Hot Music Beat

After only including releases from the previous 18 months to calculate the best selling albums on the Billboard chart, Billboard will now be incorporating catalog releases due to the massive sales of both Michael Jackson and The Beatles. The sales chart on November 25 will be the first tally of the comprehensive chart. In digital music news, 4 artists have already broken Rihanna’s track sales record of 9.9 million digital songs in 2008, including the late King of Pop, Lady Gaga, the Black Eyed Peas and Taylor Swift. The biggest news is probably that the country singer is the only artist that outsold Michael’s album this year in sales. Congratulations!

The craze over ‘Glee’ doesn’t seem to be dying down anytime soon. Billboard has revealed some very interesting stuff regarding the musical TV show. There are reports that the cast members of the show could potentially get their own record deals with Columbia. The cast is also going to be recording a special version of Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ to be released as a single next month but it won’t be used for the show. There’s also talk for an episode of all original songs as songwriters have been contacting the show’s creator to feature their songs. One of those writers is Diane Warren, who will be writing two ballads for the show. Wow!

Lady Gaga is making a big solid mark in music history as the singer is officially the third artist in history to have three number 1 songs from a debut album on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40. The only other artists to have accomplished this feat have been Ace of Base and Avril Lavigne. I think it would be great if Lady Gaga could surpass those artists and get four number 1 songs on the chart. And with her career going mighty nicely, I don’t think that’s a feat that’s too far off from getting achieved. I hope she does it.

After Michael Jackson’s sudden death last week, his greatest hits and even some of his lesser known songs have earned nonstop radio airplay to honor his memory. According to Billboard, the late King of Pop’s airplay increased by 1735% from last week. Prior to his death, the singer’s hit ‘Rock with You’ was heard around 500 times in a week. But in the past week, 22 of Michael’s song were played over 1000 times! Leading in the airplay is ‘Billie Jean’ which places the track at number 51 among the titles for the past week. That’s not bad for a song that was released back in 1983.

The Jonas Brothers know how to keep their fans happy and the fans know how to return the favor. For the second time in less than a year, the trio of singing brothers debuted at #1 last week’s Billboard albums chart with their latest release ‘Lines, Vines and Trying Times’. The guys from New Jersey sold over 247,000 copies of the record this week and they are on point to keep this good thing going for a few weeks more. It looks like their fame isn’t fading after all. Congratulations for scoring another top spot! With a tour going on, they’re sure to stay there.

Women are totally ruling the music industry this year! Kelly Clarkson has made history on this week’s Billboard Hot 100 with her new single becoming the largest jump to the top spot in the chart’s 50-year history. The original American Idol’s ‘My Life Would Suck Without You’ went from number 97 to number 1 after selling over 280,000 downloads on its first week of release in the US. This is the second time she has set this record jump to number 1. Back in October 2002, Kelly’s victory song ‘A Moment Like This’ went from number 52 to number 1. Kelly just snatched back her title from its latest holder Britney Spears. Brit’s ‘Womanizer’ went from number 96 to number 1 last year.

The right wingers at the Parents Television Council are fussing about Britney Spears’ song ‘If U Seek
Amy’, which, as you know, spells out some dirty words when said quickly aloud. The PTC is warning radio stations to quit giving the song airplay as it “violates the broadcast indecency law” if played between 6AM and 10PM. PTC president Tim Winter said “There is no misinterpreting the lyrics to this song, and it’s certainly not about a girl named Amy.” However, the song has already hit the airwaves and is at the number 92 spot on the Billboard Pop 100 with a cleaner version that replaces the word ‘seek’ with ‘see’.

Leona Lewis is still out promoting her album ‘Spirit’. It’s not like it needs any more support really. The 23-year old singer remained at number one in the singles chart for a second week in the UK with her cover of Snow Patrol’s ‘Run’. Leona will also be performing with other female acts to celebrate New Year’s Even in the main square in the UK. She was also recently named America’s Top New Artist for this year by Billboard magazine. Leona has done all the right things this year and it can only get better. She’s someone I’m really rooting for to have great success.

When you have a massive tour going on, when do you find the time to write new tracks for a new album? Ask Kanye West how he did it because that’s his case. Billboard is reporting that the rapper’s management has confirmed that he’s seriously considering dropping his fourth album by the end of the year. He’s been on tour for a good chunk of the year and has been producing track for Jay-Z’s new album and he still found time to do this. He’s like Wonder Woman – err, man. The name of the album hasn’t been disclosed though but Kanye reportedly intended to name his next album ‘Good Ass Job’ a couple of years back. I wonder if it would stick.

