Billboard 200: 11/27/10: Susan Boyle #1: 318k

[Adam (UTR)]

www.billboard.com/news/susan-boyle-tops-billboard-200-glee-reigns-1004126984.story#/news/susan-boyle-tops-billboard-200-glee-reigns-1004126984.story
...

Meanwhile, Boyle -- who rose to fame in 2009 after her audition on "Britain's Got Talent" went viral and paved the way to her No. 1 Billboard 200 album "I Dreamed a Dream" -- nets her second chart-topping album, as "The Gift" will arrive in the penthouse with 318,000. "Dreamed" started at No. 1 a little under a year ago with 701,000 and spent six weeks at the top.

Boyle's "Gift" leads a total of six debuts in the top 10, as the music industry continues to gear up for the holiday shopping season. While last week's No. 1, Taylor Swift's "Speak Now," slips to No. 2 (212,000; down 34%), Kid Cudi enters at No. 3 with "Man on the Moon II" (169,000). That easily beats the premiere (and best week) of his debut set, last year's "Man on the Moon," which started at No. 4 with 104,000.

The new "Now 36" compilation bows at No. 4 (89,000), Bon Jovi's "Greatest Hits" starts at No. 5 (88,000) and Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party" falls four rungs to No. 6 (81,000; down 58%). Reba McEntire's "All the Women I Am" enters at No. 7 (64,000), Sugarland's "The Incredible Machine" falls five to No. 8 (60,000; though with a 1% gain) and Cee Lo Green's "The Lady Killer" bows at No. 9 (41,000). Rounding out the top 10 albums is Lil Wayne's "I Am Not A Human Being," descending five rungs to No. 10 (35,000; down 22%).

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Nov. 14) totaled 6.30 million units, up 16% compared to the sum last week (5.43 million) and down 11% compared to the comparable sales week of 2009 (7.04 million). Year to date album sales stand at 253.67 million, down 13% compared to the same total at this point last year (293.00 million).

[Deleted]

Nice numbers for Susan, Tay, Cudi, and nice to see Sugarland holding on! Em out of the top 10....

[badrobot]

I gotta say, I am not exactly a big Eminem fan but it is kind of forehead-smacking that Justin Bieber of all people spent longer in the top ten in his initial run than Eminem did. (Eminem I think clearly has the bigger album overall though.)

[d.t.m]

So Em missed T10 by a hair, heh?

[ificanthaveyou]

Susan Boyle never ceases to amaze me. That woman is my hero.

[slicknickshady]

Nov 17, 2010 1:58:16 GMT -5 badrobot said:

I gotta say, I am not exactly a big Eminem fan but it is kind of forehead-smacking that Justin Bieber of all people spent longer in the top ten in his initial run than Eminem did. (Eminem I think clearly has the bigger album overall though.)

Not Really. Recovery has sold a lot more than anything Bieber has done..

[Taylor.]

So Boyle gets third highest sales week by a female for the year so far.

Taylor Swift 1.04 million
Taylor Swift 320k
Susan Boyle 318k

[slicknickshady]

Yep. I think that's how it's going to finish as well.

[Enigma.]

Probably a bit off topic but...really, what's the point of listing males, females and groups separately? Many records by female acts are harder to beat than the ones by males and many groups have achieved more than solo acts.

Why not just put everything together? "First holiday album by female solo act to reach no. 1" is not that big accomplishment when you look at the big picture. It's not like female acts are underdogs by any means. Actually, these days quite the opposite.

[slicknickshady]

I see your point Spoilt. But nowadays people are all about lists. Press Releases for CD's or Television Ratings or Etc look for anything they can grasp onto and say "first ...." or "the second in 30 years to....". Anything to maybe gain an advantage. To spin...

Just a few examples. I don't mind it. I do it occasionally as well. For example with the Marshall Mathers Lp. I say "It's the highest selling album by a solo artist in it's first week". N'sync has the overall one week, But what i'm doing isnt wrong, It's not a lie. The MMLP is what i said it is. "The album sold more than 1.79 million copies in its first week just in the US, earning a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest selling solo album ever."

It's just something people do.

