Coldplay Maintain UK Lead on US Album Sales

For the third week in a row, US album sales have fallen to a new low, with SoundScan – which has logged the market since 1991 – detecting just 5.9m last week, a decline of 5.7% week-on-week, and 15.4% below same week 2008 sales of 7m.

The deepening recession hits hardest at the top of the chart, where country singer Taylor Swift’s Fearless holds sway for a seventh straight week, albeit with sales of just 63,000 – the fourth lowest number one tally of the SoundScan era. Coldplay are still the top British act on the chart, with Viva La Vida Or Death & All His Friends slipping 31-34 but maintaining its lead over Seal’s Soul (down 39-43) and Adele’s 19 (34-44). Leona Lewis’ former number one album Spirit joins them in the Top 50, climbing 57-49.

Read the full sales review article at Musicweek here