Billboard 200: 10/2/10: Linkin Park #1: 241k

Holy Shit look how close that was!

Wow those VMA performances really had an impact!

So close for Trey! :(

Not looking good for Weezer but their fanbase has become smaller with each release since Make Believe which spawned their only Top 10 hit Beverly Hills.

Quite surprised about Jamey Johnson.. He doesn't even have a big country hit now, does he?

www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/charts/chart_alert/e3ied4f9346f54dc08e9b558c3a4c5c67fe

Linkin Park And Trey Songz Debut At Nos. 1 & 2 On Billboard 200
September 22, 2010

Editor: Keith Caulfield; Editorial Director: Silvio Pietroluongo

Linkin Park claims its fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 with "A Thousand Suns" opening atop the list with 241,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The rock band beats out R&B singer Trey Songz, as his "Passion, Pain & Pleasure" debuts at No. 2 with 240,000. Jamey Johnson, Robert Plant, Weezer and Brandon Flowers also start in the top 10 . . . On the Digital Songs chart, a new No. 1 is crowned, with Rihanna's "Only Girl (In the World)" debuting in the penthouse with 249,000.


FLASH POINTS

• Linkin Park notches its fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 as its "A Thousand Suns" debuts atop the list with 241,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The rock band beats out R&B singer Trey Songz, as the latter's fourth album, "Passion, Pain & Pleasure," arrives at No. 2 with 240,000 copies.

• For Linkin, its "Suns" opener is far less than the 623,000 that greeted its last studio album, 2007's "Minutes to Midnight," when it debuted at No. 1. However for Songz, "Passion" represents his best sales week yet and his highest-charting album. His previous high-water marks came when last year's "Ready" started at No. 3 with 131,000.

• The first single from "Suns," "The Catalyst," rises to a new peak of No. 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week. The first offering from "Passion," "Bottoms Up" (featuring Nicki Minaj), also hits a new high, as it rises four rungs to a new peak of No. 13. The new Hot 100 chart will be refreshed on billboard.com on Thursday (Sept. 23).

• Last week's Billboard 200 No. 1, Sara Bareilles' "Kaleidoscope Heart," slides to No. 12 in its second week with 28,000 (down 69%). It's the second No. 1-debuting set to tumble out of the top 10 in its sophomore week this year, following B.o.B's "The Adventures of Bobby Ray," which fell from No. 1 to No. 12.

• As predicted last week, the Sept. 12 MTV "Video Music Awards" goosed sales both on last week's chart and this week's. Eminem, who opened the show with a medley of "Not Afraid" and "Love the Way You Lie," sees his "Recovery" album post a gain of 10%, though it slips one rung to No. 3 (89,000). Another VMA performer earns a gain in the top 10: Justin Bieber's "My World 2.0" at No. 10 (down two slots with 36,000; up 3%).

• The chart's largest unit gain comes from a VMA performer's album that earned last week's biggest percentage increase: Florence and the Machine's "Lungs." It vaults from No. 44 to No. 14 with its best sales week: 21,000 (up 13,000 units and 165%).

• Over on the Digital Songs chart, beleaguered singer Bruno Mars, who also performed on the VMA show, falls from No. 1 to No. 2 with "Just the Way You Are" (194,000; down 7%). He's bumped from the top slot by fellow VMA performer Rihanna, who debuts atop the list with "Only Girl (In the World)," selling 249,000. It's her eighth No. 1 on the tally and sixth to debut atop the list.

• Back on the Billboard 200, four more albums—in addition to the aforementioned sets from Linkin Park and Trey Songz—arrive in the top 10.

• Country singer Jamey Johnson notches his best sales week as "The Guitar Song" opens at No. 4 with 63,000. It's also his highest-charting set, as 2006's "The Dollar" cashed in at No. 87, while 2008's "That Lonesome Song" warbled its best week at No. 28. Johnson's latest also crowns the Country Albums chart—his first No. 1 on that tally.

• Rock titan Robert Plant starts at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with his latest, "Band of Joy," selling 49,000. It ties with Plant's 1982 solo debut, "Pictures at Eleven," as his highest-charting solo set. Plant has gone higher with collaboration albums with his Led Zeppelin bandmate Jimmy Page on "No Quarter" (No. 4 in 1994) and the Grammy Award winner for album of the year, "Raising Sand," with Alison Krauss (No. 2 in 2007).

