US Chart Talk: 1/10/09

[thebigham]

HITS is off this week so we do not know who will be #1 on the Billboard 200 this week.

My bet is on Taylor Swift.

[Guest nothingfails0603]

I have a feeling the $9.99 sale at Target is going to cause a huge boost in interest for Hard Candy and the album is going to rechart at #1 from last minute Christmas sales

[promise to try]

I have a feeling the $9.99 sale at Target is going to cause a huge boost in interest for Hard Candy and the album is going to rechart at #1 from last minute Christmas sales

well, maybe it´ll help, but i don´t think it´ll re enter the top 200

beyoncé number 1 for me

[Alexz]

Taylor Swift.

[goldtooth]

I have a feeling the $9.99 sale at Target is going to cause a huge boost in interest for Hard Candy and the album is going to rechart at #1 from last minute Christmas sales

From your comments in the chart threads to your continuous posting of obese people in the picture thread I can see you're just such an online PRANKSTER.

[Guest bulgar]

Taylor Swift.

not again...

[thebigham]

The TIC and HC $9.99 sale at Target ended yesterday.

[HolidayGuy]

Yes, Swift should be on top again.

[Guest Bad Robot]

Meanwhile Lady Gaga has the #1 digital single with "Just Dance" at 419k.

She'll have to outsell Beyonce (and T.I.) by a wide margin (55k for Beyonce, 65-70k for TI) in order to hit #1 on the Hot 100 though.

[Alexz]

Digital Tracks Set New Weekly Record

December 30, 2008 - Digital and Mobile | Retail

By Ayala Ben-Yehuda, L.A. and Silvio Pietroluongo, N.Y.

Weekly digital track sales have set a new record, with 47.7 million sold in the U.S. between Dec. 22 – Dec. 28, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

That figure for Christmas week represents a 126% spike from the week prior, a likely reflection of consumers redeeming download gift cards or receiving MP3 players as gifts. The week’s top-selling digital song was Interscope artist Lady GaGa’s “Just Dance,” with 419,000 downloads.

Total digital track sales this year were 1,070,000,000 – up 27% from 2007, based on full year-end data.

All but two songs on Billboard’s Hot Digital Songs chart increased their sales by triple-digit percentages last week. During the corresponding week last year, ten songs on that chart sold more than 200,000 downloads; this Christmas week, 15 songs did so.

[iasonas]

Meanwhile Lady Gaga has the #1 digital single with "Just Dance" at 419k.

She'll have to outsell Beyonce (and T.I.) by a wide margin (55k for Beyonce, 65-70k for TI) in order to hit #1 on the Hot 100 though.

I guess T.I. is far behind! I hope she beats Beyonce! She deserves to be no1!

[Guest nothingfails0603]

From your comments in the chart threads to your continuous posting of obese people in the picture thread I can see you're just such an online PRANKSTER.

go fuck yourself. It was just a joke and nobody was meant to take it seriously about HC.

posting obese people in the picture thread? eh? WTF? I have no idea what the hell you're even talking about.

Get over yourself and fuck off

[Alexz]

Beat Beyoncé, beat her!!

[goldtooth]

go fuck yourself. It was just a joke and nobody was meant to take it seriously about HC.

posting obese people in the picture thread? eh? WTF? I have no idea what the hell you're even talking about.

Get over yourself and fuck off

Get over myself?

I hope Gaga goes to #1!

[Alexz]

Taylor Swift Reigns Again On Billboard 200

December 31, 2008 11:55 AM ET

Katie Hasty, N.Y.

Taylor Swift's sophomore Big Machine album "Fearless" tops The Billboard 200 for a fourth non-consecutive week after selling 262,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, a 21% sales decline from last week.

With the continued success of her track "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)", Beyonce's "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" (Music World/Columbia) leaps up 5-2 on a 7% sales boost to 211,000. Britney Spears' Jive set "Circus" rebounds 4-3 with 203,000 (+4%), while Nickelback's "Dark Horse" (Roadrunner) climbs 6-4 with 177,000 (-9%).

