TRACKS

1. Katy Perry "I Kissed A Girl"

Sales this week: 162,951
Percentage change: -7
Weeks on: 11
Cume: 1,487,745

She only sold 31,971 albums total. And, of those, 6,233 were digital.

Seems like a hit today is the track and the track itself. I think the sale of one and a half million copies is significant. But it shows that although the oldsters want to sell albums, the little girls not only don’t understand, they don’t care.

3. Jonas Brothers "Burnin’ Up"

Sales this week: 103,453
Percentage change: -12
Weeks on: 3
Cume: 404,906

But they’re only number 32 on the digital albums chart. With a mere 2,163 sold.

Now they sold 20,264 PHYSICAL albums and this makes me think… If you’re truly young, and you have neither a credit card or an iTunes account, you nag your parents into buying you the CD. They only understand the CD. But if you’re just a bit older, and trusted by your parents, you’ve got an iTunes account and you buy the track… But you don’t want the album…

To give you an idea, one third of John Mayer’s album sales were digital. And about twenty five percent of Coldplay’s. So, ten percent of a kiddie act, a generation that is inured to digital/computers, is significant. Given a choice online, kids only want the track.

8. Metro Station "Shake It"

Sales this week: 78,049
Percentage change: -5
Weeks on: 17
Cume: 997,578

This is where I come out of the closet and admit I have no idea who this band is. I could fake it, I’ve done some research online, I know where they’re coming from, but what’s important here is this is not your father’s record business. Even into the nineties, a pro knew every record on the chart. Anybody who says he does now is a lying sack of shit who should not be trusted.

That’s almost a million singles. People know who this band is.

But they don’t quite believe they’re keepers yet. Because Metro Station has only sold 143,749 albums. (Nearly ONE THIRD of which were digital!)

The question is, how do you convince the audience that you’re here for the long haul? How do you get them to invest in you? (A dollar is not an investment, it’s a lottery ticket at best…)

15. Jason Mraz "I’m Yours"

Sales this week: 49,358
Percentage change: +11
Weeks on: 20
Cume: 495,966

Only TWO tracks have been in the Top 15 longer. Leona Lewis’ and Natasha Bedingfield’s. But Jason has gotten tons less hype. Isn’t he that has-been who did that track with the Matrix?

Since he’s not today’s poster boy, word is still spreading on this track, notice the upward movement (last week it was number 19), the increase in sales. Point is, anybody can be revived if they’ve got a good enough song. And, if you’ve heard "I’m Yours", you know it is good enough.

Nearly a third of Jason’s 236,173 albums moved to date were sold in a digital format. But, Jason’s digital ALBUM sales were down thirty percent, so it appears that singles traffic is casual buyers, for now…

22. 3 Doors Down "It’s Not My Time"

Sales this week: 40,648
Percentage change: -8
Weeks on: 21
Cume: 655,022

But they only sold 1,977 digital albums. That’s not even enough buyers to fill the Wiltern, an average-sized theatre. Furthermore, that 1,977 is less than ten percent of the 21,829 cume of album sales.

Hard rock fans still want the CD. And it appears that those buying the digital track are newbies, getting their feet wet at best.

27. Madonna (featuring Justin Timberlake) "4 Minutes"

Sales this week: 35,751
Percentage change: -17
Weeks on: 17
Cume: 1,904,262

Stunningly, the album, "Hard Candy", didn’t make the Top 50 digital album sales chart this week.

Overall album sales are 589,961, with the package residing at number 63.

Sure, you might say she was always a singles artist. But she used to move millions of albums. Now, people only want her single.

29. Colby O’Donis "What You Got"

Sales this week: 34,564
Percentage change: -9
Weeks on: 20
Cume: 660,587

THERE IS NO ALBUM!

Maybe there never should be…

This is selling because Akon is on it. Why waste money on nine more tracks?

Welcome to the modern music business.

And don’t lie, you had no idea who this guy was either…

47. Carrie Underwood "Last Name"

Sales this week: 23,573
Percentage change: -11
Weeks on: 14
Cume: 417,891

The album did sell a measly 12,657 copies last week. But there is a cume of 2,230,538.

"All-American Girl" has moved 659,824 singles in 28 weeks and resides at number 91…

Looks like Carrie needs a new single.

