USA
Billboard Report (Excerpt)
Eminem won't budge from no.1, Lil Wayne tops digital songchart
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
by Keith Caulfield, L.A. & Silvio Pietroluongo, N.Y.

While the Billboard 200's top 10 welcomes six debuts, none can push Eminem's "Recovery" out of the top slot (116,000, according to Nielsen SoundScan; down 12%). The set thus spends its seventh

 nonconsecutive week at No. 1—the most weeks atop the list since Taylor Swift's "Fearless" strung together 11 nonconsecutive frames in the penthouse in late 2008 and early 2009. "Recovery" also notches the most weeks at No. 1 for a male artist's album since Usher's "Confessions" earned nine weeks in the top slot in 2004, and the most for a hip-hop effort since OutKast's "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below" did seven in late 2003 and early 2004. Eminem will likely relinquish the No. 1 position next week to Katy Perry's new "Teenage Dream." Released yesterday (Aug. 24), industry prognosticators suggest that the set will likely sell in the range of 170,000 to 200,000 by week's end on Aug. 29. Beleaguered former "American Idol" champ Fantasia is seeking a big week too. Her third set, "Back to Me," is on track for a sturdy No. 2 debut with a number in the range of 150,000 to 175,000. Over on the Digital Songs chart this week we greet a new No. 1 in the form of "Right Above It" from Lil Wayne featuring Drake as it struts in with 225,000 downloads sold. It's the first No. 1 for Wayne on this chart and it's his best sales week as a lead artist. Wayne's debut pushes aside last week's No. 1, Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie," which slides to No. 3 with 207,000 (down 19%) behind Perry's "Teenage Dream," which jumps one spot to No. 2 (209,000; up 13%). Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are" slides into the top 10, rising six rungs to No. 6 (144,000; up 56%), while Nelly's "Just a Dream" debuts at No. 8 with 135,000. It's his first top 10 on the tally since "Grillz" peaked at No. 2 in early 2006. Back on the Billboard 200, R&B singer Kem claims his highest-charting set as "Intimacy" starts at No. 2 with 74,000. His last album, 2006's "Kem II," bowed at No. 5 with 140,000. His first set, 2003's "Kemistry," entered way down at No. 175 and ultimately peaked at No. 90. Singer/songwriter Ray LaMontagne nabs his second top 10 album as "God Willin' & the Creek Don't Rise" floats in at No. 3 with a career-high sales week of 64,000. His last studio effort, "Gossip in the Grain," bowed at No. 3 with 60,000 in 2008. "God Willin' " additionally starts at No. 1 on the Digital Albums chart with 31,000 downloads—49% of its overall first week. The download sum for "God Willin' " was likely enhanced by its selection as the Amazon MP3 store's $3.99 daily deal on its release date, Aug. 17. It didn't benefit, however, from much promotion in Apple's iTunes Store. While it earned front-of-store placement on street date, that promo had vaporized by Aug. 18. Most new releases are hyped throughout the week in the iTunes Store, so this one-day-only placement is out of character. According to Apple, the selection and placement of promoted titles in the iTunes Store are an editorial decision made by its staff. Though one can't help but imagine that the sudden lack of promotion of "God Willin' " on Aug. 18 in the iTunes Store may have had something to do with its Amazon Daily Deal status from the day before. In more "best week ever" news, veteran rock act Iron Maiden celebrates its second top 10 album and best rank on the Billboard 200 with the arrival of "The Final Frontier" at No. 4. With 63,000 sold in its first week, it marks the rock band's biggest sales frame since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991. Its previous SoundScan-era sales high came when its only other top 10 set, 2006's "A Matter of Life and Death," bowed at No. 9 with 56,000. Continuing down the list of top 10 debuts on the Billboard 200, we next find Trace Adkins roping a No. 5 entry with "Cowboy's Back in Town" (50,000). It's his third top 10 set and first since 2006's "Dangerous Man" debuted and peaked at No. 3 . . . David Gray grabs his first top 10 set with "Foundling," as it lands at No. 9 with 25,000 . . . John Mellencamp earns his 10th top 10 set as "No Better Than This" starts at No. 10 with 24,000. There are only three non-debuts in the top 10 this week aside from "Recovery" at No. 1. Lady Antebellum's "Need You Know" jumps six spots to No. 6 (32,000; up 35%) after iTunes sale-priced it for $7.99 last week and heavily promoted it in the store. The retailer trumpeted the sale as part of the promotion of Lady A's new iTunes-exclusive "iTunes Sessions" EP, which debuts at No. 17 with 18,000. Not only does that give Lady A a pair of albums in the top 20 for the second time this year, but it's also the highest rank and best sales week for any of iTunes's "Live From . . .," "Sessions" or "Originals" releases. Finally, Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" tumbles five rungs to No. 7 (31,000; down 40%), and Justin Bieber's "My World 2.0" moves down three slots to No. 8 (30,000; down 10%).
Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Aug. 22) totaled 5.1 million units, up 2% compared with the SoundScan-era low sum last week (5 million) and down 11% compared with the comparable sales week of 2009 (5.7 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 190.2 million, down 12% compared with the same total at this point last year (216.8 million).
Digital track sales this past week totaled 20.3 million downloads, up 1% compared with last week (20.2 million) and down 2% stacked next to the comparable week of 2009 (20.7 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 742.4 million, down 1% compared with the same total at this point last year (747.3 million).  COMPLETE CHARTS