• Weezer grabs its sixth top 10 set with "Hurley" debuting at No. 6 with 45,000. The album is the band's Epitaph Records debut, and the act's sixth studio set in a row to debut in the top 10 as well. Its last release, 2009's "Raditude," was its last for DGC/Interscope, and it arrived at No. 7 with 66,000.

• Plant isn't the only famous rock frontman to debut in the top 10 this week, as the Killers' Brandon Flowers' flies in with "Flamingo" at No. 8 with 41,000.

• Finally, the "Now 35" compilation descends four slots to No. 7 with 41,000 (down 35%) while Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" drops from No. 4 to No. 9 with 40,000 (down 31%).

• Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Sept. 19) totaled 5.4 million units, up 11% compared with the sum last week (4.8 million) and down 17% compared with the comparable sales week of 2009 (6.4 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 210.7 million, down 13% compared with the same total at this point last year (242.1 million).

• Digital track sales this past week totaled 19.9 million downloads, down 1% compared with last week (20 million) and up less than 1% stacked next to the comparable week of 2009 (19.9 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 821.7 million, down less than 1% compared with the same total at this point last year (827.6 million).



MARKET WATCH

• Album units, current chart week: 5.4 million units
• Up 11% from last week's charts: 4.8 million units
• Down 17% from the comparable week in 2009: 6.4 million units
• This week: The top two albums each sell more than 100,000 copies.
• This week last year on the Billboard 200: Jay-Z's "The Blueprint 3" held atop the list for a second week with 298,000 (down 37%). Muse's "The Resistance" was the highest new entry, bowing at No. 3 with 128,000.


A LOOK AHEAD

• Among the albums released this week, due on next week's charts: Zac Brown Band's "You Get What You Give," Maroon 5's "Hands All Over," Santana's "Guitar Heaven," John Legend and the Roots' "Wake Up!," Selena Gomez & the Scene's "A Year Without Rain" and Billy Currington's "Enjoy Yourself."

• Next week's Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2009 when: Pearl Jam's "Backspacer" opened at No. 1 with 189,000 while the previous week's chart-topper, Jay-Z's "The Blueprint 3," fell to No. 2 with 134,000 (down 55%).

All male Top 6 by the way

All diva obsessed members must be anxiously waiting for October and big releases by their favourites

They're on their way down still. I'm a big fan but I think they release albums too often.. Four albums since 2005.

But great that Rivers got a Top 10 hit with B.o.B, he hasn't lost his 'magic touch'

Weezer has been around for so long it seems strange to say they are on their way down. They are pretty much established for what they are-a smaller rock band that doesn't really have a market today, but still does steady numbers to a steady audience. Not bad for an indie cd released by a rock act that released its first cd 16+ years ago and was never a massive seller throughout their career anyway.

^ Ah, I hadn't heard. A shame.

Seems like entertainment is the one field where you can break the law all the time and have no consequence on your career.

^Well, it depends, on the degree of the crime/allegation, I guess.

Album sales down 17% from last year- yikes. That indeed was a photo finish for the top spot. Great increase for Flo and the Machine.

Drug charges, weapons charges, child neglect, domestic abuse, animal abuse...

I guess I can't think of anyone who's been committed of murder who has remained successful, but that's a pretty low bar if all it takes is *not killing someone* to maintain your career.

Week Ending Sept. 19, 2010: "It Goes On And On And On And On"
Posted 6 minutes ago by Paul Grein in Chart Watch
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Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" tops the 4 million mark in paid downloads this week. The song was first released way back in 1981, when Madonna and Whitney Houston were still unknowns and Justin Timberlake and Beyonce were still in diapers. No other song that was first released before 2000 has topped the 3 million mark in paid downloads, much less 4 million.

"Don't Stop Believin" received a big boost from its use in the final episode of The Sopranos, which aired in June 2007. (The usage also did wonders for the song's "coolness" factor.)
The song received another boost from its use in the first episode of Glee, which aired in May 2009. It was featured again in the last episode of the first season, which aired three months ago. The two Glee versions have sold a combined total of 973,000 copies (which, of course, are not counted toward Journey's 4 million tally).