Re-entering the top tier with an 11-5 move is Kanye West's "808s and Heartbreak" (Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam), on a 16% jump in sales to 165,000 units. The Chop Shop/Atlantic soundtrack to "Twilight" moves 148,000 copies (-5%) and ascends a notch 7-6.

After a No. 2 debut last week, Keyshia Cole's "A Different Me" (Geffen) takes a 61% sales plunge to 127,000, moving the set down to No. 7. Similarly, Jamie Foxx's "Intuition" (J) experiences the same decline in its second week to 105,000 and slips 3-9.

The 29th volume of the multi-label "Now!" hits compilation climbs 10-8 on a 12% decline to 122,000. David Cook rounds out the top 10 with his self-titled 19 Recordings/RCA debut, ascending 13-10 with 101,000 (-22%).

In this last chart week of 2008, sales totaled 17.02 million, up 17% compared to the final week of 2007. However, the week ending Dec. 28, 2008 included three full days of pre-Christmas shopping. The final week of 2007 ended on Dec. 30, and only contained one day of last minute holiday shopping.)

There were 428.4 million albums sold this year, down 14.4% compared to 2007's 500.5 million. Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" (Cash Money/Universal) was the top seller of the year with 2.88 million copies.

http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/taylor...003926053.story

[Alexz]

Yonka is #1 in the singles chart

Another song DENIED from #1 :gross:

[Crystal Coffin]

Lady GaGa isn't #1?

YEE-HAW!

[thebigham]

SOUNDSCAN (WEEK ENDING 12/28/08 )

1) Taylor Swift - Fearless - 262,399 (After 7 weeks - 2,112,179)

2) Beyonce Knowles - I Am…Sasha Fierce - 210,918 (After 6 weeks - 1,458,853)

3) Britney Spears - Circus - 202,841 (After 4 weeks - 1,104,343)

Other Debuts

81) Brutha - Brutha - 20,897

Top 5 Albums Of 2008

1) Lil’ Wayne - Tha Carter III - 2,874,420

2) Coldplay - Viva La Vida - 2,143,928

3) Taylor Swift - Fearless - 2,112,179

4) Kid Rock - Rock N Roll Jesus - 2,017,905

5) AC/DC - Black Ice - 1,915,172

[thebigham]

Lil Wayne Notches Top-Selling Album Of '08

December 31, 2008 11:15 AM ET

by Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.

Rapper Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" (Cash Money/Universal) is far and away the top seller of 2008, netting 2.88 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. However, it's the first time the best selling album of the year has sold less than 3 million since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991.

Coldplay is a distant second with "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" (Capitol) at 2.15 million, followed by Taylor Swift's just-released "Fearless" (Big Machine with 2.11 million. Swift's self-titled 2006 debut is No. 6 on the year-end chart with 1.6 million.

Kid Rock crowns the year-end chart at No. 4 with "Rock N Roll Jesus," which sold more than 2 million. The Atlantic release was not available on iTunes, fueling sales of the full album.

AC/DC's Wal-Mart exclusive release, "Black Ice" (Columbia), sold 1.92 million copies to rank No. 5 for the year. It was also held back from digital retailers. Metallica's "Death Magnetic" (Warner Bros.) came in at No. 7 with 1.57 million, followed by T.I.'s "Paper Trail" (Grand Hustle/Atlantic) at No. 8 with 1.52 million.

Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static" (Brushfire/Universal) is No. 9 with 1.5 million, while Beyonce's new "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" (Music World/Columbia) rounds out the top 10 with 1.46 million.

In 2008, there were 428.4 million albums sold, down 14.4% compared to 2007's 500.5 million. Digital downloads of albums accounted for 65.79 million albums this year, or 15.4% of the overall album market. In 2007, digital albums sold 50.01 million and represented 10% of the album market.

Conversely, physical CD albums made up 360.6 million albums this year (84% of the market), compared to 449.18 million last year (90% of overall album sales).

