2012 SoundScan Best Sellers: Adele & Gotye #1

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/record-labels/adele-s-21-2012-s-best-selling-album-gotye-1008067352.story

Adele's '21' 2012's Best Selling Album; Gotye Has Top Song
January 03, 2013 | By Keith Caulfield

For the first time since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking music sales in 1991, the same album finishes as the United States' best-seller for a second year. Adele's "21" triumphed in 2011 and ruled again in 2012.

The XL/Columbia Records effort finishes 2012 with 4.41 million sold. In 2011, the set moved 5.82 million. Earlier in 2012, it became the 21st album in the SoundScan era to sell 10 million copies.

The 2012 sales tracking year began on Jan. 2, 2012 ended on Dec. 30.

"21" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart way back on the list dated March, 21, 2011. It has yet to leave the tally and has never been absent from the weekly top 40.

The year's second-biggest selling album is Taylor Swift's "Red," with 3.11 million. It's the fourth time Swift has had an album ranked among a year's top three sellers. In 2010, "Speak Now" was the year's No. 3 set (2.99 million), in 2009 "Fearless" was No. 1 (3.22 million) and in 2008, "Fearless" was No. 3 (2.11 million).

One Direction's breakthrough debut album "Up All Night" is 2012's third-biggest set with 1.62 million sold. The vocal quintet's second album, "Take Me Home," is the year's No. 5 seller with 1.34 million. Both titles were released in 2012. It's the first time since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991 that an act has had two of the year's top five sellers.

A couple acts have come close to the feat previously: Taylor Swift had the Nos. 3 and 6 albums of 2008 with "Fearless" and her self-titled debut, while Garth Brooks had the Nos. 2 and 6 sets of 1992 with "Ropin' the Wind" and "The Chase," respectively. (In 1992, Brooks also had the No. 7 title with "No Fences." He remains the only act to place three albums among any year's top 10 best sellers.)

Mumford & Sons' "Babel" is 2012's fourth-biggest album, with 1.46 million -- thus ranking as the year's biggest rock set. It's the only rock effort in the top 10 this year. It's familiar territory for the quartet, as they claimed the No. 6 album of 2011 with "Sigh No More" (1.42 million) and was the only rock title in that year's top 10.

For the first time since 2008, no Christmas albums rank among the year's top 10 sellers. 2012's biggest holiday set was Rod Stewart's "Merry Christmas, Baby," which finishes at No. 15 with 858,000 sold. In 2011, two Christmas releases were among the top 10: Michael Buble's "Christmas" (No. 2 with 2.45 million) and Justin Bieber's "Under the Mistletoe" (No. 8 with 1.25 million).

Speaking of Bieber, his latest album, "Believe," claims the No. 6 slot on the 2012 year-end countdown. It moved 1.34 million last year. This is the third straight year the singer has made a year-end top 10 appearance. In 2011 his "Under the Mistletoe" ranked at No. 8 while in 2010, "My World 2.0" was No. 4 with 2.32 million.

The rest of 2012's top 10 best selling albums are all country efforts. Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" is No. 7 (1.20 million), Luke Bryan's "Tailgates & Tanlines" is No. 8 (1.10 million), Lionel Richie's "Tuskegee" is No. 9 (1.07 million) and Jason Aldean's "Night Train" is No. 10 (1.02 million).

Country albums account for five of the year's top 10 sellers (Nos. 2 and 7-10) -- a record share of the top 10 for the genre in SoundScan history. Previously, country sets claimed no more than four of the top 10 (in 2002 and 1992).

During the 52 weeks that ended Dec. 30, overall album sales in the U.S. fell by 4% to 315.96 million from 330.57 million in 2011. Physical CD sales were down 13% in 2012 while digital album downloads gained by 14% to a record 117.68 million. 37% of all albums sold in 2012 were downloads -- up from 31% in 2011. The top-selling digital album of 2012 was Adele's "21," with 1.04 million. "21" was also 2011's biggest-selling digital album, with 1.8 million. It was the only album to shift a million downloads in either year (or any year, for that matter).

For the fifth consecutive year, more vinyl albums were sold than in any other year since SoundScan launched in 1991. In 2012, 4.55 million vinyl LPs were sold -- up 18% compared to 2011's then-record haul of 3.87 million. 67% of all vinyl albums sold in 2012 were purchased at an independent music store (the same share as in 2011). 76% of the vinyl LPs sold in 2012 were a rock album.

The year's top selling LP was Jack White's "Blunderbuss" with 34,000 vinyl sets sold. In second place was the Beatles' "Abbey Road" with 30,000. While overall LP sales were up, the top seller of 2012 sold less than the top seller of 2011. Last year, the biggest vinyl album was "Abbey Road" with 41,000.

Moving on to digital song sales, 2012 was a banner year for song downloads. A record 1.336 billion tracks were sold last year, up 5% compared to the then-record total moved in 2011 (1.271 billion).

Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know" (featuring Kimbra) is 2012's top selling digital song, with 6.80 million sold while Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" finishes in second place with 6.47 million.

fun.'s "We Are Young" (featuring Janelle Monae) is in third with 5.95 million.

Those three songs each sold more than any other song has sold in a previous calendar year. In 2011, Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" broke the record for the biggest-selling song of a year, moving 5.81 million. It and LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" (5.47 million) were the first two songs to surpass 5 million sales in a calendar year.

fun. has two of 2012's top 10 best-selling tunes -- "We Are Young" joins "Some Nights" (No. 7 with 3.84 million). Maroon 5 also has a pair of songs in the top 10 with "Payphone" (featuring Wiz Khalifa) at No. 4 with 4.76 million and "One More Night" at No. 10 with 3.46 million.