Journey's recording of "Don't Stop Believin'" hit the 1 million mark in paid downloads in August 2007. It reached 2 million in October 2008. It hit 3 million in August 2009. When will it reach 5 million? Place your bets.

"Don't Stop Believin'" is to digital songs what Bob Marley & the Wailers' Legend is to albums. Both are perennial best-sellers that have become music industry phenomena. That 1984 compilation has sold 10,349,000 copies since Nielsen/SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991. (It sold millions more before that.) Both Journey's song and Marley's album are slowly but surely climbing the all-time best-seller lists. "Don't Stop Believin'" is the 21st best-selling song in digital history. It is just 2,197,000 copies behind the all-time digital song champ, the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling."

Given all this, you might assume that "Don't Stop Believin'" was a #1 hit when it was first released in 1981. Far from it. It peaked at #9. Sixty-four songs that year climbed higher on the Hot 100.

"Don't Stop Believin'" peaked on the Hot 100 in the week ending Dec. 19, 1981. It has sold more than twice as many digital copies as all the other songs that were in the top 10 that week combined. The #1 song that week, Olivia Newton-John's "Physical," has sold 152,000 digital copies, not bad, but a far cry from the total of 4,013,000 for "Don't Stop Believin.'"

Shameless Plug: On Friday, I'll have a list of the top 40 oldies (songs released before January 2000), with the most paid downloads as of this very week. I've given you #1, but I have 39 more songs to run down. A few teases: The #2 song is by an artist who never had a Hot 100 hit. Three of the songs are by one band. Three of the songs are from one album. All will be revealed on Friday.

Linkin Park's A Thousand Suns enters The Billboard 200 at #1 with sales of 241,000. This is less than half of the first-week total of the band's last studio album, Minutes To Midnight, which bowed in the top spot in May 2007 with sales of 623,000.

The trend-line is moving in the opposite direction for R&B star Trey Songz, who debuts at #2 with Passion, Pain & Pleasure. The album sold 240,000 copies, nearly twice the first-week tally of Songz' last album, Ready, which bowed in September 2009 with 131,000. (If Songz had sold just 2,000 more copies this week, he would have upset Linkin Park and grabbed the #1 spot.)

Let's dig a little deeper into that first-week total for Linkin Park's album. It's the eighth biggest first-week total so far in 2010, and the biggest by a rock band. Still, the number is a big disappointment. The band's 2003 album, Meteora, posted first-week sales of 810,000, which was the second biggest first-week tally that year (behind only 50 Cent's Get Rich Or Die Tryin'). The 623,000 start for Minutes To Midnight constituted the sixth biggest first-week tally of 2007.

Linkin Park's album debuts at #2 in both Japan and the U.K., so it came close to a rare sweep of the #1 spot in the world's top three music markets. The album sold 90,000 digital copies in the U.S. It's #1 on the Digital Albums chart.

Rihanna's "Only Girl (In The World)" enters Hot Digital Songs at #1 with first-week sales of 249,000 copies. It's Rihanna's eighth #1 on that chart. The #1 debut makes up for the fact that Rihanna's smash "Rude Boy" never quite reached the top spot on the digital chart. (It did, however, log five weeks at #1 on the Hot 100, which is a blend of digital sales and radio airplay.) "Only Girl (In The World)" is expected to vault from #75 into the top five on the Hot 100 when that chart is posted later today.

Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are" dips from #1 to #2 on Hot Digital Songs. It sold 194,000 copies this week, bringing its nine-week total to 1,151,000. It's expected to move up from #3 to #1 on the Hot 100. It would be Mars' second #1 of the year, following B.o.B's "Nothin' On You," on which he was featured. You may have read the news item that Mars was arrested in Las Vegas on Sunday on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance. Not a great way to kick off a week in which you (probably) land your first #1 hit.

Returning to The Billboard 200, Eminem's Recovery dips from #2 to #3. The album has ranked in the top three for each of its first 13 weeks. This is the best showing by any album since Alicia Keys' As I Am ranked in the top three for each of its first 15 weeks in 2007-2008.
Robert Plant's Band Of Joy debuts at #5. It's Plant's 19th top 10 album (counting 12 albums with Led Zeppelin, two with fellow Led Zep alum Jimmy Page and one with Alison Krauss). Led Zeppelin cracked the top 10 with its first album, Led Zeppelin, in May 1969, giving Plant a more than 41 year span of top 10 albums. How long ago was that? The cast album from Hair was #1. Also in the top 10: albums by Tom Jones, Donovan and Iron Butterfly.