This year also saw a record number of vinyl albums sold, with nearly 1.9 million -- more than any other year since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991. It's the first time the industry has sold 1 million vinyl albums in a calendar year since 2004, when 1.2 million were sold. The top selling vinyl set of 2008 was Radiohead's "In Rainbows," with 26,000.

Meanwhile, digital track sales continue to blow up, as 2008 was the first year to see over 1 billion tracks sold. All told, 1.07 billion were sold, up 26.7% compared to 2007's 844 million. The top selling track of the year is Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love," with 3.37 million.

[thebigham]

Billboard Chart Alert:

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_dis...9e0a6606a13fa80

[Guest Danny86]

Rapper Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter III" (Cash Money/Universal) is far and away the top seller of 2008, netting 2.88 million copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. However, it's the first time the best selling album of the year has sold less than 3 million since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991.

Coldplay is a distant second with "Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends" (Capitol) at 2.15 million, followed by Taylor Swift's just-released "Fearless" (Big Machine with 2.11 million. Swift's self-titled 2006 debut is No. 6 on the year-end chart with 1.6 million.

Kid Rock crowns the year-end chart at No. 4 with "Rock N Roll Jesus," which sold more than 2 million. The Atlantic release was not available on iTunes, fueling sales of the full album.

AC/DC's Wal-Mart exclusive release, "Black Ice" (Columbia), sold 1.92 million copies to rank No. 5 for the year. It was also held back from digital retailers. Metallica's "Death Magnetic" (Warner Bros.) came in at No. 7 with 1.57 million, followed by T.I.'s "Paper Trail" (Grand Hustle/Atlantic) at No. 8 with 1.52 million.

Jack Johnson's "Sleep Through the Static" (Brushfire/Universal) is No. 9 with 1.5 million, while Beyonce's new "I Am ... Sasha Fierce" (Music World/Columbia) rounds out the top 10 with 1.46 million.

I didn't realize album sales were THAT bad!

Meanwhile, digital track sales continue to blow up, as 2008 was the first year to see over 1 billion tracks sold. All told, 1.07 billion were sold, up 26.7% compared to 2007's 844 million. The top selling track of the year is Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love," with 3.37 million.

Wow! When was the last time that the top selling single outsold the top selling album of the year? Surely not in the last 25 years...

Thanx for posting Chris!

[thebigham]

Chart Watch Extra: The Year That Songs Overtook Albums

by Paul Grein in Chart Watch

In 2008, for the first time, more fans paid to download the year's #1 song than bought the year's #1 album (as either a CD or a download). In fact, the year's top five songs each rang up more paid downloads than the year's #1 album, Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III, achieved in total sales.

That was the big story in music sales in 2008-the rise of individual song downloads and the continued decline of the album market. Until 2008, no song had ever topped the 3 million mark in paid downloads in a calendar year. In 2008, two songs hit the mark-Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" and "Lollipop" by Lil Wayne featuring Static Major. Nineteen songs topped the 2 million mark in paid downloads, a huge jump from just four in 2007. A total of 71 songs topped the 1 million mark, nearly double the 2007 tally of 36.

Tha Carter III sold 2,874,000 copies during 2008. This represents the first time since Nielsen/SoundScan took over tracking of album sales for Billboard in 1991 that no albums topped the 3 million mark during a calendar year. The number of 2 million selling albums dropped from eight in 2007 to just four in 2008. The number of 1 million sellers dropped from 39 to 25.

Tha Carter III became the #1 album for the year-to-date during the week ending June 22. It never relinquished the title. Tha Carter III is the third rap album to wind up as the #1 best-seller of a calendar year. It follows Eminem's The Eminem Show and 50 Cent's Get Rich Or Die Tryin', which were on top in 2002 and 2003, respectively.

