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Britney Spears flies in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with her sixth chart-topping album, "Femme Fatale," selling 276,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The feat ties her for the third-most No. 1s among women with Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson. Only Barbra Streisand (nine No. 1s) and Madonna (seven) have earned more No. 1s.
Spears has hit the top with six out of her seven studio albums, only missing with 2007's "Blackout," which debuted and peaked at No. 2 (290,000).
Her last effort, 2008's "Circus," started more robustly than "Femme Fatale," as it launched at No. 1 with 506,000 following its Dec. 2 release. "Femme Fatale's" debut of 276,000 is Spears' second-lowest sales start with a studio set -- only her 1999 debut effort, "Baby One More Time," began with a smaller figure (121,000 at No. 1).
Though, one could conclude that "Circus" was a more highly-anticipated album, in that it was seen as a "comeback" after a number of years where Spears' personal and professional life was in chaotic high-gear. "Circus" was ushered in by the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 single "Womanizer" -- complete with a return-to-sexy-form music video.
"Femme Fatale," however, isn't a comeback album. There's nothing to come back from, aside from great success. Spears sold 1.7 million of "Circus" in the U.S., snared three top 20 Hot 100 singles from the set, and mounted a blockbuster global tour.
While "Femme Fatale's" first single, "Hold It Against Me," debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100, it quickly peaked at No. 3 on the Mainstream Top 40 radio airplay chart -- Spears' home turf format on the airwaves. This week, it falls 19-26 in its 12th week on the list. The album's second single, "Till the World Ends," earns a bullet at No. 14 on the list, but stands still in its fourth week. To compare, "Womanizer" had climbed to No. 5 with a bullet when "Circus" debuted on the Billboard 200 -- and it reached No. 1 two weeks later.
Also worth noting is that "Femme Fatale" is Spears' first album to see a spring release in over a decade. While her first set dropped in January of 1999 and her second offering, 2000's "Oops! ... I Did It Again," came out in May of 2000, the rest of her catalog (even her hits packages and remix sets) were issued during the always-busy shopping period of November-December.
And, not like anyone needs to be reminded -- but album sales just aren't what they used to be. Even if it's been less than two-and-a-half years since "Circus."
Finally, perhaps Spears' tepidly-received "Good Morning America" performance on "Femme Fatale's" street date (March 29) put a damper on the set's first-week festivities. The social buzz ranged from critiques on her tentative dancing to commentary about her unusually husky voice. She also hit the stage the same night on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" to moderately better notices.Source: Billboard
Britney’s back… and on top of the HITS’ Album chart for next week, as her new Jive/JLG album, Femme Fatale looks set to score sales in the 275-300k range.
The album has actually been well-received by some critics, earning a four-star review in Rolling Stone, while last night, she performed on Jimmy Kimmel and appeared in footage shot for Jackass 3 in which she was bungied while inside a porta-potty.
That gives RCA/Jive the #1 spot for the second week in a row. This week, the label held four out of the Top Five spots on the HITS Album sales chart.Source: Hits Daily Double
The following italicized article is from www.billboard.com:Holding at No. 2 is Wiz Khalifa with "Black and Yellow" (187,000; down 7%). Pitbull's "Hey Baby" rises three to No. 4 (155,000; up 10%), Enrique Iglesias' "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" falls one to No. 5 (141,000; down 16%) and Katy Perry's "Firework" is down a slot to No. 6 (133,000; down 18%). Diddy - Dirty Money's "Coming Home" is up one to No. 7 (131,000; down 7%), Far*East Movement's "Rocketeer" rockets six rungs to No. 8 (125,000; up 26%), the Black Eyed Peas' "The Time (Dirty Bit)" holds at No. 9 (115,000; down 16%) and Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" falls seven to No. 10 (113,000; down 38%).Source: Billboard
The following italicized article is from www.billboard.com:Britney Spears becomes just the second artist in the Billboard Hot 100's 52-year history to debut multiple songs at No. 1, as "Hold It Against Me" blasts in at the summit.
