Chart Chat 1/13/10: All About Ke$ha

Written by: Money Mike

Susan Boyle has finally met her match.

After a six-week run at the top, Boyle loses the #1 spot on the Billboard Albums Chart to another new female artist. Dance/pop singer Ke$ha opens at the top with her debut album “Animal”. The album scans 152,000 copies in its’ first week out-easily beating Boyle’s total of 93,000.

As is customary for this time of the year, the chart is very quiet. The next highest debut comes all the way down at #27, where “American Idol” Katharine McPhee debuts with her latest, scanning 15,000 copies. Only a small handful of albums showed an increase over the previous weeks’ sales, with an iTunes promotion being responsible for the biggest increases-for Radiohead’s “Kid A” and Lenny Kravitz’ “Greatest Hits”. The two decade-old albums more than doubled in sales this week, and it’s not a stretch to think that Lenny’s involvement in the leaked Michael Jackson track that briefly lit up the internets last week was also a catalyst in his sales increase.

Another increase this week occurs towards the bottom of the Top 200, where Vampire Weekend’s debut re-enters at #199, with an 11% increase in scans over the previous week. Look for VW’s sophomore release, “Contra”, to challenge for the top spot next week. However, with Ke$ha being a new artist and people just now finding out about her, she could maintain her stronghold on the top of the charts for a second week.

Here’s this week’s Top 20:

1) Ke$ha “Animal”
2) Susan Boyle “I Dreamed a Dream”
3) Lady GaGa “The Fame”
4) Alicia Keys “The Element of Freedom”
5) Mary J. Blige “Stronger with Each Tear”
6) Soundtrack “Alvin & the Chipmunks 2-The Squeaquel”
7) Taylor Swift “Fearless”
8) The Black Eyed Peas “The E.N.D.”
9) Justin Bieber “My World”
10) Lady GaGa “The Fame: Monster”
11) Rihanna “Rated R”
12) Michael Buble “Crazy Love”
13) Young Money “We Are Young Money”
14) Owl City “Ocean Eyes”
15) Glee Cast “Glee: The Music Vol. 2″
16) Eminem “Relapse”
17) Lady Antebellum “Lady Antebellum”
18) Carrie Underwood “Play On”
19) John Mayer “Battle Studies”
20) Glee Cast “Glee: The Music Vol. 1″

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Comments

  • mjheyliger
    I think Glee-fever is so widespread that there's a large segment of people buying the albums in addition to buying the singles. I actually think there's quite a bit of overlap there. A lot of people went online after the individual episodes aired to buy the singles featured, and then turned around and decided they wanted everything in one place, so they bought the album.

    I think the Mayer diehards (like me) were the ones who went out and bought this in the first week. Those are the completists/superfans. There's no big single on this album (whereas the last album had two), and this album has also had bad word of mouth, so I don't think the general public is really reacting to this album at all.
  • roheblius
    My feeling was the same as George's, but then again, tons of established artists couldn't sell half of what they expected to sell in 2009 so I guess that makes a bit of sense. It's a combination of a tepid single and bad word of mouth. Though, I didn't hear much bad about Mayer, I just saw above average ratings. He's so glib that most people will joke about his attitude and eccentricities in reviews, but not too many folks really bashed his music from what I saw.
  • mjheyliger
    I'm already over "Glee", I think. That show's a little too over the top for me.

    I don't think there's a Mayer burnout. I just think he made an average album, and I think a lot of other people feel the same way.
  • My point about Glee was that it shouldn't be tracking 2 albums in the top 20 since I would've expected the fanbase (one word) to buy singles at iTunes. I like some of the songs. I thought the remake of Jump was good and a couple of others. The show is irritating though.

    And I guess the John Mayer question was this: don't most album buyers buy to fill out their collections of the artists they like come hell or high water? Sometimes we have to remember that none of us are usual. I've picked up 50 or 60 CDs in the last 6 months. That's not normal consumer behavior. I would buy a John Mayer release simply because of who he is. Luckily, I buy a lot used CDs, but still...
  • roheblius
    You may be right about him making an average album (even if I think it's above average), but do people still buy music that way, or is it all about buzz?
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