US Chart Talk: 5/31/08 Charts

[Skin]

I would be thrilled with a million scanned. Anything over 800,000 is icing.

GI2M is a terrible choice for the US. I could be wrong, but I think it will tank hard. Then again, I would have never thought 4M would be anywhere as huge as it is now so what do I know.

Yeah, Im done trying to predict how her songs are going to do. I thought after the moderate success of HU in the states that Sorry was going to catch on like fire and be huge. Whoops. I think at this point anything is possible for GI2M....Even though I think Beat Goes On would be a better 2nd single choice in the states.

[Guest mattcho]

I am OK with GI2M as a single, but maybe not as #2. Her hardcore fans (and those that loved COADF) will appreciate it, but I'm not sure if there is much of a market beyond that audience. EU will love it, however.

My vote for single #2 (for the U.S. market) would have been BGO or MA. And...judging by the reaction in Japan, MA would have the edge. It is certainly not my favorite on the album, but I think most of the U.S. audience will view MA as "good old Madonna."

- Matt

[Guest moboy]

I think GI2M will do better than expected. It's already being used for promo's on ABC. Who knows...I wish it success.

[Guest boytoyville]

The album is performing nicely. You can compare this album projection wise to A.L. thus far but you really can't in terms of success given the extremely different sales climate. 4 minutes is holding strong & I have a feeling the second single will get moderate success. The tour will help stablize HC sales for a sometime also as it did Confessoins. The album is doing just dandy!

[Guest mattcho]

There is also something to be said for relative popularity on the charts. AL was out of the Top 20 by week #4!

- Matt

[Skin]

There is also something to be said for relative popularity on the charts. AL was out of the Top 20 by week #4!

- Matt

Puts things more into perspective. Hard Candy could make a month in the top 10 or longer. It should be in the top 20 for awhile. I hope...

And thats also why I dont know why people are calling it a flop or comparing it to AL. AL DID drop like a rock down the charts. Hard Candy is not. People are comparing sales but like it has been mentioned a billion times, sales are in the shitter.

[albertogerard]

I think Hard Candy is doing just fine. Everyone I've played it to LOVES it. 25 years into her career and the woman opens with with 280,000 out of the box? Considering the fact that the music industry is in the shitter, I'd say Madonna is doing GREAT all things considered.

Comparing this album to AL is silly. HC has limitless potential hit singles. Candy Shop & The Beat Goes On when & if released will drive sales up. I predict the album will sell well throughout the rest of the year.

[surannée]

HC has limitless potential hit singles. Candy Shop & The Beat Goes On when & if released will drive sales up. I predict the album will sell well throughout the rest of the year.

I more or less agree - but the record company and M have to act pretty fast. Love won't wait.

[SkyHigh76]

The album is performing nicely. You can compare this album projection wise to A.L. thus far but you really can't in terms of success given the extremely different sales climate. 4 minutes is holding strong & I have a feeling the second single will get moderate success. The tour will help stablize HC sales for a sometime also as it did Confessoins. The album is doing just dandy!

Agreed.All things considered,the album is doing just fine.

[SkyHigh76]

Well, at least we know it will outsell Discipline and 20 Y.O. not that that is a tough feature.

Exactly.Hard Candy has already outsold 'Discipline' (Janet's third flop album in a row).

[Macko]

Damn i wonder if WB can't decide which sigle do next GI2m or MA

I think MA schould be realased in US and GI2m in the rest of world

[Cherish]

So many Madonna bashers on this board: I'm astonished, I thought some of her fans were more supportive!

HARD CANDY is hardly a flop! The more I listen to it, the more I like the album!

It's still Top 10 in the U.S after 3 weeks: not bad at all!

My guess is it'll probably equal COADF's sales in the U.S, if not better them - in other words, at least platinum status.

[Cherish]

BGO should be released as a single

[Macko]

BGO should be released as a single

I agree but not in Europe it would be shit here

[thebigham]

Our digital single sales provider is on vacation this week so he might not be able to post the chart.

[HolidayGuy]

Discussing album sales and not blindly glowing that HC is a sales smash does not make one a Madonna basher. HC likey won't match COADF's SoundScan tally of nearly 1.7m.

Something to keep in mind: if HC's SS total this week is similar to HITS' total, the percentage drop will be larger than what HITS has listed (as the SS number was higher than HITS last week).