As for the rest of the year's top 10 selling songs: Nicki Minaj's "Starships" is No. 5 (3.98 million), One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful" is No. 6 (3.89 million), Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" is No. 8 (3.82 million) and PSY's "Gangnam Style" is No. 9 (3.59 million).

A total of 108 songs sold more than 1 million downloads in 2012 -- down slightly from the 112 that did it in 2011. 41 moved 2 million in 2012 vs. 38 in 2011

[HolidayGuy]

Paul Grein's Yahoo Chart Watch articles, both found at music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/.

Chart Watch Extra: Top Songs of 2012
By Paul Grein | Chart Watch Jan. 3, 2012

If you were anywhere near a radio last year, you don’t need me to tell you the titles of the top three hits of 2012: “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye featuring Kimbra, Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” and “We Are Young” by fun. featuring Janelle Monae.

There are three main things you should know about them. First, none of the five artists involved had ever cracked Billboard’s Hot 100 before. Second, all three hits are nominated for Grammys as Record and/or Song of the Year, which shows an unusual degree of fan and industry agreement. Third, each of the three songs sold more copies than any song had sold before in a calendar year in digital history.

“Somebody That I Used To Know” sold 6,801,000 copies during the year. The smash is the front-runner to win the Grammy for Record of the Year. If it does, this will be the second year in a row that a song has both been the year’s top-seller and walked off with the top Grammy. Adele’s “Rolling In The Deep” achieved both feats last year.

“Call Me Maybe” is #2 for the year (6,472,000). It’s nominated for a Grammy as Song of the Year. Jepsen has a second song in the top 40. “Good Time,” her cheery collabo with Owl City, is #31 for the year (2,249,000)

“We Are Young” is #3 for the year (5,948,000). It’s nominated for Grammys for both Record and Song of the Year. fun., a trio from New York, has a second song in the top 10 for the year. “Some Nights” is #7 (3,839,000).

Maroon 5 also has two songs in the year’s top 10. “Payphone,” featuring Wiz Khalifa, is #4 for the year (4,757,000). This matches Maroon 5’s showing last year, when “Moves Like Jagger” (featuring Christina Aguilera) was #4 for the year. “One More Night” is #10 for the year (3,461,000).

fun. and Maroon 5 are the first groups to have two songs in the year-end top 10 since the Black Eyed Peas scored in 2009 with “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling.” (Three solo artists have achieved this feat in recent years: Lady Gaga in 2009, Eminem in 2010 and Adele last year.)

“Rolling In The Deep” held the previous record for greatest calendar-year sales in digital history. It sold 5,813,000 copies in 2011. To find a song that sold more copies in a calendar year than each of this year’s top three hits, you have to go back to Elton John’s pre-digital smash “Candle In The Wind 1997,” which sold 8,111,000 physical copies in the last 14 weeks of 1997, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” is #5 for the year (3,979,000). This is the second year in a row that Minaj has a song in the year-end top 10. “Super Bass” was #9 for 2011. Minaj had five million-sellers during the year (combining lead and featured credits), which puts her in a tie with Adele and Rihanna for the most by any artist.

One Direction’s effervescent “What Makes You Beautiful” is #6 for the year (3,881,000). It’s the best-selling song by a boy band in digital history.

Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” is #8 (3,823,000). It’s nominated for Grammys for both Record and Song of the Year. It’s the first hit by an American Idol alum to receive a Record of the Year nomination. In addition, it’s the best-selling song by an Idol alum. (More on that in a minute.)

PSY’s loopy “Gangnam Style” is #9 for the year (3,592,000). It’s the year’s best-selling novelty song. It tops LMFAO’s 2011-2012 smash “Sexy And I Know It” (2,552,000) and Toby Keith’s “Red Solo Cup” (1,293,000).

Flo Rida has two songs in the year’s top 15, though neither made the top 10 for the year. “Wild Ones,” featuring Sia, is #11 (3,444,000). “Whistle” is #13 (3,372,000). (fun., Maroon 5 and Flo Rida are the only acts with two songs that each sold 3 million or more copies in 2012.)

The Wanted’s “Glad You Came” is #12 for the year (3,388,000).

Phillip Phillips’ “Home” is #14 (3,289,000). It’s already the fourth best-selling song by an American Idol alum, following Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” (4,010,000), Carrie Underwood’s “Before He Cheats” (3,662,000) and “No Air” by Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown (3,503,000). This makes it the top-seller by a male Idol alum. The old record was held by a different song, also titled “Home,” by Chris Daughtry’s band Daughtry, which has sold 2,328,000 copies. (The old record by a male Idol alum who remained a solo artist was held by David Archuleta’s “Crush,” which is up to 2,090,000.)

Justin Bieber has two songs in the year’s top 40. “Boyfriend” is #15 (3,216,000). “As Long As You Love Me” (featuring Big Sean) is #32 (2,240,000).

Ellie Goulding’s “Lights” is #16 for the year (3,143,000), followed by Jason Mraz’s “I Won’t Give Up” (3,113,000).

Taylor Swift’s “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” a Grammy finalist for Record of the Year, is #18 for the year (3,055,000). It’s the year’s best-selling country crossover song, though many would say it’s more “crossover” than “country.” Here are the rest of the year’s top five country songs: Hunter Hayes’ “Wanted” (2,170,000), Luke Bryan’s “Drunk On You” (2,089,000), Eric Church’s “Springsteen” (1,959,000) and Little Big Town’s “Pontoon” (1,786,000).

