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Music News: Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now' #1 in record-low sales week
ATRL Contributor
Member Since: 8/8/2006
Posts: 42,086
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Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now' #1 in record-low sales week
Quote:
This week, though Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" remains at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a sixth nonconsecutive week, it does so while earning a dubious honor. With just 52,000 copies sold (down 32%), it earns the distinction of notching the lowest-ever sales frame for a No. 1 album since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.
Since SoundScan was established, the previous low had been set by the "Dreamgirls" soundtrack on the Jan. 27, 2007, chart, when it scanned slightly more than 60,000 units.
We came close to setting a new record last year, when Justin Bieber's "My World 2.0" spent its fourth nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the May 29 chart, shifting only a couple hundred copies more than the "Dreamgirls" low.
[With album sales continuing to slide each year (in 2010 volume was down 12.7%), the new woeful record low shouldn't come as a surprise. And there's potential to break that record too, as no blockbuster albums are on the horizon.
That's in stark contrast to how 2010 got off to an unusually sexy start. This week a year ago, Ke$ha's "Animal" debuted at No. 1 with 152,000 and was followed in successive weeks by Vampire Weekend's "Contra" (No. 1; 124,000), the "Hope for Haiti Now" compilation (No. 1; 171,000) and Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" (No. 1; 481,000).
But let's get back to this week's top 10 albums recap. Nicki Minaj's "Pink Friday" climbs two to No. 2 with 39,000 (down 36%) while Bruno Mars' "Doo-Wops & Hooligans" also rises, up four to No. 3-matching its original debut and peak-with 38,000 (down 15%). Daft Punk's "TRON: Legacy" soundtrack is up two spots to No. 4 (a new high) with 34,000 (down 37%). The next three slots are only separated by a few hundred units: Eminem's "Recovery" falls three to No. 5 (33,000; down 47%), Rihanna's "Loud" slips three to No. 6 (33,000; down 46%), and Kanye West's "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" slides two to No. 7 (33,000; down 43%). Holding at No. 8 is Mumford & Sons' "Sigh No More" (31,000; down 20%) while Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party" rises four to No. 9 (29,000; down 15%).
Making a big move up the list this week is the "Country Strong" soundtrack, which flies 139 positions to No. 10 with 28,000 (up 477%). The film, which had been in limited release since Dec. 22, was released nationwide to more than 1,000 theaters on Jan. 7. Coincidentally, the Billboard 200's highest debut (at No. 48) is from the partner soundtrack to the movie, the iTunes-exclusive "Country Strong: More Music From the Motion Picture," which enters with 9,000 (up 1,310%).
Meanwhile, over on the Digital Songs chart, Bruno Mars' "Grenade" continues to hold at No. 1 for a fourth week in a row, shifting 275,000 (down 35%). Katy Perry's "Firework" also maintains its position at No. 2 (230,000; down 42%). Enrique Iglesias' "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" rises two to No. 3 (192,000; down 29%), Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow" is up three to No. 4 (186,000; down 29%), and the Black Eyed Peas' "The Time (Dirty Bit)" climbs three to No. 5 (181,000; down 30%). Ke$ha's "We R Who We R" drops three to No. 6 (174,000; down 46%), Lil Wayne's "6 Foot 7 Foot" rises five spots to No. 7 (160,000; down 12%), and P!nk's "Raise Your Glass" slips four to No. 8 (158,000; down 42%). Closing out the top 10 is Rihanna's "What's My Name?," down three to No. 9 (150,000; down 43%) and Taio Cruz's "Dynamite," up three to No. 10 (125,000; down 31%).
Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Jan. 9) totaled 5.4 million units, down 24% compared with the sum last week (7.1 million) and 8% compared with the comparable sales week of 2010 (5.9 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 5.4 million, down 8% compared with the same total at this point last year (5.9 million).
Digital track sales this past week totaled 29.8 million downloads, down 29% compared with last week (42.1 million) and up 8% stacked next to the comparable week of 2010 (27.5 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 42.1 million, up 8% compared to the same total at this point last year (27.5 million).
Next week's Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2010 when: Vampire Weekend's "Contra" bowed atop the list with 124,000, pushing the previous week's No. 1-debuting set, Ke$ha's "Animal," down to No. 3 (67,000; down 56%). Susan Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" held at No. 2 with 77,000 (down 18%).
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Billboard.com
A mess 
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Banned
Member Since: 9/13/2010
Posts: 14,033
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Well, I mean, this isn't that big of a deal, especially since her debut week was massive.
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Member Since: 11/29/2010
Posts: 19,664
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Whats the difference exactly? Being nr1 with 500k or with 52k? Its still nr1. It means everybody else sold less.
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Banned
Member Since: 11/19/2010
Posts: 4,697
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No blockbuster albums on the horizon? Gaga, Beyonce and Britney beg to differ. 
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Member Since: 10/15/2010
Posts: 7,099
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Yes eveything is a record hahaha
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Member Since: 6/3/2010
Posts: 2,229
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Now, Imagine if Taylor didn't had released her album? 
The Number One would be Minaj with 39k
Sales are really bad 
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Member Since: 8/22/2009
Posts: 50,646
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Say what you want but this is very bad no matter how ironic it is. When lists are made and records are shown she will still have this record just like she has her others.
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Member Since: 11/7/2009
Posts: 9,863
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Quote:
Originally posted by Kunt
No blockbuster albums on the horizon? Gaga, Beyonce and Britney beg to differ. |
On the horizon they meant "very near", Britney will only drop her album mid-March, Gaga in May and Beyonce probably in the second semester...
But it's really ironic, LOL, Her album just crossed 3 million with this update, and it's hard to see it now a days, also looking how fast Taylor had done it...
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Banned
Member Since: 11/24/2009
Posts: 61,404
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Thank God for Taylor and the 3M+ she's contributed since Oct. 25 (less than 3 months  ). Otherwise imagine the overall sales.
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Member Since: 11/29/2010
Posts: 19,664
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i heard her new music video premieres tomorrow...
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Member Since: 2/26/2006
Posts: 62,897
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This is nothing bad for Taylor, it's just bad for the music industry because everyone else sold less than that.
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Member Since: 6/16/2010
Posts: 19,686
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Quote:
Originally posted by Cherry
Well, I mean, this isn't that big of a deal, especially since her debut week was massive.
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Member Since: 9/24/2008
Posts: 14,256
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The music industry is way too slow too change. They need to do more to combat piracy Album sales are declining at a rate of over 10% a year. In two or three years we could see the #1 album selling 30k. Sales will fall under 50k soon. 
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Member Since: 11/15/2009
Posts: 16,903
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I don't think this thread was meant as shade against Taylor.
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Member Since: 7/8/2009
Posts: 2,094
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Banned
Member Since: 5/15/2010
Posts: 15,858
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You shouldn't Hold It Against Her...
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Member Since: 8/19/2010
Posts: 4
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the album came out in october 2010, we're in january 2011
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Member Since: 8/24/2008
Posts: 40,932
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Offtopic but so many people were banned today 
anyways, LOL this industry sux ass
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Member Since: 7/18/2010
Posts: 29,717
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Still breaking records.
and what, satalites banned? Why??
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Member Since: 3/8/2007
Posts: 3,241
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I don't care about Taylor! It's the music industry leading into a catastrophy.
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