Weekly Music Sales Report and Analysis: 23 July 2014
Very late, but my data keeps coming in late. Is it because it’s summer?
Rise Against debuts at #1 in Canada this week with 14,000 copies of The Black Market, a very respectable number for this day and age. This is their third straight #1 debut in Canada. No wonder they like playing here.
Jason Mraz debuts at #2 with 12,000 copies of Yes while Weird Al pulls in third with 6,000 units of Mandatory Fun.
The biggest single in the country is “Stay with Me” from Sam Smith, which experience 17,000 downloads in the last week.
Over in the US, year-to-date album sales are still down 15% with CDs falling 19% year-over-year. Digital albums are lower by 12% and digital tracks are down by 13%.
You’ve probably heard by now that Weird Al debuted at #1 with 104,000 copies, making Mandatory Fun the first comedy record to reach the top spot on Billboard since 1963. When Allan Sherman did it 51 years ago, JFK was still president.
Jason Mraz and Yes debuted at #2 (81,000 copies), Rise Against was third (53,000) and something called Kidz Bop Kids 26 was fourth at 46,000 units. The biggest American single is from a Canadian band. Magic!’s “Rude” saw another 195,000 downloads in the last week. And finally, the most-streamed song in the is STILL “Fancy” from Iggy Azalea with 9.5 million listens, which is up from 7.8 million last week.
All numbers courtesy Nielsen SoundScan.
About the Author
Alan Cross is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 30+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.
