Taylor Continues To Dominate Album Sales Chart

It’s amazing, simply amazing.  While all other artists saw album sales drop after Black Friday’s boost, Taylor Swift (along with Andrea Bocelli) managed to score increases in album sales. Sure, neither approached the 500,000 copies Susan Boyle sold (which makes her  I Dreamed A Dream album’s 2 week sales of 1.2 million feel as if it’s 2003 again), both artists still sold a crazy amount of albums, which was enough to take the second and third spots on the Nielsen SoundScan Hot 200 Albums chart.  Both of them even held-off R. Kelly’s latest album, giving him only 4th place on the chart.   Swift, who moved another 128,000 copies of Fearless, has now sold over 4.6 million copies of the album, making it one of the most successful albums of the last half of this decade. 

Carrie Underwood’s Play On dropped in sales but gained three spaces on the Hot 200 Albums chart as her album now has sold over 700,000 copies in five weeks.  Sugarland’s Gold and Green album continues its march up the charts this week as the duo’s first holiday album sold nearly 44,000 copies this week.  The album is now third on the Nielsen SoundScan Hot Country Albums chart.  Lady Antebellum continues to defy the odds as their album moved one percent more than last week’s fire sale and that has given the CMA’s Best Vocal Group the boost to get their self-titled debut album up the charts yet again.  Their total albums sold has now passed the 1.1 million mark.  In January the trio will debut their sophomore release Need You Now. Look for it to attain an early lead for most albums sold in a debut week.  Tim McGraw retains his fifth position on the Hot Country Albums chart as the title track to his album Southern Voice continues a nice run up the charts.  Tim has now sold over 375,000 albums and if he holds steady with sales this week, the artist will move over the 400,000 albums-sold mark.

Zac Brown Band’s Foundation continues to stake claim to the sixth spot on the Country Albums chart this week and is followed by Taylor Swift’s self-titled debut.  That album should move past the 4.5 million albums sold mark by this time next week as Jason Aldean’s just-certified Platinum third record Wide Open continues to move at a solid pace.  The album, which actually has “only” sold 813,000 copies, features the hits “She’s Country,” “Big Green Tractor” and “The Truth.”  Darius Rucker’s Learn To Live jumps up a slot on this week’s Hot Country Albums chart to the 9th spot just as “History In The Making” becomes the album’s fourth Top 10 hit on the Hot Country Songs chart.  The pesky Hannah Montana Movie Soundtrack continues to be a Top 10 album in the country genre as well as it passed the 1.7 million albums sold mark this week.

The second half of the Hot Country Albums chart starts out with the various artist collection Now That’s What I Call a Country Christmas two-disc album.  The collection features a disc of new or recently recorded holiday songs from today’s top stars along with a disc of classic songs from the likes of Burl Ives, Gene Autry, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.  Miranda Lambert’s Revolution is up next and the album has moved past the 230,000 albums sold mark while Toby Keith’s American Ride moves over the 220,000 albums sold plateau.  Reba McEntire’s first album for the Valory Music Company continues to do well and has now sold nearly 320,000 copies, thanks in large part to her Top 10 hit “Consider Me Gone.”  Sugarland’s second of three albums on this rundown is their 2008 release Love on the Inside.  The album has now sold nearly two million copies and will feature its fifth single in the song “Keep You” in early 2010. 

Rosanne Cash’s The List jumps back into the Top 20 of the Hot Country Albums tally this week as the legendary artist’s latest album crosses the 100,000 albums sold plateau.  Keith Urban’s Defying Gravity has sold nearly 660,000 albums and the record, which has three Top 10 hits shows no signs of slowing down as the fourth single “’Til Summer Comes Around” meanders its way up the charts.  George Strait’s Twang  is next and the album is inching ever so closely to the Gold sales mark as the album works single number two (the title track) to radio.  The holiday compilation A Very Special Christmas 7  is next and the album, which features the Carter Twins, Kellie Pickler, Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift and Gloriana, is a benefit for the Special Olympics.  Kenny Chesney’s Greatest Hits II compilation album rounds out the Top 20 this week as the album jumps over the Gold mark in scanned units.  It has now sold 500,062 albums since its release last summer.

In the interesting section of the albums chart we find Like Bryan just Doin (his) Thing as his sophomore release has sold over 150,000 copies with his first single from the project, “Do I” holding steady in second place while Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” holds fort at #1.  Rascal Flatts’ latest album Unstoppable has given the group yet another Platinum release as the album is now nearing the 1.1 million copies sold barometer.  Chris Young’s Man I Want To Be is 124th on the Hot 200 Albums chart and while the title track gets worked to radio, the album has sold nearly 140,000 albums thanks to the popularity of the lead single “Getting You Home (The black Dress Song).”  Sugarland’s Live on the Inside, a Walmart-only release, has moved over 209,000 copies since its summer 2009 release while Kellie Pickler’s self-titled sophomore set continues to move units and is nearing the 350,000 copies-sold mark, a strong number considering the album features only one Top 10 hit and two Top 30 hits.