A record 18 songs sold 3 million or more copies during the year. The old record for a full calendar year was 14, set in 2011. Digital song sales have been steadily increasing. There were just two 3 million sellers in all of 2008; seven in 2009; 12 in 2010 and 14 last year.

How does this compare to the latter years of the physical era? Very favorably. There was just one 3 million-selling single in 1992 (Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You”), none from 1993 through 1995, one in 1996 (Los Del Rios’ “Macarena”), two in 1997 (“Candle In The Wind 1997” and “I’ll Be Missing You” by Puff Daddy & Faith Evans featuring 112) and none after that.

The year also set a record for the number of 2-million-sellers (41). The old record was 38, set in 2011.

Katy Perry has two songs in the year’s top 30. “Wide Awake” is #20 (2,792,000). “Part Of Me” is #25 (2,513,000). “Wide Awake,” which appeared in the movie Katy Perry: Part Of Me, is the year’s best-selling song that originated in a movie. It’s eligible for an Oscar nomination as Best Song. Nominees will be announced Jan. 10.

“Titanium” by David Guetta featuring Sia is the year’s top-selling dance/electronic song, with sales of 2,493,000. Here are the year’s #2 and #3 dance songs: Calvin Harris’ “Feel So Close” (2,172,000) and “Turn Me On” by David Guetta featuring Nicki Minaj (2,055,000).

Two rock icons appear in the titles of million-sellers. As noted above, Eric Church’s “Springsteen” sold 1,959,000 copies during the year. “Moves Like Jagger,” the 2011 smash by Maroon 5 featuring Christina Aguilera, sold 1,713,000 copies this year. (Bruce Springsteen’s own song, “We Take Care Of Our Own,” sold just 88K digital copies during the year.)

Adele’s “Skyfall” from Skyfall sold 1,277,000 copies during the year. It’s the first Bond theme song to sell 1 million digital copies. In the pre-digital era, two Bond themes were certified gold by the Recording Industry Assn. of America, signifying sales of 1 million copies: Paul McCartney & Wings’ 1973 hit “Live And Let Die” and Carly Simon’s 1977 hit “Nobody Does It Better.” Both of those songs were nominated for Oscars for Best Song. “Skyfall” is expected to follow suit.

As noted above, Adele, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna each had five million-selling songs during the year. Big Sean, Flo Rida, Pitbull, and Taylor Swift are tied for second place, with four each. (Maroon 5 is the top group or duo, with three million-sellers in 2012.)

Whitney Houston’s 1992 classic “I Will Always Love You” sold 973K copies during the year. The song sold 3,086,000 physical singles in 1992; 1,431,000 in 1993, per Nielsen SoundScan.

Two other old songs appear on Nielsen SoundScan’s list of the 200 best-selling songs of 2012. Eminem’s 2002 classic “Lose Yourself” sold 806K copies during the year. Journey’s 1981 perennial “Don’t Stop Believin’” sold 607K.

“Danza Kuduro” by Don Omar & Lucenzo is the year’s top-selling Latin song, with sales of 542K.

Mariah Carey’s 1994 classic “All I Want For Christmas Is You” is the year’s top-selling holiday song, with sales of 351K. It was also the year’s top holiday seller in 2010, but was bumped down to #2 last year by Justin Bieber’s “Mistletoe.”

Happy new year, everybody.


Chart Watch Extra: Top Albums of 2012
By Paul Grein | Chart Watch Jan. 3, 2012

Adele’s 21 is officially the first album to wind up as the year’s best-seller twice since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for Billboard in 1991. The album sold 4,414,000 copies in 2012. It sold 5,824,000 copies in 2011. It’s one of only four albums in the Nielsen SoundScan era to sell 4 million or more copies in each of two calendar years. It follows Alanis Morissette’s Jagged Little Pill (1995-1996), Shania Twain’s Come On Over (1998-1999) and Santana’s Supernatural (1999-2000).

Even though it was in its second year of release, 21 sold more copies in 2012 than the best-selling albums of 2006 through 2010 did in those years. The album spawned three #1 hits, “Rolling In The Deep,” “Someone Like You” and “Set Fire To The Rain.” It won six Grammys in February, including Album of the Year.

Taylor Swift’s Red is #2 for the year with sales of 3,107,000. This is the fourth time that Swift has had an album in the year-end top three. Fearless was #3 for 2008 and #1 for 2009. Speak Now was #3 for 2010. In the Nielsen SoundScan era, only one other artist, Eminem, has ranked in the top three on the year-end chart four times.

This marks the first time that female artists have held the top two spots on the year-end album recap since 2009, when Swift and Susan Boyle were #1 and #2.

Red was the year’s best-selling album that was released in 2012. It has spawned four top 10 hits, “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Begin Again,” “Red” and “I Knew You Were Trouble.”

A record five of the year’s 10 best-selling albums have been big country hits. Red is followed by albums by Carrie Underwood, Luke Bryan, Lionel Richie and Jason Aldean. The previous best showing for country came in 1992 and 2002, when the genre was responsible for four albums in the year-end top 10.

One Direction has two of the year’s top five albums. Up All Night is #3 with sales of 1,616,000. Take Me Home is #5 with sales of 1,340,000. The British/Irish boy band is the first act to place two albums in the year-end top five in the Nielsen SoundScan era (though Eminem came awfully close in 2002. The Eminem Show was #1 for the year and the 8 Mile soundtrack was #5. So why doesn’t that count? While Eminem starred in the movie and performed the key song on the soundtrack, it wasn’t an Eminem album per se.)

One Direction is the first non-country act to place two albums in the top 10 on the year-end chart in the Nielsen SoundScan era. Garth Brooks had three of the top 10 for 1992. Taylor Swift had two of the top 10 for 2008.