Two albums by Taylor Swift made the year-end top 10. Fearless is #3, while her two-year old Taylor Swift is #6. The country star is the first artist to place two albums in the year-end top 10 since Garth Brooks put three albums in the top 10 in 1992. (Eminem came close in 2002. In addition to having the year's #1 album, The Eminem Show, he had four tracks on the 8 Mile soundtrack, which was #5 for the year. But 8 Mile was presented as a Various Artists soundtrack.)

Lil Wayne and Rihanna were the year's most downloaded artists. Lil Wayne has a whopping nine songs on the year-end Hot Digital Songs chart-four as lead artist and five as featured artist (on hits by Kevin Rudolf, T-Pain, Wyclef Jean, The Game and Jay-Z/T.I.). Rihanna has a total of six songs on the chart-four as lead artist and two as featured artist (on hits by T.I. and Maroon5).

To close out 2008, I have two lists for you. We'll start with the year's best-selling albums and then turn to songs with the most paid downloads. Here's the low-down on the year's top 10 albums-and nine other selected releases. The number directly following the title is the total number of copies the album sold in calendar year 2008.

1. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III, 2,874,000. This album sold 1,006,000 copies in its first week in June, the biggest one-week total in more than three years. Four songs from the album are on the year-end Hot Digital Songs chart: "Lollipop" (featuring Static Major) at #2, "A Milli" at #44, "Got Money (featuring T-Pain) at #52 and "Mrs. Officer" (featuring Bobby Valentino) at #102. Tha Carter III is a Grammy finalist for Album of the Year.

2. Coldplay, Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends, 2,144,000. This is the year's #1 album by a group, by a rock act and by a foreign act. This is the highest that Coldplay has appeared in a year-end top 10. A Rush Of Blood To The Head was #10 for 2003. X&Y was #6 for 2005. Coldplay is the first British act in the Nielsen/SoundScan era to appear in the year-end top 10 three times. Two songs from the album are on the year-end Hot Digital Songs chart: "Viva La Vida" is #5, "Violet Hill" is #167.

3. Taylor Swift, Fearless, 2,112,000. This is the year's #1 album by a female artist and the year's #1 country album. This is the highest that a female artist has placed on the year-end chart since Carrie Underwood ranked #3 for 2006 with Some Hearts. It's the highest an album by a core country artist has ranked since Rascal Flatts' Me And My Gang was #2 for 2006. "Love Story" is #26 on the year-end Hot Digital Songs chart. It's the year's highest-ranking country hit.

4. Kid Rock, Rock N' Roll Jesus, 2,018,000. This album sold more copies in 2008 than any other album released before 2008. Jesus was released in October 2007. It sold an additional 661,000 copies in 2007, when it ranked #63 for the year. This is the highest that Kid Rock has appeared in a year-end top 10. Devil Without A Cause was #7 for 1999. Rock Heroes' cover version of "All Summer Long" sold 574,000 downloads to rank #136 on the year-end Hot Digital Songs chart.

5. AC/DC, Black Ice, 1,915,000. This is the year's #1 hard rock album. It's the highest that a mainstream hard rock album has placed in a year-end top 10. This is the second year in a row that a Wal-Mart exclusive has appeared in the year-end top 10. Eagles' Long Road Out Of Eden was #3 for 2007. AC/DC's 1980 blockbuster Back In Black ranks #116 for the year, with sales in 2008 of 374,000 copies.

6. Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift, 1,597,000. This is the second year in a row that this 2006 release has appeared in the year-end top 10. It was the #9 album of 2007. It's the first album to make the year-end top 10 twice since Evanescence's Fallen in 2003-2004. The album sold an additional 1,951,000 copies in 2007 and 292,000 copies in 2006. Four songs from the album are on the year-end Hot Digital Songs chart: "Our Song" (#47), "Teardrops On My Guitar" (#69), "Picture To Burn" (#115) and "Should've Said No" (#127).

7. Metallica, Death Magnetic, 1,565,000. This is the third time since 1992 (Nielsen/SoundScan's first full year of operations) that Metallica has had an album in the year-end top 10. That's a record for a mainstream hard rock act. Metallica was #9 for 1992. Load was #7 for 1996.

