All through the past week, ever since Blackout hit the stores, Billboard has been reporting that it would debut at the top of the pile, no matter the competition. After that news came out that the Eagles were actually selling almost double of what she was selling but they weren't elibigle to chart as they were only sold by one retailer. Or some shit like that. Imagine my shock when I found out that... well... Bah.
"Geoff Mayfield, director of charts at Billboard, said Spears' album could debut at No. 1 with sales of between 200,000 and 300,000, well down on the more than 600,000 copies sold of previous album In the Zone during its first week. " - 24th Oct
"Britney Spears looks to have a clear path to top The Billboard 200.
First-day sales from the eight chains that report to Nielsen SoundScan's Building Charts put Spears' Jive/Zomba release "Blackout" at 124,000 on the report released today (Oct. 31).
The Building Charts also seem to confirm that the nation's biggest seller, Wal-Mart, will not report sales on its U.S. exclusive, the Eagles' "Long Road Out of Eden," as that much-anticipated album is missing from the Wednesday list." - 31st Oct
"With their first studio title in nearly 30 years, the Eagles land atop The Billboard 200 with "Long Road Out of Eden," which sold 711,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan... As reported last night, this marks the first time Billboard has allowed exclusive album titles that are only available through one retailer to appear on its charts." - 6 Nov
It's a fucking conspiracy. Walmart and Billboard suck. If they wanted to be taken seriously I don't see why they couldn't have announced it earlier or changed it the following week instead. Other artists like Garth Brooks opened with #1 sales last Christmas and they didn't do shit to it. So now Britney's releasing an album they've just got to ammend the damned rule moments before the chart's published? Just writing about Britney going to #1 all week and then suddenly dropping the bomb that the Eagles would be #1 is just unacceptable.
The significance of course, was that it was gunning for another record to be in the books. Baby One More Time went #1. Oops! went #1. Britney was #1. In The Zone hit #1. Her greatest hits and remix CD didn't hit number one but no one cared. But this is her 5th studio album! It's the first one not the go #1! It's a freaking conspiracy - poised for top spot till the very damned last second!
How professional of Billboard.
On the bright side, Piece of Me debuts at #65 on the Hot 100. Definitely one of the best songs on her album, so it better do well.
Edit - Okay, actually I'm really upset over this. I never thought I would take such nonsense seriously, but after reading all the comments on Billboard, I really felt that she was robbed of the top spot, that Billboard's unethical. I don't know their reasons for doing so, because the move is so controversial - to change the rule 24 hours before the release of the chart. Is it to reward the Eagles because they did indeed sell more? Or was it to get publicity? There's so much hate and dissatisfaction... As an observer of the music industry for the past decade... sigh. This is disappointing.
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