What Went Right: How Taylor Swift Sold a Million Records In a Week

     Taylor Swift's Speak Now was predicted to have strong first week sales, but the Grammy winner's new album exceeded expectations and broke records last week, selling over a million copies in a time when many doubted that could ever happen again.

     Nielson Soundscan reports the album sold 1,047,00 last week, the first album to sell over a million since Lil Wayne in 2008 with Tha Carter III. Billboard reports that one out of every six albums sold last week was Speak Now, giving Swift the best first week numbers since 2005 when 50 Cent's The Massacre sold 1,141,000 copies in a week.

     In addition, Speak Now posted the best one weeks sales for a female since 2000 with Britney Spears' Oops!...I Did It Again and the best one week sales for a country artist since 1998 with Garth Brooks' Double Live according to Billboard.

     So, how did she do it?  Taylor Swift is an anomaly in the collapsing record industry.  Record sales continue to tumble, and 2010 is on track to be the worst year for record sales ever, but somehow, America's sweetheart pulled it off.

     The secret to Swift's broad appeal is similar to what politicians try to do election after election: energize their base and pull independents.

Speak Now: If Taylor Can't Do It, No One Can

     In the crumbling record industry, there are few bright spots.  Twenty-year old country crossover Taylor Swift is one of them.

     Swift became the youngest artist to win Album of the Year at last year's Grammy Awards for Fearless, which also was the biggest selling album of 2009.  Her successes have led to high hopes for her third record, Speak Now, with some industry insiders wondering if she can break the illusive one million sales mark in its opening week.

     The last artist to shift 1 million units in a week was Lil Wayne who did so with Tha Carter III in June 2008. No album since has come close to matching the feat.

     "It feels like if anybody can do it now, she could be the one," said Will Botwin, president/CEO of Red Light Management and ATO Records to Billboard.com.  "She has the sales base and heat from the last few albums. And with all the amazing things she has going on, she is as likely as anybody to reach a million units."

     Swift's broad appeal stems from her ability to court pop radio while not alienating her country base, often a difficult task. Her job is made easier however, by her sweet and authentic temperament which is impossible to hide during interviews and performances. This was cemented in pop culture following Kanye West's interruption during her acceptance speech for Female Video of the Year at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. She is America's Sweetheart.

     Regardless, the singer faced criticism that the fairytale and young love themes common in her music would get old soon. Swift got the message. Her forthcoming record was initially entitled Enchanted, but that was soon scraped. Still, listening to the song "Enchanted", it's evident that this isn't the same territory charted in songs like "Love Story" and "Today Was A Fairytale". "This night is flawless, don't you let it go," she sings over building strings and timpani. "It was enchanting to meet you." It's a sentiment that is probably scribbled in countless 15-year-olds' diaries, but Swift no longer sounds like a teenage girl obsessed with boys. She's grown up.

     2 million copies of Speak Now have been sent to stores, meaning it won't be hard to find a copy. With such high expectations, it makes you wonder if Swift feels any pressure on her record to be a blockbuster.

     "I have a lot of anxiety about things on certain days, but I have anxiety because I care," she said to Billboard magazine. "It's not anxiety that's crippling. It's a five-minute conversation with myself about if a [sales] number really defines this piece of art that I've created and what that means, and what the number's going to be. I try to predict what it's going to be, and then I realize that I can't predict what it's going to be, and then I realize that I can't predict what it's going to be, and then I sit there and say something to myself like, 'Well, you're happy today. Enjoy this and be proud of the music that you've made."

     Speak Now is available at Best Buy for $9.99 during its first week in stores and a special edition featuring bonus tracks is on sale exclusively at Target.

Glee and Eclipse Crush Christina's Hopes of No. 1

     "Let us not forget who owns the throne," sings Christina Aguilera at the close of her Bionic album.  "You do mommy," her son Max answers.  Not so fast Max.  Mommy might have sold over 42 million records worldwide and won four Grammys, but the queen she is not.  A quick look at the Billboard 200 album chart makes this crystal clear.

     Her aforementioned album, Bionic, was released last week.  As her first studio album in four years, you'd expect this superstar comeback to easily top the charts.  Instead, Bionic debuted at a more moderate No. 3 selling a tepid 110,000 copies.  That's down from 2006's Back to Basics which sold 346,000 in its first week.  And don't blame the economy or the imploding record industry - Britney sold more copies of her 2008 Circus in its first week than 2007's Blackout.  Regardless, I'm more concerned with how the two albums above Aguilera managed to hit No. 1 and 2 than why Christina sucks (that's already been discussed by Chase).

