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Britney rules the pop charts, But where`s Michael?
LA, Nov 27: Pop princess Britney Spears, aided by a publicity blitzkrieg, steamrollered to number one on the music charts on Wednesday, while a new album by scandal-plagued Michael Jackson failed to make the Top 10, the Nielsen Soundscan sales tracking service said.
LA, Nov 27: Pop princess Britney Spears, aided by a publicity blitzkrieg, steamrollered to number one on the music charts on Wednesday, while a new album by scandal-plagued Michael Jackson failed to make the Top 10, the Nielsen Soundscan sales tracking service said.
The release of Spears' new album, "In the Zone," has been carefully aided by a publicity barrage which helped foster Spears' fourth consecutive No. 1 debut. But the album's sales fell short of the pop star's previous efforts, continuing her downward sales trajectory in recent years.
To promote the album, the 21-year-old Spears has seemed omnipresent recently, posing scantily clad for magazine covers, appearing in several television interviews and causing a major stir by kissing Madonna during the MTV Video Music Awards.
For the week ended Nov 23, "In the Zone," released by Jive, a unit of Bertelsmann AG's BMG, sold an estimated 609,000 units, the fourth highest opening in 2003, behind efforts by rapper 50 Cent, Linkin Park and Clay Aiken.
It fell below earlier CDs like "Britney," which debuted in 2001 with 746,000 units, and "Oops!...I Did It Again," which sold 1.3 million units in its opening week in 2000.
Nevertheless, retailers said they expected the star to have staying power in coming weeks, helped by holiday shopping.
"Everybody's buying Britney. Certainly the TV blitz helped to get greater exposure and I think Britney will sustain the sales pace in her second week," said Sue Bryan, general manager for J&R Music Store in lower Manhattan.
Meanwhile, publicity of a different nature haunted Jackson. His "Number Ones" album was rolled out to stores last Tuesday as police combed the pop star's Neverland Ranch in response to child sexual molestation charges.
The album ranked at No. 13 on the sales charts, selling nearly 122,000 units, a far cry from Jackson's superstardom days, but better than the 100,000 units that was forecast.
Jackson flew from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara, California last Thursday just long enough to be arrested on suspicion of molesting a young boy, before posting $3 million bail and leaving town again.
Bureau Report
To promote the album, the 21-year-old Spears has seemed omnipresent recently, posing scantily clad for magazine covers, appearing in several television interviews and causing a major stir by kissing Madonna during the MTV Video Music Awards.
For the week ended Nov 23, "In the Zone," released by Jive, a unit of Bertelsmann AG's BMG, sold an estimated 609,000 units, the fourth highest opening in 2003, behind efforts by rapper 50 Cent, Linkin Park and Clay Aiken.
It fell below earlier CDs like "Britney," which debuted in 2001 with 746,000 units, and "Oops!...I Did It Again," which sold 1.3 million units in its opening week in 2000.
Nevertheless, retailers said they expected the star to have staying power in coming weeks, helped by holiday shopping.
"Everybody's buying Britney. Certainly the TV blitz helped to get greater exposure and I think Britney will sustain the sales pace in her second week," said Sue Bryan, general manager for J&R Music Store in lower Manhattan.
Meanwhile, publicity of a different nature haunted Jackson. His "Number Ones" album was rolled out to stores last Tuesday as police combed the pop star's Neverland Ranch in response to child sexual molestation charges.
The album ranked at No. 13 on the sales charts, selling nearly 122,000 units, a far cry from Jackson's superstardom days, but better than the 100,000 units that was forecast.
Jackson flew from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara, California last Thursday just long enough to be arrested on suspicion of molesting a young boy, before posting $3 million bail and leaving town again.
Bureau Report