The album is a testament not only to the urbane rapper’s broad appeal but also to a brilliant setup by Def Jam/IDJ, as the red-hot label continues to ride high under the leadership of L.A. Reid and Shawn Carter. I mean, the cover of Time the week before release—that’s getting it done!
Tony Yayo, the latest G-Unit member to release an album, is rapping his way toward a strong showing in the vicinity of 225k on his Interscope debut, putting UMG and hip-hop in the first two slots on next week’s chart.
Shooting for #3 are Brooks & Dunn (Arista Nashville), with 100k-125k in their sights, as Joe Galante and Butch Waugh’s RCA Label Group stays on its hot streak heading into the all-important Q4.
And that’s not all, folks. The major-label debut of indie darlings Death Cab for Cutie (
The other noteworthy debut is Columbia/Legacy’s two-CD soundtrack to No Direction Home, the Martin Scorsese-directed documentary on the young Bob Dylan, which looks good for 25-30k nearly a month before PBS airs it in two parts (9/26-27). The film will also be released in expanded form on DVD. And by the way, it’s brilliant.
So the music biz is experiencing a dramatic turnaround after going in the dumper last week, experiencing a 6% drop from the previous week, while plummeting by 11.3% from the comparable week of 2004. The weekly tally of 9.6 million units represents the second lowest figure of the year; in the third week of January, 9.5 million were sold. Year-to-date sales are 364.6 million, down 8.3%, or 33.1 million, from last year at this point.
THE MUSIC OF CLIVE COMES ALIVE AT CARNEGIE HALL
That's what friends are for. (5/1a)
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THE NEW UMG
Gosh, we hope there are more press releases.
TIKTOK BANNED!
Unless the Senate manages to make this whole thing go away, that is.
THE NEW HUGE COUNTRY ACT
No, not that one.
TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN PLAYLIST
Now 100% unlicensed!
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