8. T.I., Paper Trial, 1,522,000. This is the year's #2 rap album. This is the first time that two or more rap (or hip-hop) albums have made the year-end top 10 since 2005 when 50 Cent, Black Eyed Peas, Kanye West and The Game all made it. Three songs from the album are on the year-end Hot Digital Songs chart: "Whatever You Like" is #7, "Live Your Life" (featuring Rihanna) is #12 and "Swagga Like Us" (with Jay-Z and featuring Kanye West and Lil Wayne) is #116.

9. Jack Johnson, Sleep Through The Static, 1,492,000. This is the highest-ranking pop album, in other words, one that doesn't have a rap, country or rock crossover element.

10. Beyonce, I Am...Sasha Fierce, 1,459,000. This is the fifth time that Beyonce has put an album in the year-end top 10. She made the mark with Destiny's Child in 2000 and 2001 and has now made it three times on her own. Dangerously In Love was the #6 album of 2003. B'Day was #7 for 2006. Two songs from the new album (which is the only two-disk set in the top 10) are listed on the year-end Hot Digital Songs chart: "If I Were A Boy" (#35) and "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" at #48.

11. Jonas Brothers, A Little Bit Longer, 1,410,000. Jonas Brothers opened for Miley Cyrus on her "Best of Both Worlds" tour, but they finish a few spots ahead of her on the year-end chart. Cyrus' Breakout is #14 for 2008. (JoBros have more in common with Hanson, which had the #5 album of 1997 with Middle Of Nowhere.) Jonas Brothers, the act's 2007 album, ranks #27 for 2008. The Jonases are also represented on the Camp Rock soundtrack, which is #19 for the year. "Burnin' Up" is the year's #41 hit song.

12. Various Artists, Mamma Mia! soundtrack, 1,406,000. This was the year's top movie soundtrack. This is the highest that a movie soundtrack has appeared on the year-end chart since 8 Mile finished #5 for 2002. The success of the soundtrack boosted ABBA's Gold-Greatest Hits, which sold 392,000 copies during the year to rank #111 for the year.

18. Mariah Carey, E=MC2, 1,221,000. This sold reasonably well, but it didn't match the sales punch of Carey's previous studio release, The Emancipation Of Mimi. That comeback smash was the #1 album of 2005 with sales that year of 4,969,000. Usher also had some trouble following a year-end #1 album. Here I Stand is #23 for the year, with sales of 1,120,000. The R&B star's last release, Confessions, was the #1 album of 2004, with sales that year of 7,979,000.

22. Alicia Keys, As I Am, 1,123,000. This album, which was #4 for the year in 2007, was one of only two albums to finish in the year-end top 25 in both 2007 and 2008. (The other is Taylor Swift.) That explains how it wound up at #1 on Billboard's year-end issue, which tracks sales from mid-November to mid-November.

24. Various Artists, Now 28, 983,000. This was the best-selling Now volume during 2008. This is the first year since 1998, the first year of the Now franchise, that no Now volume sold 1 million copies during the year.

28. Josh Groban, Noel, 915,000. This was the year's top-selling holiday album for the second year in a row. Only two other albums in the Nielsen/SoundScan era have been the best-selling holiday album of two different years. Kenny G's Miracles-The Holiday Album was #1 for 1994 and 1996. Now That's What I Call Christmas! was on top for 2001 and 2002. (The top newly-released holiday album of 2008 was Enya's And Winter Came, which ranked #63 for the year.)

45. Michael Jackson, Thriller, 712,000. The release of a 25th anniversary edition revived this classic title, which sold more copies this year than any other album released before 2006. It outperformed such perennial catalogue best-sellers as Bob Marley & the Wailers' Legend (#87 for 2008) and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon (#194) as well as such more recent smashes as Nickelback's All The Right Reasons (#73) and Carrie Underwood's Some Hearts (#85), both 2005 releases.

