Black Keys Rise, Avenged Sevenfold Top iTunes Album

Sometimes I’m surprised by my own power and influence.  I celebrated last week when The Black Keys’ Brothers re-entered the iTunes album charts in the #10 position.  I then strongly encouraged all who had not yet purchased this record to do so with all due speed.  The result?  It moved up three notches from last week to this week.  I’m going ahead and taking credit for that and I’m not even going to accuse the band of pole riding.  It was my pleasure to advance the cause of their album.  No thanks needed.

What else do we have on the charts this week?  Avenged Sevenfold has stormed to the top of the albums chart in the first week of release.  I also notice the soundtrack to the film Inception by Hans Zimmer is on the chart.  I’ve heard some buzz about this soundtrack (and the movie) but I’m not sure what the deal is.  The movie is on my list but I haven’t been to the theatre all summer long.  I’ll probably be saying “I need to see that” all the way up to the time they release it on Blu-ray.

Eminem and Katy Perry are all over the charts this week.  It’s interesting that Perry has a pair of singles in the chart but people aren’t buying the album.  This is what record labels have feared with the a la carte business model.  Leave it to a room full of MBAs at the major labels to learn the wrong lesson.  It’s getting more and more difficult to surprise me anymore.

iTunes’ top 10 selling singles of the week ending Aug. 2, 2010:

1. “Love the Way You Lie” – Eminem
2. “Dynamite” – Taio Cruz
3. “I Like It” – Enrique Iglesias
4. “Teenage Dream” – Katy Perry
5. “California Gurls (feat. Snoop Dogg)” – Katy Perry
6. “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” – Usher
7. “Airplanes (feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore)” – B.o.B.
8. “Cooler Than Me” – Mike Posner
9. “Ridin’ Solo” – Jason Derulo
10. “Not Afraid” – Eminem

iTunes’ top 10 selling albums of the week ending Aug. 2, 2010:

1. Nightmare – Avenged Sevenfold
2. Recovery – Eminem
3. Teflon Don – Rick Ross
4. Thank Me Later – Drake
5. The Fame – Lady GaGa
6. iTunes Session – Natalie Merchant
7. Brothers – The Black Keys
8. Sigh No More – Mumford & Sons
9. Inception (Music from the Motion Picture) – Hans Zimmer
10. B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray – B.o.B