[neverduplicated]

Nov 17, 2010 4:16:38 GMT -5 Enigma. said:

Probably a bit off topic but...really, what's the point of listing males, females and groups separately? Many records by female acts are harder to beat than the ones by males and many groups have achieved more than solo acts.

Why not just put everything together? "First holiday album by female solo act to reach no. 1" is not that big accomplishment when you look at the big picture. It's not like female acts are underdogs by any means. Actually, these days quite the opposite.

I suggest you take a look at RIAA's top selling artists of all-time. Only 4 of the top 20, 8 of the top 50, and 15 of the top 100 selling artists of all time are females. That means 15% of the top 100 is female, 85% is male (I didn't count Fleetwood Mac because they are obviously a mixed gender group). When you look at the bigger picture like that, it does become clear that males have dominated the music industry. Clearly it is more difficult for females to sell, and in particular it's more difficult for females to sell past the age of 40.

If you look at Billboard All-Time Hot 100 Artists published in 2008, you'll find that 8 of the top 20, 14 of the top 50, and 26 of the top 100 are females. So 26% are females and 74% are males.

I think looking at both of these stats does show that women are actually the underdog in the music industry, despite how sales might see at the moment. In fact, I took a look at the year-to-date sales so far for this year not including last week (just going by what's in the thread posted here on Pulse), and I found that 23 titles are by females, 12 are by mixed gender groups (Lady Antebellum, Glee, James Taylor & Carole Cole, BEP, Kidz Bop), 9 are various artists (Now CDs and soundtracks), and 56 are by males. So that's still 23% female vs 56% male with 12% mixed gender groups, so even today females do seem to be the underdogs. Therefore making that distinction between male and female is noteworthy, though it's just as noteworthy to keep track accomplishments regardless of genre.

[Enigma.]

^Great post.

It's also a bit genre related. Rock as genre has been dominated by men and still is but female acts do very well on pop.

[HolidayGuy]

Year-to-year drop of 11%- not too bad (all things considered).

What are the odds that SuBo will see a bigger sales week than 318K in coming weeks?

[leoapp]

Susan could be Number One again in the US next week

www.popeater.com/2010/11/17/s...-taylor-swift/

Kate Middleton isn't the only British woman with something to smile about this week--Billboard just announced that Susan Boyle's holiday album, 'The Gift,' has bumped Taylor Swift from the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart. Though Swift dominated the charts the past two weeks, her 'Speak Now' album was no match for the 317,600 units Boyle's album sold.

"Singing is the best job in the world, it really is fantastic. I'm just an ordinary woman who showed a bit of determination and this is what has happened. To have a second No.1 album is wonderful and something I never expected," the singer exclusively told PopEater upon hearing the news.

The British songbird's current reign at No. 1 is no fluke. Industry sources reveal that Boyle's album is currently running neck-and-neck with Rihanna's highly-anticipated new album, 'Loud,' which was released Tuesday. In fact, Boyle is currently projected to surpass the pop star and be No. 1 again next week.

And for those keeping track at home, Boyle's album is the highest-selling holiday album in recent years--breaking the record previously set by Josh Groban's 'Noel.' This is after Boyle's debut album, 'Dream a Little Dream,' sold 701,000 copies in the U.S. last December, giving her the best first week sales of 2009 and the best-selling debut album by any woman since SoundScan began tracking in 1991.

The holiday album features seasonal songs and Christmas classics like 'The First Noel' and 'O Holy Night.' The 'Britain's Got Talent' star says the music is meant to "touch hearts."

"Music has always been a companion to me, particularly on special occasions," Boyle explains. "I wanted there to be a mix of songs that would flow with all our moods this holiday season. As much as the season is a time for reflection, it is also a time for fun and enjoyment with those closest to us."

Boyle also does a cover of rocker Lou Reed's 1972 classic 'Perfect Day.' Watch the video, directed by Reed himself, below.

[HolidayGuy]

How did The Gift break a record by Josh Groban's album, though? Groban's didn't debut in the top spot, but went on to see sales weeks larger than Boyle's.