     No. 1 on this week's Billboard 200 is Glee: The Music, Journey to Regionals EP followed by The Twilight Saga: Eclipse at No. 2.  What's interesting about these two albums is that they didn't have radio support to promote themselves (You could probably say the same thing for Aguilera after "Not Myself Tonight" peaked at an embarrassing No. 23, but I digress).  Instead, these two soundtracks relied on the the television and movie screens respectively as well as their established brands.

Industry in Decline: What Went Wrong in the Record Industry and How They Can Fix It

Even though iTunes upped the price for a single song, making the biggest hits $1.29 instead of 99 cents, that 30 cent raise is a deal compared to what one Boston University student had to pay. Joel Tenenbaum, a postdoctoral student at BU, had to pay a whopping $22,500 a song after being found guilty of illegally downloading and distributing 24 copyrighted songs. In retrospect, I'm sure Tenenbaum would gladly have forked over $30 for those same songs instead of becoming the target of a record industry lawsuit.

The Recording Industry Association of America, or RIAA, is on a mission to stamp out online music piracy. As album sales continue to tumble and the record industry faces a massive loss in revenue year after year, suing illegal downloaders and petitioning Congress for protective legislation is their game plan. It seems to make sense; illegal downloading has coincided with dwindling album sales, so get rid of the downloaders and start making money again.

It all began in 1999 when Shawn Fanning, a Northeastern University student created a peer-to-peer file sharing network called Napster that allowed Internet users to download and distribute music and other media files easier than ever before, and for free. Trouble emerged in 2000 as acts such as Metallica, Dr. Dre, and Madonna filed lawsuits after their music leaked online. It did little to slow Napster's massive popularity and growth. In 2000, there were an estimated 38 million users of the service.

Album Sales Hit All Time Low

     It's no surprise that album sales continue to plummet, but last week, they hit an all time low.  Billboard reports, "For the week ending May 30, the U.S. music industry sold a total of 4,984,000 albums, according to Nielsen Soundscan. This figure, which includes new and catalog releases, represents the fewest number of albums sold in one week since Soundscan began compiling this data in 1994."

     Prior to 1994,  records of how much music was sold was less accurate, but some industry officials estimate that last week marked the worst week for sales since the early 1970's.  To put the numbers in perspective, compare last week's nearly 5 million albums sold with the record high - 45.4 million albums sold in December, 2000.

     As usual, the response is to fight to un-winnable war against online music piracy rather than find a new business model that will work in the Internet age.

     "All the more reason why everyone in the industry should be focused on getting the U.S. Congress to introduce legislation that makes the Internet service providers our allies in fighting piracy," said Universal Music Group Distribution president Jim Urie.  "Piracy is getting worse and worse and the government needs to focus on that."

Bono Criticizes Pirates, Draws Heat

U2 frontman Bono wrote an editorial for the New York Times which critisized online piracy, supported net policy ideas, and has drawn criticism.

"A decade's worth of music file-sharing and swiping has made clear that the people it hurts are the creators...the people this reverse Robin Hooding benefits are rich service providers, whose swollen profits perfectly mirror the lost receipts of the music business," the singer wrote.

Bono then called for Internet policing to stifle piracy. Citing American efforts to stop child pornography and Chinese efforts to stifle online dissent, he noted that its possible to track Internet content and activity.

The singer's comments sparked a backlash across the web. "Bono" has quickly become one of the top trending topics on social networking site Twitter with one user saying, "its all about self promotion. He'd sell his used toilet paper if it meant promoting his career & name."

I understand how ironic it is to hear about online piracy hurting the music business from the lead singer of the top grossing live act of 2009, but people have got to understand that when you buy No Line On The Horizon, its not like all that money is going into Bono's pocket. There is a whole industry of people that you're stealing from.

People are understandably upset about the thought of policing online activity because it infringes on privacy rights, but aren't illegal downloaders infringing on the rights of copyright holders when they steal a copyrighted work?