Weezer's Hurley debuts at #6. It's the band's sixth regular studio album in a row to make the top 10. Weezer has had only one top 10 single on the Hot 100, "Beverly Hills." Front-man Rivers Cuomo has also had one top 10 single on his own, B.o.B's "Magic," on which he was featured.

Brandon Flowers' Flamingo debuts at #8. It's the solo debut album by the Killers' front-man. The Killers have made the top 10 with three albums, Hot Fuss, Sam's Town and Day & Age. Flamingo was #1 in the U.K. last week.

Justin Bieber's My World 2.0 winds up six solid months in the top 10. It's the first album to spend its first 26 weeks in the top 10 since Eminem's The Eminem Show in 2002. This means it has surpassed the initial top 10 runs by such powerhouse albums as Taylor Swift's Fearless (19 weeks), Mariah Carey's The Emancipation Of Mimi (23 weeks) and Usher's Confessions (23 weeks). (All of those albums later returned to the top 10 to add to their totals, but I'm talking about the albums' initial, unbroken runs in the top 10.)

Here's the top 10 on Hot Digital Songs, as calculated by Nielsen/SoundScan. Rihanna's "Only Girl (In The World)" debuts at #1 (249K). Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are" dips from #1 to #2 (194K). Usher featuring Pitbull's "DJ Got Us Fallin' In Love" jumps from #7 to #3 (171K). Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" drops from #2 to #4 (164K). Nelly's "Just A Dream" dips from #4 to #5 (155K). Eminem featuring Rihanna's "Love The Way You Lie" dips from #5 to #6 (148K). Far East Movement featuring Catar's "Like A G6" jumps from #12 to #7 (137K). Flo Rida featuring David Guetta's "Club Can't Handle Me" holds at #8 (132K). Taio Cruz's "Dynamite" drops from #3 to #9 (131K). Enrique Iglesias featuring Pitbull's "I Like It" drops from #6 to #10 (123K).

Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 albums.

1. Linkin Park, A Thousand Suns, 241,000. This new entry is the band's fourth album to debut at #1, following Meteora, Collision Course (a 2004 collabo with Jay-Z) and Minutes To Midnight. Four songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Catalyst," which vaults from #58 to #16.

2. Trey Songz, Passion, Pain & Pleasure, 240,000. This new entry is the second top five album in a row for the R&B singer. Ready debuted at #3 in September 2009. Three songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Bottoms Up" (featuring Nicki Minaj), which jumps from #16 to #14.

3. Eminem, Recovery, 89,000. The former #1 album dips from #2 to #3 in its 13th week. Four songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Love The Way You Lie" (featuring Rihanna), which dips from #5 to #6.

4. Jamey Johnson, The Guitar Song, 63,000. This new entry is Johnson's first top 10 album. That Lonesome Song hit #28 in 2008. The album enters Top Country Albums at #1. It's Johnson's first #1 on that chart.

5. Robert Plant, Band Of Joy, 49,000. This new entry is Plant's 19th top 10 album (counting Led Zeppelin and collabos). It's his first strictly solo album to crack the top five since his solo debut, Pictures At Eleven, which scored in August and September 1982.

6. Weezer, Hurley, 45,000. This new entry is the band's sixth regular studio album in a row to make the top 10. "Memories" enters Hot Digital Songs at #137.

7. Various Artists, Now 35, 41,000. The album drops from #3 to #7 in its third week. The compilation has sold 210,000 copies in its first three weeks.

8. Brandon Flowers, Flamingo, 41,000. This new entry is the solo debut album by the Killers' front-man. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Crossfire," which re-enters at #118.

9. Katy Perry, Teenage Dream, 40,000. The former #1 album drops from #4 to #9 in its fourth week. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Teenage Dream," which drops from #2 to #4.

10. Justin Bieber, My World 2.0., 36,000. The former #1 album drops from #8 to #10 in its 26th week. Three songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Baby" (featuring Ludacris), which rebounds from #79 to #55.

