Here’s an update on the album chart fight for the week that ended last night.
Paul McCartney has landed at number 1 on the charts in terms of pure sales with 58,000 copies of “McCartney III.” These numbers come from Buzz Angle, which counts streaming, CDs, and downloads. In terms of the latter two, Paul outsold Taylor Swift and Eminem to get the number 1 position.
“McCartney III” is also the top seller at amazon.com in CD and Vinyl. It’s also their number 1 download thanks to discounting.
Taylor Swift’s “Evermore” sold 38,700 CDs and downloads. Eminem’s “Murder” sequel did 29,100 copies.
In total sales, according to Buzz Angle, “Evermore” did 96,200 copies including streaming. Swift came in first with McCartney and Eminem in a photo finish for number 2. Eminem had more streaming than McCartney. Fans wanted to own “McCartney III” more than passively play it.
Billboard, the mothership of charts, will probably declare McCartney number 1 over all because they’ll count in everything: CDs, vinyl, streaming, downloads. Also, it’s a better story to declare “McCartney III” Paul’s first number 1 in 31 years. That’s what they’ve already said on the British charts.
For Sir Paul, it’s big big success, a huge Christmas present. “McCartney III” was really marketed beautifully, top to bottom, all the PR, the way the fan club sales worked, the different colored vinyl for sale, all of it. Kudos for a job well done! If we ever get back to converts, and Paul wants to do another tour, he’s got about a half dozen songs from “McCartney III” that he can throw in and the fans will know them.
Just a note to @Vevo: maybe you shouldn’t have a Burger King commercial for the “Baconator” tacked to the front of Paul’s video for “Find My Way” on YouTube. He’s an arch vegan. After watching the commercial, I may become one too!