Spears previously launched at the apex with "3" the week of Oct. 24, 2009. She joins Mariah Carey as the only acts to arrive at No. 1 more than once. Carey made such grand entrances with "Fantasy" and "One Sweet Day" in 1995 and "Honey" in 1997. (All charts will be refreshed tomorrow (Jan. 20) on Billboard.com).
"Hold It Against Me" is the 18th song to debut at No. 1 and the first since Ke$ha's "We R Who We R" the week of Nov. 13, 2010.
The track is Spears' fourth No. 1 on the Hot 100. Prior to "3," she reigned with her debut single "...Baby One More Time" (two weeks, 1999) and "Womanizer" (one week, 2008).
"Hold It Against Me" starts atop Digital Songs with 411,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. As previously reported, the sum marks the highest debut frame by a lead female artist, besting the 325,000 shifted by Taylor Swift's "Today Was a Fairytale" the week of Feb. 6, 2010.
On Radio Songs, "Hold It Against Me" begins at No. 23 with 45 million first-week audience impressions, according to Nielsen BDS, the highest audience sum for a debuting title in the chart's history. The song's No. 23 entrance is the chart's best since Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" began at the same rank the week of March 1, 2008.Source: Billboard
The following italicized article is from www.billboard.com:Over on the Digital Songs chart, things brighten up. The arrival of "Hold It Against Me" with an as-expected 411,000 downloads sold in its first week is not just Spears' best sales week for a digital song, but also the largest debut for a woman as a lead artist. It trumps the 325,000 that Swift's "Today Was a Fairytale" sold on the Feb. 6, 2010, chart.
This week, Spears leads two more top 10 bows: Avril Lavigne's "What the Hell" (No. 6 with 163,000) and West and Jay-Z's "H*A*M" (No. 10 with 125,000). The latter reached digital retailers one day later (Jan. 12) than the other two titles.Source: Billboard
The following italicized article is from www.billboard.com:Threatening the reign of Mars' "Grenade" or the return of Perry's "Firework" to No. 1 next week will be the arrival of Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me," which was released near-simultaneously at radio (Jan. 10) and exclusively at iTunes (Jan. 11). With airplay off to a blazing start and track sales set to exceed 400,000 according to industry sources, a second No. 1 debut for the pop starlet is likely. She previously started at the summit with "3" on the chart dated October 24, 2009.Source: Billboard
Britney Spears' "3" tops the 2 million mark. It's Spears' third song to reach this level, following "Womanizer" and "Circus" (though many of her biggest hits pre-dated the digital revolution).Source: Yahoo! Music
More incredible news. Britney has just been announced as Australia’s 6th top selling artist from the last three decades (80′s, 90′s & 00′s).
Britney is also the 3rd biggest selling female artist in this country – beating out the likes of Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, Rihanna, Delta Goodrem, Beyonce and Pink. The female artists that beat Britney to the top spot are Australia’s own Kylie Minogue and the Queen Of Pop, Madonna.
In so many ways, Britney Spears has defied everything that we know about pop music. Childhood stars are never popular beyond their first few years. Cross. Personal controversies affect music sales. Cross. A performer who blatantly mimes during her live performances loses much of her fan base. Cross. It’s a bit of an odyssey, really, but no matter how good or bad Britney’s life is, her musical career has reflected an amazing consistency that even outdoes Madonna.
In 1999, a fresh-faced Britney Spears with a few more teenage years to get through yet, was topping the charts all over the world. “…Baby One More Time” was the smash the 90′s were waiting for. Amongst all the novelty, the ballads, and that Elton John song, Britney’s pop debut would be the highest seller of her genre during the decade, and signal what was in store for us in the 2000′s.
While Hanson may have woken the world up to a new wave of teenage artist in 1997, it was Britney Spears who would really spearhead the new arrivals. 1999 also saw the debut for Christina Aguilera and Mandy Moore, and then joined by Jessica Simpson, Samantha Mumba, and so on and so on. Perhaps that is way she has remained the favourite, she was the first. It’s funny to think that Britney Spears is a relative old hand when it comes to music these days, and still in her late 20′s, would be one of the oldest acts to grace the charts of recent years, both career-wise, and age-wise.
