Idolator
What can Oprah, a holiday hook, a lackluster year for album sales, and a pair of oh-so-pinchable cheeks get you? In the case of Josh Groban, the answer could be the No. 1 record of the year, at least according to SoundScan. Groban's O-approved Christmas album Noel has sold 2.1 million copies since coming out in October, and with the way it's been gaining in sales over the past few weeks, it will likely pass the current year-to-date leader—the High School Musical 2 soundtrack, which has sold 2.5 million copies to date—and it may even hit the unattainable-this-year 3 million sold mark.
Last week, he sold 581,000 copies, a gain of 8% over the previous week's haul of 539,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan. And early indicators point to a fourth chart-topping week with an even bigger take when SoundScan data are announced Wednesday for the week ending Sunday.
"It would be the first time a No. 1 album has increased four weeks in a row," says Billboard's Geoff Mayfield. "It's been a slow year, but that doesn't take anything away from the fact that he has amassed huge numbers."
Now at 2.1 million copies, Noel could easily reach 3 million, making it the only title issued in 2007 to hit that mark. He's in striking distance of surpassing High School Musical 2, which leads the sales pack this year with 2.5 million copies, followed by Daughtry, the 2006 debut by American Idol finalist Chris Daughtry, with 2.3 million.
Groban has a shot at "being the top dog," says Mayfield, noting boosts that the pop-classical singer got from an Oprah appearance and other TV slots.
"He's always benefited from TV exposure. He's not the kind of artist to get a lot of radio play. The record is a good marriage of talent and repertoire that appeals to older consumers."
A touching story, no? And one that should maybe provide a little bit of hope about, you know, reaching other consumers in these troubled times for albums. Or at least the news that the power of "Oprah's Book Club" can translate to the music industry, despite the fact that the actual places where people can, you know, actually purchase new music are being whittled away by the day.
Josh Groban's first-place 'Noel' is on record pace [USA Today]
Comments
Don't count this Groban kid out, I think the record's got legs, it'll still be selling strong in March.
Motherfucker looks and sounds like Jeff Buckley.
My mom along with a lot of middle-aged suburban women are huge Groban fans. But who am I to criticize? I'm one of 18 people who believe Merzbow is "brilliant."
It's interesting that Josh Groban got such a lift from Oprah, yet Celine Dion did not. It must be the pinchable cheeks.
After Billboard bowed to pressure on the single-store rule when the Eagles defeated Britney, I'm starting to wonder whether these late-in-the-year sales winners will spur them to do away with another hoary rule of theirs: the December-November chart year.
This is the second year in the last seven where the calendar-year winner differed from the "official" Billboard winner. In 2001 Billboard gave the title to the Beatles' 1 but the real winner, according to SoundScan, was Linkin Park's [Hybrid Theory].
This year, the discrepancy is worse: Billboard just gave the title to Daughtry, and it's going to be eclipsed twice before the end of the calendar year by HSM2 and the Groban disc.
I suppose until the day Billboard stops publishing a paper magazine (sad, but inevitable), they'll continue to be slaves to production schedules. But really, the Dec-Nov year is making less sense all the time now that they have accurate daily piece counts of every record that sells. When the market goes all-digital, the old system will look even stupider.
What the fucking fuck? Half a million a WEEK? For multiple weeks?? That is really and truly amazing and slightly makes me want to check it out....I will be stealing it.
What scares me though, is that what with all the teen-marketing we realize (as with the Jonas Brothers) that despite ardent fan-love most young'uns are still ripping. Does this mean we're now going to awash in music for old people who are the only ones who still purchase hard copy CDs?
@Moimeme: Dude, this has been the reality for a couple of years now. It was more muted this year, so maybe you didn't pick up on it if you've only been following the charts since 2007. But 2006 was the Year Of The Fogie on the Billboard album chart: from Barry Manilow to Rod Stewart to Johnny Cash to, yes, Bob Dylan, AARP-age acts that hadn't topped the chart in literally decades were beating the pants off the teen-pop brigade all year long.
Basically, your core thesis is right-on: downloading has basically cut out all of the middle demographics from the album-sales market. Meaning, simply put, only records that appeal to the very young (HSM, Hannah Montana) or the very old (I don't just mean soccer moms, I mean retirement age) are still selling full-length. Everyone else, from 14 to 60, downloads, and they mostly download singles.
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