Billboard 200: 11/13/10: Taylor Swift #1 1.04 Mil

[HolidayGuy]

Yah, The Bodyguard is credited to Whitney by RIAA, Record Research books, Billboard in terms of chart stats, etc. (unlike Waiting to Exhale, which never was in question). In the SoundScan database, though, it shows up under "Soundtrack" (even The Preacher's Wife does, which clearly is a Whitney album).

[skizzo]

I never realised 2000 was such a massive year for sales. Impressive!

[ListenToItTwice]

T-Swift Watch:

1. Speak Now (debut)
29. Holiday Collection (re-entry, week #13)
38. Fearless (highest since June, week #103)
58. Taylor Swift (highest since January, week #210)

[HolidayGuy]

Without Speak Now, album sales look like they may have reached a new low for the SoundScan era. It hit 4.8 million in September, so would have been close this week.

[ListenToItTwice]

Nov 4, 2010 8:45:25 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

Without Speak Now, album sales look like they may have reached a new low for the SoundScan era. It hit 4.8 million in September, so would have been close this week.

Without Speak Now, another big artist releasing this quarter would likely have released this week, and other mid-range artists would have been less afraid of this week. The void would have been filled.

[HolidayGuy]

^But none- big-name or mid-range, even when combined- likely would have seen numbers anywhere near Swift's. None of this week's acts will sell enough to unseat Swift- and then SuBo is out next week. So, the low probably would not have been reached, but Swift's total comfortably distanced it from the SoundScan-era low.

[Deleted]

Nov 3, 2010 20:57:13 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

Yah, The Bodyguard is credited to Whitney by RIAA, Record Research books, Billboard in terms of chart stats, etc. (unlike Waiting to Exhale, which never was in question). In the SoundScan database, though, it shows up under "Soundtrack" (even The Preacher's Wife does, which clearly is a Whitney album).

It makes sense to call it a soundtrack

Although I have seen it listed as Whitney Houston/Soundtrack

Half the album is by other artists

[HolidayGuy]

^Yes, but vocals on 50% of an album is more than enough for an act to receive credit. :) heck, even 30% is, apparently, judging by Bee Gees receiving credit for Saturday Night Fever. (though the guys are so associated with it, that it makes sense, even writing songs on the album that others performed).

I don't know if you remember this, 2m, but Joel Whitburn, in his books, at one time credited Olivia Newton-John with the Grease soundtrack. He then took that credit away, which makes sense (even though she is heavily associated with the movie), as she sings on roughly 21% of the album. Sha-Na-Na sang on a greater percentage of tracks- 25%.

[applechic]

The Bodyguard is not technically a Whitney Houston album. It's even listed as a movie soundtrack. So Taylor is the second highest one-week sales female artist of all time.

1. Oops...I Did It Again -Britney Spears
2. Speak Now- Taylor Swift
3. Feels Like Home- Norah Jones

[areyoureadytojump]

Billboard.biz:

The Billboard 200

-- Taylor Swift: You may have heard something about how the pop/country diva swept in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week, selling 1,047,000 copies of her "Speak Now" album, according to Nielsen SoundScan. As previously reported, it marked the biggest sales week for an album since 2005. Amazingly enough, "Speak Now" sold more than Nos. 2-62 combined on the chart this week and accounted for one out of every six albums sold in the United States last week.

-- Bo Burnham: After notching his first top 40 album last week with the debut of "Words Words Words" at No. 40, the young comedian tumbles hard in week number two, falling 121 slots to No. 161 (the largest fall on the list). It's not uncommon for comedy albums like this one -- where they are derived from Comedy Central stand-up specials -- to fall apart quickly. After selling 10,000 last week, it drops to 3,000 (down 70%).

-- The Beatles: Their reissued so-called red and blue best-of albums ("1962-1966" and "1967-1970") collapse in their sophomore week back on the chart. After debuting at No. 29 and No. 32 last week, they descend to No. 86 and No. 114, respectively. There's a little something for every Beatles music fan this holiday shopping season now. Between the entry-level "1" set (20 tracks), these more expansive double albums and last year's massive studio album reissue series.

