2006 U.S. Music Purchases Exceed $1 Billion Sales

Growth In Overall Music Sales Exceeds 19%, Digital Track Sales Increase 65% from 2005

Nielsen Music 2006 Year-End Music Industry Report

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nielsen SoundScan, the entertainment industry's data information system that tracks point-of-purchase sales of recorded music product, Nielsen BDS, the music industry’s leading music performance monitoring service, and Nielsen RingScan, which tracks mobile ringtone purchases, have announced their 2006 U.S. year-end sales and airplay monitoring data for the 52-week period January 2 through December 31, 2006.

BESTSELLING ALBUMS OF 2006

(rank, sales in 1000s, name - title)

01 3,719 High School Musical (Soundtrack)
02 3,480 Rascal Flatts - Me And My Gang
03 3,016 Carrie Underwood - Some Hearts
04 2,688 Nickelback - All The Right Reasons
05 2,377 Justin Timberlake - Futuresex/Love Sounds
06 2,137 James Blunt - Back To Bedlam
07 2,010 Beyonce - B'Day
08 1,988 Hannah Montana (Soundtrack)
09 1,856 Dixie Chicks - Taking The Long Way
10 1,817 Hinder - Extreme Behavior
11 1,796 Various - Now 23
12 1,796 Mary J. Blige - Breakthrough
13 1,729 Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
14 1,663 Various - Now 21
15 1,639 Pussycat Dolls - Pcd
16 1,622 Fray - How To Save A Life
17 1,600 Various - Now 22
18 1,596 Tim McGraw - Greatest Hits Vol.2
19 1,593 T.I. - King
20 1,547 Josh Turner - Your Man
21 1,431 Johnny Cash - Legend Of Johnny Cash
22 1,425 Evanescence - Open Door
23 1,417 Andrea Bocelli - Amore
24 1,405 Ne-Yo - In My Own Words
25 1,383 Tool - 10000 Days
26 1,382 Panic! At The Disco - Fever You Can't Sweat Out
27 1,312 Josh Groban - Awake
28 1,309 Tony Bennett - Duets: American Classic
29 1,263 Eminem - Curtain Call
30 1,260 Christina Aguilera - Back To Basics
31 1,210 Cheetah Girls 2 (Soundtrack)
32 1,207 Jay-Z - Kingdom Come
33 1,207 Fergie - Dutchess
34 1,205 Toby Keith - White Trash With Money
35 1,193 Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway
36 1,190 John Mayer - Continuum
37 1,186 Alan Jackson - Precious Memories
38 1,178 Shakira - Oral Fixation V2
39 1,161 Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
40 1,158 Akon - Konvicted
41 1,143 Nelly Furtado - Loose
42 1,134 Jack & Friends Johnson - Curious George
43 1,121 Daughtry - Daughtry
44 1,116 Rihanna - Girl Like Me
45 1,113 Jamie Foxx - Unpredictable
46 1,105 Rascal Flatts - Feels Like Today
47 1,100 Chris Brown - Chris Brown
48 1,097 Beatles - Love
49 1,067 Barry Manilow - Greatest Songs Of The Fifties
50 1,054 Keith Urban - Be Here

51 1,042 All-American Rejects - Move Along
52 1,023 Black Eyed Peas - Monkey Business
53 977 Michael Buble - It's Time
54 977 Ludacris - Release Therapy
55 963 Keith Urban - Love Pain
56 944 Brad Paisley - Time Well Wasted
57 935 Killers - Sam's Town
58 892 KT Tunstall - Eye To The Telescope
59 884 Chamillionaire - Sound Of Revenge
60 875 George Strait - It Just Comes Natural
61 873 Walk The Line (Soundtrack)
62 871 Yung Joc - New Joc City
63 868 Kenny Chesney - Road & The Radio
64 856 Danity Kane - Danity Kane
65 843 Bob Dylan - Modern Times
66 830 Fall Out Boy - From Under The Cork Tree
67 827 A.F.I. - Decemberunderground
68 812 Il Divo - Ancora
69 806 Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
70 805 Sean Paul - Trinity
71 802 Ciara - Evolution
72 800 John Legend - Once Again
73 782 Mariah Carey - Emancipation Of Mimi
74 778 Blue October - Foiled
75 771 Corinne Bailey Rae - Corinne Bailey Rae
76 769 Trace Adkins - Songs About Me
77 764 My Chemical Romance - Black Parade,
78 763 Cars (Soundtrack)
79 759 Sarah Mclachlan - Wintersong
80 755 Sugarland - Enjoy The Ride
81 752 Game - Doctor's Advocate
82 734 Keyshia Cole - Way It Is
83 723 Guns N'Roses - Greatest Hits
84 720 Il Divo - Siempre
85 703 Brooks & Dunn - Hillbilly Deluxe
86 697 Eminem - Eminem Presents: Re-Up
87 692 Godsmack - IV
88 682 Rick Ross - Port Of Miami
89 681 Sugarland - Twice The Speed Of
90 674 Little Big Town - Road To Here
91 670 Gwen Stefani - Sweet Escape
92 669 Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
93 664 Bob Seger - Face The Promise
94 648 Various - Now Christmas 3
95 642 Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams
96 638 Bruce Springsteen - We Shall Overcome
97 637 Snoop Dogg - Blue Carpet Treatment
98 630 Young Jeezy - Inspiration: Thug Motivation
99 626 Korn - See You On The Other Side
100 610 Rodney Atkins - If You're Going Through Hell