[Guest tir69]

Discussing album sales and not blindly glowing that HC is a sales smash does not make one a Madonna basher. HC likey won't match COADF's SoundScan tally of nearly 1.7m.

Something to keep in mind: if HC's SS total this week is similar to HITS' total, the percentage drop will be larger than what HITS has listed (as the SS number was higher than HITS last week).

HDD 1 week - 282.785 SS 1 week - 279.522 ( difference SS - 3.263 copies )

HDD 2 week - 82.830 SS 2 week - 94.177 ( difference SS + 11.347 copies )

HDD 3 week - 52.256 SS 3 week - 53.000 around ( difference SS + 744 copies )

[Alexz]

The album isn't *flopping* but it's not doing as expected.

[thebigham]

Billboard Chart Alert:

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_dis...e0e7e91d389b7cb

HC is #8.

[thebigham]

Billboard.com:

Death Cab For Cutie Scores First No. 1 Album

May 21, 2008

by Katie Hasty, N.Y.

Death Cab For Cutie claims its first No. 1 album as "Narrow Stairs" starts at the top slot on the Billboard 200. The Atlantic set moved 144,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen Soundscan. Death Cab's prior album, 2005's "Plans," debuted at No. 4 with 90,000 and spent 50 weeks on the chart.

Reprise's retrospective Frank Sinatra collection "Nothing But the Best" bows at No. 2 with 99,000. It's been nearly 15 years since Old Blue Eyes was this high on the chart. In December 1993, his "Duets" album spent three weeks at No. 2. This new hits collection, which chronicles the legend's tenure on Reprise Records, also commemorates the tenth anniversary of Sinatra's passing on May 14, 1998.

Jason Mraz's Atlantic album "We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things" enters at No. 3 with 73,000, giving the Warner Music Group and WEA Distribution the top three on the chart for the first time in more than 16 years. "We Sing..." is the singer/songwriter's new high-water mark on the chart; "Mr. A-Z" topped out at No. 5 in 2005.

Welsh singer Duffy's A&M/Polydor debut "Rockferry" enters at No. 4 with 71,000. That makes her the third female British newcomer to earn a top 10 debut since the beginning of 2007, joining Amy Winehouse and Leona Lewis. The album's single "Mercy" has risen to No. 20 thus far on the Adult Top 40 radio chart.

Speaking of Lewis, her Syco/J set "Spirit" climbs 6-5 with 62,000, an 18% slip in sales. Mariah Carey's Island Def Jam album "E=MC2" flip-flops with it, falling 5-6 with 59,000 (-33%). After becoming his first No. 1 last week, Neil Diamond's "Home Before Dark" (Columbia) slips to No. 7 with a 63% sales hit at 53,000.

Madonna's "Hard Candy" (Warner Bros.) continues its decline 3-8 with 53,000 (-43%) and Toby Keith's double-disc collection "35 Biggest Hits" (Show Dog Nashville) descends 2-9 with 41,000, a 60% sales tumble.

Keith Sweat's "Just Me" rounds out the top tier, debuting at No. 10 with 37,000. The Keia/Atco/Rhino is Sweat's first studio album since 2002's "Rebirth," which peaked at No. 14 in its opening week.

Rock act 10 Years' "Division" (Universal Republic) lands at No. 12 with 28,000. Its last set, "The Autumn Effect," topped out at No. 72 in 2005. Other debuts on The Billboard 200 this week include the Disney soundtrack to "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" at No. 26 with 16,000, Cherish's "The Truth" (Capitol) at No. 40 with 13,000, Filter's "Anthems for the Damned" (Pulse) at No. 42, also with 13,000 and Starbucks' Hear Music compilation "The Second Wave" at No. 43 with 13,000.

Album sales this week are down 8.5% from last week's sum with 7.43 million units and down 13.5% from the same week last year.

Additional reporting by Keith Caulfield.