-- Michael Jackson: Three out of the four largest positional jumps on the list this week come from Halloween-appropriate albums, led by the King of Pop's "Thriller." It leaps 104 spots to No. 92 with 5,000 (up 82%). "Spooky Sounds," credited to John St. John, has the list's second-biggest leap, up 94 rungs to No. 79.

-- Michael Buble: It would seem that everyone steered clear of Swift's "Speak Now" freight train last week, as few superstar releases dropped aside from her album. The second-highest debut on the Billboard 200 is Michael Buble's "Hollywood" EP, which takes a bow at No. 10 with 26,000. The EP was also available as part of his deluxe reissue of "Crazy Love," which spikes up 88 slots to No. 27 with 16,000 (up 302%), the third biggest jump on the chart.

[areyoureadytojump]

No new RIAA certifications this week.

[HolidayGuy]

apple, I have no issue with Taylor Swift having the second-highest sales week for a female in the SoundScan era. In terms of The Bodyguard, I'm talking more about how it's classified for the record books and sales. When it charted, Whitney's name didn't appear on the chart, but after that, when listing chart stats and stuff at Ask Billboard and such, Billboard's listed it as Whitney Houston/Soundtrack, and other outlets have credited it to her. That's it. :)

[slw84]

Nov 4, 2010 9:54:43 GMT -5 applechic said:

The Bodyguard is not technically a Whitney Houston album. It's even listed as a movie soundtrack. So Taylor is the second highest one-week sales female artist of all time.

1. Oops...I Did It Again -Britney Spears
2. Speak Now- Taylor Swift
3. Feels Like Home- Norah Jones

I love whitney but I don't see how the bodyguard is the best selling soundtrack of all time if Whitney is credited as her own.

I love the top 3 there. I think Gaga might have a chance to slide #3...which is fine. As long as she doesn't touch #1 ;) otherwise I'll cut a b!tch

[HolidayGuy]

Considering that Whitney has 50% of the soundtrack and that the only other hit off the album peaked outside the top 30, how can you not see it, slw? :)

I think Stephanie G. will open very nicely- but I'd be highly surprised if she had an album that sold anywhere close to 1m in its debut week, as, while she is a mainstream act, she's not as safe a sell as Taylor Swift. Look at what The Fame Monster sold when combined with the EP- that could give an idea of what kind of sales she could see for her next album. Perhaps near 500K would be more realistic to shoot for.

[SPRΞΞ]

"California Gurls" by Katy Perry featuring Snoop Dogg tops the 4 million mark in paid downloads this week. It took 25 weeks to reach this plateau. Only two songs in digital history have gotten there faster. The Black Eyed Peas' "Boom Boom Pow" took 23 weeks to top 4 million in paid downloads. Ke$ha's "TiK ToK" took 24 weeks. This is Perry's second song to cross this threshold. "Hot N Cold" is up to 4,597,000.

[$uperb@tDuDe]

The Bodyguard might as well have been a Whitney album, without her that soundtrack would NOT have been what it was. Too bad she didn't release an album of her own simultaneously like Celine did when Titanic was out.

[SPRΞΞ]

i find it hard to imagine a separate Whitney album out at the same time that didn't include IWALY. It would seem inferior.

[$uperb@tDuDe]

Nov 4, 2010 22:34:50 GMT -5 SPRΞΞ said:

i find it hard to imagine a separate Whitney album out at the same time that didn't include IWALY. It would seem inferior.

Well Let's Talk About Love by Celine Dion included My Heart Will Go On, so no reason why Whitney couldn't have done the same and included IWALY on her own album. Especially since it was on the same record label. Arista could've really cleaned up.

[SPRΞΞ]

then she cheated, lol.

[HolidayGuy]

But, "My Heart..." was Celine Dion's only track on Titanic- Whitney had 5 other tracks on The Bodyguard. Plus, Titanic was such a box office phenomenon, that Dion's track wasn't the only thing pushing soundtrack sales. (The Bodyguard did well, but it was no Titanic at the box office.)

