LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. album sales rose in the past week, boosted by the debut of three major hip hop releases, as the fast-consolidating music industry nears the end of another weak year on a strong note, data showed Wednesday.
CD sales have rebounded in the fourth quarter after suffering a protracted sales slump for much of the year. The last five out of six weeks have seen year-over-year sales increases, helped by a slew of new releases the labels typically save for the critical holiday shopping season.In the week ended Nov 16, industry tracker Nielsen Soundscan found that 15.0 million units were sold, up from 13.7 million a year earlier.
Topping the charts was the debut of rapper Jay-Z’s “Black Album,” featuring productions by Eminem and others, and selling 463,000 units.
The album was released two weeks earlier than planned because illegal copies were circulating on the Web, its label, Island Def Jam, a unit of Vivendi Universal said.
Ranking No. 2 was “Resurrection,” the latest posthumous release from slain rapper Tupac Shakur, which sold 430,000 units, followed by “Beg for Mercy” by G-Unit, which sold 377,000 units in its first week, said Nielsen Soundscan.
“Closer,” a new release by pop and classical singer Josh Groban, came in at fourth, selling 375,000 units.
Rounding out the top 5 was country star, Toby Keith, whose album, “Shock’n Y’All,” fell from first place last week to sell 227,075 units in the latest week.
The gains in recent weeks have prompted some analysts to conclude that CD sales will top last year’s fourth quarter sales of 221 million units, particularly as the labels roll out more end-of-year big releases.
The music industry has been driven to consolidation after three years of slumping sales, rampant piracy, and increased competition from rival entertainment such as video games.
EMI Group Plc, home to acts such as the Rolling Stones, has made a firm offer for Time Warner’s Warner Music just weeks after rivals BMG and Sony Music unveiled a proposed combination.
Current week sales are expected to be boosted by pop queen Britney Spears’ much-hyped newest album, “In the Zone,” released on Tuesday, which is on track to sell 550,000 to 600,000 units.
Other big releases should come from Blink-182, and The Beatles’ newly remixed “Let It Be… Naked” is expected to sell over 200,000 units.
According to music trade Web site Hits Daily Double.com, which tabulates daily sales, Jackson’s “Number Ones” album, which was released as police combed his Neverland Ranch Tuesday in response to child sexual molestation charges, is likely to sell just shy of 100,000 units in its first week.
Retailers said it was hard to tell how and whether news coverage of Jackson’s legal troubles would impact sales.
“The news so far has not had a measurable effect, either positively or negatively,” said Fred Fox, executive vice president for Trans World Entertainment , which operates 950 music stores including the FYE brand, Wherehouse and Strawberries Music stores.
