Wednesday January 6, 1999
SoundScan, the entertainment industry's data information system which tracks
point-of-purchase sales of recorded music product, has announced its
1998 year-end sales research data as follows:
1998 TOP TEN SELLING ALBUMS
(12/29/97 - 1/3/99)
Title / Artist Units Sold
1. Titanic / Soundtrack 9,338,061
2. Let's Talk About Love / Celine Dion 5,859,421
3. Backstreet Boys / Backstreet Boys 5,709,369
4. Come On Over / Shania Twain 4,872,841
5. N-Sync / N-Sync 4,385,148
6. City of Angels / Soundtrack 4,120,508
7. Double Live / Garth Brooks 3,892,288
8. Big Willie Style / Will Smith 3,687,568
9. Savage Garden / Savage Garden 3,247,406
10. Armageddon / Soundtrack 3,222,603
1998 YEAR-TO-DATE RECORD COMPANY MARKET SHARE
(12/29/97 - 1/3/99)
Total Albums Current Albums Singles
(Catalog &
Current Titles)
1998 1997 1998 1997 1998 1997
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
WEA 18.20 % 18.86 % WEA 17.25 % 17.62 % WEA 18.46 % 21.50 %
BMG 12.21 % 11.80 % BMG 14.40 % 14.21 % BMG 27.06 % 27.57 %
UNI 10.45 % 12.13 % UNI 10.82 % 13.34 % UNI 6.29 % 6.64 %
PGD 14.03 % 13.04 % PGD 13.34 % 11.88 % PGD 17.00 % 20.04 %
EMD 12.95 % 12.55 % EMD 13.52 % 13.68 % EMD 8.14 % 8.46 %
SONY 16.57 % 13.69 % SONY 17.45 % 13.04 % SONY 16.67 % 8.58 %
OTHERS 15.58 % 17.90 % OTHERS 13.21 % 16.24 % OTHERS 6.39 % 7.20 %
1998 GENRE SALES REPORT
(12/29/97 - 12/27/98)
Album Units Sold
Genre 1998 1997
------ ---- ----
(Note: Titles may appear in more than one genre)
- Alternative 113,476 106,690
- Classical 16,603 19,148
- Country 72,605 70,702
- Gospel 5,797 6,718
- Jazz 17,752 20,042
- Latin 15,575 13,214
- Metal 29,334 28,983
- New Age 7,090 9,272
- R&B 161,899 141,613
- Rap 81,262 61,709
- Soundtrack 61,456 45,044
TOTAL ALBUM SALES
(12/29/97 - 12/27/98)
Includes Catalog And Current Titles
1998 1997
---- ----
Albums 711.0 Million 651.8 Million
CDs 578.3 Million 504.6 Million
Cassettes 130.8 Million 145.9 Million
Other 1.9 Million 1.3 Million
Scoop Marketing
Larry Solters or Bonnie Poindexter, 310/360-6060