Looks like no one’s moving albums with Carrie’s "Carnival Ride" at number 36 with such a piss poor number, the aforementioned 12,657.

But, it appears that it’s true, country fans have gotten the digital memo last, since the album isn’t even in the Top 50 Digital chart.

93. Lynyrd Skynyrd "Sweet Home Alabama"

Sales this week: 14,396
Percentage change: -7
Weeks on: 19
Cume: 1,154,674

I’m thinking Kid Rock sold these.

I still don’t understand Bob’s reluctance to be on iTunes… He’s talking about the acts not being able to make any money. Isn’t that HIS LABEL’S fault? Not iTunes’? Which coughs up in excess of sixty percent of the revenue?

I’d say Bob’s leaving money on the table here. With the song of the summer, he should be able to sell in excess of a million singles, which is the equivalent of 100,000 albums…

97. Bon Jovi "Wanted Dead Or Alive"

Sales this week: 13,798
Percentage change: +26
Weeks on: 29
Cume: 875,566

"The Deadliest Catch", right?

It’s the theme song for those not watching or scoring at home… (I guess if you were scoring, you wouldn’t have time to watch this reality show…)

Pete Townshend paved the way. License your classics as theme songs…and not only will you make money, but people will want to see you live.

But you must be old and classic and have a bunch more hits.

And you must sacrifice your credibility. (Actually, it’s right there in the contract, clause 18, "make this deal and be seen as a whore forevermore".)

102. Kenny Chesney "Better As A Memory"

Sales this week: 12,244
Percentage change: -18
Weeks on: 12
Cume: 186,035

This is utterly astounding. This was a NUMBER ONE RECORD, and it only sold 186,035 copies?

Obviously, the country music business is on the verge of turmoil. Because once its audience gets computers and iPods the Nashville cats are gonna lose control. They’re still living in the nineties, thinking it’s all about radio dictation. But when one gets an iPod, one’s tastes/desires broaden and one is no longer limited to what’s being forced down one’s throat.

107. Mariah Carey "Bye Bye"

Sales this week: 10,851
Percentage change: -32
Weeks on: 13
Cume: 375,895

How prescient of her. She’s almost gone from view.

You’re only as big as your last hit single, if you’re in the singles game.

110. Colbie Caillat "Bubbly"

Sales this week: 10,394
Percentage change: -5
Weeks on: 52
Cume: 2,483,613

If you hear a definitive hit single and nothing else…SIGN THE ACT ANYWAY! That one hit single can generate a ton of bread… This single has done the equivalent of 248,000 albums! Add that into the 1,679,778 real albums sold, and you have quite a payday. In the future, will people even bother to buy the new album without hearing it first? I doubt it. That’s old wave action that people are being cured of.

ALBUM CHART

1. Beck "Modern Guilt"

Sales this week: 31,404
Debut

That’s MORE than one third of the 84,531 copies moved in toto.

In other words, Beck’s audience is COMPUTER-SAVVY!

As for Beck’s singles… He’s got one at number 158, entitled "Gamma Ray", which has sold 7,651 copies.

Bottom line, Beck’s got a hard core audience, that believes in him and wants everything he does. But it’s very small. And newbies are not checking him out.

8. Nelson/Marsalis "Two Men With The Blues"

Sales this week: 5,085
Debut

That’s basically twenty five percent of the 21,664 albums moved.

In other words, the jazz audience is computer-savvy too.

Needless to say, nobody wants a single. Only believers are interested in this combo.

10. "Mamma Mia"

Sales this week: 4,592

This is a souvenir. Nobody wants a single. They don’t even want an ABBA original single, there’s none on the chart.

13. Blind Pilot "3 Rounds & A Sound"

Sales this week: 4,444

There is no physical album.

It’s only $7.99 on iTunes and was released on the indie Expunged Records.

I’d say this is the future.

Word spreads online, people buy it online. No sales department, no returns, no accounts issues. You may not know about this act, but they and their label don’t care. They’ve got fans who believe they’re credible (no singles on the chart) and they’re on their way to making money, since their overhead is so low.

Either you sell the act, making people believe they stand for something and will be here tomorrow, or you sell the single. There’s more money in the album, but the public, especially the young, net-savvy public, has been burned so many times, it’s wary of albums. Or, it just doesn’t believe in albums, viewing music as evanescent grease. Make them believers if you want to establish a retirement account.