Up All Night, which spawned the top 10 hit “What Makes You Beautiful,” is the year’s best-selling album by a group. It’s also the year’s best-selling debut album. This is the fifth time in the Nielsen SoundScan era that a boy band has ranked in the top three for year. Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC each achieved the feat twice.

Take Me Home has also spawned a top 10 hit: “Live While We’re Young.”

One Direction is the first act to sell 1 million or more copies of two different albums in a calendar year since 2009, when Michael Jackson (who died that year) achieved the feat with four albums and Miley Cyrus (who was then at the peak of her career) achieved it with two albums.

Mumford & Sons’ Babel is #4 for the year with sales of 1,463,000. This is the second year in a row that the British folk revival band has ranked in the year-end top 10. Sigh No More was #6 for 2011. Babel is a Grammy finalist for Album of the Year and Best Americana Album.

Justin Bieber’s Believe is #6 for the year with sales of 1,324,000. It’s the highest-ranking album by a male solo artist. This is the third year in a row that Bieber has ranked in the top 10. My World 2.0 was #4 for 2010. Under The Mistletoe was #8 for 2011. Bieber is the first male artist to place an album in the year-end top 10 three years in a row since Garth Brooks scored from 1991 through 1993. (The Fine Print: The Nielsen SoundScan site doesn’t carry archival charts from 1991, its first year of operation. But Billboard’s year-end chart for 1991 has Brooks’ No Fences at #2.)

Believe has spawned three top 10 hits, “Boyfriend,” “As Long As You Love Me” (featuring Big Sean) and “Beauty And A Beat” (featuring Nicki Minaj). Deep trivia: This is the second time in the past three years that Bieber has had the year’s best-selling album by a Canadian artist. Michael Buble and Drake edged him out last year.

Carrie Underwood’s Blown Away is #7 for the year with sales of 1,203,000. This marks the second time that Underwood has had an album in the year-end top 10. Some Hearts was #3 for 2006. Blown Away has spawned two top 20 hits, “Good Girl” and “Blown Away.”

Luke Bryan’s Tailgates & Tanlines is #8 for the year with sales of 1,105,000. The album sold an additional 651K copies in 2011. The album has spawned four top 30 hits, “Country Girl (Shake It For Me),” “I Don’t Want This Night To End,” “Drunk On You” and “Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye.”

Lionel Richie’s Tuskegee is #9 for the year with sales of 1,071,000. Richie, 63, is the oldest artist to rank in the year-end top 10 in the Nielsen SoundScan era.

Jason Aldean’s Night Train is #10 for the year with sales of 1,024,000. His 2010 album My Kinda Party is #29 for the year with sales of 594K. (It ranked #5 for 2011.) Aldean is the only male solo artist who sold 500K copies each of two albums in 2012. (Two female artists, Adele and Rihanna, and two groups, One Direction and Mumford & Sons, also achieved the feat.) My Kinda Party, which spawned the top 10 hit “Dirt Road Anthem,” was a Grammy finalist for Best Country Album of 2011. Night Train, which spawned the top 15 hit “Take A Little Ride,” was released too late for consideration this year. It will probably be a finalist for Best Country Album next year.

The music industry can’t be happy with the 2012 sales numbers. Just 10 albums sold 1 million or more copies during the year, which constitutes a new low for the Nielsen SoundScan era. (The previous low was 13, which was the final tally for both 2010 and 2011.)

Just 43 albums sold 500K copies, which is also a record low. (The previous low was 48, which was the final tally for both 2010 and 2011.)

Maroon 5’s Overexposed is #11 for the year with sales of 988K. The album spawned the megahits “Payphone” (featuring Wiz Khalifa) and “One More Night,” both of which rank in the top 10 on the year-end songs tally. The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album.

P!nk’s The Truth About Love is #12 for the year with sales of 945K. The album spawned the top five hit “Blow Me (One Last Kiss).” The album received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album.

fun.’s debut album, Some Nights, is #13 for the year with sales of 903K. The album spawned the smash hits “We Are Young” (featuring Janelle Monae) and “Some Nights,” both of which rank in the top 10 on the year-end songs tally. The album received Grammy nominations for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album.

Whitney Houston’s Whitney: The Greatest Hits is #14 for the year with sales of 886K. (All but about 2,500 of this tally were sold after her death on Feb. 11.) The album, which was first released in 2000, is the year’s #1 catalog album. It sold an additional 1,738,000 copies prior to this year.

Rod Stewart’s Merry Christmas, Baby is the year’s top-selling Christmas album, with sales of 858K. Stewart, 67, is the oldest artist to have the best-selling Christmas album of the year in the Nielsen SoundScan era. He surpasses Andrea Bocelli, who was 51 when My Christmas was the #1 holiday album of 2009. Stewart’s album was released too late for Grammy consideration this year, but it will probably be up for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album next year.

Adele’s 19 ranked #20 for the year, giving Adele two albums in the year-end top 20 for the second year in a row. 19 ranked #17 for 2011. Adele is just the third artist in the Nielsen SoundScan era to have two of the year’s top 20 albums two years running. She follows Celine Dion (1997-1998) and Justin Bieber (2010-2011).

Drake’s Take Care is the year’s top-selling rap album with sales of 698K. The album sold an additional 1,247,000 copies in 2011. (I’m classifying Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, which sold 785K during the year, as pop.) Take Care is a Grammy finalist for Best Rap Album. It spawned two top 10 hits, “Make Me Proud” (featuring Minaj) and “Take Care” (featuring Rihanna).

