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Matchbox Twenty Scores First #1 Album

September 12, 2012

Matchbox Twenty

Matchbox Twenty scores their first #1 album on the sales chart this week as its comeback record, North, debuts atop the chart with 95,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's the group's first full-length studio album since 2002's More Than You Think You Are, which debuted and peaked at #6. Since then, the act has released only an EP in 2003 and a greatest hits package in 2007. Matchbox Twenty leads a total of four new debuts in the Top 10 this week. At #2, Rock band Imagine Dragons comes in with Night Visions, selling 83,000 in its first frame. A full 90 percent of those sales were digital downloads, and as Billboard notes, a significant chunk of those downloads were owed to iTunes' "Complete My Album" feature. The band had released the successful Continued Silence EP earlier this year, and four of those tracks are found on the new Night Visions album, prompting those who had purchased any four of those tracks to apply them towards the sale of the new set. Christian hip-hop artist Lecrae debuts at #3 with Gravity, selling a career-high 72,000 copies.

Elsewhere, the Now 43 compilation holds the #4 slot with 35,000, Carrie Underwood's Blown Away is #5 with 29,000, Maroon 5's Overexposed is steady at #6 with just over 29,000 sold, and 2 Chainz's Based on a T.R.U. Story is #7 with 26,000. TobyMac's Eye On It is the #8 album with 26,000 sold, Trey Songz's Chapter V is #9 with 24,000, and Cat Power bows at #10 with Sun, shifting 23,000 in its first week. It's the singer/songwriter's highest charting album yet.

Also worth noting is the impact that the MTV Video Music Awards had on music sales. Following her performance at the VMAs, P!nk's single "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)" saw an 89 percent increase in digital sales and landed at #6 on the iTunes singles chart. For Alicia Keys, the new single "Girl on Fire" jumped 88 percent to rank at #8. And immediately following the VMAs, Rihanna’s "We Found Love" spiked 47 percent in sales, while her album Talk That Talk jumped 49 percent. One Direction also saw an impact from the VMAs, as their album Up All Night jumped 27 percent and their single, "One Thing," jumped 51 percent. For Frank Ocean, the VMAs helped drive sales of his album, Channel Orange, up 49 percent, while "Thinkin About You" jumped 209 percent.

"Once again we see the immediate impact in sales from the VMAs," commented Joe Riccitelli, EVP of Promotion at RCA Records. "Both of our performing artists, P!nk and Alicia Keys, showed increases at iTunes in the 80 percent and 100 percent ranges, respectively. They also both jumped inside of the Top 10 on iTunes songs chart within 24 hours. Now that is immediate impact."

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