Billboard 200 -6/18/11: Lady Gaga No. 1- 174,000

^That should not hurt- the album isn't exactly living up to expectations.

Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" continues to rule the Billboard 200 albums chart for a second week as the set shifts 174,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That's down a steep 84% from its historic 1,108,000 start last week.

While it's not unusual for albums that enter with mighty big sales frames to tumble hard in week number two, Gaga's fall is amplified, courtesy of AmazonMP3.

As "Born This Way's" first week was bolstered in a most-unusual way by likely hundreds of thousands of sales generated by AmazonMP3's decision to sell the digital version of the set for 99-cents on two separate days, its second-week fall appears even greater than what we normally see for blockbuster sellers.

At the rate of Gaga's decline, we could see Adele's "21" (No. 2 this week, up one slot, with 121,000 - down 4%) return to the penthouse very soon.

The top debut this week belongs to Death Cab For Cutie's "Codes and Keys," which starts at No. 3 with 102,000. It's the follow-up to the band's No. 1 2008 album "Narrow Stairs" (144,000 in its debut). While the new album is off a chunk from "Narrow's" debut, it still marks the act's second-best sales frame. Notably, downloads made up 57% of "Codes'" opening week.

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder sees his bare-bones "Ukulele Songs" album arrive at No. 4 with 71,000 -- marking the first top 10 solo record for the rock icon. He previously charted on his own with the "Into the Wild" soundtrack, which debuted and peaked at No. 11 in 2007 off a 39,000 start.

Right behind Vedder is My Morning Jacket with its latest, "Circuital," bowing at No. 5 with 55,000. It's the best sales week and highest charting set for the group, whose previous high-water mark came with "Evil Urges'" bow at No. 9 with 49,000 three years ago.

The final debut in the top 10 comes courtesy of Flogging Molly's "Speed of Darkness," launching at No. 9 with 25,000. It's the second top 10 effort for the group. Its last studio release, 2008's "Float," debuted and peaked at No. 4 with 48,000.

As for the rest of the top 10, Brad Paisley's "This Is Country Music" slips four rungs to No. 6 in its second week (53,000; down 65%) and the "Now 38" set is down one to No. 7 (39,000; down 13%). Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party" rises a slot to No. 8 (33,000; up 1%) and "Glee, the Music: Season Two, Volume Six" slides six to No. 10 (25,000; down 68%).

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending June 5) totaled 5.52 million units, down 17% compared to the sum last week (6.67 million) and up 7% compared to the comparable sales week of 2010 (5.16 million). Year to date album sales stand at 131.39 million, up 1% compared to the same total at this point last year (130.58 million). We've now racked up two weeks in a row where year-to-date album volume is greater than the same time in the prior year.

Next week's Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2010 when: "Glee's" "Journey to Regionals" EP bowed at No. 1 with 154,000 while the "Twilight: Eclipse" soundtrack entered at No. 2 with 146,000. At No. 3, Christina Aguilera's "Bionic" completed the all-debut top three with 111,000.

1 (1) Born This Way, Lady Gaga - 174k (-84%) - 1.282m
2 (3) 21, Adele - 121k (-4%) - 2.095m
3 (-) Codes And Keys, Death Cab For Cutie - 102k - 102k
4 (-) Ukelele Songs, Eddie Vedder - 71k - 71k
5 (-) Circutial, My Morning Jacket - 55k - 55k
6 (2) This Is Country Music - 53k (-65%) - 205k
7 (6) Now 38, Various Artists - 39k (-13%) - 327k
8 (9) My Kinda Party, Jason Aldean - 33k (+1%) - 1.260m
9 (-) Speed Of Darkness, Flogging Molly - 25k - 25k
10 (4) Glee, The Music: Season 2, Volume 6 - 25k (-68%) - 105k

Sad to see Mumford & Sons out of the top 10.

I think next week, Adele will be about 115k and Gaga around 100-105k...hopefully.

Hey.. what chart date is this?

