So. While we were celebrating the holidays, some people bought or downloaded music. And the result is that the soundtrack to “Les Miserables” is number 1, on amazon.com and on iTunes. So it’s number 1 both in physical sales and in virtual ones. “Les Miz” is beating Taylor Swift and all the other little popsters on the charts. Not bad. It’s a rarity for a single release to dominate all the number 1 slots, too– usually the top album on iTunes is something younger, while amazon buyers are older and want the CD. But it does seem like everyone wants “Les Miz.”
And to make it even sweeter, Anne Hathaway as a little bit of a hit with her version of “I Dreamed a Dream.” It’s number 25 on iTunes and 29 on amazon.com. Kudos to Republic Records/Universal Music for ‘getting’ it. Not every hit movie launches a hit CD– witness the “Twilight” movies, which should have sold bundles of CDs, but didn’t exactly.
Meantime, my favorite current CD, Van Morrison’s “Born to Sing: No Plan B,” is number 40 on amazon.com, somewhere on iTunes, and available to anyone who wants to hear some great, authentic soul performed by a legendary genius who has never heard of Taylor Swift or “Twilight.”