54. Duffy, Rockferry, 666,000. In addition to its solid showing in the U.S., this was the #1 album of the year in the U.K., according to the Official Charts Company. It moved 1,685,000 copies in the U.K., edging out Take That's The Circus. The rest of the U.K. top five for 2008: Kings of Leon's Only By The Night, Leona Lewis's Spirit and Coldplay's Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends.

163. Original Cast, Jersey Boys, 289,000. This was the year's top Broadway cast album. Wicked had claimed the title the past two years, but this year falls to second place. (Among all albums, Wicked is #166 for the year.) In third place: Mamma Mia! Thus, "jukebox musicals" devoted to the hits of pop veterans the Four Seasons and ABBA claimed two of the top three spots on the year-end cast album chart.

Now, here are the year's top 10 songs with the most paid downloads, and six other highlights from the list. The number following the title is the song's total number of paid downloads in 2008.

1. Leona Lewis, "Bleeding Love," 3,420,000. The elegant ballad is a Grammy finalist for Record of the Year. In an unusual occurrence, both of the song's writers have hits of their own in the top 40. Ryan Tedder has two OneRepublic hits in the top 40. Jesse McCartney has his solo smash "Leavin'" at #34. Lewis' follow-up, "Better In Time," is #53 for the year. Lewis' album, Spirit, was #13 for the year. It was the best-seller of all debut albums released in 2008.

2. Lil Wayne featuring Static Major, "Lollipop," 3,161,000. This is one of four songs from Tha Carter III on the year-end chart. Lil Wayne and Coldplay are the only artists to rank in the year-end top five on both the album and song charts.

3. Flo Rida featuring T-Pain, "Low," 2,979,000. This smash (which is the song with the most paid downloads in history) would have ranked #1, but its sales were split between two years. The song sold an additional 1,552,000 copies in 2007, when it ranked #15 on the year-end Hot Digital Tracks chart. Flo Rida has two other songs on the 2008 year-end chart. "In The Ayer" (featuring will.i.am) is #38. "Elevator" (featuring Timbaland) is #90. Flo Rida's Mail On Sunday is the year's #126 album.

4. Katy Perry, "I Kissed A Girl," 2,977,000. Perry's smash was clever and provocative, at least until overexposure wore out its charms. Her follow-up, "Hot N Cold," is nearly as big (and, without the novelty aspects of its predecessor, more appealing over the long haul). It's #11 for the year, with sales of 2,474,000 downloads. Perry is the only artist to single-handedly place two songs in the year-end top 15. (Rihanna also has two in the top 15, but one is a collaboration with T.I.) Perry's One Of The Boys is the year's #42 album.

5. Coldplay, "Viva La Vida," 2,914,000. The majestic track is a Grammy finalist for Record and Song of the Year.

6. Rihanna, "Disturbia," 2,766,000. This hard-driving smash is the highest-ranking of four songs that Rihanna has in the year-end top 20. She is featured on T.I.'s "Live Your Life" at #12 and has "Don't Stop The Music" at #17 and "Take A Bow" at #20. Rihanna's Good Girl Gone Bad is the year's #16 album.

7. T.I., "Whatever You Like," 2,682,000. This ubiquitous jingle was the biggest hit from the rapper's album, Paper Trail.

8. Jason Mraz, "I'm Yours," 2,655,000. The song is a Grammy finalist for Song of the Year. (Perhaps just for working the word "scootch" into the lyric.) Mraz's We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things is the year's #37 album.

9. Jordin Sparks with Chris Brown, "No Air," 2,612,000. This was the biggest collaboration of 2008 in which the partners received equal billing. Sparks has two other songs on the year-end chart: "One Step At A Time" at #63 and "Tattoo" at #72. Brown has three (not counting records on which he's featured): "Forever" at #16, "With You" at #29, and "Kiss Kiss" (featuring T-Pain) at #77. Jordin Sparks is the year's #64 album.

