Irishteen

Lady GaGa has had two massive singles and her album is only starting to sell now
Taylor Swift is the biggest teen artist at the moment

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doctorwho

Oops, I meant to write, while KOL have broken through in the U.K. (not U.S.), and they had big hits on alternative radio (the Modern Rock charts on Billboard), they haven't broken through to the Hot 100. Yet, they can still sell at that 15-20K pace each week. As U2 are in a similar position at the moment, I'm hoping they can obtain similar results.

While Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga have enjoyed album success, one thing I've noticed is that lately a big single does not translate into big album sales. Clarkson had huge sales (legal downloads) of the first single from her new album. Yet her album sales have been soft by comparison. Likewise, Flo rida had a monstrous #1 with sales of 600K plus, yet the album sold under 100K its first week.

It seems this is a new era. Back in the 50's and 60's, it was about the hot single - the 45 as Bono calls it. Album sales were not key - hit songs were. Then slowly a transition occurred where hit singles were great, but it was more about album sales. Some of this was due to the progressive rock (or as I call it, opera rock) era, where trying to pull a single out of some 10 minute song was difficult. But those albums sold well.

However, with iTunes and downloads, suddenly, it's back to the single being all powerful. Some artists, like U2, can still have strong first week album sales without that hit single, an gigantic album sales with a hit single. But it appears more and more artists are having hit singles without hit albums. While 45 rpm records are still being produced (I have one for GOYB!), it's really about the digital single these days. Perhaps Bono's focus on the hit single is correct as it appears once again these are key.

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Native_Son

gd stuff dr who.

im actually surpised by the low kelly clarkson album sales, the first single was just as big as anything on her breakaway album, and that sold 10M copies. i find it surprising that lady gaga's album is selling more than kellys. If U2 were to have a #1 download single (such as vertigo) i think would prove a huge boost for album sales.

Irishteen

Kelly Clarkson alienated her fans with her last album and they are no longer willing to buy an album by her and just want singles
Lady GaGa is new, she's had two massive singles and is now being seen as someone who it might be worth buying an album by, when at first her album was flopping badly because they thought she'd be a one single artist

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Irishteen

Best Selling Albums During 2009
1. U2 No Line On The Horizon 2.286.000
2. Bruce Springsteen Working On A Dream 1.315.000
3. Beyoncé I Am... Sasha Fierce 1.238.000
4. Lady Gaga The Fame 1.204.000
5. Kings Of Leon Only By The Night 1.201.000
6. Soundtrack Twilight 1.173.000
7. Taylor Swift Fearless 1.096.000
8. Pink Funhouse 945.000
9. Britney Spears Circus 920.000
10. Nickelback Dark Horse 912.000

Best Selling Albums Released in 2009
1. U2 No Line On The Horizon 2.286.000
2. Bruce Springsteen Working On A Dream 1.315.000
3. Lily Allen It's Not Me, It's You 712.500
4. Kelly Clarkson All I Ever Wanted 675.000
5. The Fray The Fray 587.000
6. Soundtrack Slumdog Millionaire 502.000
7. The Prodigy Invaders Must Die 499.000
8. Franz Ferdinand Tonight: Franz Ferdinand 486.000
9. Les Enfoirés Les Enfoirés Font Leur Cinéma 2009 444.000
10. Annie Lennox The Collection 287.000

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KUEFC09U2

U2 Still #1 on euro charts, thats amazing if you ask me

Native_Son

yeah, and thats even dispite poor uk sales. shame on britain

Irishteen

That's based on points but not sales though, so it might not really be the number 1 seller

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doctorwho

Points? Does that mean airplay combined with sales?

If so, then it's still impressive. And even when it finally drops down a few notches, it might bounce back up with the full promotion of "Magnificent" (I'm guessing this will be pushed harder when it is "officially" released) and, more importantly, the tour, which hits Europe first (as we all know). So NLOTH may indeed stay near or at the top of the European chart for some time.

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Irishteen

Nope it means it's done by chart positions as opposed to sales

For examples

And album that's number one in ten countries but sells 50,000 might be lower than an album that is solely number 1 in Britain but sells 500,000. It more shows what's most popular on average in Europe as opposed to what's selling best.

The album is doing great everywhere in Europe except in the UK where it is under performing a bit

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rollingbob

It's a weighted points system according to each countries market size. The UK has the highest weighting as it's the biggest market. So it is impresive considering how badly it's doing there (worse than Pop btw). Compared to the others on Euro top 100 albums it's actually now 4th= with Rattle & Hum,

1. 17 wks #1 - The Joshua Tree
2. 8 wks #1 - Zooropa
3. 6 wks #1 - Best Of 80-90
4= 5 wks #1 - Rattle & Hum
4= 5 wks #1 - NLOTH
5. 4 wks #1 - Pop
6= 3 wks #1 - ATYCLB
6= 3 wks #1 - HTDAAB
7. 2 wks #1 - Best Of 90-00

& comparison with other recent rock releases : Coldplay's X&Y was #1 for 14 wks, VLV 11 wks, AROBTH 3 wks, Mettalica's Death Magnetic 6 wks & AC/DC's Black Ice 8 wks. Death Magnetic & Black Ice also fell hard & fast in UK.

KUEFC09U2

But even in the UK its still doing pretty great, i mean its down to about #24 this week, but its only moved 2 places with the new albums ahead of it, ATYCLB and HTDAAB both suffered the same drops this album has, but i dunno again maybe i am being a little naive, but i have the feeling this will hang in the top 40 longer than those albums ever did.

Native_Son

UK #24, 6 new entries.

18 singles out of top 40.