According to the annual report from the IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry), total music sales revenues in 2012 increased by 0.3% from 2011. This marks the first time that record sales have increased since 1999. Revenue from digital sales increased by 9% from 2011, and revenue from streaming services increased by a whopping 44%. The report also tells us that the best-selling song worldwide last year was "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen (12.5 million units sold), and that for the second consecutive year Adele had the best-selling album, moving 8.3 million copies of 21 in 2012.
Neilsen SoundScan has reported its mid-year sales numbers, and Adele's 21 is the only album so far to have sold over 1 million units (she sold 3.69 million copies so far). This is the first time the industry has only had one album sell at least 1 million records mid-way through the year in SoundScan's 21 years of tracking data. Remarkably, 21 was also the leader at the mid-way point in 2011, and topped the year-end charts last year as well. If the record sells the most copies this year, it will be the first album to ever top the total sales charts two years in a row. Oddly enough, Lionel Richie's Tuskegee takes the No. 2 overall spot (912K), One Direction is at No. 3 (899K), Whitney...
Usher took the top spot on the sales charts this week, selling 128,000 units of Looking 4 Myself. Rush debuted in second place with 103,000 units of Clockwork Angels, while Adele dropped to No. 3 with another 60,000 of 21. Other notable debuts include Ed Sheeran at No. 4 with 44,000 copies of + and Waka Flocka Flame at No. 9 with 33,000 of Triple F Life. Finally, fun. moved yet another 16,000 copies of Some Nights, landing at No. 22. Some Nights hasn't moved out of the top 50 in its 17-week run since its release, and has sold over 300,000 copies in total.
Like, really...you can't make up today's news. A mother starting singing Adele's "Rolling In the Deep" while her daughter was in a coma (she had been unresponsive for a week) and the comatose little girl smiled in response. Two days later, she was able to get out of bed.
Adele moved back into the top overall spot this week, moving another 74,000 units of 21. The Beach Boys debuted in the third spot with 63,000 copies of That's Why God Made the Radio, while Curren$y came in at No. 5 with 39,000 units of Stoned Immaculate. John Mayer's Born and Raised dropped from the top spot to No. 7, declining 44 percent while moving 37,500 units. Of course, fun. continued its strong performance, remaining in the top 20 with almost 18,000 more sales of Some Nights.
John Mayer coasts at the top of the charts again this week, moving almost 68,000 additional copies of Born and Raised - a 71 percent decline from his meteoric sales last week. Adele and One Direction come in after Mayer, while Regina Spektor and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros see the two highest debuts at No. 4 (38,000) and No. 6 (29,000), respectively. Sigur Ros also saw an excellent debut week, cracking the top 10 and No. 9 with 24,000 copies of Valtari. Equally as awesome, fun. saw a huge rise in sales, increasing 57 percent and selling another 17,000 copies of Some Nights - perhaps partially in thanks to the awesome music video they came out with.
As expected, John Mayer debuted on top of the charts by selling over 230,000 units of Born and Raised - and it wasn't even close. Adele again stood in at No. 2, but sold about four times less than Mayer, with 53,000 copies of 21. Adam Lambert, last week's No. 1, dropped 70% in sales to the No. 11 spot, while fun. remained strong, adding almost 11,000 more sales to its total of Some Nights and rising from No. 33 to 27. Notable debuts included Sara Bareilles at No. 8 with 31,000 of Once Upon Another Time and Kimbra at No. 12 with 22,000 of Vows.
Adam Lambert topped the charts this week, selling just under 78,000 units of Trespassing. Adele came in second, with Carrie Underwood, Norah Jones and Tenacious D rounding out the top 5. Best Coast debuted at No. 24 with 12,000 copies sold of The Only Place, and fun. added another 11,000 units to its total for Some Nights.
Carrie Underwood took the top place on this week's charts, selling over 270,000 copies of Blown Away. Norah Jones was in second and...yes...NOW 42 was third. Adele had her weakest sales week of 21 in a long while, finishing fourth with just over 77,000 units moved and B.o.B. debuted at fifth with 74,000. Jack White added another 62,000 to his total while finishing 7th, while fun. added another 11,000 to its ongoing strong sales performance. The Avengers soundtrack sold 26,000 copies.
Eve 6's Speak In Code has debuted at #39 on the Billboard Top 200. Jack White topped the charts with 127k sold. Adele sold another 84k, and fun. added another 13k to their total.
Adele is actually seeing some competition for the top spot on the charts from Bruce Springsteen this week. With 50% of the sales tallied, Bruce is trailing Adele by only 8k copies ... think he has the chance to grab the top spot? Think Thomas is buying-out his local Target?
This week's record sales charts are in, and it looks like Attack Attack!'s This Means War managed to sneak into the top 10 overall with 17,500 sold. Congrats to Rise Records. Perhaps more importantly, they outsold Nickelback - who came in at No. 11. Please leave your thoughts on this in .gif form in the replies. Also relevant: Adele sold under 100,000 units of 21 for the first time in a long time, but if you count sales of 19, she was still over that benchmark.
Head to the replies to see a screen shot of this week's sales numbers, according to HITS Daily Double. Adele's 21 once again tops the chart - moving a ridiculous 123,000 units while the second place album - Drake's Take Care - shifts 43,000 records. A friend of mine and I have been keeping track of Adele for a few months now, and as far as we can tell, she has not sold anything less than 100K in every week since 21's release on Feb. 22, 2011. Worth adding is that her last record - 19 - is consistently in the top albums as well. This week, it's all the way up at No. 14, selling more than many of the biggest records to come out this year despite the fact that it came out in 2008. How does...
The Maccabees' new album Given To The Wild is set to be their first ever Number 1 in the official UK chart next week. The album is currently outselling Adele's 21 in the midweek charts, so if you are in the UK and still haven't purchased the record, make sure you do so and help the band out.
City and Colour recently played London's iconic Royal Albert Hall and covered Adele's "Hometown Glory", which you can watch a video of in the replies. Dallas Green is also hoping to duet with Adele at some point.
As predicted, Foo Fighters have ended Adele's record breaking reign at the top of the UK album charts. Wasting Light went straight in at number 1 today.
For the first time in over 25 years, the top 3 biggest selling albums in the U.S. are all from British artists. With Adele currently at the top spot, Liverpool singer, Marsha Ambrosius debuting at number 2 and Mumford & Sons in the third spot.
