Nope, this is merely the first time he's posted since the earthquake

How is Japan the 2nd-largest (I think it was 2nd) music market in the world when its overall sales are so sluggish?

I realize local acts sell huge amounts there, but isn't that just for a week?

Amen

Lady Gaga

I suppose regardless of which album is selling in such huge amounts, the #1 album always has a huge number of sales. Also, albums in Japan are around double the price of albums in the rest of the world, IIRC.

Well when those local acts can open with 600k+ it kind of puts them ahead of the curve, compared to any other non-U.S. markets. So yeah, it's the tons of lucrative local acts that would make the difference.

If you compare the YTD sales at the same period with the UK it's pretty comparable (with the glaring exception of Adele).

UK (as of 06/19/11):

1 - 2,546,566 - Adele - 21
2 - 774,387 - Adele - 19
3 - 585,800 - Bruno Mars - Doo-Wops & Hooligans
4 - 576,500 - Rihanna - Loud
5 - 431,600 - Jessie J - Who You Are
6 - 359,444 - Lady Gaga - Born This Way
7 - 307,300 - Cee-Lo Green - Lady Killer
8 - 305,900 - Take That - Progress
9 - 281,700 - Plan B - Defamation Of Strickland Banks
10 - 260,500 - Foo Fighters - Wasting Light


Japan (as of 06/19/11):

1 - Tower of wishes (Exile) – 702,058
2 - It was here (AKB48) – 601,985
3 - Checkmate! (Namie Amuro) – 442,876
4 - Musicman (Keisuke Kuwata) – 403,757
5 - Summary 1 (Aiko) – 362,189
6 - Members Best Of (Creatures of clues) – 339,314
7 - Cosmonaut (Bump of chicken) – 337,706
8 - Summary II (Aiko) – 335,429
9 - Goodbye Lullaby (Avril Lavigne) – 330,200
10 - Girl's Generation (Girls) – 325,658

Revenue is greater because CDs typically retail for more in Japan, but yeah for most western acts the UK will be their second most important market unless they can break through in a big way.

I can't at The Remix outselling all the other international albums apart from Avril

Born This Way = 564,676
Loud + Greatest Hits +Teenage Dream + Burlesque + Femme Fatale + Love? = 467,519

Born This Way is at 400K

Congrats to Lady GaGa, Limp Bizkit, Beyoncé, Pitbull and Simple Plan. All of them are doing really well.