 NEW YORK (Top40-Charts) - Linkin Park's debut record, Hybrid Theory, was the best-selling record of 2001, according to SoundScan, the music industry's record keeper of sales for all music products.
Hits like " One Step Closer" and "In the End" propelled the California alternative metal quintet to sales of 4.8 million.
Thanks to the hit single "It Wasn't Me," Shaggy's Hot Shot came in second, with sales of 4.5 million.
Here's how SoundScan's Top 10 of 2001 shaped up:
Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory, 4.8 million
Shaggy's Hot Shot, 4.5 million
'N Sync's Celebrity, 4.42 million
Enya's Day Without Rain, 4.4 million
Staind's Break the Cycle, 4.2 million
Alicia Keys' Songs in A Minor, 4.1 million
Destiny's Child's Survivor, 3.7 million
Creed's Weathered, 3.5 million
O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, 3.4 million
Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 6, 3.1 million
While the guys in Linkin Park are undoubtedly psyched about their finish, the rest of the record industry isn't ready to pop the Champagne: 2001 sales were down from 2000, the first such drop since the New York-based SoundScan began keeping tabs on statistics in 1991.
Overall album sales in 2001 were about 762.8 million, 3 percent off from the record 785.1 million sold in 2000. The industry will undoubtedly blame the slumping sales on September 11 and the recession.
Call it a coincidence (we're sure that's what nervous record execs are doing), but it's funny how the sharp decline in sales comes in the wake of Napster's demise. In 2000, when Napster was at its peak, the recording industry experienced the biggest jump in CD sales ever--and this was after eight years of continuous growth. Now, with Napster virtually extinct, the industry has sold 20 million fewer albums.
In terms of individual record companies, Universal Music Group again was the winner, staking out 27.5 percent of the market share, followed by BMG (17 percent), Sony (15.8 percent), Warner Music Group (14.4 percent) and EMI (10.5 percent).
Meanwhile, SoundScan also updated its list of top-selling albums of the past decade, with Shania Twain's Come on Over upping its total to 14 million copies to steal the top spot from Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill.
Here's a quick rundown of the industry tracker's best-selling albums since 1991:
Shania Twain's Come on Over, 14 million
Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill, 13.8 million
Metallica's Metallica, 12.9 million
Backstreet Boys' Millennium, 11.9 million
The Bodyguard sountrack, 11.6 million
Santana's Supernatural, 10.9 million
'N Sync's No Strings Attached, 10.8 million
Creed's Human Clay, 10.49 million
Celine Dion's Falling Into You, 10.4 million
Britney Spears' �Baby One More Time, 10.2 million
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