The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 And Beyond is the year’s best-selling soundtrack with sales of 463K. This is the first time since 2009 that the soundtrack to a theatrically-released movie has been the year’s top soundtrack. Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album beat out The Twilight Saga: Eclipse in 2010. Lemonade Mouth edged out The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 in 2011. The Hunger Games spawned a pair of top 30 hits by Taylor Swift: “Eyes Open” and “Safe & Sound” (featuring The Civil Wars).

Shake It Up: Live 2 Dance: Music From The Disney Channel Series is the year’s top-selling TV soundtrack with sales of 210K.

(Glee ran out of gas this year. No Glee albums rank among the top 200 for the year. The Glee phenomenon peaked two years ago when Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album was the year’s #16 best-seller.)

Usher’s Looking 4 Myself is the year’s top-selling R&B album with sales of 450K, nosing out Frank Ocean’s Channel Orange (443K). (I’m classifying albums by Whitney Houston, Nicki Minaj and Rihanna as pop and albums by Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Rick Ross and 2 Chainz as rap.) Looking 4 Myself spawned the top 10 hit “Scream.”

Romeo Santos’ Formula, Vol. 1 is the year’s top-selling Latin music album, with sales of 123K. It nosed out Prince Royce’s Phase II (111K).

Tenacious D’s Rize Of The Fenix is the year’s top-selling comedy album, with sales of 113K copies. The comedy troupe features Jack Black. The album is a Grammy finalist for Best Comedy Album.

I said at the outset that Adele’s 21 is the first album to rank #1 for the year twice in the Nielsen SoundScan era. The previous best showing for a year’s #1 album on the following year’s year-end chart was #17. That was the ranking for both Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory in 2002 and Taylor Swift’s Fearless in 2010.

As a bonus, here are the top 10 Christmas albums of 2012. Note that three of the top five are country albums. I show the year of release for all albums that weren’t first released in 2012. Rod Stewart’s Merry Christmas, Baby (858K), Michael Buble’s Christmas (2011, 622K), Lady Antebellum’s On This Winter’s Night (439K), Blake Shelton’s Cheers, It’s Christmas (428K), Scotty McCreery’s Christmas With Scotty McCreery (348K), Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s Dreams Of Fireflies (On A Christmas Night) (217K), Cee-Lo Green’s Cee-Lo’s Magic Moment (181K), Justin Bieber’s Under The Mistletoe (2011, 173K), Josh Groban’s Noel (2007, 142K) and Andrea Bocelli’s My Christmas (2009, 123K).

As a second bonus, here are the top 10 soundtracks of 2012. Eight of the top 10 (including the top six) are from theatrically-released movies. The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 And Beyond (463K), Rock Of Ages (267K), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 (229K), The Bodyguard (227K), Project X (217K), Pitch Perfect (212K), Shake It Up: Live 2 Dance: Music From The Disney Channel Series (210K), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2 (210K), The Fresh Beat Band: Music From The Hit TV Show (189K) and Les Miserables (178K).

Happy new year, everybody.

[areyoureadytojump]

2012 SoundScan Best Selling Albums

1. Adele "21" 4.41 million
2. Taylor Swift "Red" 3.11 million
3. One Direction "Up All Night" 1.62 million
4. Mumford & Sons' "Babel" 1.46 million
5. One Direction "Take Me Home" 1.34 million
6. Justin Bieber "Believe," 1.34 million
7. Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away" 1.20 million
8. Luke Bryan's "Tailgates & Tanlines" 1.10 million
9. Lionel Richie's "Tuskegee" 1.07 million
10. Jason Aldean's "Night Train" 1.02 million

11. Maroon 5 "Overexposed" 988K
12. P!nk "The Truth About Love" 945K
13. fun. "Some Nights" 903K
14. Whitney Houston "Whitney: The Greatest Hits" 886K.

[pnobelysk]

Nicki was so close to breaking 4 million with starships !

[areyoureadytojump]

This:

The music industry can’t be happy with the 2012 sales numbers. Just 10 albums sold 1 million or more copies during the year, which constitutes a new low for the Nielsen SoundScan era.

(The previous low was 13, which was the final tally for both 2010 and 2011.)

Just 43 albums sold 500K copies, which is also a record low.

(The previous low was 48, which was the final tally for both 2010 and 2011.)

[HolidayGuy]

Some info from the 90s, in regards to number of 1 million+ albums (BB listed totals rounded to the nearest thousand):

1993: 52 listed as 1.1 million+, seven as 1 million
1994: 67 listed as 1.1 million+, two as 1 million
1995: 61 listed as 1.1 million+ three as 1 million
1996: 54 listed as 1.1 million, two as 1 million
1997: 69 listed at 1.1 million+, one as 1 million
1998: 77 listed as 1.1 million+, four as 1 million

[Agent Yoncé]

Alright for the Top 10 album all selling over 1m. I thought it was gonna be even worse than last year, but I'm glad I was proven wrong :)

[areyoureadytojump]

^13 albums sold over 1 million in 2011 so it was worse this year.

[Agent Yoncé]

Oh damn!

[malwaredie]

Jan 3, 2013 11:50:44 GMT -5 areyoureadytojump said:

The music industry can’t be happy with the 2012 sales numbers. Just 10 albums sold 1 million or more copies during the year, which constitutes a new low for the Nielsen SoundScan era.

Just 43 albums sold 500K copies, which is also a record low.

I bet the numbers will look even worse this year.

