Weak Sales Figures Haunt U.S. Reggae Sales

by reggaewire | July 9, 2008 at 08:13 pm

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According to Soundscan (an electronic network that collects weekly retail figures from over 17,000 music stores in the U.S.), American rapper Lil’ Wayne sold more than one million copies of his new CD, “Tha Carter III”, in its first official week on store shelves. Are dancehall / reggae artistes pushing numbers anywhere close to this? Maybe not, if you believe the numbers from this June 2008 Soundscan report:

Artiste - Album - Approx. # Units Sold - Estimated Sale Period
Stephen Marley - Mind Control - 120,000 - 52 weeks
Collie Buddz - Collie Buddz - 65,000 - 47 weeks
Matisyahu - No Place To Be - 58,000 - unknown
Various Artistes - Reggae Gold 2007 - 46,000 - 50 weeks
Ky-Mani Marley - Radio - 29,000 - 35 weeks
Shaggy - Intoxication - 20,000 - 30 weeks
Various Artistes - Strictly The Best 36 - 18,000 - 78 weeks
Mavado - Gangsta For Life - 16,000 - 52 weeks
Richie Spice - In The Streets To Africa - 13,000 - unknown
Jah Cure - True Reflection - 10,000 - 45 weeks
I-Wayne - Book Of Life - 9,000 - 30 weeks
Elephant Man - Lets Get Physical - 7,000 - 10 weeks

Remember, it is important to note that Soundscan offers, at best, a good guesstimate of sales in the U.S. It does not cover Europe, where dancehall and reggae in particular are extremely popular, and the rest of the World.

The Reggae News Agency

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