Once again, the #1 album on Billboard 200 is not the best selling album of the week. With 154,000 copies sold (down 21%), Michael Jackson‘s Number Ones sold 46,000 more than this week’s #1 album. That’s just dumb.
1. Demi Lovato – “Here We Go Again” – 108,000 (debut)
2. Daughtry – “Leave This Town,” – 101,000 (down 63%)
3. Maxwell – “BLACKsummers’night” – 72,000 (down 30%)
4. “Now 31” – 58,000 (down 17%)
5. “Hannah Montana 3” – 54,000 (down 26%)
6. Black Eyed Peas – “The E.N.D.” – 52,000 (down 4%)
7. Jordin Sparks – “Battlefield” – 48,000 (debut)
8. Kings of Leon – “Only By The Night” – 39,000 (up 19%)
9. Taylor Swift – “Fearless” – 37,000 (up less than 2%)
10. Lady GaGa – “The Fame” – 28,000 (down 9%)
Billboard doesn’t post its Comprehensive chart on its website (not even after its bloated redesign — ugh), but Hits Daily Double shows Jackson holding three of top ten overall, with Thriller selling 74,921 and Essential right behind it with 73,628. MTV reports that MJ holds seven of the Top 20 on the Comprehensive chart, and nine of the top 10 positions on the Catalog chart.
It’s time for Billboard to stop the anachronistic practicing of excluding the Catalog albums (generally those less than 18 months old) from its main album chart, the Billboard 200, which “houses only new and current titles.”
First time on this site, and I appreciate the actual numbers of sales instead of just rankings. However, this site is the one that’s out of touch. Billboard exists, like awards shows,as a promotional vehicle for record sales. Allowing a dead guy on the charts is not going to help the industry sell more from more/different artists. You also won’t see the bible on the New York Times Best Seller List as that list is also a promotional Vehicle. That’s why it’s balkanized. That’s why the Billboard charts are Balkanized. Everybody already knows Michael is shifting tons of records. How is that information going to help reflect what’s currently going on in the industry?
What’s currently going on in the industry is that Michael Jackson is shifting tons of records.
Why should the industry care whether what’s selling is six years old versus six weeks old? It’s still selling.