[SPRΞΞ]

oh i think Celine's "My Heart Will Go On" DID attract most of those sales. At least the emotional attachment to it. I don't think anyone would've bought the soundtrack had it not been included.

[microcuts]

I find it hard to imagine anyone bought The Bodyguard soundtrack for anything other than Whitney's contributions to it. Adding to that her starring role in the film itself, I don't see why that album shouldn't be credited to her.

[CookyMonzta]

Nov 5, 2010 1:04:26 GMT -5 microcuts said:

I find it hard to imagine anyone bought The Bodyguard soundtrack for anything other than Whitney's contributions to it. Adding to that her starring role in the film itself, I don't see why that album shouldn't be credited to her.

Exactly. Her contribution to the album speaks for itself. For one, her songs account for 6 of the 13 tracks on the album. For another, 4 of those songs, including two remakes ("I Will Always Love You", "I'm Every Woman", "I Have Nothing" and "I Run To You") were largely responsible for the album's 16 million sales.

I have 2 rules of thumb to establish an artist's claim of credit for the success (or failure) of a soundtrack album:

1. Majority rules. The more songs by a single artist, the better. Six of the 13 tracks are Whitney's.

2. Chart performance attributed to the hits of one artist. If I'm not mistaken, Whitney's first hit sold 4.4 million copies and spent 14 weeks at #1. Each of her next 2 went to #5 and gold.

On Billboard's 1993 year-end lists, Whitney never received credit for the performance of this album. With even half credit for the album, there is no doubt she would have (rightfully) ranked number 1 among the top artists of that year.

[California Cheers]

Nov 5, 2010 1:04:26 GMT -5 microcuts said:

I find it hard to imagine anyone bought The Bodyguard soundtrack for anything other than Whitney's contributions to it. Adding to that her starring role in the film itself, I don't see why that album shouldn't be credited to her.

i totally agree

[HolidayGuy]

I don't know why I thought The Bodyguard had 12 tracks- so, Whitney's percentage of tracks is 39%- still enough to warrant credit. And as pointed out, all those outlets credit her with the soundtrack.

Nielsen/SoundScan does not list TBG under Whitney Houston because her name doesn't appear on the credit sleeve- it just says "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" (or whatever). It also lists The Preacher's Wife under Soundtracks, when that's even more clearly a Whitney album than TBG. For some acts, soundtracks do appear under their info in the SoundScan database- i.e.e Mimi Carey's Glitter. Her name is credited, as it should be (as it, pretty much, was a typical Mimi album in its structure).

But, anyway, like I said, the Whitney/Bodyguard credit is important for purposes other than laying claim to one-week sales figures for a female act.

[Deleted]

Why it is a Soundtrack and not a pure Whitney Houston album
Bodyguard track list:

7. Even If My Heart Would Break Kenny G & Aaron Neville
8. Someday (I'm Coming Back) Lisa Stansfield
9. It's Gonna Be A Lovely Day S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M.
10. What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love And Understanding Curtis Stigers
11. Theme From The Bodyguard Alan Silvestri
12. Trust In Me Joe Cocker featuring Sass Jordan

[Deleted]

The album itself is the ultimate key

It says: "The Bodyguard - Original Soundtrack Album"

[Push The Button]

But why does it have to be credited as either "Whitney Houston" or "Soundtrack?" It's a Whitney Houston soundtrack album, really.

All of the singles were Whitney Houston songs.

[Deleted]

Nov 5, 2010 14:33:38 GMT -5 Push The Button said:

But why does it have to be credited as either "Whitney Houston" or "Soundtrack?" It's a Whitney Houston soundtrack album, really.

All of the singles were Whitney Houston songs.

one flaw

albums and singles are two different things

[slw84]

Nov 4, 2010 17:58:20 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

Considering that Whitney has 50% of the soundtrack and that the only other hit off the album peaked outside the top 30, how can you not see it, slw? :)
.

Which is why it should either be considered her album or just a soundtrack. it seems like it is deemed her album by many but also considered the most successful soundtrack of all time...that's what I was getting at ;)