Good to see another increase

2 6 Brad Paisley This Is Country Music 54,990 205,755
9 8 Jason Aldean My Kinda Party 33,095 1,270,176
23 17 Zac Brown Band You Get What You Give 15,805 951,059
25 20 Taylor Swift Speak Now 15,243 3,450,836
24 34 Rascal Flatts Nothing Like This 11,687 854,727
37 37 The Band Perry The Band Perry 10,591 579,976
40 39 Lady Anthebellum Need You Now 10,388 3,521,833
48 49 Alison Krauss/Union Station Paper Airplane 9,146 215,459
44 53 Sara Evans Stronger 8,826 207,076
12 55 Scotty McCreery American Idol 10 8,060 31,256
42 48 Blake Shelton Loaded…Best of Blake… 7,757 280,910
70 59 Kenny Chesney Hemingway's Whiskey 6,992 830,805
67 64 Zac Brown Band The Foundation 6,455 2,328,221
62 66 Colt Ford Every Chance I Get 6,273 52,009
87 67 Original Soundtrack Country Strong 5,943 285,161
65 69 Tim McGraw Number One Hits 5,938 367,598
78 74 Miranda Lambert Revolution 5,645 1,325,695
80 86 Aaron Lewis Town Line 4,941 159,400
85 92 Sugarland The Incredible Machine 4,533 998,268
91 97 Thompson Square Thompson Square 4,260 175,307
126 122 Billy Currington Enjoy Yourself 3,648 325,862
140 141 Eric Church Carolina 3,187 467,418
41 170 Lauren Alaina American Idol 10 2,654 13,305
178 177 Keith Urban Get Closer 2,549 594,791
RE-Entry 190 Brantley Gilbert Halfway To Heaven 2,430 116,900

www.roughstock.com/blog/brad-paisley-and-jason-aldean-rule-the-album-charts-this-week

So I went back and looked at the LY chart for next week.



Looks like in order for us to go up, we need to sell more than 5.49 million. Which, we did this week. So as long as sales don't slip much, we should keep our increase!

Wow, didn't notice that Sugarland was about to cross a million. Their album has sold really well, especially when you factor in that the singles aren't doing as well this time around.

Gaga is doing bad. She's even a cover story on yahoo because of "disasterous sales". And she's down 1-4 in UK. Should I even say that both adele's albums are above her.

Zac Brown will pass 1 million in about 4 weeks:

23 17 Zac Brown Band You Get What You Give 15,805 951,059 (Gold)

Yes, after spending two weeks at #1 Adele, a new release & a performer on a programme watched by one third of the UK population have overtaken her.

What a disaster

new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/74373/week-ending-june-5-2011-albums-gagas-record-drop-off/

Week Ending June 5, 2011. Albums: Gaga's Record Drop-Off
Posted Wed Jun 8, 2011 by Paul Grein in Chart Watch

Lady Gaga's Born This Way set another record this week, but not one that Gaga's team will be happy about. Sales of the album dropped off by 84% from its sizzling (but discount-inflated) opening week. That's the the steepest drop-off in sales, expressed in a percentage basis, of any of the 17 albums that sold 1 million units in a week in Nielsen SoundScan history.

Gaga's album sold 174,000 copies this week, down from 1,108,000 last week, when sales were goosed by a two-day, 99-cent sale at Amazon.

The old record for the steepest drop-off following a million-unit week was held by *NSYNC's 2001 album Celebrity. Sales dropped by 76% in the week following its 1,880,000 debut. Two recent albums were tied for second place in the steepest drop-off column. Sales of Lil Wayne's 2008 hit Tha Carter III and Taylor Swift's 2010 smash Speak Now both dropped off by 69% in the week following their debuts of 1,006,000 and 1,047,000, respectively.

A big drop-off was to be expected. But the fact that Gaga's drop-off was steeper than any of the other follow-ups to albums that had a million-unit week is troublesome. It seems obvious that the opening week tally for Born This Way was generated not only by hard-core fans, but also by casual fans who just didn't want to pass up such a deal. Last week's near giveaway worked in the short term (by giving Gaga the biggest one-week sales total since 2005), but it may have also served to devalue albums in general and Gaga's brand in particular.

Born This Way may not even log a third week at #1. Adele's 21, which is currently 53K copies behind Born This Way, could easily return to the top spot next week.

You may be wondering why *NSYNC's album experienced such a sharp drop-off in its second week. Celebrity was released 16 months after the boy band reached its peak with No Strings Attached. In the world of boy bands, 16 months is a lifetime.

