LOS ANGELES (UMe Records/Top40 Charts) - With first week sales of over 504,411, NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC! VOLUME 16 debuted at No1 today on Billboard's Top 200 Album chart, the fifth time that a NOW album has debuted at No1 on the Top 200.
The NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC series has shipped over 50 million since it was introduced in the US six years ago, and remains the most successful branded compilation ever launched in the music business. The NOW brand is a cooperative project of EMI Music, The Universal Music Group, and The Sony Music Group.
Bruce Resnikoff, President of releasing label UMe said, "We are elated at the performance of NOW 16. It demonstrates the on-going strength of our successful joint project and the contribution it continues to make to the individual artists and labels."
Phil Quartararo, President of EMI Music Marketing said, "This debut is huge, and we are really encouraged that the NOW brand appears to be stronger than ever with America's music consumer."
Many retailers including mass merch giant Wal-Mart reported their biggest first day sales figures on any NOW release for NOW 16. Scott Hartwig, Senior Buyer of Music at Best Buy reports, "Our current first week sales trend will put NOW 16 20% ahead of the first week velocity of both NOW 14 and 15. With the strongest track listing of the last three versions, I look forward to NOW 16 maintaining a robust presence in the marketplace."
The resurgence in sales of the NOW brand's last three releases reflects not only the strength of their repertoire, but also the steadily improving health of the music industry. Sales analysts at UMVD report that music sales for the whole industry were up 6.9% during the first six months of 2004 over the same period last year.
Featuring such chart-topping hits as "Hey Ya!" by Outkast, "Naughty Girl" by Beyonce, Hoobastank's "The Reason," "My Band" by D12, Jessica Simpson's "Take My Breath Away," Chingy's "One Call Away" and fourteen others, Now 16 is just the latest Now release to achieve massive sales success - NOW 15, released in March 2004, is well on it's way to Double Platinum sales and NOW 14 is already certified three times Platinum.
The series debuted in the United States in 1998 after the NOW! brand had been an enormous, multi-platinum international success for nearly 20 years, with some 56 volumes featuring pop hits released in the UK alone. To date, the NOW! series has generated sales of 135 million albums worldwide. Every album in the US NOW! series has reached the Billboard Top 10 and five have now debuted at No 1 on the Billboard Top 200, making NOW! the only non-soundtrack, multi-artist collection to occupy the top spot on this distinguished album sales chart.
NOW 4 became the first of its kind to debut at No 1 when it accomplished that feat in July of 2000. NOW 6 (March 2001), NOW 7 (July 2001) and NOW 9 (April 2002) also achieved No1 debut status. The week of December 8, 2001 marked the first time two albums in one series were simultaneous Top 5 hits, when NOW That's What I Call Music, Vol 8! Debuted at No 2 and the two CD set, NOW That's What I Call Christmas! Soared to No 3 in the Billboard Top 200 Chart.
More recently, NOW 15 debuted at No 2 in March of this year and NOW 14 debuted at No 3 in November of 2003.
Here's the contdown of the US Top 10 albums for this week:
1. Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 16 - Various (504,000 copies)
2. Autobiography - Ashlee Simpson (270,000)
3. Where You Want To Be - Taking Back Sunday (163,000)
4. License to Chill - Jimmy Buffett (117,000)
5. Confessions - Usher (107,000)
6. Here for the Party - Gretchen Wilson (105,000)
7. True Story - Terror Squad (97,000)
8. Kevin Lyttle - Kevin Lyttle (84,000)
9. Hunger for More - Lloyd Banks (76,000)
10. Horse of a Different Color - Big & Rich (76,000)
