Country Music Remains Fearlessly Unstoppable

In a week in which there were no new releases of note in the country music world, the genre nonetheless saw a rebound that is basically proof that music items, like CDs and concert tickets continue to be sought out despite a tough economy.  The reason?  They’re relatively inexpensive purchases, compared to a car or household items, and people still need to be entertained. 

The leading country album this week is the soundtrack for the Hannah Montana movie.  While it’s a soundtrack and one could argue the merits of it being placed on this country chart, the album does feature a majority of country artists and songs, including “The Climb” from the film’s star Miley Cyrus.  Right behind here is the “Unstoppable” Rascal Flatts and the “Fearless” Taylor Swift.  Both acts scored double digit sales increases (10 and 42 percent, respectively) while being followed in the Top 5 Country albums on the Neilsen SoundScan chart by the “Wide Open” Jason Aldean as Keith Urban continues to Defy Gravity with “Defying Gravity” landing the 5th spot. 

The second set of five albums within the Hot 200 from Neilsen SoundScan included “The Foundation” from Zac Brown Band, Carrie Underwood’s “Carnival Ride,” which features five #1 hit singles, Sugarland’s “Love On The inside,” Darius Rucker’s “Learn To Live” and Lady Antebellum’s self-titled Gold-selling debut.  All of these albums, like the ones in the Top 5 scored sales increases of at least 14 percent (Zac Brown Band) to as much as 32% (Sugarland and Rucker) compared with the sales numbers the week before.

The final group of albums charted here aren’t the next 5 country albums from the Neilsen SoundScan but instead they’re five more interesting albums on the chart.  Taylor Swift’s self-titled debut continues to sell remarkably well while Jamey Johnson’s album “That Lonesome Song” retains a positive sales number while marching towards the Gold number of scanned sales (his album is certified Gold by the RIAA for shipments over 500,000 copies).   Dolly Parton’s remarkable success with her “Backwoods Barbie” album continues despite not having a radio hit. The album will, with another solid week, move over the 200,000 copies sold mark next week.  Kellie Picker is starting to see fans pick up her self-titled sophomore album, thanks in part to her tour with her friend Taylor Swift and her hit single “Best Days Of Your Life.” Billy Currington’s album rounds out this week’s chart round-up as “Little Bit of Everything” claws its way back up the charts due to the success of current single “People Are Crazy.”

Will country music continue to sell well next week? Check back here to find out.