If you want to know which three albums experienced the mildest drop-offs in the weeks following their million-plus weeks, here you go. Sales of 50 Cent's 2005 album The Massacre slipped by just 32% in the week following its 1,141,000 debut. Sales of Eminem's 2002 album The Eminem Show dropped by 39% in the week following its 1,322,000 debut. Sales of Garth Brooks' 1998 double-disk set Double Live slipped by 40% in the week following its 1,085,000 debut.

Born This Way fell off even more sharply in the digital realm. The album sold 38K digital copies this week, a 94% drop from its record-setting opening week total of 662K. Born This Way isn't even #1 on this week's Digital Albums chart. That honor goes instead to Death Cab for Cutie's Codes And Keys, which sold 59K digital copies (57% of its total).

Born This Way holds at #1 in the U.K. for the second week, but it drops from #1 to #7 in Japan. Gaga's previous full-length, The Fame, logged seven weeks at #1 in the U.K., but didn't reach #1 in Japan.

Adele's 21 rebounds from #3 to #2 on The Billboard 200. The album has ranked in the top three for each of its first 15 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. Both albums were powered by songs that had long runs at #1 on the Hot 100. Keys' "No One" logged five weeks on top. I expect Adele's "Rolling In The Deep" to hold the top spot for a fifth week when the chart is released later today.

21 tops the 2 million mark in sales this week. It's the first album to sell 2 million copies in 2011. This is later in the year than we saw the first 2 million-seller of 2010 (Lady Antebellum's Need You Now hit the 2 million mark in the week ending May 9), but it's ahead of the pace for 2009 (Michael Jackson's Number Ones reached the 2 million mark in the week ending Oct. 25.)

Eddie Vedder's Ukulele Songs debuts at #4. It's Vedder's first solo studio album. He reached #11 with the 2007 soundtrack to Into The Wild. All nine of Vedder's studio albums with Pearl Jam have made the top 10. The band's best-seller is its first album, Ten, which has sold 9,869,000 copies.

Vedder enters Top Music Videos at #1 with Water On The Road: Eddie Vedder Live. The video sold 11K copies, which allowed it to unseat AC/DC's Live At River Plate, which had topped the chart the last three weeks. Pearl Jam reached #1 on Top Music Videos with Touring Band 2000 (for five weeks in 2001) and Immagine In Cornice/Picture 1 (for one week in 2007).

Lil Wayne's "How To Love" vaults from #52 to #5 in its second week (its first full week) on Hot Digital Songs. The song entered the Hot 100 last week at #69. How high will it climb this week? Check back later today when we post Chart Watch: Songs.

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

1. Lady Gaga, Born This Way, 174,000. The album logs its second week at #1. Four songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "The Edge Of Glory," which holds at #4 for the second week.

2. Adele, 21, 121,000. The former #1 album rebounds from #3 to #2 in its 15th week. Four songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Rolling In The Deep," which hold at #1 for the fifth straight week.

3. Death Cab for Cutie, Codes And Keys, 102,000. This new entry is the group's third straight top five album. It follows Plans (#4 in 2005) and Narrow Stairs (#1 in 2008). "You Are A Tourist" enters Hot Digital Songs at #153.

4. Eddie Vedder, Ukulele Songs, 71,000. This new entry is Vedder's first solo studio album. He debuted and peaked at #11 with the 2007 soundtrack to Sean Penn's Into The Wild.

5. My Morning Jacket, Circuital, 55,000. This new entry is the group's second top 10 (and first top five) album. Evil Urges hit #9 in 2008. "Circuital" enters Hot Digital Songs at #86.

6. Brad Paisley, This Is Country Music, 53,000. The album drops from #2 to #6 in its second week. It holds at #1 on the Country Albums chart. "Old Alabama" (featuring Alabama) holds at #68 for the second week on Hot Digital Songs.

7. Various Artists, Now 38, 39,000. The album dips from #6 to #7 in its fifth week. It has been listed in the top 10 the entire time. The album has sold 327K copies.

8. Jason Aldean, My Kinda Party, 33,000. The album inches up from #9 to #8 in its 31st week. This is its ninth week in the top 10. Three songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Dirt Road Anthem," which jumps from #23 to #16.

9. Flogging Molly, Speed Of Darkness, 25,000. This new entry is the group's second top 10 album. Float debuted and peaked at #4 in 2008. "Don't Shut ‘Em Down" enters Hot Digital Songs at #112.

10. Soundtrack, Glee, The Music: Season Two Volume 6, 25,000. The album drops from #4 to #10 in its second week. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "Light Up The World" drops from #17 to #97. "Pretending" drops from #21 to #120.