As record sales continue to plummet and the record industry continues to hemmorage money, a solution must be reached. Obviously, the strategy so far, suing music fans and using scare tactics, hasn't worked. A new business model must be found. Perhaps Bono is the one with the answer. U2's latest release, No Line On The Horizon, has barley scraped over the 1 million mark in the United States while their supporting tour, 360 Degrees Tour, has grossed over $311 million.

You can read Bono's op-ed on ten ideas for the next ten years here.

Billboard Updates Album Chart

Beginning December 5, Billboard will include all albums sold nationally in its Billboard 200 album chart.

This was how albums were originally tracked, but in 1991, Billboard excluded albums that had been out longer than 18 months and dropped below the No. 100 position. This was done so the record industry could see how their albums were doing without having Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon in the way. In 2003, the Top Comprehensive chart was created to reflect the sale of both old and new albums.

Earlier this year, Michael Jackson became the first artist to ever outsell a new release with an older catalog album. His Number Ones, Essential, and Thriller all outsold the Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D. for several weeks following his death in June. Without having a precedent for such a feat, Billboard just reported the Top Comprehensive chart, made things up as they went along, but didn't budge on the rules.

In September, the Beatles released their entire body of work digitally remastered. Once again, these titles were excluded from the flagship Billboard 200 album chart, but they dominated the Comprehensive chart.

Nothing like this has ever happened before, or at least happened with the ability to track it. Several Elvis Presley albums probably outsold Fleetwood Mac's Rumors in 1977 following his death, but until the advent of Soundscan in 1991, album sales couldn't be tracked as precisely. With two high profile instances of catalog albums outselling new releases, both dealing with two of the biggest artists in popular musical history, Billboard has decided to tweak their chart.

For an industry in decline, reporting album sales this way makes sense. Sure, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga will be big sellers this Christmas, but so will Michael Jackson and the Beatles. My big question is will Dark Side of the Moon rocket up the chart out of nowhere, and, if it does, who is still buying it?

Bloc Party To Release "Intimacy"...Again

British band Bloc Party have re-released their album Intimacy with the new single "One More Chance" and six live songs.

The album, which was ranked No. 1 on 17 Tracks' Top Albums of 2008, is absolutely amazing, but is this re-lease really necessary?

Intimacy was initially released digitally on August 21, 2008. The physical copy fit stores October 24 with additional tracks. On May 11, 2009, the band released Intimacy Remixed which featured the entire tracklisting reworked by some of the best remixers in the industry.

All of that is fine. The digital release followed by a physical one two months later was an ingenious move. If the album is done, why wait two months to get the sleeves printed and the record out to stores? It will inevitably get leaked online anyways. Even the remix concept was great (Granted, Intimacy sounded like it was remixed already, it's the most electronic album the group has done).

This re-release is completely unnecessary though. I was hoping "One More Chance" was the first single of a forthcoming fourth album, not a tack-on to their third. And the six song live set would be a great EP, but instead it seems like an afterthought to make purchasers more excited to buy the new edition (because one new track definitely isn't enough).

I doubt this move was decided by the band, it was probably the label, eager to make a few extra bucks as their way of making money continues to fall apart around them. Just another sign of an industry in decline.

Above: The four covers of the four incarnations of "Intimacy".

New Music Set to Clog Blogs, Hopefully Sell Some CDs

September 9 was hailed as the last gasp of the dying record industry with the Beatles remastered albums and Rockband game as well as Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3 dropping, but September 28 might end up trumping it.

Tomorrow a slew of albums will hit stores that might send people to music aisle at Wal-Mart who don't usually visit. Madonna's hits compilation, Celebration will get dance aficionados and gays there, Mariah Carey's Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel will get all her "lambs" and aspiring American Idols, while Barbra Streisand's Love Is The Answer will be able to get your mom and Hillary Clinton to drop $12.99.

Other new releases include Brand New Eyes by Paramore, Revolution by Miranda Lambert, and Black Gives Way To Blue by Alice and Chains. Jay's aforementioned The Blueprint 3, Whitney Houston's I Look To You, and Taylor Swift's Fearless, all currently in Billboard's top ten, are expected to continue to sell (moderately) well.

Also newsworthy, tomorrow will see the debut of new songs. Britney Spears will release the should-be-spelled-out-because-its-less-than-ten "3", Chris Brown takes his next step towards a comeback with "Transformer", and the Foo Fighters will drop "Wheels".

Make no doubt about it, after 9/28, you'll forget 9/9 even happened.

