“Paper Airplane” Glides To No. 1

Paper Airplane, the latest from Alison Krauss and Union Station, glided into the No. 1 spot on both the Country and Bluegrass album charts moving 83,000 units in its debut week [Nielsen Soundscan]. It marks a career best for the band who hadn’t offered new music in seven years.

Meanwhile, the Country Strong soundtrack got a boost from the movie’s DVD/home rental release. The album landed at No. 3 on the Country chart with almost 19,000 units sold, for a RTD total of 213,000. At least three songs from the flick are on the digital tracks chart. And a companion volume offering more music debuted with 6,500 units.

Aldean and Clarkson on "Idol."

On the digital tracks chart, downloads of Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson‘s “Don’t You Wanna Stay” jumped 64% following their American Idol performance last week. Even before the added 59,000 units, the track was already past the platinum point.

Other debuts include Brad Paisley’s “Old Alabama” which sold 56,000 downloads. He played the song on the recent ACM Awards.

All-genre album sales are down 2.9% YTD, while Country album sales are hurting more with a 10% slide.