BIBLE BOMBSHELL: CRACKERGATE

After a tighter-than-tight battle, RCA’s Pentatonix eked out a win on the Bible’s “consumption” chart, scoring a first-week total of 98.4k, edging past the 98.1k for Safehouse/Island/Hollywood’s Demi Lovato. That’s a difference of fewer than 300 units—less than 3/10 of 1%. It’s believed that the 2.6k generated by PTX sales through the Cracker Barrel chain made the difference.

Which is why RCA Prexy/COO Tom Corson—who believed in Pentatonix from the time they were on indie label Madison Gate, when no other majors were prepared to bet on the a cappella quintet—is sending out Cracker Barrel gift baskets to the protagonists of the drama. Manager Jonathan Kalter, who hooked up the promotion with the food franchise, highly recommends the fried apples.

Here’s the Bible breakdown: PTX reportedly sold 87.7k albums and 54.8k songs and saw 7.8 million streams in their first week, while Demi moved 76.6k albums, 136.1k songs and 11.9m streams. Pass the syrup.