial and somehow debuts at # 19?? give it up to her i guess

well, COADF also wasn't on sale for $5 at one of the biggest retailers either

[HolidayGuy]

A commercial? Wasn't Beyonce also on the AMAs and such?

[Nightshade]

ouch for britney...

it's a bummer, this is her first actually GOOD album, and it will by far perform the worst of them all.

Despite all the praise Blackout is getting, I still think word of mouth for this album is bad. It's following a similar trajectory as Janet's last flop album. It didn't even GAIN during Black Friday's sales weekend. That's a very bad sign.

[HolidayGuy]

Yeah- usually albums in their second week don't gain; third week, not too sure, but this is that album's 4th week. if there was any real interest, it would have gained- something.

And, I like reading at other boards, whenever anyone says, "If she got out to promote it"- please. We've seen plenty of instances in the past where a hit at radio was enough to boost an album, and the act didn't do much promo- Madge included for several of her albums in the USA. Jive got the word out about the album just fine, and, again, ya had to be under a proverbial rock to not know she had an album coming out (similar to Mimi and when Glitter- album and movie- was released).

The second single is unlikely to turn anything around- we saw how much the video for the first single helped airplay and such.

[doctorjosh]

What are Blackout's sales so far?

[thebigham]

Last week:

23 BRITNEY SPEARS - BLACKOUT 51,520 86,639 -41% 428,207

[thebigham]

bks at Pulse:

BILLBOARD HOT DIGITAL SONGS - TOP 50

1 1 KEYS*ALICIA NO ONE 182089 -13 209776 1047039

2 2 FLO RIDA LOW 149234 -13 170859 456705

3 3 TIMBALAND FEAT. ONEREPUBLIC APOLOGIZE 140600 8 130720 1594439

4 4 BROWN*CHRIS KISS KISS 111834 10 101972 861238

5 5 SOULJA BOY TELL'EM CRANK THAT (SOULJA BOY) 106925 15 93112 2367764

6 6 FERGIE CLUMSY 93578 7 87614 480037

7 7 CAILLAT*COLBIE BUBBLY 84794 -1 85717 1375658

12 8 SPARKS*JORDIN TATTOO 77247 55 49845 372198

8 9 FINGER ELEVEN PARALYZER 73625 -1 74592 832850

9 10 BABY BASH FEATURING T-PAIN CYCLONE 65624 -2 67123 936832

10 11 MATCHBOX TWENTY HOW FAR WE'VE COME 57439 -3 59438 866602

11 12 WEST*KANYE STRONGER 48447 -6 51667 2035825

14 13 GOOD CHARLOTTE I DON'T WANNA BE IN LOVE (DANC 45399 18 38463 442280

13 14 BEDINGFIELD*NATASHA FEATURING LOVE LIKE THIS 45229 10 41019 203964

20 15 RIHANNA HATE THAT I LOVE YOU 44088 25 35364 533222

23 16 KINGSTON*SEAN TAKE YOU THERE 40176 16 34524 161247

27 17 JEAN*WYCLEF FEATURING AKON, LI SWEETEST GIRL (DOLLAR BILL) 38968 19 32632 324791

19 18 WEST*KANYE FEAT. T-PAIN GOOD LIFE 37014 4 35762 567641

17 19 SANTANA FEATURING CHAD KROEGER INTO THE NIGHT 36979 0 37096 249789

22 20 SWIFT*TAYLOR OUR SONG 35492 1 35227 447820

24 21 TIMBALAND FT. KERI HILSON & JO WAY I ARE 34957 2 34291 1741888

21 22 DJ KHALED;T-PAIN;TRICK DADDY I'M SO HOOD 33648 -5 35348 333698

32 23 DAUGHTRY OVER YOU 33622 13 29857 526009

84 24 CAREY*MARIAH ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YO 33365 183 11794 645882