Britney Spears has an appeal that has obviously crossed over from her original fan base, to a new generation of music lovers. I mean, seriously, would those 20 year olds who bought “…Baby One More Time” really been the same ones who bought “3″ 10 years later? But one thing is for sure, Britney has a good 30,000 to 50,000 fans in this country to consistenly have her singles go Gold at the very least. In fact, only three Britney Spears singles have failed to be accredited. Sure she hasn’t had anything as big as “…Baby”, or for that matter, the second release, “Sometimes”, but those steady sales of the following 23 singles are the reason Britney Spears finds herself in the Top 10 of the Biggest Singles artists of the last 30 years.
So where’s Britney at 11 years after “…Baby One More Time”? I reckon she’s sitting pretty good at the moment. I mean, Britney can literally count to 3 in a song, and bingo, another Top Ten hit. Maybe that’s why she’s so popular. Australia loves an underdog, and Britney would seem to be the epitimy of that. I think Britney’s career will only get better before it gets worse again, as her “legendary” status is starting to shine through. It may not be “legendary” for all the right reasons, but Britney Spears has certainly brought something different and exciting to the charts, and for that, we applaude.
In the Top 5 are Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Elton John, Michael Jackson & Black Eyed Peas.Source: Gimme Britney
We didn’t see this one coming, but congratulation to our girl who has this week achieved triple platinum status in Australia for her album ‘Circus‘.
Sony Music have let us know that the album has now sold in excess of 210,000 copies across Australia.
Anyone interested in Britney’s previous albums’ sales listen up! The Singles Collection is Gold, Blackout is currently 2 x Platinum, My Prerogative is Gold, In The Zone is Platinum, Britney is 2 x Platinum, Oops! is 3 x Platinum and Baby One More Time is Britney’s highest selling Australian album still with a certification of 4 x Platinum.
Tally that all up, and Brit has sold well over a million records in this country.Source: Gimme Britney
Congratulations are in order for our dear Britney Spears and her first-ever clothing line called Britney for Candie’s because early indications are that the line is selling very well, especially in the sea of other celebrity-branded clothing lines. When compared to clothing lines put out by Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan and even Madonna, Britney for Candie’s is one of the huge successes: 
Britney Spears, once merely “the face” of Candies, is designer and inspiration for the new Britney for Candies line introduced in July and sold exclusively at Kohl’s. The tweens-and-up collection of sassy separates and dresses ranging from $14 to $78 is reportedly flying off the racks. Brit has a hit. According to Lainie List, the executive vice president of merchandising for the Iconix Brand Group, which owns the brand, the collection mirrors the pop star’s own personal style. “She’s not always done up,” says List, adding that customers are particularly responding to “clothes we see her wear a lot,” such as a super-short dress over leggings or tights, short shorts and a top of layered ruffles. “There’s a California chic girliness that she’s known for,” List says. As for sales? “Fantastic.”
The article goes on to talk about the other fashion lines but I’m most interested in this bit about Britney‘s success. I’m constantly wowed and impressed by the new feats that our dear Britney Spears achieves. The girl has worked so hard for so many years that not even her personal failings can keep her down for long … the immense love her fans have for her have kept her afloat long enough thru the darkest times in her life that she has managed to come out for the better on the other side. Britney puts out a single, it goes straight to number one. Britney goes on tour, it immediately sells out … forces new tourdates to be added. Britney puts out a clothing line, it flies off the shelves. Despite all the negativity from haters, Britney continues to succeed. I cannot wait for her to move on to her next endeavor (hopefully, a new album). There is still much success to be enjoyed by Ms. Britney Spears.Source: Pink Is The New Blog
Britney Spears has scored a Grammy nomination for her No. 1 hit single "Womanizer" in the Best Dance Recording category. Spears previously earned a Grammy win in the same category with her mesmerizing hit "Toxic" in 2004.