[thebigham]

Pulse:

ARTIST THIS WEEK TOTAL TO DATE

#1 Death Cab for Cutie 143,586 143,849

#2 Frank Sinatra 99,089 99,338

#3 Jason Mraz 72,963 73,089

#4 Duffy 70,943 71,084

#5 Leona Lewis 62,321 617,788

#6 Mariah Carey 58,574 887,150

#7 Neil Diamond 53,408 199,558

#8 Madonna 53,302 427,752

#9 Toby Keith 40,761 143,927

#10 Keith Sweat 36,572 36,829

[thebigham]

http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_wat...ngenues-on-rise

Week Ending May 11, 2008: Diva Smackdown Ends With Ingenues On Rise

Posted 19 minutes ago by Paul Grein in Chart Watch

It was billed as the Great Diva Smackdown of '08. In the space of just nine weeks, three of the biggest female stars of the rock era--Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey and Madonna--released new studio albums. It was like three summer blockbusters hitting your local multiplex in a nine-week span, with the added (and admittedly sexist and sophomoric) appeal of an all-star catfight. Meow!

So who made the most divalicious showing? All three albums--Jackson's Discipline, Carey's E=MC2 and Madonna's Hard Candy--debuted at #1, though only Carey's improved on the opening-week sales performance of her previous studio album. (Indeed, Carey had the biggest opening of her career.) Also, only Carey's album managed to hold on to the #1 spot for a second week. Indeed, at least at this early stage, Carey's album has sold more copies than Madonna's and Jackson's albums combined.

In terms of raw numbers, E=MC2 has sold 887,000 copies in its first five weeks, making it the #3 best-seller so far in 2008. Hard Candy has sold 428,000 copies after three weeks, putting it 22nd for the year. Discipline has sold 385,000 copies after 12 weeks, putting it 26th. (Divalicious? That's divalousy--though Jackson is launching a tour in September that should give the album a second wind.)

The outcome has been similar on the digital download front, though here Madonna is out front. "4 Minutes," the pop icon's collaboration with Justin Timberlake, has sold 1,429,000 downloads in nine weeks. Carey's "Touch My Body" has sold 970,000 in eight weeks. Jackson's "Feedback" slips out of the top 200 this week, after selling 608,000 in its first 19 weeks.

But now that the diva derby is moving into the follow-up singles phase I can't help noticing that several ingénues are moving up on these long-established pop queens. Leona Lewis' Spirit has sold 618,000 copies in six weeks, putting it #8 for the year-to-date. Four other debut albums by young female artists rank among the top 30 of 2008. (All four albums were released prior to this year, but this ranking counts only sales since Jan. 1.) Taylor Swift's Taylor Swift is #5, Sara Bareilles' Little Voice is #12, Colbie Caillat's Coco is #16 and Jordin Sparks' Jordin Sparks is #30.

And Duffy may well join them on that list. Her Rockferry opens at #4 on this week's chart.

In non-diva news, Death Cab for Cutie's Narrow Stairs opens at #1, one rung ahead of Frank Sinatra's Nothing But The Best. Pop music is always moving forward, so it's fitting in a way that a group that first cracked the weekly album chart less than five years ago outperforms a legend who has been world-famous since the 1940s. It echoes what happened in 1993, when Sinatra was still alive. His Duets logged three weeks at #2 but couldn't get past Pearl Jam's Vs.

Remarkably, Sinatra has put an album in the top 20 in each of the last seven decades. (Top that, Death Cab For Cutie.) His top-charting album of the '40s was The Voice Of Frank Sinatra, which hit #1 in 1946. Sinatra had two #1 albums in the '50s, when he was at his artistic peak--Come Fly With Me and Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely, both in 1958. He also had two #1 albums in the '60s, when he was at the peak of his fame and power--Nice 'n' Easy in 1960 and Strangers In The Night in 1966.

Sinatra's top-charting album of the '70s was Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back, which ended the star's much-publicized, two-year retirement when it reached #13 in 1973. His top album of the '80s was the three-disk career celebration, Trilogy: Past, Present, Future, which hit #17 in 1980. His top album of the '90s was Duets, which climbed to #2 in 1993.

Nothing But The Best, which was released on the 10th anniversary of Sinatra's death, is by far his highest-charting posthumous release. The old record was held by Greatest Love Songs, which peaked at #32 in 2002. Sinatra isn't the first artist to approach the top spot on the chart a decade or more after his death. The Notorious B.I.G.'s Greatest Hits, released on the 10th anniversary of his murder, hit #1 in March 2007. Elvis Presley holds the record for reaching the top spot the longest after his death. His Elv1s 30 #1 Hits made #1 in September 2002-a little more than 25 years after he died at 42.