28 25 NICKELBACK ROCKSTAR 33116 3 32166 1673254

31 26 FERGIE BIG GIRLS DON'T CRY 32464 7 30381 2325037

16 27 SPEARS*BRITNEY GIMME MORE 30747 -19 38117 776005

34 28 PLIES FEATURING AKON HYPNOTIZED 29416 6 27643 231459

15 29 BROWN*CHRIS WALL TO WALL 28599 -25 38143 147175

25 30 CSS MUSIC IS MY HOT HOT SEX 28102 -17 34043 109404

29 31 SUGARLAND STAY 27846 -12 31642 234309

18 32 DJ FELLI FEL FEAT. DIDDY,AKON, GET BUCK IN HERE 26804 -28 37027 99109

26 33 DION*CELINE TAKING CHANCES 26467 -20 32991 100135

33 34 MAROON 5 WAKE UP CALL 26412 -6 28132 546680

45 35 BLIGE*MARY J. JUST FINE 26144 26 20713 69840

35 36 50 CENT FT. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE AYO TECHNOLOGY 25897 -4 26893 843170

38 37 PARAMORE MISERY BUSINESS 24586 4 23663 551621

50 38 PLAYAZ CIRCLE DUFFLE BAG BOY 24468 38 17774 219807

62 39 JONAS BROTHERS S.O.S. 23571 42 16636 538727

36 40 UNDERWOOD*CARRIE SO SMALL 22796 -11 25733 373185

40 41 SPEARS*BRITNEY PIECE OF ME 22685 3 21932 103438

-- 42 CAILLAT*COLBIE MISTLETOE 22637 999 0 22637

60 43 LINKIN PARK SHADOW OF THE DAY 22279 33 16751 102391

54 44 RIHANNA UMBRELLA 21905 25 17521 2202506

43 45 THE-DREAM SHAWTY IS A 10 21838 4 20909 218958

44 46 PLAIN WHITE T'S HEY THERE DELILAH 21074 2 20757 2402260

55 47 SOULJA BOY TELL'EM SOULJA GIRL 20397 17 17424 166953

61 48 SWIFT*TAYLOR TEARDROPS ON MY GUITAR 19552 17 16734 776072

37 49 KEYS*ALICIA LIKE YOU'LL NEVER SEE ME AGAIN 19377 -19 23965 43342

30 50 LED ZEPPELIN STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN 19348 -37 30793 50251

A FEW BONUSES:

-- 59 ADAMS*AMY THAT'S HOW YOU KNOW 17295 999 0 17295

-- 63 ONEREPUBLIC SAY (ALL I NEED) 16371 999 0 16371

161 71 BEYONCE IRREPLACEABLE / IRREEMPLAZABLE 15419 122 6956 2156695

193 73 LAVIGNE*AVRIL HOT 14958 151 5961 77873

120 100 RIHANNA DON'T STOP THE MUSIC 10876 25 8735 152953

-- 131 ADAMS*AMY/MARSDEN*JAMES TRUE LOVE'S KISS 8521 999 0 8521

-- 172 SPARKS*JORDIN NO AIR 6911 999 0 6911

97 189 LEWIS*BLAKE BREAK ANOTHA 6443 -40 10824 17267

MERRY CHRISTMAS:

84 24 CAREY*MARIAH ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YO 33365 183 11794 645882

-- 42 CAILLAT*COLBIE MISTLETOE 22637 999 0 22637

-- 58 BROWN*CHRIS THIS CHRISTMAS 17557 999 0 17557

-- 68 TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA CHRISTMAS EVE/SARAJEVO 12/24 16095 189 5566 208258

-- 92 LEE*BRENDA ROCKIN' AROUND THE CHRISTMAS T 11714 155 4585 213023

-- 95 HELMS*BOBBY JINGLE BELL ROCK 11328 176 4102 151077

-- 101 TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA CHRISTMAS CANON 10867 156 4253 168362

