MJ hits the charts just as older artists thrive
> Streisand, 47 years before today's #1 album
Michael Jackson’s new song This Is It just hit the airwaves yesterday, and if you’re still awake (it puts the “easy” in easy listening), read ahead to find out why he isn’t the only singer decades removed from the teen years likely to be atop the charts.
This is hardly a surprise, but based on sales figures, it appears that the older music audience prefers buying the entire album (regardless of format) while the younger generation prefers purchasing only the songs they want. Case in point: the top selling overall album of the week (and the #14 digital album) is Barbra Streisand’s new release Love Is The Answer. Babs isn’t alone when it comes to veteran musicians hot on the album charts. Mariah Carey continues her decades-long dominance with an album at #3, and even though grunge has supposedly been dead for years, Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam are both in the top 10. Madonna, Whitney Houston, Harry Connick, Jr., and even Lynyrd Skynyrd(!) help round out the top 20 in album sales for the week. This list could easily be swiped from the year I graduated college, but Billboard.com assures me it’s current. Miley Cyrus’ inclusion at #11 confirms it.
On the digital songs chart, of the above artists mentioned, only Mariah Carey is in the top 40. As much as we believe music is dominated by the young, from a financial standpoint, young artists need to figure out a better way of selling their music. If not, the 2025 top album is going to be something from Tony Bennett while Justin Timberlake, Jr. will be hawking his songs to his peers 99 cents at a time.
So the next time your nephew smirks at the fact that you don’t know anything about Sean Kingston, tell him a little something about the loyal followings for Babs and Mariah (and likely the late Jackson). Oh, and don’t be afraid to explain a power chord either.
Read on:
Billboard.com – Top 200 (best selling albums)
Billboard.com – Digital Songs (top downloaded songs)
Wikihow.com – How to Write a Grunge Song
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