[KeepDeanWeird]

So all the people claiming racism against PSY for lack of radio and even with ALL the media, YouTube, Billboard pimping exposure AND no album, it is only #9 in sales? And, it barely outsold OMN, which some claimed was not a "legit" No. 1. (Of course, the second single off a best-selling album.) This just cracks me up. Talk about a hit THAT seemed bigger than it was.

[areyoureadytojump]

Top 10 SoundScan Albums 1992 - 2012:

2012

1. 4,410,000 Adele "21"
2. 3,110,000 Taylor Swift "Red"
3. 1,620,000 One Direction "Up All Night"
4. 1,460,000 Mumford & Sons' "Babel"
5. 1,340,000 One Direction "Take Me Home"
6. 1,340,000 Justin Bieber "Believe,"
7. 1,200,000 Carrie Underwood's "Blown Away"
8. 1,100,000 Luke Bryan's "Tailgates & Tanlines"
9. 1,070,000 Lionel Richie's "Tuskegee"
10. 1,020,000 Jason Aldean's "Night Train"

2011:

01 5,824,000 Adele, 21
02 2,452,000 Michael Buble, Christmas
03 2,101,000 Lady GaGa, Born This Way
04 1,917,000 Lil Wayne, Tha Carter IV
05 1,576,000 Jason Aldean, My Kinda Party
06 1,420,000 Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More
07 1,247,000 Drake, Take Care
08 1,245,000 Justin Bieber, Under the Mistletoe
09 1,232,000 Jay-Z & Kanye West, Watch the Throne
10 1,204,000 Lady Antebellum, Own the Night

2010:

1. Eminem – Recovery 3,415,000
2. Lady Antebellum – Need You Now 3,089,000
3. Taylor Swift – Speak Now 2,960,000
4. Justin Bieber – My World 2.0 2,319,000
5. Susan Boyle – The Gift 1,852,000
6. Lady Gaga – Fame 1,591,000
7. Sade – Soldier of Love 1,300,000
8. Drake – Thank Me Later 1,269,000
9. Usher – Raymond V Raymond 1,143,000
10. Ke$ha - Animal 1,143,000

2009:

1 Fearless Taylor Swift 3,217,000
2 I Dreamed A Dream Susan Boyle 3,103,828
3 Number Ones Michael Jackson 2,355,000
4 Fame Lady Gaga 2,238,000
5 My Christmas Andrea Bocelli 2,207,000
6 Hannah Movie Soundtrack Hanna Montana 1,823,000
7 The E.N.D. Black Eyed Peas 1,786,852
8 Relapse Enimen 1,735,358
9 Blueprint 3 Jay-Z 1,514,800
10 Only By the Night Kings of Leon 1,398,000

2008:

1 Tha Carter III/ Lil Wayne 2,874,000
2 Viva La Vida/ Coldplay 2,144,000
3 Fearless/Taylor Swift 2,112,000
4 Rock N Roll Jesus/ Kid Rock 2,018,000
5 Black Ice/ AC/DC 1,915,000
6 Taylor Swift/Taylor Swift 1,597,000
7 Death Magnetic/ Metallica 1,565,000
8 Paper Trail/ T.I. 1,522,000
9 Sleep Through the Static/ Jack Johnson 1,492,000
10 I Am…Sasha Fierce/ Beyonce 1,459,000

2007:

1 NOEL JOSH GROBAN 3,698,934
2 HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 2 SOUNDTRACK 2,956,799
3 LONG ROAD OUT OF EDEN EAGLES 2,608,338
4 AS I AM ALICIA KEYS 2,543,224
5 DAUGHTRY DAUGHTRY 2,497,457
6 HANNAH MONTANA 2(SOUNDTRACK):MEET MILEY CYRUS MILEY CYRUS 2,487,346
7 MINUTES TO MIDNIGHT LINKIN PARK 2,098,941
8 THE DUTCHESS FERGIE 2,063,572
9 TAYLOR SWIFT TAYLOR SWIFT 1,950,641
10 GRADUATION KANYE WEST 1,891,918

2006:

1. High School Musical: 3.72 million
2. Rascal Flatts Me and My Gang: 3.48 million
3. Carrie Underwood Some Hearts: 3.02 million
4. Nickelback All the Right Reasons: 2.69 million
5. Justin Timberlake Futuresex/Lovesounds: 2.38 million
6. James Blunt Back to Bedlam: 2.14 million
7. Beyonce B'day: 2.01 million
8. Hannah Montana: 1.99 million
9. Dixie Chicks Taking the Long Way: 1.86 million
10. Hinder Extreme Behavior: 1.82 million

2005:

1. CAREY*MARIAH EMANCIPATION OF MIMI 4,968,606
2. 50 CENT MASSACRE 4,852,744
3. CLARKSON*KELLY BREAKAWAY 3,496,192
4. GREEN DAY AMERICAN IDIOT 3,360,394
5. BLACK EYED PEAS MONKEY BUSINESS 3,037,251
6. COLDPLAY X&Y 2,615,280
7. RASCAL FLATTS FEELS LIKE TODAY 2,511,209
8. STEFANI*GWEN LOVE.ANGEL.MUSIC.BABY 2,505,390
9. WEST*KANYE LATE REGISTRATION 2,413,580
10. GAME DOCUMENTARY 2,275,646

2004:

1. "Confessions," Usher: 7,978,594
2. "Feels Like Home," Norah Jones: 3,842,920
3. "Encore," Eminem: 3,517,097
4. "When The Sun Goes Down," Kenny Chesney: 3,072,224
5. "Here for the Party," Gretchen Wilson: 2,931,097
6. "Live Like You Were Dying," Tim McGraw: 2,786,840
7. "Songs About Jane," Maroon 5: 2,708,415
8. "Fallen," Evanesence: 2,614,226
9. "Autobiography," Ashlee Simpson: 2,576,945
10. "Now 16: Now That's What I Call Music!": 2,560,316