10. Pink, "So What," 2,590,000. This smash gave Pink her first solo #1 hit on both the Hot 100 and Hot Digital Songs. Pink's Funhouse is the year's #52 album.

13. Madonna featuring Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, "4 Minutes," 2,370,000. More than three times as many fans paid to download this smash as paid to buy Madonna's latest album, Hard Candy, which ranks #49 for the year. Madonna also had the most lucrative tour of 2008.

15. M.I.A, "Paper Planes," 2,230,000. This smash is nominated for a Grammy for Record of the Year. The song is featured in the film Slumdog Millionaire, a likely Oscar nominee. M.I.A's album, Kala, is #174 for the year.

24. Kanye West, "Love Lockdown," 1,863,000. This jazz-tinged ballad was a major departure for the veteran rapper. West was featured on a second hit in the year's top 40, Estelle's "American Boy," which ranked #33 for the year with 1,582,000 paid downloads. West's album, 808s & Heartbreak, is #25 for the year.

28. Lady Gaga featuring Colby O'Donis, "Just Dance," 1,743,000. This smash sold 419,000 downloads just this week, a one-week total topped by only one song (Flo Rida's "Low") in digital history. I'll have more on that in my last regular Chart Watch column of 2008, which I'll also post today.

43. David Archuleta, "Crush," 1,305,000. Archie came in second on American Idol, but his first single sold more downloads than the first single by the winner, David Cook. "The Time Of My Life" sold 1,045,000 copies to rank #65. (Cook sold more albums, though. David Cook is #36 for the year. David Archuleta is #68.) Bottom line: They both won.

81. Journey, "Don't Stop Believin,'" 917,000. This 1981 smash is the top oldie on the list. Three other oldies sold more than 500,000 downloads in 2008: Israel Iz Kamakawiwo'ole's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow"/"What A Wonderful World" (589,000) and two classics by Guns N' Roses, "Welcome To The Jungle" (540,000) and "Sweet Child O' Mine" (519,000).

That's it for 2008. I hope the music industry has a better year next year. I hope artists and songwriters are inspired to do their best work. I hope you find music that speaks to your soul, or at least helps you get your groove on. Have a great new year, everybody.

[Guest Danny86]

Nineteen songs topped the 2 million mark in paid downloads, a huge jump from just four in 2007. A total of 71 songs topped the 1 million mark, nearly double the 2007 tally of 36.

The number of 2 million selling albums dropped from eight in 2007 to just four in 2008. The number of 1 million sellers dropped from 39 to 25.

I hope the music industry has a better year next year.

Well if the trend continues, like 100 singles should pass the million mark, half of them reaching 2 million while only around 12 albums going Platinum and only 1 or 2 of them getting to 2 million in 2009!

[mtzlplk]

it is really time to go back to the "3-4 singles before an album" marketing scheme

[mtzlplk]

Well if the trend continues, like 100 singles should pass the million mark, half of them reaching 2 million while only around 12 albums going Platinum and only 1 or 2 of them getting to 2 million in 2009!

getting platinum is now very easy with the individual tracks option... just imagine if MADONNA's CD-MAXIs for VOGUE and MUSIC were sold now and individually...

[Guest Danny86]

it is really time to go back to the "3-4 singles before an album" marketing scheme

That's not gonna save the album either. If somebody buys 3-4 singles from the same artist on iTunes, why would they buy it on CD after that? And they wouldn't download the full album on iTunes either, for the exact reason that they have 3-4 songs from it already.