Sara Bareilles' Kaleidoscope Heart drops from #1 to #12. That's the biggest tumble from the top spot since B.o.B's B.o.B Presents The Adventures Of Bobby Ray made the same drop in May. Five other albums fall out of the top 10 this week. Disturbed's Asylum drops from #5 to #11, Stone Sour's Audio Secrecy drops from #6 to #19, Interpol's Interpol dives from #7 to #35, Anberlin's Dark Is The Way. Light... plummets from #9 to #62, and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam drops from #10 to #23.

Florence & The Machine's Lungs vaults from #44 to #14 in its 16th week. The album ranked a lowly #100 two weeks ago, but got a big boost from the group's buzzed-about performance of "Dog Days Are Over" on the VMAs. "Dog Days Are Over" is also on the move. The song jumps from #52 to #12 on Hot Digital Songs. Two weeks ago, it was #198. Lungs topped the British album chart for two weeks in January.

Now That's What I Call Country Vol. 3 debuts at #22. The first two volumes both made the top 10. The dip reflects a general downward drift of the Now franchise. America's music fans are just a little Now'd out. Incidentally, country is the second genre to merit three or more Now volumes. There have been four Now Latino volumes.

John Lennon's Remember debuts at #44. The album, which was first released in 2007, is #1 on this week's Catalog Albums chart. The album is on Starbucks' Hear Music label. Lennon first cracked the top 40 as a solo artist in January 1970 with The Plastic Ono Band-Live Peace In Toronto 1969.

The Script's second album, Science & Faith, enters the U.K. chart at #1, according to the Official Charts Company. The Dublin trio also debuted at #1 in the U.K. with its eponymous 2008 debut album. That album has sold 298,000 copies in the U.S. and has spawned a major hit, the first-rate "Breakeven," which has sold 1,797,000 digital copies.

Song Scorecard: "I Like It" by Enrique Iglesias featuring Pitbull tops the 2 million mark in paid downloads in its 20th week. It's Pitbull's second song to reach this level, following his own hit "I Know You Want Me," which is up to 2,476,000...Jason DeRulo's "Ridin' Solo" and Mike Posner's "Cooler Than Me" also top the 2 million mark in paid downloads. "Ridin' Solo" took 29 weeks to reach this threshold. "Cooler Than Me" did it in 22 weeks. DeRulo's earlier smash "Whatcha Say" has sold 3,383,000 copies.

The aforementioned Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam (which drops from #10 to #23 on The Billboard 200) is the #1 soundtrack for the sixth straight week. The #1 soundtrack to a theatrically released movie is AC/DC's Iron Man 2, which drops from #117 to #146. That's the lowest that the week's top soundtrack to a theatrically-released movie has placed on The Billboard 200 since April 1983, when Flashdance held that distinction the week it debuted at #166. This is not happy news.

The Town, Ben Affleck's second movie as a director, was #1 at the box-office over the weekend. (Good movie.) The soundtrack, featuring a score by Harry Gregson-Williams and David Buckley, was just released.

Leonard Skinner, the Florida gym teacher who gained rock immortality when former students named their band Lynyrd Skynyrd, died on Monday. The band's first album, Lynyrd Skynyrd (pronounced leh-nerd skin-nerd), hit the charts in September 1973. It contained the classic "Free Bird." The band's second album, Second Helping, spawned another classic, "Sweet Home Alabama." Do these songs rank among the top 40 oldies with the most digital sales? They do, as you will see on Friday. (Now you know three of the 40. No problem. I have 37 more.)

Heads Up: Maroon5's Hands All Over is expected to debut at #1 next week. Also due: Zac Brown Band's You Get What You Give, Santana's Guitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All Time, John Legend & the Roots' Wake Up!, Selena Gomez & the Scene's A Year Without Rain, Billy Currington's Enjoy Yourself, Serj Tankian's Imperfect Harmonies, and My Darkest Days' My Darkest Days.

After such a tight race this week looks like there is another one next week, although with Maroon 5 and Zac Brown Band both only aiming for 150k debuts I would say that is disappointing for both.

good numbers for Katy, i think.

The Billboard 200 has a sh*tload of debuts this week.

Prince's album re-enters the Billboard 200, because Target has it on sale for $1.99 now.

The Target music section is always a disaster. Many albums are missing from their sections. The sale-priced albums are rarely in stock.