2003:

1. 50 Cent Get Rich Or Die Tryin' 6,535,809
2. Jones Norah Come Away With Me 5,137,468
3. Linkin Park Meteora 3,478,361
4. Evanescence Fallen 3,364,738
5. Outkast Speakerboxx-Love 3,089,849
6. Beyonce Dangerously In Love 2,527,485
7. Kelly R. Chocolate Factory 2,439,536
8. Duff Hilary Metamorphosis 2,405,544
9. Keith Toby Shock N Y'all 2,324,437
10. Coldplay Rush Of Blood To The Head 2,183,997

2002:

1. 7.607.925 Eminem - Eminem Show
2. 4.916.073 Nelly - Nellyville
3. 4.121.396 Avril Lavigne - Let Go
4. 3.690.413 Dixie Chicks - Home
5. 3.498.497 Soundtrack - 8 Mile
6. 3.144.947 Pink - M!ssundaztood
7. 3.099.216 Ashanti - Ashanti
8. 3.054.736 Alan Jackson - Drive
9. 2.909.499 Shania Twain - Up
10. 2.736.049 Soundtrack O Brother, Where Art Thou?

2001:

1. Hybrid Theory Linkin Park 4,812,852
2. Hotshot Shaggy 4,507,568
3. Celebrity N Sync 4,421,231
4. Day Without Rain Enya 4,410,053
5. Break the Cycle Staind 4,242,507
6. Songs In A Minor Alicia Keys 4,102,482
7. Survivor Destiny's Child 3,718,446
8. Weathered Creed 3,581,344
9. Soundtrack O Brother Where Art Thou? 3,460,852
10. Vol.6-Now That's What I Call Va-Now 3,133,462

2000:

1. N Sync- No Strings Attached- 9.936.104
2. Eminem- The Marshall Mathers LP- 7.921.107
3. Britney Spears- Oops!...I Did it Again- 7.893.544
4. Creed- Human Clay- 6.587.834
5. Santana- Supernatural- 5.857.824
6. The Beatles- 1- 5.068.300
7. Nelly- Country Grammar- 5.067.529
8. Backstreet Boys- Black and Blue- 4.289.865
9. Dr Dre- 2001- 3.992.311
10. Destiny's Child- The Writing's on the Wall- 3.802.165

1999

1 MILLENNIUM Backstreet Boys 9,445,732
2 ...BABY ONE MORE TIME Britney Spears 8,358,619
3 RICKY MARTIN Ricky Martin 5,981,155
4 COME ON OVER Shania Twain 5,618,134
5 SIGNIFICANT OTHER Limp Bizkit 4,952,890
6 SUPERNATURAL Santana 4,732,589
7 DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE Kid Rock 4,259,736
8 FANMAIL TLC 4.186,685
9 CHRISTINA AGUILERA Christina Aguilera 3,662,905
10 WIDE OPEN SPACES Dixie Chicks 3,463,642

1998

1 TITANIC Soundtrack 9,338,061
2 LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE Celine Dion 5,859,421
3 BACKSTREET BOYS Backstreet Boys 5,709,369
4 COME ON OVER Shania Twain 4,872,841
5 'N SYNC 'N Sync 4,385,148
6 CITY OF ANGELS Soundtrack 4,120,508
7 DOUBLE LIVE Garth Brooks 3,892,288
8 BIG WILLIE STYLE Will Smith 3,687,568
9 SAVAGE GARDEN Savage Garden 3,247,406
10 ARMAGEDDON Soundtrack 3,222,603

1997

1. Spice Spice Girls: 5,300,000
2. Pieces of You Jewel: 4,300,000
3. No Way Out Puff Daddy & The Family: 3,400,000
4. Sevens Garth Brooks: 3,300,000
5. Middle of Nowhere Hanson: 3,200,000
6. Life After Death The Notorious B.I.G.: 3,100,000
7. Bringing Down The House The Wallflowers: 3,100,000
8. Falling Into You Celine Dion: 3,000,000
9. Space Jam Soundtrack: 2,900,000
10.You Light Up My Life LeAnn Rimes: 2,900,000

1996

1. Jagged Little Pill Alanis Morissette: 7,400,000
2. Falling Into You Celine Dion: 6,000,000
3. The Score The Fugees: 4,500,000
4. Tragic Kingdom No Doubt: 4,400,000
5. Daydream Mariah Carey: 3,000,000
6. All Eyez On Me 2Pac: 3,000,000
7. Load Metallica: 3,000,000
8. Secrets Toni Braxton: 2,900,000
9. The Woman In Me Shania Twain: 2,800,000
10. What's The Story Morning Glory? Oasis: 2,600,000

1995

1 CRACKED REAR VIEW Hootie & The Blowfish 7.0m
2 CRAZYSEXYCOOL TLC 4.8m
3 JAGGED LITTLE PILL Alanis Morissette 4.2m
4 DAYDREAM Mariah Carey 3.9m
5 THE HITS Garth Brooks 3.8m
6 THROWING COPPER Live 3.5m
7 II Boyz II Men 3.4m
8 ANTHOLOGY 1 The Beatles 2.9m
9 HELL FREEZES OVER Eagles 2.8m
10 THE WOMAN IN ME Shania Twain 2.8m