-- 103 SANDLER*ADAM THANKSGIVING SONG 10826 296 2731 81275

-- 105 CROSBY*BING WHITE CHRISTMAS 10675 134 4565 182191

-- 112 BUBLE*MICHAEL LET IT SNOW, LET IT SNOW, LET 9917 303 2463 66911

-- 129 FELICIANO*JOSE FELIZ NAVIDAD 8535 191 2932 180753

-- 132 ALY & AJ GREATEST TIME OF YEAR 8505 205 2790 101683

-- 139 KITT*EARTHA SANTA BABY 7951 128 3483 168462

-- 151 HILL*FAITH WHERE ARE YOU CHRISTMAS? 7512 90 3955 189106

-- 158 PRESLEY*ELVIS BLUE CHRISTMAS 7344 156 2873 138811

-- 170 GROBAN*JOSH O HOLY NIGHT 7006 141 2905 135529

-- 181 IVES*BURL HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS 6669 166 2504 127767

-- 186 CHIPMUNKS CHIPMUNK SONG 6537 179 2343 148538

-- 188 TISDALE*ASHLEY LAST CHRISTMAS 6522 405 1291 39555

-- 200 WHAM! LAST CHRISTMAS 6210 211 1994 140658

[thebigham]

HITS:

Re-entries include Beyonce¡'s Columbia album B'Day (#19), spurred by Wal-Mart¡'s aggressive $5 pricing and the release of her DVD The Beyonce Experience Live, which was merchandised side-by-side by the retailer.

[thebigham]

Billboard.com:

'Oprah' Visit Helps Groban Soar To No. 1

November 28, 2007, 10:55 AM ET

by Katie Hasty, N.Y.

After seven weeks on the chart, Josh Groban's holiday set "Noel" finally overtakes The Billboard 200 at No. 1. The 143/Reprise album ascends 2-1, selling 405,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. The 81% increase was fuled in part by his surprise appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" last week.

"Noel" is the first Christmas-themed set to top the chart since Kenny G's 1994 album "Miracles," and the 405,000 units marks Groban's best sales week ever.

Alicia Keys' "As I Am" (J) flip-flops with "Noel," slipping 1-2 with a 53% sales decrease to 349,000. The hits compilation "Now 26" climbs a notch 4-3 with 234,000. Garth Brooks' "The Ultimate Hits" (Pearl) moves up 5-4 with 192,000 (-6%) and the Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden" (Eagles Recording Co.) follows suit, ascending 6-5 with 184,000 (-7%).

The soundtrack to Disney's "High School Musical 2" rockets up 14-6 with a 130% sales increase to 183,000; with that, the set surpasses Daughtry's self-titled set as the top selling album in 2007.

Carrie Underwood's "Carnival Ride" (Arista Nashville) climbs 9-7 with 141,000 and a 25% sales bump, while Celine Dion's Columbia album "Taking Chances" falls 3-8 following a 40% sales decrease to 128,000. Inching up 10-9, Chris Brown's "Exclusive" (Jive) sells 121,000 (+10%).

Jordin Sparks, who was crowned the winner on "American Idol" earlier this year, starts at No. 10 with her self-titled 19 Recordings/Jive set, moving 119,000. It is the lowest start and smallest sales debut for any of the show's winners on the tally.

Keith Urban's first best-of collection, Capitol's "Greatest Hits," debuts at No. 11 with 117,000. It's the Aussie country singer's fourth straight album to start in the top 11, dating back to 2002's "Golden Road," which also entered at No. 11. MercyMe's "All That Is Within Me" (Columbia) lands at No. 15 with 84,000 and is also the act's fourth No. 1 on Top Christian Albums.

Only two other albums bow inside of the top 50 on The Billboard 200: Philly rapper Freeway's "Free at Last" (G-Unit/Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam) starts at No. 42 with 36,000 and the soundtrack to "Enchanted" (Disney) debuts at No. 48 with 31,000.

This week, the top 11 albums all sold more than 100,000 copies, helped by the first week of the post-Thanksgiving shopping season. However, sales this week (13.94 million units) are down 18.1% from the same week last year (17.02 million). This week's sum is up 19% from last week's.

[HolidayGuy]

Ouch- back to a sizable decline compared to a year ago.