"Womanizer" was the lead single from her sixth studio album Circus and climbed to the coveted No. 1 position on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart. The song rocketed to No. 1 in over 10 countries outside of the U.S. In addition to setting new records with the song last December, the global icon earned critical-accolades: Rolling Stone praised "Womanizer" as an "electro-glam stomp" and went on to describe the song as "head-boppingly hypnotic." Overall, The New York Times praised Circus, noting that "most of her new songs are crisp, cunning dance pop..." Upon the release of the album, Spears became the first female ever to have five No. 1 album debuts, and both the single and album resonated with her fans as evident by the sales. "Womanizer" sold close to 3.5 million combined digital/mobile units domestically while the album has sold 3.4 million units worldwide to date.
Spears, who has just wrapped up her international tour, recently set another record when she became the first artist in over three years to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart with her new song, "3." The catchy song is from Britney Spears' new album The Singles Collection which hit stores last month. "3" has already sold over one million tracks and is presently the No. 2 pop song in the country (Source: Mediabase) and ranks No. 10 (with a bullet) on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles chart.Source: Jive Records
Britney Spears' The Singles Collection opens at #22 with 28.000 copies sold. The sub-par showing is due to two factors. This is Spears' second compilation (2004's Greatest Hits: My Prerogative reached #4). And greatest hits sets simply don't mean as much in the iTunes era. "3," the album's new song, rebounds from #8 to #7 on Hot Digital Songs. It'll top the 1 million mark in paid downloads next week.Source: Yahoo!
The following italicized article is from www.billboard.com:BEST OF THE BEST
Hi Gary,
With much talk about Britney Spears' debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "3" this week, let's not miss an interesting record that may have been set.
This may be a bit tricky to confirm, but is "3" the first song originally released as new material on a greatest hits album to reach No. 1? Here, I am talking about albums containing mostly previously-released material, so I'd be hesitant to count "HIStory" by Michael Jackson (containing the 1995 Hot 100 No. 1 "You Are Not Alone"), because half that collection's tracks were new.
I recall that "Slip Slidin' Away" by Paul Simon, one of two new songs on his 1977 album "Greatest Hits, Etc." reached No. 5 on the Hot 100. I'd be interested in seeing if your readers can find any other examples of new tracks from hits sets performing better.
Thanks,
Patrick Kelly
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
Hi Patrick,
What an interesting take on Spears' new Hot 100 leader. By their very nature, greatest hits albums in many cases do not contain any new music. So when they do, and a new song becomes a hit, it can only give consumers more reason to purchase a set containing numerous tracks they may already own.
It's also rare for a greatest hits set to yield a smash single in the sense that, generally, an act releasing such an album has collected so many hits that they may have graduated from receiving major airplay on popular, hit-driven radio formats. For an act to release a new song and send it to the Hot 100's summit illustrates that even well into a career, that artist remains extremely relevant, which is no small feat.
With such a wide scope to research - namely, only every greatest hits album that has ever been released - I sure wouldn't turn down any assistance from any willing Chart Beat readers. But, I can cite at least two songs from all-out greatest hits albums that crowned the Hot 100 prior to Spears' "3."
The first was by an artist who once duetted with Spears, not to mention shared the stage with her in one of the most famous moments ever on the MTV Video Music Awards: Madonna.
While Michael Jackson's 1995 retrospective contained one disc of hits and one of new songs, Madonna had released a clear-cut hits package more than four years earlier that contained 15 smashes and two new tracks, "The Immaculate Collection." The old- and new-material girl ushered in the set with "Justify My Love," and the hypnotic track topped the Hot 100 for two weeks in January 1991.
In November 2005, Destiny's Child topped the Billboard 200 with "#1's." The album included among its three new tracks a solo Beyonce cut, "Check On It." The song, also subsequently included in the film (but not the soundtrack to) "The Pink Panther," in which Beyonce starred, topped the Hot 100 for five weeks beginning in February 2006. (Thanks to Billboard 200 chart manager Keith Caulfield for noting this feat).
Again, readers are welcome to note any other such song, but here are five hits first made available on best-of sets that reached the Hot 100's top five, joining the Paul Simon track that you reference:
No. 3, "Runaway," Janet Jackson, 1995
No. 4, "Always," Bon Jovi, 1994
No. 4, "I Still Believe," Mariah Carey, 1999
No. 4, "Again," Lenny Kravitz, 2001
No. 5, "What Kind of Man Would I Be?," Chicago, 1990
Spears releases the standard version her second hits compilation, "The Singles Collection," Nov. 10. The album will contain 17 previously-released songs and "3."