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (Excerpt)
Hardrock veterans making deep impact on the chart
Monday, August 23, 2010
by Alan Jones, London

Iron Maiden’s first studio album for four years, The Final Frontier earns the veteran heavy metal act its fourth number one in all and its first since 1992, with first week sales of 44,385 copies. That tally

includes 1,343 vinyl albums – the 36th highest tally by any album in that format in the 21st century and the highest since Arctic Monkey’s Humbug shifted 1,490 copies a year ago this week.
In case you are wondering, all of the seven best weekly vinyl sales since 2000 were by Travis’ The Invisible Band, with a top tally of 5,503 in week 39, 2001. The Final Frontier’s sales are marginally more than the 44,134 sales which earned Iron Maiden’s last studio album, A Matter Of Life And Death, a number four debut in 2006. Since then, their ‘best of’ Somewhere Back In Time debuted at number 14 on sales of 9,183 (2008) and live set Flight 666 debuted at number 15 on sales of 9,736 (2009). The Final Frontier’s success extends Iron Maiden’s span of number ones from a previously modest 10 years to 28 years – they also topped with The Number Of The Beast (1982), Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (1988) and Fear Of The Dark (1992). The Final Frontier is Iron Maiden’s 37th album chart entry – a record for a heavy metal band. Iron Maiden’s high flying debuts means that Eminem’s Recovery is toppled for the third time. Previously dethroned by Kylie Minogue and Arcade Fire, Recovery dips to number two on sales of 27,794. With six weeks at number one and three weeks at number two, it hasn’t been out of the top two yet. The Saturdays didn’t get their anticipated first number one single last week – and their mini album Headlines (eight songs, 28 minutes) is similarly found wanting – though its number three debut (22,981 sales) provides the girl group with its highest album chart placing to date. Their 2008 debut, Chasing Lights, entered at number 11 (22,393 sales) and peaked at number nine 12 weeks later, eventually selling 337,649 copies; follow-up Wordshaker debuted and peaked at number nine last year, with first week sales of 15,022, and to date sales of 80,810. Album sales increase 5.82% week-on-week to 1,803,564 – 10.11% above same week 2009 sales of 1,638,027.
The eighth number one single in as many weeks, Green Light debuts in pole position for London garage/grime collective Roll Deep, on first week sales of 57,412 – that’s 13.70% down on the opening tally of 66,523 which secured their last single, Good Times, a number one debut 16 weeks ago. Good Times was one of the more tenacious number ones of 2010, spending three weeks at the summit – a run equalled only by Owl City’s Fireflies – and has sold 307,495 copies to date. Both Green Light and Good Times are included on Roll Deep’s second album, Winner Stays On, which will be released in a fortnight (September 6). With punters giving the green light to Roll Deep, there’s more amber agony for Eminem, who was ahead in the first mid-week sales flash, and appeared to be on course to collect his eighth number one with Rihanna collaboration, Love The Way You Lie.
The track is on its ninth straight week in the Top 10 and would have been the first single to reach number one so far into its Top 10 career since 1994/5 when Celine Dion’s Think Twice scrambled to the top on its ninth week in the top tier (and 16th week in the Top 75). This was arguably Love The Way You Lie’s best chance of getting to number one. It sold 54,110 copies last week to hold at number two – 6.9% less than the week before – to lift its career tally to 494,845 but will be hard pressed to rival Taio Cruz’s Dynamite, which seems set to be number one a week hence. Four other singles in the Top 10 are static this week, though in reality all are in decline, with double digit dips in sales week-on-week. They are: Yolanda Be Cool feat. D Cup’s We No Speak Americano (4-4, 38,354 sales), Ne-Yo’s Beautiful Monster (5-5, 34,615 sales), Billionaire by Travie McCoy feat. Bruno Mars (6-6, 33,690 sales) and Eliza Doolitle’s Pack Up (9-9, 26,647 sales). Completing the Top 10, last week’s number one, Club Can’t Handle Me, slips to number three for Flo-Rida feat. David Guetta, on sales of 47,999; The Saturdays’ Missing You ebbs 5-7 (33,635 sales); Airplanes dips 7-8 for B.o.B. feat. Hayley Williams (29,136 sales); and All Time Low declines 8-10 for The Wanted (25,284 sales).
Falling just short of the Top 10, drum & bass duo Chase & Status follow up their number nine Plan B collaboration End Credits with a number 11 debut for Let You Go, which also features Mali (23,899 sales). Singles sales dip 3.39% week-on-week to 2,445,669 - that’s a 17-week low but is 8.33% above same week 2009 sales of 2,257,630.  COMPLETE CHARTS