[thebigham]

HITS:

GROBAN AND EAGLES VIE FOR #1: The Tuesday after Black Friday is traditionally a slow release date, but this is ridiculous. Epic’s Mudvayne and TVT’s Pitbull are the only two notable newcomers of note, and they might not even hit 20k. Josh Groban’s Oprah offensive continues, with Noel likely to run the table, at least until Geffen’s Mary J. Blige arrives on Dec. 18. Its only competition for next week’s #1 spot, The Eagles, keep soaring thanks to last Sunday’s 60 Minutes interview which spurred almost 60k in one-day sales at Wal-Mart. Both titles appear targeted for the 250-300k range, with J’s Alicia Keys trailing.

Miley Cyrus makes another Oprah appearance this week, which could double (or better) the approximately 100k the album sold this week and might even catapult her into the fray. The market was up almost 19% from last week, but down 18% over the same week last year and now down almost 14.5% to on the year. Is it 2008 yet? (11/28p)

[thebigham]

Billboard Chart Alert:

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_dis...8dbbf67afbdb121

[thebigham]

MTV.com:

'American Idol' Champ Jordin Sparks Fails To Ignite The Charts, Barely Cracking Billboard Top 10

Oprah helps Josh Groban's seven-week-old Christmas album reach the chart's peak.

By Chris Harris

It took him seven weeks and a little backing from the likes of Oprah Winfrey, but Josh Groban's holiday-themed Noël has claimed the Billboard top 200's peak position — during what was generally a strong week for record sales.

According to the latest SoundScan tally, sales of Noël spiked by 81 percent to 405,000, following the Grammy-nominated baritone's appearance last week on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." While Oprah may have given Groban the push he needed to reach the top, the album's ascent to #1 has been gradual but steady. The disc debuted at #10 the week after its release, scanning 64,000 copies. Ever since, Noël has been inching its way forward, not once falling out of the chart's top 10; last week, the disc assumed control of the #2 slot with 233,300 copies sold — the highest single-week sales the LP had achieved before this week's total. The album is also the first Christmas album to top the chart since Kenny G's 1994 effort Miracles.

But Groban's latest triumph isn't this week's only Billboard-related bit of news. In fact, perhaps more interesting are the sales generated by Jordin Sparks' self-titled debut. Sparks — the winner of the sixth and most recent season of "American Idol," who many thought was the most marketable of the show's winners — probably won't be thrilled when she learns her album has turned out the lowest first-week numbers of a debut issued by any of the show's previous winners. Jordin Sparks enters next week's chart at #10 (the sole new release to crack the top 10) with little more than 119,100 sold.

Comparatively, season-one victor Kelly Clarkson's 2003 debut, Thankful, opened at #1 with 297,400 scans, while season two "Idol" Ruben Studdard's 2003 LP, Soulful, also entered at #1, selling 416,600 units. America's third "Idol," Fantasia Barrino, sold more than 239,000 copies of her 2004 debut, Free Yourself, to bow at #8, while season-four champ Carrie Underwood's 2005 opus, Some Hearts, opened at #2 with sales of 315,000. The last man standing at the conclusion of the show's fifth season, the salt-and-pepper-pelted Taylor Hicks, sold more than 298,000 copies of his 2006 eponymous debut to enter the chart at #2.

Meanwhile, last week's #1, Alicia Keys' As I Am, slides one spot to #2, with week-two sales of 348,600, while the 26th volume of best-selling hits series Now That's What I Call Music! rises one position to #3 with 234,000 sold. At #4, with 192,000 scans, it's Garth Brooks' The Ultimate Hits, followed at #5 by the Eagles' Long Road Out of Eden with 184,000 units snatched up. Sales of the soundtrack to the Disney Channel's "High School Musical 2" climbs eight spots to #6 with 183,000 sold, thanks to a sales surge of 130 percent; the disc has now eclipsed Daughtry's self-titled LP as the top-selling album of 2007 — so far. Up two spots to #7, with 141,400 scans, is Carrie Underwood's Carnival Ride, followed at #8 by Celine Dion's Taking Chances, which sold 128,000-plus. Chris Brown's Exclusive climbs one spot to #9, having sold another 120,800 copies.