Sinatra has never lost his cultural relevance. It's hard to imagine Michael Buble and Harry Connick Jr., among many others, without him. The 1980s dance group Frankie Goes To Hollywood drew its name from breathless 1940s press reports recounting Sinatra's move into films. The most memorable line in Stephen Bishop's 1977 smash "On And On" was "puts on Sinatra and starts to cry." The "doo-doobie-doo-wah's" in Johnny Rivers' 1966 smash "Poor Side Of Town" were a nod to Sinatra's style. And that's just off the top of my head. You can doubtless come up with more examples of Sinatra's enduring hold as a cultural touchstone.

The top four albums this week are all new entries. It's the first time that this has happened since the last week of October, when Carrie Underwood, Robert Plant/Alison Krauss, Gary Allan and Serj Tankian opened in the top four spots. (I ought to remember that. It was the first week of Chart Watch.)

Rihanna's "Take A Bow" holds at #1 on the Hot Digital Songs chart for the second week, with sales of 196,000 downloads. Rihanna has three other titles on this week's chart-"Don't Stop The Music" at #30, "Umbrella" at #79 and "Shut Up And Drive" at #137. Total combined sales of the four songs: 6,349,000. Downloads are only about a buck a song, but for a lucky few artists, it can really add up.

Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 albums.

1. Death Cab For Cutie, Narrow Stairs, 144,000. This marks a big improvement over the group's previous album, Plans, which opened at #4 in September 2005 with first-week sales of 90,000. The Washington-based group first hit the chart in 2003 with Transatlanticism, its fourth album. "I Will Possess Your Heart" jumps from #57 to #48 on Hot Digital Songs. "Bixby Canyon Bridge" opens at #194.

2. Frank Sinatra, Nothing But The Best, 99,000. Sinatra's top 10 albums span a record-setting 62 years and two months, from The Voice Of Frank Sinatra in March 1946 to this album. For, say, Duffy to match that record, she'll have to still be turning out top 10 albums in July 2070. (Pace yourself, Duffy.) This is the biggest sales week for a deceased artist since The Notorious B.I.G.'s Greatest Hits sold almost exactly the same number of copies when it debuted at #1 in March 2007. Sinatra's version of "The Way You Look Tonight," the Oscar-winning Best Song of 1936, opens at #184 on Hot Digital Songs.

3. Jason Mraz, We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things, 73,000. This is Mraz's highest-charting album to date and his second straight album to reach the top five. Mraz opened at #5 in July 2005 with Mr. A-Z. "Lucky" bows at #34 on Hot Digital Songs. "I'm Yours" dips from #32 to #41.

4. Duffy, Rockferry, 71,000. It used to be unheard of for a debut album to enter the chart inside the top five. Not anymore. This is the sixth debut album to achieve the feat so far in 2008, following albums by Day26, Leona Lewis, Flo Rida, Lady Antebellum and Flight of the Conchords (their first full-length album). Aimee Duffy has been compared to Amy Winehouse and the late, great Dusty Springfield. "Mercy" vaults from #38 to #13 on Hot Digital Songs. "Warwick Avenue" debuts at #190.

5. Leona Lewis, Spirit, 62,000. Lewis climbs back into the top five after slipping to #6 last week. This is the top "hold-over" album from last week's chart. "Bleeding Love" tops the 2 million mark in paid digital downloads, as it holds at #2 on Hot Digital Songs for the second straight week. The Grammy organization could save a lot of money on printing and postage if it just gave Lewis the award for Record of the Year right now.

6. Mariah Carey, E=MC2, 59,000. Lewis and Carey switch places this week, with Carey slipping a notch to #6. "Touch My Body" dips from #14 to #16 on Hot Digital Songs. "Bye Bye" drops from #36 to #38.

7. Neil Diamond, Home Before Dark, 53,000. This makes the biggest drop from the #1 spot since Jay-Z's American Gangster fell from #1 to #8 in November. The chart gods giveth and they taketh away.

8. Madonna, Hard Candy, 53,000. After debuting at #1 two weeks ago, this drops from #3 to #8. "4 Minutes," Madonna's megastar collabo with Justin Timberlake, holds at #5 on Hot Digital Songs.

