December 17, 2008

By Editor: Keith Caulfield; Contributors: Gary Trust, Alex Vitoulis; Editorial Director: Silvio Pietroluongo

Taylor Swift's "Fearless" comes back to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a second week, displacing Britney Spears' "Circus," which slips to No. 2 in its sophomore frame . . . The top 10 of the chart is devoid of debuts, with new releases from Common, Musiq Soulchild, Brandy, Avant and Maroon 5 all starting outside the top 10 . . . In other news, we've got updates on another No. 1 single for T.I., Michelle Williams, Solange and Beyonce on the Hot Dance Club Play chart and Elvis Presley's return to the Adult Contemporary tally.

FLASH POINTS


• Taylor Swift climbs back to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 as her "Fearless" moves 249,000 (up 29%). The set replaces Britney Spears' "Circus," which drops to No. 2 with 200,000 (down 60%).

• Last week's release slate was rather low key, with only a handful of significant titles hitting stores. First up is Musiq Soulchild's "OnMyRadio," which bows at No. 11 with 91,000. His last set, "Luvanmusiq," started at No. 1 with 149,000 in March 2007. His new album's first single, "Ifuleave" (featuring Mary J. Blige), recently became his eighth top 20 hit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

• Common's "Universal Mind Control" arrives at No. 12 with 82,000. His last effort, "Finding Forever," bowed atop the list in 2007 with 155,000. Just behind Common is the return of Brandy, who starts at No. 15 with "Human" (73,000). It's the latter singer's first new studio set since 2004's "Afrodisiac" debuted and peaked at No. 4 with 131,000 in 2004. "Human" also marks Brandy's first album for Koch/Epic, after having spent her entire career with Atlantic Records.

• Avant's self-titled fifth studio release opens at No. 26 with 52,000. His last album, "Director," began with 123,000 at No. 4 in 2006 . . . Maroon 5's remix collection "Call and Response" lands at No. 73 with 16,000. The set boasts reworkings from such producers and artists as Tiesto, David Banner, Mark Ronson, Deerhoof and Paul Oakenfold.

The Billboard 200 Sales data provided and compiled from Nielsen SoundScan
*1	2	TAYLOR SWIFT Fearless (Big Machine )	*11	New	MUSIQ SOULCHILD onmyradio (Atlantic / AG)
2	1	BRITNEY SPEARS Circus (Jive / Zomba)	*12	New	COMMON Universal Mind Control (G.O.O.D. / Geffen / IGA)
3	3	BEYONCE I Am...Sasha Fierce (Music World / Columbia / Sony Music)	*13	14	ENYA And Winter Came... (Reprise / Warner Bros.)
*4	5	NICKELBACK Dark Horse (Roadrunner )	14	13	FAITH HILL Joy To The World (Warner Bros. (Nashville) / WRN)
5	6	SOUNDTRACK Twilight (Summit / Chop Shop / Atlantic / AG)	*15	New	BRANDY Human (Knockout / Koch / Epic / Sony Music)
6	4	KANYE WEST 808s & Heartbreak (Roc-A-Fella / Def Jam / IDJMG)	16	12	IL DIVO The Promise (SYCO / Columbia / Sony Music)
*7	9	VARIOUS ARTISTS Now 29 (Universal / EMI / Sony BMG / Zomba / UMe)	17	17	ELVIS PRESLEY Christmas Duets (RCA Nashville / SBN)
*8	11	AC/DC Black Ice (Columbia / Sony Music)	18	7	AKON Freedom (Konvict / Upfront / SRC / Universal Motown / UMRG)
*9	8	SOUNDTRACK High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Walt Disney )	*19	21	PINK Funhouse (LaFace / Zomba)
*10	10	DAVID COOK David Cook (19 / RCA / RMG)	*20	23	MILEY CYRUS Breakout (Hollywood )
* indicates titles with greatest sales gains this week

MARKET WATCH

• Album units, current chart week: 12.9 million units
• UP 14% from last issue's charts: 11.3 million units
• DOWN 28% from same week, 2007: 18 million units
• This week: The top 10 albums each sell more than 100,000 copies.
• This week last year on the Billboard 200: Josh Groban's "Noel" spent a fourth week at No. 1, selling 669,000 (up 15%). The chart's top debut came from Bow Wow and Omarion with their collaboration album "Face Off" at No. 11 with 107,000. The top 12 albums each sold more than 100,000.





BORDERLINES


• The No. 200 album this week, the various-artists compilation "Tis the Season: Santa Baby: A Romantic Christmas" (Universal Special Markets/Compass), sold 5,000.
• The No. 200 album for the same week of 2007, Kellie Picker's "Small Town Girl" (BNA), sold 8,000.
• Average total of the No. 200 album for the same week of the year during the past 10 years (1999-2008): 11,832.



PROGRESS REPORTS

• T.I. notches his first Mainstream Top 40 No. 1 as a lead artist, as "Live Your Life" rises from No. 3 to No. 1. The rapper previously reigned as a guest on Justin Timberlake's "My Love" in 2006. "Live Your Life's" featured artist, Rihanna, claims her fourth trip to the top . . . Previously, as a lead artist, T.I. went as high as No. 3 with his last single, "Whatever You Like."


• On the Hot Dance Club Play chart, the Music World label takes three of the top 10 slots -- the first time a label has done so since Aug. 5, 2006, when Silver Label did it. Music World holds down Nos. 1, 6 and 10 with Michelle Williams' "The Greatest," Solange's "Sandcastle Disco" and Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," respectively, this week.

• Elvis Presley returns to the Adult Contemporary radio chart for the first time in 26 years, as his digitally created duet with Martina McBride, "Blue Christmas," debuts at No. 22 The King last reached the list with "The Elvis Medley" in late 1982. The new entry marks Presley's 53rd career AC hit.


A LOOK AHEAD

• Among the titles released this week, due on next week's charts: Fall Out Boy's "Folie a Deux," Keyshia Cole's "A Different Me," the All-American Rejects' "When the World Comes Down," Jamie Foxx's "Intuition" and Plies' "Da Realist."

• Next week's Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2007 when: Josh Groban's "Noel" held at No. 1 with 757,000 (up 13%) while Mary J. Blige's "Growing Pains" started at No. 2 with 629,000. The next-highest debut came from Lupe Fiasco's "The Cool" at No. 15 with 143,000. The top 23 albums each sold more than 100,000.

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