Will Video Save The Radio Star?

With record sales at an all-time low, musicians are turning to television in an attempt to reach more consumers.

Oprah Winfrey launched her fall season last week with a two part interview of singer Whitney Houston.

Houston, who recently released “I Look To You,” her first new record since 2003, fielded questions ranging from former husband Bobby Brown to drug use. Winfrey has proven to boost sales for authors and publishers through her book club but it remains to be seen if music will benefit the same way.

Read more...

Countdown to 09/09/09

I wrote a paper last year about illegal downloading and uncovered a lot excuses pirates have for declines in music sales that have nothing to do with Limewire. One of the most prevelant was that people are spending their time and money with thing other than music, such as video games (never mind that sales of iPods have gone up as sales of CDs have gone down). Now they really can't say that because video game sales are down 46% this year. Sucks to be in a recession doesn't it?

Viacom is hoping to save both industries next Wednesday, 09/09/09, when they release the Beatles: Rock Band. The game features 45 songs from the Fab Four, the first time the Beatles have allowed their music to be released digitally. Also on the same day, the entire Beatles catalog will be released in a digitally remastered format. But wait, there's more! Apple just announced that they are making some announcement on 09/09/09...could it be the Beatles are finally getting released on iTunes? Or is that just what they want us to think so it blows up the blogosphere? We'll find out next week.

Here's a taste of the Beatles: Rock Band

Michael Jackson vs. Taylor Swift For Best Selling Album of the Year

In the wake of Michael Jackson's death, millions of Americans who have grown accustomed to obtaining their music illegally have gone out and gotten it the "old fashioned" way; they've paid for it. The disc that has benefited the most is his 2003 compilation Number Ones which spent over a month outselling the Black Eyed Peas.

Billboard has released sales figures and in 2009, Number Ones has shifted an incredible 1,619,000 copies. That puts the album right ahead of what seemed to be 2009's inevitable top seller, Taylor Swift's Fearless. Swift's sophomore effort is right behind at 1,608,000 copies sold. Imagine that, a year where the No. 1 and No. 2 best selling albums sold over 1.5 million copies. It feels like 2005 or something.

2009 still has four months left filled with Jackson's 51st birthday and his concert film set to hit theaters and Swift still flexing her muscles dominating both pop and country radio (and over half the songs on her album have charted on the Hot 100 at some point in the past year), these last few months are going to be like the final stretch of the most exciting 400 meter race music has seen all decade.

End of the Bled

For a presentation on photo manipulation for Comms 101, I used the Blender cover featuring a composite photo of Britney Spears at the height of her meltdown to showcase the use of obviously fake photos to present a point. Besides the composite photo disclaimer, the cover tag line asked the question on everyone's minds concerning the princess of pop: How Will It End? Ironically, Britney Spears is still going strong while Blender has announced its own demise.

After fifteen year, the music magazine will be publishing their last issue hitting news stands next month. Contributor Robert Christgau compared Blender as a Hyundai trying to be a sports car to Rolling Stones' Cadillac and while those comparisons are fair, Blender will be missed. Their infatuation with lists was a bit over the top, but, to be fair, lists are the bomb (especially year end ones).

Carl Wilson expressed his surprise commenting, "The shocking part is that I had figured Blender was the most commercially savvy one in the music-magazine market - they built their business on photos (especially of scantily clad pop starlets), best-ever/worst-ever/most-outrageous sorts of lists, titillation and trivia, backed up for credibility with a review section full of some of the best working music writers struggling (for a good paycheque) to squeeze wit and insight into tiny little capsule reviews. I hated its glibnesss, but it wasn't snobby - it was pro-pop, pro-hip-hop and pro-indie all at once - and it certainly seemed saleable; if even they can't survive, I'm not sure there really is a music magazine market. Curiously, a lot of the more niche-oriented publications - rap magazines and metal magazines in particular - seem to be doing well still, when I thought they'd probably be the most easily displaced by fan sites and blogs. Perhaps cliqueishness (and even snobbishness) is actually a safer marketing bet?"

Rest in peace Blender. You will be missed.

R.I.P. the CD 1982-2007

Shake Up At iTunes Store

Yesterday, Apple announced that it would lift the anticopying restrictions on its entire digital store as well as permit record companies to set their own price for songs. The anticopying restrictions come as a result of digital rights management software. Also known as D.R.M., this software limits the times a file can be copied and makes it playable only on the iPod. Apple is finally permitted to sell songs without D.R.M. because of it's agreement to drop its blanket 99 cent song policy.

