'Hope for Haiti Now' Leads Album Sales
“Hope for Haiti Now,” the download-only album of performances from the Haiti benefit telethon last Friday night, is No. 1 on this week’s Billboard chart, widely outselling Susan Boyle, Lady Gaga and other hitmakers despite being on sale for only part of the week. After going on sale through iTunes shortly before the show began on Friday, the album (released by MTV Networks, and for sale also through Amazon, Napster and Rhapsody) sold 171,000 copies in the United States through Sunday, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It is the first digital-only release to reach No. 1 on the Billboard album chart, and proceeds will benefit relief organizations. Ms. Boyle’s “I Dreamed a Dream” (Syco Music/Columbia) is at No. 2 with 86,000 sales, followed by Lady Gaga’s “The Fame” (Interscope) with 62,000, and Spoon’s “Transference” (Merge) at No. 4 with 53,000. The album “2010 Grammy Nominees” (Grammy Recordings/EMI), a 20-track compilation with Beyoncé, the Black Eyed Peas, Taylor Swift and other nominees, reached No. 5 in its first week out, with 49,000 sales. Last week’s No. 1, Vampire Weekend’s “Contra” (XL), dropped to No. 6 with 43,000.
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Sign in to Recommend More Articles in Arts » A version of this article appeared in print on January 28, 2010, on page C2 of the New York edition.