9.Toby Keith, 35 Biggest Hits, 41,000. Last week, this became Keith's third album out of his last four releases to peak at #2. He also stalled in the runner-up slot with Honkytonk University and White Trash With Money. But don't feel too bad for Keith. He has also had three #1 albums: Unleashed, Shock'n Y'all and Big Dog Daddy.

10. Keith Sweat, Just Me, 37,000. This new entry is Sweat's first top 10 album in nearly 10 years. He last made it to the winners circle with Still In The Game in October 1998. Two subsequent studio albums peaked in the teens. Still, this is Sweat's ninth consecutive studio album to reach the top 20, which stretches all the way back to his 1988 debut, Make It Last Forever.

Five albums fall out of the top 10 this week. Dierks Bentley's Greatest Hits/Every Mile A Memory 2003-2008 dips from #9 to #14, Gavin DeGraw's Gavin DeGraw falls from #7 to #15, Josh Groban's Awake Live drops from #8 to #16, Clay Aiken's On My Way Here dives from #4 to #18, and Luis Miguel's Complices plummets from #10 to #34. Sales of Aiken's album dropped by 78%, the steepest decline of any album in the top 200.

Taylor Swift's Taylor Swift holds at #11 for the third straight week. This is the album's 28th consecutive week in the top 20, a remarkable degree of staying power in an era when albums fly in and out of the top 20 so fast you hardly remember they were there. Swift's album is two or three weeks away from topping the 3 million mark in sales, which also runs counter to current trends. It's nice to see that it can still happen.

Spring Forward: 10 Years' Division opens at #12. This represents a big improvement over the hard rock band's debut, The Autumn Effect, which opened (and peaked) at #72 in August 2005.

Michael Jackson's Thriller 25 returns to #1 on the Catalog Album chart for a 10th week, with sales of 13,000. It would have ranked #41 on the big chart if older, catalog albums were eligible to appear there. This brings sales of the album to 556,000, which makes it the #10 album for the year-to-date. "Thriller" and "Billie Jean" are both listed on this week's Hot Digital Songs chart.

Kate Voegele's Don't Look Away re-enters the chart at #78 after a one-week absence. Sales of the album jumped by 153%, the biggest increase of any non-debuting album. (Q: Isn't that a debut if it wasn't on the chart last week? A: It's a re-entry, which is a little different.)

Heads Up: 3 Doors Down is hoping to land its second straight #1 album next week with 3 Doors Down. The band's previous release, Seventeen Days, opened at #1 in February 2005. Also due next week: Jesse McCartney's Departure, Bun B's II Trill, Donna Summer's Crayons, the soundtrack to Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull and, from Dancing With The Stars, Julianne Hough's Julianne Hough.

Countdown to Usher: Usher's Here I Stand is set to debut in two weeks. It's the pop/R&B superstar's first album since Confessions, which debuted in March 2004 with first-week sales of 1,096,000. If Usher does only half as well this time out, he'll still have the biggest opening of 2008, topping Mariah Carey's E=MC2, which bowed with sales of 463,000.

[Nightshade]

American Life sold almost 5,000 copies MORE in its third week.

If Hard Candy doesn't stabilize soon, it will become her lowest selling studio album ever.

[thebigham]

^It won't.

[markm]

American Life sold almost 5,000 copies MORE in its third week.

If Hard Candy doesn't stabilize soon, it will become her lowest selling studio album ever.

Its going to take a miracle for HC to sell 1 million in the US.

[JR!]

American Life sold almost 5,000 copies MORE in its third week.

If Hard Candy doesn't stabilize soon, it will become her lowest selling studio album ever.

[Shane]

Jackson is launching a tour in September that should give the album a second wind.

I love me some Janet, but please.

[mtzlplk]

hi, i'm slightly back... uhm... NO, HARD CANDY WILL OUTSELL AMERICAN LIFE... both US and International...

[Nightshade]

I certainly think that Hard Candy has more potential than American Life (and probably better word of mouth), but I am a little alarmed that it is already selling less per week than that commercial disappointment. I don't think "Give It 2 Me" is going to help much in the States either. Here's to hoping...

[thebigham]

Hot Single Sales:

4M up 1 to #1, 3 weeks.

Jump is up 4 to #46, 41 weeks.

Sorry re-enters at #49, 52 weeks.