Chart Watch Extra: The Biggest Month Of The Year
Posted Tue Dec 22, 2009 4:52pm PST by Paul Grein in Chart Watch
Susan Boyle is proving once again that December is the best month of the year to have a hit album. Album sales surge around this time every year as people search for last-minute Christmas and Hanukkah gifts. Some people who haven't bought an album all year long will pick up a CD or two every December.
Boyle's I Dreamed A Dream is certain to wind up as the month's best-selling album. It has a good chance of toppling Taylor Swift's Fearless as the best-selling album of the entire year. This will be the 14th time in the past 18 years that the album that is the best-seller for the month of December has wound up in the top 10 for the year.
Because Nielsen/SoundScan publishes precise weekly sales totals, I was able to go back and determine which album sold the most copies in the month of December for every year since 1992, the first full year that Nielson/SoundScan tracked sales for Billboard.
1992: Whitney Houston, The Bodyguard soundtrack, 3,169,000. This movie soundtrack charted on Nov. 29 and wound up as the year's #3 best-seller. It was #1 for all five weeks of December. The album spawned three top five hits, including the #1 smash, "I Will Always Love You."
1993: Mariah Carey, Music Box, 1,706,000. This charted on Sept. 5 and wound up as the year's #5 best-seller. It sold 95,000 more copies in December than the month's runner-up, Snoop Doggy Dogg's Doggystyle. Music Box featured back-to-back #1 hits, "Dreamlover" and "Hero."
1994: Kenny G, Miracles-The Holiday Album, 2,550,000. This holiday album charted on Nov. 6 and wound up as the year's #8 best-seller. (This was the tightest December showdown in Nielsen/SoundScan history. Pearl Jam's Vitalogy sold just 8,000 fewer copies that month.)
1995: Mariah Carey, Daydream, 2,030,000. This charted on Oct. 8 and wound up as the year's #4 best-seller. The album featured three consecutive #1 hits, "Fantasy," "One Sweet Day" (with Boyz II Men) and "Always Be My Baby."
1996: No Doubt, Tragic Kingdom, 1,548,000. No Doubt's breakthrough album charted on Jan. 7 and wound up as the year's #4 best-seller. It was #1 for all four weeks of December. The album featured "Don't Speak," which topped the Hot 100 Airplay chart for 16 weeks.
1997: Garth Brooks, Sevens, 2,499,000. This charted on Nov. 30 and wound up as the year's #4 best-seller. It was #1 for all four weeks of December. The album featured the #1 country hit "Longneck Bottle" as well as "In Another's Eyes," a duet with Brooks' future wife, Trisha Yearwood.
1998: Garth Brooks, Double Live, 2,157,000. This double-disk live album charted on Nov. 22 and wound up as the year's #7 best-seller. The album featured the chart hit "It's Your Song."
1999: Celine Dion, All The Way...A Decade Of Song, 2,189,000. This greatest hits set charted on Nov. 21 and wound up as the #13 album of 1999. The album featured one new top 10 hit, "That's The Way It Is."
2000: The Beatles, 1, 3,205,000. This greatest hits set charted on Nov. 19 and wound up as the year's #6 best-seller. The album was #1 for all four weeks of December. It sold more copies in December 2000 than any December champ in Nielsen/SoundScan history.
2001: Creed, Weathered, 2,276,000. This charted on Nov. 25 and wound up as the year's #8 best-seller. It was #1 for all four weeks of December. The album spawned the top 10 hits "My Sacrifice" and "One Last Breath."
2002: Shania Twain Up!, 1,409,000. This double-disk studio album charted on Nov. 24 and wound up as the year's #9 best-seller. The album featured the top 40 hits "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" and "Forever And For Always."
2003: Alicia Keys, The Diary Of Alicia Keys, 1,701,000. This charted on Dec. 7 and wound up as the #27 album of 2003. The album featured the top 10 hits "You Don't Know My Name," "If I Ain't Got You" and "Diary" (featuring Tony! Toni! Tone!).
2004: Eminem, Encore, 1,464,000. This charted on Nov. 14 and wound up as the year's #3 best-seller. The album featured the top 10 hit "Just Lose It."
2005: Eminem, Curtain Call: The Hits, 1,383,000. This greatest hits set charted on Dec. 11 and wound up as the #28 album of 2005. The album featured two new top 10 hits, "When I'm Gone" and "Shake That" (featuring Nate Dogg).
2006: Hannah Montana TV soundtrack, 933,000. This TV soundtrack charted on Oct. 29 and wound up as the year's #8 best-seller. The album featured "Best Of Both Worlds," which made the Hot 100 twice, five months apart.
2007: Josh Groban, Noel, 2,183,000. This Christmas album charted on Oct. 14 and wound up as the year's #1 best-seller. It was the biggest December hit since 2001. The album featured "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and "The First Noel" (with Faith Hill).
2008: Britney Spears, Circus, 1,104,000. This charted on Dec. 7 and wound up as the #24 album of 2008. It sold 70,000 more copies in December than the month's runner-up, Taylor Swift's Fearless. Circus featured the top five hits "Womanizer" and "Circus."
2009: Susan Boyle, I Dreamed A Dream, 1,770,000 (so far). Boyle's debut album charted on Nov. 29 and is already the year's #2 best-seller. It may well wind up as the year's #1 best-seller.
http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/cha...h-of-the-year/
But I'm coming for you
:tomcat:
Don't take her record, do it next year and if you do take it this year
Please don't cuz I would hate to just stand down. 
