TEA

TEA TOTALING: With three albums—Interscope’s Lana Del Rey, Capitol’s Sam Smith and WB’s Linkin Park—selling in six figures (a first this year), the top three labels in the weekly track-equivalent contest are identical to the top three in frontline marketshare (see 6/25 item). The reason for that is, it would take a whole lotta singles sales (divided by 10) to impact the standings in any significant way. In next week’s tally, there will likely be only one six-figure finisher, Ed Sheeran, meaning that both frontline and TEA will be foregone conclusions, as will a lack of drama. But for now, it’s encouraging to see consumers responding so enthusiastically to more than one release at a time. (6/26a)