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8:40 AM
By Dean Goodman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In an unusual duel at the top of the U.S. pop music charts, both veteran rock band the Eagles and tarnished pop princess Britney Spears can claim that they have the No. 1 albums this week.
The Eagles released "Long Road Out of Eden" -- their first studio album in 28 years -- exclusively through Wal-Mart Stores Inc. last week, and it sold more than 700,000 copies, the retailer said on Tuesday.
The only problem is that Wal-Mart does not report sales to SoundScan, a tracking service whose retail data are used to formulate Billboard magazine's weekly Top 200 albums chart, which is the industry benchmark.
That will allow Spears to take the top spot when SoundScan data are issued on Wednesday. "Blackout," her first album in four years, sold between 330,000 and 350,000 copies during its first six days, her Jive Records label has estimated.
A similar situation occurred almost two years ago when Wal-Mart teamed up with retired country star Garth Brooks to sell an exclusive boxed set. "Garth Brooks: The Limited Series" sold more than 500,000 copies on its first day during the busy Thanksgiving holiday period, the retailer said at the time. The claim was met with some skepticism by music industry insiders who said the actual figure was probably in the 300,000 to 400,000 range for its first three days.
When SoundScan data were issued the following week, it showed that Los Angeles rock band System of a Down was the No. 1 act with sales of 320,000 copies during the first six days of release for its album "Hypnotize."
EAGLES SOAR
Exclusive releases have become common in recent years, with retailers such as Target Corp. and Starbucks Corp. aggressively striking deals with musical acts in order to drive customer traffic. Billboard excludes exclusive releases from most of its charts, but does allow retailers to report sales to its "comprehensive" albums chart, which includes sales for catalog releases, meaning albums that are generally more than two years old.
With reported sales of more than 700,000 copies for their album, the Eagles have become one of the biggest-selling acts during another dismal year for the music industry. Overall sales so far in 2007 are off about 15 percent from the year-ago period. The biggest SoundScan seller of 2007 is rapper Kanye West, whose "Graduation" sold 957,000 copies during its first six days in September.
For Spears, whose musical career has been overshadowed in recent years by an unending litany of personal and professional missteps, the prognosis for "Blackout" is less certain. Her previous release, "In the Zone," debuted at No. 1 in November 2003 with 609,000 copies. It went on to sell relatively poorly compared to her previous releases.
Spears has released just one single from the album, "Gimme More," which peaked surprisingly strongly at No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart.
Jive has not announced plans for a follow-up, and Spears has done little to promote the album, apart from a widely ridiculed performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in September.
Jive is a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a joint venture between Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG. The Eagles own their own label.
(Editing by Arthur Spiegelman and Eric Walsh)
Source: in.reuters.com
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In an unusual duel at the top of the U.S. pop music charts, both veteran rock band the Eagles and tarnished pop princess Britney Spears can claim that they have the No. 1 albums this week.
The Eagles released "Long Road Out of Eden" -- their first studio album in 28 years -- exclusively through Wal-Mart Stores Inc. last week, and it sold more than 700,000 copies, the retailer said on Tuesday.
The only problem is that Wal-Mart does not report sales to SoundScan, a tracking service whose retail data are used to formulate Billboard magazine's weekly Top 200 albums chart, which is the industry benchmark.
That will allow Spears to take the top spot when SoundScan data are issued on Wednesday. "Blackout," her first album in four years, sold between 330,000 and 350,000 copies during its first six days, her Jive Records label has estimated.
A similar situation occurred almost two years ago when Wal-Mart teamed up with retired country star Garth Brooks to sell an exclusive boxed set. "Garth Brooks: The Limited Series" sold more than 500,000 copies on its first day during the busy Thanksgiving holiday period, the retailer said at the time. The claim was met with some skepticism by music industry insiders who said the actual figure was probably in the 300,000 to 400,000 range for its first three days.
When SoundScan data were issued the following week, it showed that Los Angeles rock band System of a Down was the No. 1 act with sales of 320,000 copies during the first six days of release for its album "Hypnotize."
EAGLES SOAR
Exclusive releases have become common in recent years, with retailers such as Target Corp. and Starbucks Corp. aggressively striking deals with musical acts in order to drive customer traffic. Billboard excludes exclusive releases from most of its charts, but does allow retailers to report sales to its "comprehensive" albums chart, which includes sales for catalog releases, meaning albums that are generally more than two years old.
With reported sales of more than 700,000 copies for their album, the Eagles have become one of the biggest-selling acts during another dismal year for the music industry. Overall sales so far in 2007 are off about 15 percent from the year-ago period. The biggest SoundScan seller of 2007 is rapper Kanye West, whose "Graduation" sold 957,000 copies during its first six days in September.
For Spears, whose musical career has been overshadowed in recent years by an unending litany of personal and professional missteps, the prognosis for "Blackout" is less certain. Her previous release, "In the Zone," debuted at No. 1 in November 2003 with 609,000 copies. It went on to sell relatively poorly compared to her previous releases.
Spears has released just one single from the album, "Gimme More," which peaked surprisingly strongly at No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart.
Jive has not announced plans for a follow-up, and Spears has done little to promote the album, apart from a widely ridiculed performance at the MTV Video Music Awards in September.
Jive is a unit of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a joint venture between Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG. The Eagles own their own label.
(Editing by Arthur Spiegelman and Eric Walsh)
Source: in.reuters.com
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