Four albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Maybach Music Groups Presents: Self Made, Vol. I drops from #5 to #12, NKOTBSB's NKOTBSB drops from #7 to #22, Foster The People's Torches drops from #8 to #25 and Mumford & Sons' Sigh No More dips from #10 to #11.

Adele's 2008 album 19 jumps from #21 to #15. It's #1 on Top Catalog Albums for the 14th time in the past 16 weeks. Among all albums, it's #33 for the year-to-date. (By comparison, last year's top catalog album, Michael Jackson's Number Ones, ranked #78 among all albums for the year.)

Trin-I-Tee 5:7's Angel & Chanelle bows at #20. It's the highest-charting album to date for the female contemporary gospel trio, which first charted in 1998...Black Stone Cherry's Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea debuts at #29. It's the Southern rock band's second top 30 album...Jordan Knight's Unfinished debuts at #48. With New Kids on The Block, Knight amassed five top 10 albums between 1989 and last week, when NKOTBSB reached #7.

Dave Matthews Band's Live At Wrigley Field debuts at #49. Jimmy Buffett had a hit video with the same title in 2006. The Police, Rascal Flatts and the high-powered duo of Elton John and Billy Joel have also performed at the fabled Chicago baseball stadium...Country Strong holds at #71. It's the top-ranking soundtrack to a theatrically-released movie for the 14th week.

X-Men: First Class, the fifth installment in the X-Men franchise, was #1 at the box-office over the weekend. It bumps off the sequel to The Hangover, which in turn bumped off the fourth installment in the Pirates Of The Caribbean franchise. Sequels didn't used to be much of a factor in movie-making. This started to change with the success of The Godfather Part II in 1974. (The soundtrack to X-Men: First Class sold 1K copies this week, too few to make The Billboard 200.)

Guns N' Roses' 2004 compilation Greatest Hits tops the 5 million mark in sales this week. It's the band's second album to reach this plateau. Its 1987 debut, Appetite For Destruction, has sold 5,082,000 copies since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991. (It sold millions more copies in its first four years of release.)

Two weeks ago, Carrie Underwood became the first former American Idol contestant to top the 2 million mark in U.S. sales with three different albums. She achieved the feat as Play On topped the 2 million mark. It follows Some Hearts, which is up to 7,110,000, and Carnival Ride, which is up to 3,198,000. Three former Idol contestants (Kelly Clarkson, Clay Aiken and Daughtry) have each amassed two million-selling albums. Four more (Ruben Studdard, Fantasia, Jordin Sparks and David Cook) have each notched one.

I hope you're going to watch the Tony Awards on Sunday night. The Book Of Mormon is heavily favored to win Best Musical. It's vying with The Scottsboro Boys and musical adaptations of the movies Catch Me If You Can and Sister Act. Anything Goes and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying are competing for Best Musical Revival. (Anything Goes originally opened on Broadway in November 1934. How To Succeed... originally opened in October 1961.) The cast album to The Book Of Mormon has sold 20K digital copies in three weeks. The CD was released yesterday. Expect it to return to the chart next week.

Coming Attractions: Tech N9ne's All 6's And 7's and All Time Low's Dirty Work are expected to be next week's top new entries, each with sales in the range of 50K. Ronnie Dunn's solo debut, Ronnie Dunn, is expected to start with sales of about 45K. Dunn notched nine top 10 albums as one-half of Brooks & Dunn. Also due: Arctic Monkeys' Suck It And See, Def Leppard's Walmart exclusive Mirrorball: Live And More, Iron Maiden's From Fear To Eternity: The Best Of 1990-2010 and Randy Travis' Anniversary Celebration.

The harsh drop looks bad, yes. But Yahoo! (or whoever came up with that title) is a bit moronic for suggesting that 1.275 million albums in two weeks is a "disaster". It's already the second best selling album of the year for goodness sake

Yeah "The Edge of Glory" went top 10 pop radio in 4 weeks. What a disaster!

It's funny that people who want to call this album a flop now keep justifying their opinion by saying "Well Adele is outselling her!" Adele is the ONLY one outselling her. That hardly makes Born this Way a flop.

Don't you know that Gaga has to outsell the #1 album of the year which took over three months to reach its current total within two weeks or else it's a flop