All in all, the chart is sprinkled with 19 new releases, including Sparks' debut offering. Right behind her at #11, with sales of 117,000 and change, is country artist Keith Urban's first best-of collection, Greatest Hits, and coming in at #15, with 83,700 sold, is Christian act MercyMe's All That Is Within Me. Dreaming Out Loud, the debut album from OneRepublic, enters at #17 with 75,000 scans, while rapper Freeway's Free at Last follows at #42 with 36,000 sold. Next comes the soundtrack to "Enchanted," featuring tracks by Underwood and Jon McLaughlin, at #48 with 31,000 copies, while Empezar Desde Cero, the latest from RBD, bows at #60 with sales reported at 22,500. Amy Winehouse's reissued 2003 debut, Frank, follows at #61 with 22,400 copies sold.

The soundtrack to "This Christmas," which includes songs from Chris Brown, Sparks, B2K, Aretha Franklin and Luther Vandross, sold 21,000 units, coming in at #65. AC/DC's Sight and Sounds Collection, a two-disc Wal-Mart exclusive, enters at #73 with 18,000 scans, while Nine Inch Nails' Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D comes in at #77 with sales of 17,000 and change. A "collector's edition" of the "Hairspray" soundtrack bows at #89, selling 15,000 copies, and Gorillaz return at #165 with their latest, D-Sides, which sold 7,500 copies.

Former "American Idol" contender Elliott Yamin's Target-exclusive Christmas offering, Sounds of the Season, enters at #169 with 7,200 sold, while Mike Jones' The American Dream EP checks in at #182 with 6,800 scans. Sebastian Bach's solo LP Angel Down comes in at #190 with 6,400 sold, followed at #198 by K-Paz de la Sierra's Capaz de Todo por Ti, which sold 6,100 units.

Sales of Beyoncé's B'day shot up a whopping 999 percent, selling 73,300 copies and re-entering the chart at #19 (during the previous week, the set sold just 4,000 units). The surge in sales comes on the heels of the singer's recent appearances at the American Music Awards and on "The Tyra Banks Show."

[Guest nothingfails0603]

this whole Beyonce things proves a point that I made awhile back that they should price CD's similarly to DVD's, in the sense that the price depreciates and they go on sale cheaper and cheaper after they've sold all they really can sell at a certain price. B. Day has been off the chart for months, it's been a long time since Beautiful Liar or Irreplaceable was in the top 10, but yet 73,000 people wanted it on sale for $5 (at just one retailer, it might've done even more if Best Buy, Target, etc.. had it on sale too) while only 4000 wanted it at regular price the week before. This is a sign that the music industry needs to do with CD's what the movie industry does with DVD's that have been out a certain amount of time and sales started slowing down. I think after an album has been out six months, the sales have peaked and are going down and it makes logical sense to bring the price down, because more people are going to want to pay a lower price for something than they would $15-18. Beyonce's album is well over a year old and hasn't had a single on the chart in quite some time but yet for $5, that was a price that 73,000 people decided it was worth adding to their collection, compared to 4000 who wanted it for full-price the week before. See, people will still purchase cd's, you just need to find a price point that the consumers will agree with. The Eagles are a perfect example, $11.99 list and it's one of the fastest selling albums of 2007 and will likely go neck and neck with HSM2 for the year end.

[Guest Bad Robot]

this whole Beyonce things proves a point that I made awhile back that they should price CD's similarly to DVD's, in the sense that the price depreciates and they go on sale cheaper and cheaper after they've sold all they really can sell at a certain price. B. Day has been off the chart for months, it's been a long time since Beautiful Liar or Irreplaceable was in the top 10, but yet 73,000 people wanted it on sale for $5 (at just one retailer, it might've done even more if Best Buy, Target, etc.. had it on sale too) while only 4000 wanted it at regular price the week before. This is a sign that the music industry needs to do with CD's what the movie industry does with DVD's that have been out a certain amount of time and sales started slowing down. I think after an album has been out six months, the sales have peaked and are going down and it makes logical sense to bring the price down, because more people are going to want to pay a lower price for something than they would $15-18. Beyonce's album is well over a year old and hasn't had a single on the chart in quite some time but yet for $5, that was a price that 73,000 people decided it was worth adding to their collection, compared to 4000 who wanted it for full-price the week before. See, people will still purchase cd's, you just need to find a price point that the consumers will agree with. The Eagles are a perfect example, $11.99 list and it's one of the fastest selling albums of 2007 and will likely go neck and neck with HSM2 for the year end.

