Swift has year's top album; music sales up 2.1 pct
(AP) — Susan Boyle put up a strong challenge, but Taylor Swift ended 2009 with the year's best-selling album.
Nielsen SoundScan, which tracks the nation's album sales, says Swift's "Fearless" sold 3.2 million copies last year. It was released in late 2008. Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream" sold 3.1 million copies — and it only came out in late November.
Michael Jackson's "Number Ones" was No. 3 with 2.3 million sold. "The Fame" by Lady Gaga was No. 4 with 2.2 million copies and Andrea Bocelli's "My Christmas" also sold about 2.2 million copies to come in at No. 5.
Jackson was the year's top-selling artist, selling 8.2 million records to Swift's 4.6 million.
Music sales overall were up 2.1 percent from 2008, but album sales continued their decline, down 12.7 percent.
'Democrats say this is a misuse of taxpayer funds' Nassau Republicans awarded over $1 million in taxpayer-funded legal contracts to the one-man law firm of Sheharyar Ali, a longtime GOP ally. Ali's father is an adviser to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa and Newsday Nassau County politics reporter Bahar Ostadan have the story.
'Democrats say this is a misuse of taxpayer funds' Nassau Republicans awarded over $1 million in taxpayer-funded legal contracts to the one-man law firm of Sheharyar Ali, a longtime GOP ally. Ali's father is an adviser to Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa and Newsday Nassau County politics reporter Bahar Ostadan have the story.