While the majority of songs will actually drop to 69 cents, the most popular hits and newest releases will jump to $1.29. Some tracks will still be available for 99 cents. Record companies are hoping to generate more revenue with the new price system by creating greater interest in their older and now cheaper catalogue while predicting that consumers will be willing to fork over an extra 30 cents for today's hits.

Before you start complaining, just stop and think about it. Under the old method, if you wanted to make an illegal copy of I Am...Sasha Fierce for everyone on your Facebook friend list, you would first have to buy it and then, after burning so many copies, iTunes wouldn't let you do it anymore. You would then have to go through all the trouble of ripping one of the burned copies of the album to get a DRM free version of it before continuing to make one for everyone on your list. See all the trouble that 30 cents saves you? Your little sister's best friend who you've never actually met but she added you one day and you accepted to not be a jerk will be so pleased. And you can save a little money when you buy all those Carpenters songs you've been dying to get.

Taylor Swift Takes On The Recession

After the dismal numbers of both 808's & Heartbreak and the ridiculously over-hyped Chinese Democracy in the week of Black Friday, all hopes that a big-name releases during the holidays could save the record industry fizzled away. Neither Kanye West or Axl Rose were the saviors of modern music sales that many had suspected them to be. With only two full weeks before Christmas, an unlikely 19 year old Pennsylvania-born country singer has stepped up to the plate and done what neither the "voice of our generation" or the "most heavily anticipated record in fifteen years" could do -- she's actually generating an increase of sales.

Taylor Swift released her sophomore effort, Fearless, on November 11. It opened at #1, selling 592,304 copies in its first week. Without any new debuts in the top ten this week, the record reclaimed the one spot with a 29% increase in sales. Hearing of any album that can create that kind of sales boost a month after its release is unheard of in this economic climate. It is now estimated that Fearless has shifted over 1.5 million copies, and that number will only increase as frantic fathers complete their last minute Christmas shopping for their 15 year old daughters.

Swift is proving that with cross-over appeal and the right demographic as your target audience, commercial success is still possible. As a country singer, she still commands the loyal red state record buyers, but her music isn't so twangy that it alienates teenage girls enamored with the likes of the Jonas Brothers and David Archuleta. In fact, her sound is reminiscent of singer-songwriters of years past such as Michelle Branch and Vanessa Carlton. This allows Swift to appeal to that teenage girl's parents and all of adult contemporary radio. As either the sole or co-writer all thirteen songs on the album, Swift not only demands respect as an artist, but she tells her listeners her deepest most intimate hopes and fears as if they were straight out of her diary ("Finally, somebody knows what I'm going through!" the said 15 year old sighs). That's bound to create a devoted fan base.

This Christmas, Fearless will be unstoppable. Swift has put together a winning formula that will land her in stockings across America and will generate her massive amounts of royalties in the process.

Black Friday Posts Poor Numbers For Record Industry

For retailers across the nation, the Friday following Thanksgiving, commonly referred to as 'Black Friday', is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. For the record industry however, these big sales failed to materialize. Back in September, we reported on the insane amount of new releases by big artists that were due out in the fourth quarter and questioned whether the sheer number would make up for lower sales. The answer seems to be no.

Billboard reports that albums sales were down somewhere from 10% to 30% as the weeks big releases didn't match expectations. Kanye West's masterpiece, 808s and Heartbreak, was expected to shift anywhere from 700,000-975,000 copies but could only manage 450,000 copies sold. Meanwhile, Guns N' Roses ridiculously highly anticipated Chinese Democracy crashed the Dr. Pepper website but only sold 250,000-260,000 copies.

At the box office, the lame holiday "comedy" about a blue state couple learning lessons from their annoying red state family, Four Christmases, earned $236 million. America, what is wrong with you? You will spend $8 to watch a lame movie once, but refuse to drop $10 at Best Buy for a CD that you can listen to for the rest of your life. Support the artist, support the record companies. It's not like Kanye West is hurting for bread, but record companies have made massive cuts the past several years. True, it's time to find a new business model, but America needs to find a new conscious and feel guilty about stealing music. Pirates.