Record labels have been experimenting with price points all over the place for the past decade, as have retailers.

The point your post glosses over is that Wal-Mart selling Beyonce for $5/disc is at a significant loss. The wholesale price on a CD is around double that. They do sales like that to get people in the door to buy other big-ticket items. That's not a model the record industry itself can really push for or sustain. I see your point that recod labels should lower the wholesale price of the CD as well, but selling 10 or 20% more albums at a price that's been cut 10 or 20% still evens out to the same amount. The volume increase would have to more significantly offset the decreased profit per item.

The bottomline is that CDs are becoming antiquated. The music industry needs to better adapt to the digital world to become profitable. My best guess about what will happen is that individual song sales will have to go up in cost (say to $1.29 or $1.49 instead of $.99 or less) and digital album costs will have to go down (to say $6.99 or $7.99) if they want to move albums more.

Right now paying $.99 for 1 song, then paying $9.99 for 11 or 12 songs gives very little incentive to buy a full album. If digital albums start looking like a better deal, they'll probably sell better.

This is totally anecdotal, but I bought 4 tracks from Fergie's album on iTunes for $.99 each, but didn't feel it worth the whole album. If the album had been cheaper and/or the individual songs more expensive, I probably would have bought the whole album -- and in the end the label would've gotten more money. This is why the physical singles realm died -- they make money off of albums, and I think that still holds digitally. Digital single sales are on track to be as strong or stronger than they ever were physically, but until albums catch up, overall it's still a slump.

[rafter69]

A commercial? Wasn't Beyonce also on the AMAs and such?

oh come on, you knew what i was getting at. besides, does anyone watch the AMA's anymore? i didnt even know they were on.

and rechart based on appearing on an award show and the other instances listed, is impressive. i was giving it up to Beyonce. Plus i didnt know Wal Mart had her cd on sale. thats why i asked in the post above 'why the high rechart?"

guess y'all told me.

personally love the cd so glad to see it still kicking.

[rafter69]

this whole Beyonce things proves a point that I made awhile back that they should price CD's similarly to DVD's, in the sense that the price depreciates and they go on sale cheaper and cheaper after they've sold all they really can sell at a certain price. B. Day has been off the chart for months, it's been a long time since Beautiful Liar or Irreplaceable was in the top 10, but yet 73,000 people wanted it on sale for $5 (at just one retailer, it might've done even more if Best Buy, Target, etc.. had it on sale too) while only 4000 wanted it at regular price the week before. This is a sign that the music industry needs to do with CD's what the movie industry does with DVD's that have been out a certain amount of time and sales started slowing down. I think after an album has been out six months, the sales have peaked and are going down and it makes logical sense to bring the price down, because more people are going to want to pay a lower price for something than they would $15-18. Beyonce's album is well over a year old and hasn't had a single on the chart in quite some time but yet for $5, that was a price that 73,000 people decided it was worth adding to their collection, compared to 4000 who wanted it for full-price the week before. See, people will still purchase cd's, you just need to find a price point that the consumers will agree with. The Eagles are a perfect example, $11.99 list and it's one of the fastest selling albums of 2007 and will likely go neck and neck with HSM2 for the year end.

great post!

[Guest nothingfails0603]

Record labels have been experimenting with price points all over the place for the past decade, as have retailers.

