WITH TWO DOWN, SME UP

Thank goodness for Adele. The six-time Grammy winner’s 21 has been #1 from the beginning of the year, racking up 2.1 million in sales since January, giving her a two-year total of nearly 8 million, helping Sony Music Entertainment edge Universal Music Group in total marketshare after two months by 1.1 percentage points and slightly less than that in currents. Expect those two to go head-to-head through the end of the year, at least until UMG gets to add EMI’s marketshare to its total.

Her record-shattering 23 weeks and counting at #1—as well as the re-emergence of her 2008 debut, 19, which ranks #5—have helped Rob Stringer and Steve Barnett’s Columbia Records grab 13% in current marketshare (a whopping 8.6 percentage point rise over last year). The label is also coming with albums by Bruce Springsteen, The Shins, One Direction, The Ting Tings and Train over the next few months.

That was enough to top both Monte Lipman’s Universal Republic (which boasts both Drake and the 2012 Grammy Nominees album in the Top 10) by five percentage points and Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope/Geffen/A&M (which landed Van Halen’s new album at #4) by six. Look for Universal Republic to release albums by Nicki Minaj, Akon, Enrique Iglesias, Taylor Swift, Lil Wayne, Florence + the Machine and Dev, while Interscope has Madonna and All-American Rejects on tap.

So far, Q1 sales totals are running about 3% over 2011, which was the first time since 2004 to show a year-to-year increase.

Up next among the label marketshare leaders is Atlantic Records (5.8), followed by Peter Edge and Tom Corson’s RCA (4.8), with a promising schedule which includes upcoming releases from Usher, Chris Brown, Alicia Keys, P!nk, Ke$ha, R. Kelly, Monica and Carrie Underwood.

Steve Bartels’ Island Def Jam is next (4.0), represented by Rihanna’s Talk That Talk at #9 with upcoming albums from Justin Bieber, The Wanted, Neon Trees and The-Dream.

Capitol Music Group (3.7) boasts the #3 album of 2012 in Now 41, followed by Rob Cavallo’s Warner Bros. Records (3.6), with Black Keys at #8.

Two country labels round out the current marketshare Top 10, with the recently exited Mike Dungan’s Capitol Nashville (2.3) and Gary Overton’s SME Nashville (2.3).

For a complete graph, click here.