The "Ultimate Fan Box Set" version of "The Singles Collection," out Nov. 24, will contain all her singles, including "3." Each disc will be packaged in its own slip sleeve case with original artwork, and will include an additional b-side or remix of the track. The collection will also sport a DVD featuring all of Spears' videos in chronological order and a booklet with images and trivia about each track.
Spears' first retrospective, "Greatest Hits: My Prerogative," reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200 in 2004. It has sold 1,363,000 copies to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.Source: Billboard
Britney Spears is fighting for a change on the global chart, as her new smash '3' explodes at no.2 after huge digital sales in the USA and Canada (244.000 points). It's the highest debut on the global track chart for a female artist ever!Source: United World Chart
Britney's new single '3' has just reached #1 on the Billboard 100 selling more than 250K in it's first week of release. Congratulations Britney!'3' is only Britney's 3rd #1 after 'Hit Me Baby One More Time' and 'Womanizer'.
And in December 2008, Circus topped the US album chart, making Britney Spears the youngest female artist in history to have five of her albums reach No.1. Before she turned 20 years old on 2 December 2001, Spears had sold an unprecedented 37 million records around the world, making her the all-time best-selling teenage artist.Source: Guinness World Records
The following italicized article is from www.nydailynews.com:Celebrity names can sell loads of stuff, but these days, they’re stinking up the perfume business.
Indeed, sales of celebrity-branded fragrances are going out of favor faster than the last Britney Spears single, according to TheStreet.com. Some of the decline, experts suggest, is because consumers may be embarrassed to use a celebrity fragrance.“On blind scent tests many of these fragrances test extremely well; they're designed to be the least offensive and offer the broadest appeal,” Karen Grant of the market research firm NPD Group told TheStreet.com. “But when a celebrity is associated with it, you see a different reaction.”Fragrance peddler Parlux France relies heavily on its celebrity branded scents and has taken a hit for it. The company produces Queen Latifah’s Queen, Jessica Simpson’s Fancy and Fancy Love, Andy Roddick's Andy Roddick and all of Paris Hilton's many fragrances (Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton for Men, Heir, Heiress, Just Me, Can Can, Fairy Dust and Siren). The company lost $4.3 million last year and $2.5 in the second quarter of this year alone.
While the prestige fragrance market as a whole is down 10% from last year, Britney Spears is one celeb who appears to be bucking the odds.Sales of her fragrances - Fantasy Britney Spears, Britney Spears Believe, Curious Britney Spears and Curious in Control Britney Spears - rose 13% in the June quarter. Elizabeth Arden, the company behind the ageing pop tart's perfumes, just brought out Circus Fantasy, named after her latest tour and album.Then again, she’s global.“More than half of the sales of Britney brands were sold of outside of North America,” said an Arden company spokesman.Source: NY Daily News
Guess who's on the list? Guess which artist has 3 singles that have all sold more than 5 million copies...- If you've just answered Sl*tstina you may click here for punishment -It's Shakira! Well, her and some other dumb chick named Brittanay or something who appears on the list with 'Womanizer' (7 million), 'Toxic' (438375395 million - not really but it's gotta be something like that) and 'Baby One More Time' (only 1 or 2 gazillion - talk about a flop).You may carry on now...
After it's release on October 7th, 2008 'Womanizer' has sold 2,777,614 copies and thereby stands at #39 of the best selling downloads single of all time.Another interesting fact is that 'Womanizer' is officially now Britney's best selling single in the US having sold more than 'Baby One More Time' (1 million) and 'Toxic' (500k).Also, after 10 months of release 'Womanizer' is still charting and currently at #279 on iTunes while 'Circus' sits at #121.Source: Break The Ice**Thanx to Roberto for giving this information to me.
Slipping six spots from the previous week Circus comes in at #18 on the United World Chart selling 67.000 copies this week worldwide.It has now sold a total of 2.694.000 million copies worldwide.Source: Break The Ice
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