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"[Alicia Keys'] first-week numbers were fantastic and we have no reason to believe that this won’t be one of the biggest records ongoing throughout the rest of the holiday season."
——Jeff Davidson, HMV

KEYS TO CHART SUCCESS

Toby Keith, Now Vol. 14, Hilary Duff and Josh Groban are Top Five, But at the Summit, It’s All About J Records’ Alicia Keys
Let Clive Davis be your Santa Claus.

The RCA Music Group chief’s new Alicia Keys album on J Records, The Diary of Alicia Keys, grabs the #1 slot on this week’s HITS Top 50, with a stunning 625k+ in sales. Buyers apparently not only know her "Name," they’re buying the album in huge numbers, as the first single and multiple TV appearances lead the way.

HMV’s Jeff Davidson took off from his day job shilling for the Salvation Army to donate the following boiler-plate quote: "Apparently no one told Alicia Keyes that she was supposed to worry about the sophomore jinx. Her first-week numbers were fantastic and we have no reason to believe that this won’t be one of the biggest records ongoing throughout the rest of the holiday season. Clive and company made the most of every marketing opportunity with a ton of TV before and after the release date. Now we’re looking to see if Ruben Studdard can take advantage of the same kind of media blitz he’s been enjoying as he hits the streets today."

DreamWorks Nashville conservative rabblerouser Toby Keith climbs into the #2 slot, with Columbia/CRG’s Now Vol. 14 (#3), Buena Vista/Hollywood’s Hilary Duff (#4) and 143/Reprise’s Josh Groban (#5) rounding out the Top Five stocking-stuffers of the week.

Arista’s multi-Grammy nominees OutKast (#6) headed the rest of the Top 10, followed by Interscope’s No Doubt (last week’s chart-topper, now #7), Jive’s Britney Spears (#8), A&M/Interscope’s Sheryl Crow (#9) and Roc-A-Fella/IDJ’s Jay-Z (#10). Counting DreamWorks Nashville and Buena Vista/Hollywood, Jim Urie’s UMVD sported five of the Top 10. In all, 14 records topped the 100k sales mark.

Capitol’s Now That’s What I Call Xmas (37-20, +10%) registered a double-digit increase, while newcomers included Liberty’s Trace Adkins (#35), Reprise’s Michael Buble (#40) and Walt Disney RecordsCheetah Girls soundtrack (#44).

Next week, look for the year’s last batch of big releases, as Island/IDJ’s Hoobastank and Columbia/CRG’s Offspring join American Idol champ Studdard on the charts.

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