[maria4hitz]

So Taylor is at 1,578 million. Incredible for 3 weeks.

[when the pawn...]

Is Eminem's 3rd week > Taylor's 3rd week?

At the pace they're both going at, Eminem would win. But I have a feeling Taylor's gonna get a bigger boost from the Holidays than Eminem. It's what, 1.4m difference now?

[areyoureadytojump]

Nov 17, 2010 8:53:30 GMT -5 leoapp said:

Susan could be Number One again in the US next week

www.popeater.com/2010/11/17/s...-taylor-swift/

Kate Middleton isn't the only British woman with something to smile about this week--Billboard just announced that Susan Boyle's holiday album, 'The Gift,' has bumped Taylor Swift from the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 chart. Though Swift dominated the charts the past two weeks, her 'Speak Now' album was no match for the 317,600 units Boyle's album sold.

"Singing is the best job in the world, it really is fantastic. I'm just an ordinary woman who showed a bit of determination and this is what has happened. To have a second No.1 album is wonderful and something I never expected," the singer exclusively told PopEater upon hearing the news.

The British songbird's current reign at No. 1 is no fluke. Industry sources reveal that Boyle's album is currently running neck-and-neck with Rihanna's highly-anticipated new album, 'Loud,' which was released Tuesday. In fact, Boyle is currently projected to surpass the pop star and be No. 1 again next week.

And for those keeping track at home, Boyle's album is the highest-selling holiday album in recent years--breaking the record previously set by Josh Groban's 'Noel.' This is after Boyle's debut album, 'Dream a Little Dream,' sold 701,000 copies in the U.S. last December, giving her the best first week sales of 2009 and the best-selling debut album by any woman since SoundScan began tracking in 1991.

The holiday album features seasonal songs and Christmas classics like 'The First Noel' and 'O Holy Night.' The 'Britain's Got Talent' star says the music is meant to "touch hearts."

"Music has always been a companion to me, particularly on special occasions," Boyle explains. "I wanted there to be a mix of songs that would flow with all our moods this holiday season. As much as the season is a time for reflection, it is also a time for fun and enjoyment with those closest to us."

Boyle also does a cover of rocker Lou Reed's 1972 classic 'Perfect Day.' Watch the video, directed by Reed himself, below.

They don't know what they are talking about.

[areyoureadytojump]

Wow. Billboard put the info out early this week.

[Enigma.]

Very good chart position for Cee Lo

[passionformusic]

Nov 17, 2010 9:07:05 GMT -5 maria4hitz said:

So Taylor is at 1,578 million. Incredible for 3 weeks.

Interesting to see her this week, though. She has no promo whatsoever...should tell a bit about the potential. I say she comes around 150k. But goes up the next week, when she does Jay Leno, AMA and that 1 hour Thanksgiving special.

[HolidayGuy]

Some still put so much stock into promo- promo doesn't hurt, but we've seen enough instances where an album sells just fine without much of it from the act.

[passionformusic]

Nov 17, 2010 12:18:30 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

Some still put so much stock into promo- promo doesn't hurt, but we've seen enough instances where an album sells just fine without much of it from the act.

Yes. You are right. But these albums usually have singles holding it up, which unfortunately "SN" is missing at the moment. If not to count "BTD" what was released to country.

[HolidayGuy]

Well, "Mine" is still near top 10 at radio, so not all bad on that count. :)

[ListenToItTwice]

Nov 17, 2010 9:45:11 GMT -5 when the pawn... said:

Is Eminem's 3rd week > Taylor's 3rd week?

Nope. Em had 229,000 his third week. His three-week total was just a little under 1.3 million, so Taylor's not winning by all that much when you get right down to it. :(

[when the pawn...]

And Taylor got 212k...so Eminem's 3rd week > Taylor's 3rd week. Impressive considering Taylor sold 300k more opening week.

[HolidayGuy]

www.billboard.com/#/news/susan-boyle-tops-billboard-200-glee-reigns-1004126984.story?tag=hpflash3

Susan Boyle Tops Billboard 200, 'Glee' Reigns on Digital Songs

It's a "Dream" come true: the cast of Fox TV's "Glee" and Susan Boyle rock the top of Billboard's charts this week.