The point your post glosses over is that Wal-Mart selling Beyonce for $5/disc is at a significant loss. The wholesale price on a CD is around double that. They do sales like that to get people in the door to buy other big-ticket items. That's not a model the record industry itself can really push for or sustain. I see your point that recod labels should lower the wholesale price of the CD as well, but selling 10 or 20% more albums at a price that's been cut 10 or 20% still evens out to the same amount. The volume increase would have to more significantly offset the decreased profit per item.

wholesale prices definately need to be slashed on CD's. I don't understand why DVD titles like The Devil Wears Prada and Borat, which have both been out for little less than a year on DVD, were being offered up practically everywhere for $5 on Black Friday.... yet at the same time, you didn't see My Chemical Romance's "The Black Parade" and The Killers' "Sam's Town" also being offered at such a cost, MCR and Killers may only be selling 2000-3000 a week, being marked down may help them sell 15,000-25,000. Every single time I go to Circuit City, there's always a few people digging in the "$3.99/5.99/7.99/2 for 15/etc..." crates. They aren't brand new top tier titles, they're ones that have been out for a bit and can't sell for $20 anymore, but you can't keep them on the shelf marked down. With iPods, illegal downloading as well as the fact we are in an economic recession, the music industry needs to lower wholesale costs and learn to follow a market plan closer to that which the DVD industry has done so well at. In the 80's, albums used to go on sale cheap after they've been out for a year or so, I remember getting "Who's That Girl" on cassette for $1.88 in 1989, and nobody complained about sales then.

[HolidayGuy]

Actually, the AMAs pulled in 11m viewers or somethin', which isn't too bad these days.

[SexPistol]

Actually, the AMAs pulled in 11m viewers or somethin', which isn't too bad these days.

wow, i'm actually shocked at that number. i was expecting something like 4m!

11m is actually pretty good. i never would have thought that many people watched that boring show.

[thebigham]

HITS:

WEAKEND TOP 10 PREVIEW:

01 Josh Groban 375-400k

02 The Eagles 300-325k

03 Alicia Keys 230-240k

04 Garth Brooks 120-130k

05 Now 26 110-120k

06 High School Musical 2 90-100k

06 Hannah Montana 2 90-100k

08 Carrie Underwood 80-85k

08 Celine Dion 80-85k

10 Chris Brown 75-80k

WEAKEND TOP 10 PREVIEW: Caroling Jew Josh Groban (Reprise) has obviously been nice, not naughty, because Santa (or Irving Berlin) will keep him atop next week¡¯s chart with a projected 375-400k. The Eagles will also retain their head of steam (rather than heads full of snow, like in the old days) as they flap toward 300-325k. Alicia Keys (Arista/RMG) will keep Clive jolly with 230-240k, good for #3. After that there¡¯s a drop-off, with Garth Brooks (Pearl) trending toward 120-130k, and Now 26 (EMM) looking 110-120k-ish. Two Disney soundtracks with legs, High School Musical 2 and Hannah Montana 2, are dancing hand in hand toward 90-100k, while Carrie Underwood (J/RMG) and Celine Dion (Columbia) eye 80-85k. The way things stand now, Chris Brown (Jive) will round out the Top 10 with 75-80k. (11/30a)

[HolidayGuy]

Yah, SP- it finished 19th in estimated total viewers for that week. The overnight ratingshad it at 11.8m viewers, not sure what the final # was. But, last year's 10.8m was the record low for the show.

Nielsen ratings for the week ending November 18

1. Dancing with the Stars - Mon (ABC)

2. CSI (CBS)

3. Grey's Anatomy (ABC)

4. Dancing with the Stars - Tues (ABC)

5. NCIS (CBS)

6. House (FOX)

7. Criminal Minds (CBS)

8. CSI: Miami (CBS)

9. 60 Minutes (CBS)

10. Sunday Night Football (NBC)

11. Survivor (CBS)

12. Without A Trace (CBS)

13. Cold Case (CBS)

14. Two and a Half Men (CBS)

15. Samantha Who? (ABC)

16. CSI: NY (CBS)

17. Law and Order: SVU (NBC)

18. Shark (CBS)

19. American Music Awards (ABC)

20. The Amazing Race (CBS)