Tokio Hotel stormed the Billboard album charts with SCREAM, the band’s first U.S. full length to date. Landing at #5 and #6 on the Alternative Albums and Rock Albums charts respectively and in the top 40 of Billboards Top 200 it is safe to say – Tokio Hotel have more than arrived.

In their next step in U.S. domination, Bill, Tom, Georg and Gustav, will find themselves in millions of living rooms as their ballad, “Monsoon,” is released as downloadable content for Rock Band!

If Tokio Hotel have it their way, they’ll be back in the States this August rocking out live for fans old and new. Keep up-to-date on tour information and the latest news in the world of Tokio Hotel at tokiohotel-us.com!

Universal Republic Records’ rock band 10 Years landed a Top 15 debut on Billboard’s Top Album chart this week, coming in at #12 with their new album Division. The new CD also grabbed the top spot on iTunes coveted rock page and currently sits at #7 on the Top Albums. It also garnered the #1 spot on the Top Hard Music Chart, #2 on the Top Alternative Album Chart and #3 on the Top Current Rock Album Chart rallied by their soaring hit single “Beautiful.” The single was launched at radio in early February and was the #1 Most Added single at Alternative and Active Rock radio.

The video for the new single has also garnered wide acclaim, with the clip taking a swipe at both celebrities and paparazzi in the current Gotcha game of celebrity journalism. 10 Years has also earned a place on one of 2008’s most anticipated summer tours, joining mega-rockers Linkin Park on their 5th annual rollout of the Projekt Revolution tour, which kicks off on July 16 at the Tweeter Center in Boston, MA. 10 Years will share the Revolution stage with multiple other bands on the raucous trek, including metal icons Atreyu, Hawthorne Heights, and Armor For Sleep. The 24 city trek hits multiple major U.S. cities in July and August, including New York City on July 22, Washington DC on July 27, Atlanta on August 3, and Chicago on August 16, winding up in Houston Texas on August 24 for the final Projekt Revolution event at the Cynthia woods Mitchell Pavilion.

Critics have cited no let-down in the momentum10 Years established with the across-the-board fan response they received with their previous album The Autumn Effect, which spawned the hits “Wasteland” and “Through The Iris.” “Wasteland” was hailed by the rock, video, and digital world as one of the decade’s breakthrough rock singles, setting career highs for the band as it reigned for more than a year on the rock charts. The song notched the #4 spot on the year-end Active Rock chart, and pulled off a hat-trick of #1 citations at Active Rock, Billboard’s Modern Rock chart, and in the Alternative Rock format.

The new album, Division, was produced by acclaimed production veteran Rick Parasher (Pearl Jam, Nickelback, Soundgarden. Rob Zombie, among others), and recorded during what the band
has described as ‘an intense creative process.’ Songs on Division include “Just Can’t Win,” “Drug of Choice,” “11:00AM (Daydreamer),” and “Focus,” among others. The latter song was co-written by guitarist Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots’ fame.

Formed in 2002, members of 10 Years are longtime friends, gaining notoriety with their independent release Killing All That holds You, and signing on with Universal Records in 2005.

The 2008 Grammy® Nominees CD has debuted at # 5 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart this week! This is the 15th edition of the compilation, and this year it features the likes of Plain White T’s, Justin Timberlake, and Foo Fighters, to name a few. Be sure to tune in to the 50th Grammy® Awards live this Sunday, February 10th at 8pm ET/PT on CBS.

Album Art: HERE

In an unprecedented move, Billboard has decided to revise their charts by allowing records sold at only one retailer to appear on the lists. As a result, Britney Spears did not take the top spot on the albums’ chart but rather surrendered it to the Eagles.

Britney’s ‘Blackout’ was expected to sell 350,000 copies based on projections. However, it only sold 290,000 copies since its release last week. By contrast, Carrie Underwood’s latest CD sold 527,000 copies on its debut week. The Eagles’ double disc, their first album of original material in 28 years which is only available at Wal-Mart, sold over 700,000 copies.

Coheed and Cambria’s new record, “No World For Tomorrow,” has debuted at #6 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, marking the band’s highest debut in its career as well as its highest chart position. “No World For Tomorrow” marks the apex and final chapter of “The Amory Wars,” the conceptual, apocalyptic storyline which runs through the band’s previous albums — “The Second Stage Turbine Blade” (2002), “In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3″ (2003), and “Good Apollo, I’m Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through the Eyes of Madness” (2005) – and chronicles the the trials and tribulations of main characters Coheed and Cambria Kilgannon and their children as they fight to save civilization.Coheed and Cambria are currently on an extensive North American headline tour with Clutch and The Fall of Troy.