"Glee's" cover of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" was the top selling song in the U.S. last week, as it'll debut at No. 1 on the Digital Songs chart with 214,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It marks the ensemble's first No. 1 and biggest sales week yet. Previously, the cast's best week came when its first single, "Don't Stop Believin'," debuted at No. 2 with 177,000 (June 6, 2009).

"Teenage Dream," with lead vocals by newly-signed cast member Darren Criss, is sure to make a splashy bow on the Billboard Hot 100 chart once it is unveiled tomorrow (18). So far, "Glee's" best rank on the Hot 100 is also owned by "Don't," which hit No. 4.

Last week's No. 1 on Digital Songs, Rihanna's "What's My Name?" (featuring Drake), slides to No. 6 with 152,000 (down 35%). Ke$ha's "We R Who We R" holds at No. 2 (191,000; down 14%) and the Black Eyed Peas' "The Time (Dirty Bit)" debuts at No. 3 (170,000). The aforementioned Perry sees her new single "Firework" spark up two slots to No. 4 (161,000; up 11%), while P!nk's "Raise Your Glass" slips one spot to No. 5 (160,000; up less than 1%).

Meanwhile, Boyle -- who rose to fame in 2009 after her audition on "Britain's Got Talent" went viral and paved the way to her No. 1 Billboard 200 album "I Dreamed a Dream" -- nets her second chart-topping album, as "The Gift" will arrive in the penthouse with 318,000. "Dreamed" started at No. 1 a little under a year ago with 701,000 and spent six weeks at the top.

Boyle's "Gift" leads a total of six debuts in the top 10, as the music industry continues to gear up for the holiday shopping season. While last week's No. 1, Taylor Swift's "Speak Now," slips to No. 2 (212,000; down 34%), Kid Cudi enters at No. 3 with "Man on the Moon II" (169,000). That easily beats the premiere (and best week) of his debut set, last year's "Man on the Moon," which started at No. 4 with 104,000.

The new "Now 36" compilation bows at No. 4 (89,000), Bon Jovi's "Greatest Hits" starts at No. 5 (88,000) and Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party" falls four rungs to No. 6 (81,000; down 58%). Reba McEntire's "All the Women I Am" enters at No. 7 (64,000), Sugarland's "The Incredible Machine" falls five to No. 8 (60,000; though with a 1% gain) and Cee Lo Green's "The Lady Killer" bows at No. 9 (41,000). Rounding out the top 10 albums is Lil Wayne's "I Am Not A Human Being," descending five rungs to No. 10 (35,000; down 22%).

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Nov. 14) totaled 6.30 million units, up 16% compared to the sum last week (5.43 million) and down 11% compared to the comparable sales week of 2009 (7.04 million). Year to date album sales stand at 253.67 million, down 13% compared to the same total at this point last year (293.00 million).

Digital track sales this past week totaled 21.30 million downloads, up 7% compared to last week (19.84 million) and up 8% stacked next to the comparable week of 2009 (19.63 million). Year to date track sales are at 978.15 million, down less than 1% compared to the same total at this point last year (980.61 million)

[3m3r7c]

So one week till eminem hits 3 million.
Hope taylor can reach it too (i bet she will) cause it would be good to have 2 3-million sellers.
Surprised sales are still so much lower than last year even with a lot of big releases. These next couple weeks are big though (but they were huge last year too...).

[HolidayGuy]

And I see the full article that I posted was posted initially, too- just without the first few paragraphs.

Billboard has been late in posting the Chart Alert articles as of late.

[areyoureadytojump]

Will the following albums be certified by the RIAA on tomorrow's chart?

Numbers are from the 11/13/10 chart except where noted:

Eminem 2,898,620
Trey Songz 451k
Katy Perry 527k
Linkin Park 455k
Taylor Swift EP 584k
Rick Ross 452k
Now 34 434k
B.O.B. 438k
Kid Cudi 482k
Iron Man 2 Sdtk 431k
Rascal Flatts 933k

Albums only on the BB200 for 5+ weeks are listed and have sold over 400k.