Britney's Circus Floods The Internet

Usually, two to three weeks before an album hits your local music store, some fool gets ahold of a copy and puts it on the web. Within hours, the album can easily be found all over the internet. While record executives no doubt dread the inevitable leak, some artists have found that early leaks can actually be beneficial. When Lil Wayne found out his entire album made its way onto the net in late 2007, he responded by throwing all the tracks together for a digital mixtape titled The Leak. The leak boosted the buzz on the blogosphere about Lil Wayne and his Tha Carter III which ended up being released this summer. The album sold over a million copies in its first week, an amazing feat in this depressed record buying climate, and it remains the top selling album of the year.

How much does an early leak impact sales? The natural conclusion to come to is that it severely dents the number, but could it actually help them? Did the leak and buzz it generated give Lil Wayne the boost to shift the number of records he did?

This weekend, Britney Spears' Circus leaked , one track at a time, onto the net over the course of six hours. Britney fansites crashed as frantic fans found out about the news and searched for a link to download it. Mediafire.com, one of the most popular sites to snag pirated music, had its server overloaded at the height of all the hype. Obviously, the vast majority of the people who illegally obtained their copy of Circus will not be headed to Best Buy on December 2 to get a legit physical copy, but there will be some people who liked the tracks so much that they will.

Regardless of what the actual sales amount to, there is convincing evidence that Britney's camp itself is still responsible for at least part of the leak. Days before the rest of the album found its way onto the web, the track "Kill The Lights" was leaked and ended up in dozens of fan made YouTube videos like the one below. Usually, record companies are on top of pulling the plug on such videos but, strangely enough, "Kill The Lights" remained. Could it be that the song was intentionally put on the net to add some excitement to the countdown to Circus' release?

One popular music blog responsible for carrying Circus tracks noted that it, "saw its biggest day EVER, traffic wise, last night, with over 33,000 people coming in looking for the tracks.
This leak is momentous in one way or another. It has overshadowed Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreaks and Lil Wayne and DJ Drama's Dedication 3. Can we expect this internet hype to translate into massive first week sales (Watch out Wayne!)? Time will tell, but for now, all this is exciting."

"Kill The Lights"

AC/DC Invades Wal-Mart Nation

With traditional brick and mortar music retailers going out of business and big box stores reducing the space slated for CDs, some artists are looking for exclusive deals to push their product. AC/DC and Wal-Mart have teamed up to create a store-within-a-store for their new album Black Ice, which the Arkansas based retail giant will sell exclusively. The Eagles were the last band to try to Wal-Mart only option with Long Road Out Of Eden, 2007's 5th best selling album (3.1 million copies). The Eagles, however, didn't have Rock Band. AC/DC's in store promotion include their back catalog albums on sale, DVDs, t-shirts, as well as the popular rock n roll video game.

Say what you will about Wal-Mart, but they have gotten retail down to a science. Hurricane coming? Stock stores with more board games and snack foods. After the hurricane has come and gone? Beer. For a music industry in decline, the exclusive deals with retailers might be the best option. Best Buy has recently announced it will be the only store to carry Guns N' Rose's Chinese Democracy and depending how both it and Black Ice sell could signal a shift in the way music is marketed and sold. Of course, you could always just pull a Madonna and try to generate interest in your failing album by getting a high profile divorce.

Wal-Mart and AC/DC Agree: Money Talks!

AC/DC Refuses To Go Digital

In an effort to keep their albums from being disassembled and thrown on some one's iPod play list, AC/DC has refused to release their new album Black Ice to iTunes. The record will be available at physical stores only, with Wal-Mart offering an exclusive edition. While Tuesday usually marks new release day for music retail, Black Ice will be coming out this Thursday, but, over 400,000 fans have already snagged a copy illegally. After leaking earlier this week, over 4000,000 downloads have been detected by BitTorrent users, not to mention the untold number of people who downloaded their copy from other file sharing services. Still, the band is sure they want to keep their music off of iTunes digital shelves pointing to the increase in sales of their back catalogue the past five years as proof (Back In Black was #2 on the Pop Catalogue Charts last week after selling 9,200 copies. That would have put them in the 60's on the Billboard 200 Album Chart if it was still eligible.) Despite the lack of sales boost Estelle received just a few short months ago after Atlantic pulled her album from iTunes, a recent Canadian study found that fans who first obtain a copy of an album illegally are more likely to eventually purchase it.

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