[Alexz]

Billboard hot digital songs

2 1 lady gaga feat. Colby o'donis just dance 418666 190 144585 1742912

1 2 beyonce single ladies (put a ring on i 382445 157 148821 1253109

7 3 swift*taylor love story 359643 249 103161 1800888

4 4 west*kanye heartless 352043 171 129702 1115836

5 5 t.i. Feat. Rihanna live your life 347419 207 113322 2408878

9 6 perry*katy hot n cold 333649 246 96331 2473796

8 7 spears*britney womanizer 302860 206 98916 1822388

6 8 west*kanye love lockdown 288069 159 111296 1863109

3 9 spears*britney circus 285777 119 130642 781469

11 10 beyonce if i were a boy 251838 195 85419 1472002

14 11 t.i. Whatever you like 233857 242 68292 2682075

12 12 mraz*jason i'm yours 232674 194 79192 2674415

15 13 akon right now (na na na) 220056 232 66304 1353758

10 14 rudolf*kevin feat. Lil wayne let it rock 207255 138 87262 1885106

16 15 p!nk so what 207057 253 58723 2590147

13 16 all-american rejects*the gives you hell 190904 157 74370 531637

17 17 nickelback gotta be somebody 176510 211 56735 1024685

23 18 rihanna disturbia 162837 271 43860 2766329

18 19 rihanna rehab 143142 168 53410 537212

20 20 pussycat dolls*the i hate this part 140602 200 46840 299522

22 21 brown*zac band chicken fried 129597 194 44116 674416

39 22 archuleta*david crush 128226 315 30929 1304665

24 23 veronicas*the untouched 121359 178 43721 438290

29 24 saving abel addicted 120488 231 36430 1082365

21 25 fray*the you found me 116459 160 44768 478476

34 26 lil wayne feat. Bobby valentin mrs. Officer 112832 253 31929 736081

31 27 paramore decode 112658 224 34769 410504

32 28 coldplay viva la vida 111563 243 32494 2914004

26 29 fall out boy i don't care 111530 180 39875 538081

30 30 ne-yo miss independent 109426 201 36376 822875

54 31 perry*katy i kissed a girl 104439 349 23248 2977230

38 32 t-pain featuring lil wayne can't believe it 103434 233 31045 1106289

25 33 akon feat. Lil wayne i'm so paid 103183 144 42343 409785

47 34 secondhand serenade fall for you 99740 283 26065 1424353

27 35 p!nk sober 99148 158 38387 267613

45 36 m.i.a. Paper planes 95773 253 27156 2290319

43 37 metro station seventeen forever 93847 229 28531 274880

37 38 swift*taylor white horse 88962 185 31227 385873

33 39 ludacris co-starring t-pain one more drink 85456 166 32163 264200

61 40 metro station shake it 83984 298 21083 1926172

95 41 jonas brothers lovebug 83709 465 14822 481831

46 42 cook*david light on 82489 206 26918 428912

36 43 o.a.r. Shattered (turn the car around 76938 146 31284 708221

73 44 brown*chris forever 76842 324 18126 2178238

41 45 jones*jim & ron browz feat. Ju pop champagne 76394 150 30597 253108

66 46 aguilera*christina keeps gettin' better 76378 282 20000 703447

68 47 cosgrove*miranda about you now 74156 282 19436 136760

96 48 lil wayne feat. T-pain got money 73729 398 14794 1185532

91 49 lil wayne feat. Static major lollipop 73160 374 15422 3161234

28 50 killers*the human 73141 99 36682 473107

[Guest Hafo]

Sales for 4M should have been massive this week - last week's chart put it at 2.338.121, and the report above mentions 2.370.000!

[Alexz]

147 126 MADONNA FEAT. JUSTIN TIMBERLAK 4 MINUTES 31850 218 10021 2369971

[Guest nothingfails0603]

Get over myself?

I hope Gaga goes to #1!

well, I don't like the insinuation that I'm a duplicate sn from someone trying to stir shit. I have posted one picture once in the picture thread several months ago when I met Margaret Cho. I'm not thin but obese???? you seriously need to meet more people. And so what if I like a few campy movies or artists, it's called being gay. You must be like my ex who is gay but only listens to country, hip hop and stuff like Bon Jovi and Nickelback if anyone who might enjoy something remotely campy has to be a fraud in your eyes. Not my fault you're so dense that you take a blatant joke (what do you think the smiley face was for) and have to be a douche over it. So yes, get over yourself, I've done nothing to you but you continue to be a prick to me.