1994

1 THE LION KING Soundtrack 4.9m
2 THE SIGN Ace Of Base 4.9m
3 II Boyz II Men 4.3m
4 AUGUST AND EVERYTHING AFTER Counting Crows 3.8m
5 DOOKIE Green Day 3.4m
6 NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON Tim McGraw 3.2m
7 PURPLE Stone Temple Pilots 3.1m
8 MIRACLES:THE HOLIDAY ALBUM Kenny G 3.0m
9 SMASH Offspring 2.9m
10 MUSIC BOX Mariah Carey 2.7m

1993

1 THE BODYGUARD Soundtrack 5.5m
2 JANET Janet Jackson 4.3m
3 VS Pearl Jam 3.8m
4 BREATHLESS Kenny G 3.8m
5 MUSIC BOX Mariah Carey 3.3m
6 THE CHRONIC Dr Dre 2.9m
7 UNPLUGGED Eric Clapton 2.9m
8 IN PIECES Garth Brooks 2.8m
9 CORE Stone Temple Pilots 2.7m
10 BAT OUT OF HELL II-BACK INTO HELL Meat Loaf 2.6m

1992

1 SOME GAVE ALL Billy Ray Cyrus 4.7m
2 ROPIN' THE WIND Garth Brooks 4.0m
3 TEN Pearl Jam 3.4m
4 THE BODYGUARD Soundtrack 3.3m
5 TOTALLY KROSSED OUT Kris Kross 3.2m
6 NO FENCES Garth Brooks 3.1m
7 THE CHASE Garth Brooks 3.1m
8 NEVERMIND Nirvana 2.7m
9 ADRENALIZED Def Leppard 2.7m
10 METALLICA Metallica 2.6m

[Verisimilitude]

You could say the same for "One More Night". For as much as radio rammed that down people's throats for months and months, it's below songs that weren't nearly as successful on radio (What Makes You Beautiful and Starships).

[Enigma.]

Jan 3, 2013 13:20:35 GMT -5 areyoureadytojump said:

Top 10 SoundScan Albums 1992 - 2012:

HUGE THANKS!

[areyoureadytojump]

^I post that list every year here. lol

[Enigma.]

Well it's the first time I was smart enough to copypaste it

[Rodze]

Jan 3, 2013 13:15:15 GMT -5 KeepDeanWeird said:

So all the people claiming racism against PSY for lack of radio and even with ALL the media, YouTube, Billboard pimping exposure AND no album, it is only #9 in sales? And, it barely outsold OMN, which some claimed was not a "legit" No. 1. (Of course, the second single off a best-selling album.) This just cracks me up. Talk about a hit THAT seemed bigger than it was.

Look at which song is currently the no. 3 best selling song of the country despite being declared dead and unwanted by radio.

The only thing that seems bigger than it is radio's liberty to play what people want to hear.

[lemi]

noteworthy: not a single rap/hip-hop album is in the 2012 top 10, first since 2006.

[areyoureadytojump]

Please be on the lookout for the SoundScan press release. It should be released shortly. PR Newswire should have it.

[Rodze]

Jan 3, 2013 15:49:16 GMT -5 areyoureadytojump said:

Please be on the lookout for the SoundScan press release. It should be released shortly. PR Newswire should have it.

Maybe it'll only be released tomorrow, Friday, because of the delayed processing.

[upsidedown]

Hopefully it comes out soon

[Deleted]

www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130104005149/en/Nielsen-Company-Billboard%E2%80%99s-2012-Music-Industry-Report

[Deleted]

There are some interesting albums+tracks top 10's in this year's report

[ListenToItTwice]

Thanks so much for posting! I've only been reading for about five seconds, but..

the top 10 albums with TEA is an interesting list.. Nice to see "Some Nights" at #2!
Is "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" really the #1 song of the holiday season? Almost 2 million sales? That's impossible, right?
And where's Gangnam Style on most-streamed music videos? Doesn't VEVO supply those?
Taylor is the 2012 streaming queen! But where's the all-time digital-selling artists list? I count on that every year :/

[Verisimilitude]

2012 Top Ten Selling Albums + Tracks
(Transactions: Albums and Digital Tracks)

Title/Artist Units Sold
1 21 / ADELE 12800000
2 SOME NIGHTS / FUN. 11100000
3 RED / TAYLOR SWIFT 11000000
4 OVEREXPOSED / MAROON 5 10100000
5 BELIEVE / JUSTIN BIEBER 9500000
6 PINK FRIDAY...ROMAN RELOADED / NICKI MINAJ 9500000
7 KISS / CARLY RAE JEPSEN 9300000
8 UP ALL NIGHT / ONE DIRECTION 8800000
9 WILD ONES / FLO RIDA 8100000
10 TAKE CARE / DRAKE 7900000

Imagine if album sales really looked like this. :'( Carly Rae's album looks so massive in comparison.

[HolidayGuy]

^That has to be a typo? If so, then what is No. 1?

[Rodze]

- For the second year, Katy Perry ends the year as the most played artist over the airways in 2012 with more than 1.4 million spins.

Effortlessly.

- Taylor Swift claimed the top spot as the most streamed artist in 2012 with more than 216 million streams.

Imagine if RED were available for streaming. haha


- While overall digital tracks sales were up 5%, several genres showed double-digit increases. Dance/Electronic tracks are up 36%; Country is up 13%; Rock is up 11% vs. the prior year.
- Country also saw a 38% gain in digital album sales in 2012 vs. 2011, the largest increase of any genre in the digital album format.

Country going digital, yep.

[areyoureadytojump]

This is always my favorite day of the year.

[areyoureadytojump]

And why does it say 1993-2012 for the All Time lists?

SoundScan began in 1991.

[ListenToItTwice]

Yeah so much of what I was looking forward to was missing :(