Swift Leads Sales With 3 Weeks Left in ’09

Taylor Swift could end 2009 as the top selling artist for all genres, for the second year in a row. Her album Fearless has sold more than 2.6 million units this year, and over 4.8 million since it came out in 2008. Her self-titled debut brought in over 600K units this year, plus she has a Christmas album out, making her 2009 total well over 3.3 million [according to Nielsen Soundscan, a division of the Nielsen Company]. Fearless is the bestselling all-genre album of the year, and is still moving units at a rate of over 150K last week.

Hot on Swifty’s heels is Susan Boyle, who has sold 1.8 million units since her album’s release just three weeks ago. In the last week she moved more than 500K, and with three full sales weeks left, she too could finish the year with more than 3 million units.

The Country genre is down 3.4% YTD, while overall music album sales are down 13%. Meanwhile Country Digital Album sales are up 40% over last year.

Country Top 10 YTD
No. 1 Taylor Swift Fearless 2.7 million
No. 2 Hannah Montana Soundtrack 1.7 million
No. 3 Zac Brown Band The Foundation 1.1 million
No. 4 Rascal Flatts Unstoppable 1.08 million
No. 5 Jason Aldean Wide Open 850K
No. 6 Carrie Underwood Play On 840K
No. 7 Lady Antebellum Lady Antebellum 780K
No. 8 Darius Rucker Learn To Live 770K
No. 9 Taylor Swift Taylor Swift 680K
No. 10 Keith Urban Defying Gravity 670K

Top 5 Overall Current YTD
No. 1 Taylor Swift Fearless 2.7 million
No. 2 Lady Gaga Fame 1.8 million
No. 3 Susan Boyle I Dreamed A Dream 1.8 million
No. 4 Hannah Montana Soundtrack 1.7 million
No. 5 Black Eyed Peas The END 1.6 million

[Nielsen Soundscan, a division of the Nielsen Company]