Now not even the skeptics can say that Radiohead's In Rainbows didn't lead to a pot of gold.
Last October, the U.K. rockers made history by digitally self-releasing In Rainbows with customers choosing how much they wanted to pay, if anything at all. After making the album available online for three months, In Rainbows came offline Dec. 10 in anticipation of the album's physical release. While singer Thom Yorke told the press that over a million digital copies were sold online (generated an estimated $6 million-$10 million for the band), that certainly wasn't the end of the Rainbow.
For the week ended Sunday, In Rainbows topped the Billboard 200 chart selling 122,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan numbers released today. These were not all physical CDs, however, as about 25 percent of the sales came digitally through iTunes.
Because of the nature of the release, the album was not eligible for the charts when it first debuted on the band's Website, but In Rainbows' physical release and distribution changes that. As evidence of the continued demand, several retailers violated street-date restrictions to sell the disc early, allowing it to debut at number 158 on last week's pop chart. In Rainbows made its official U.S. retail debut on New Year's Day.
The album, released on TBC Records, achieved its success without a breakout single. "Jigsaw Falling Into Place," the official single released by the band, reached number 69 on the Modern Rock Chart, while the track "Bodysnatchers" actually charted higher at number 24.
The band's last album, 2003's Hail to the Thief, moved 300,000 first-week copies and topped out at 1 million total in the U.S. That album, along with Radiohead's first five studio efforts, was released by band's former label, EMI.
Radiohead is also gearing up for a North American tour, though exact dates have yet to be announced.
With Radiohead taking the top spot, Mary J. Blige's Growing Pains slipped two spots to number three on 89,000 copies. Alicia Keys' As I Am stayed put at two selling 112,000 copies.
The week's highest debut belonged to the Juno soundtrack, which was only available digitally until yesterday. Still, the soundtrack—featuring several songs by anti-folkster Kimya Dawson—cracked the charts at number eight, selling 38,000 copies, a 48 percent increase from the week previous.
The rest of the Top 10, all holdovers, included Now That's What I Call Music! Vol. 26 at four, Taylor Swift's self-titled at five, Chris Brown's Exclusive at six, Garth Brooks' The Ultimate Hits at seven, Colbie Caillat's Coco at nine and the Eagles' Long Road Out of Eden in the 10 spot.
In its 28th week on the charts, the Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus soundtrack dropped five spots to number 14, marking the Disney soundtrack's first drop from the Top 10 since opening at number one on July 4. (The Mouse still had a reason to celebrate, though, as the High School Musical soundtrack celebrated its two-year chart anniversary at number 76).
Taking an even bigger postholiday hit, Josh Groban's Noël plummeted 55 spots to 58 on 14,000 copies. Two weeks ago, the holiday disc sold 757,000, a 2007 best for a nondebuting week, helping solidify its place as the year's top-selling release.
The week's other notable debut was Grammy Awards: 50th Anniversary Collection selling 16,000 at 54. The official 2008 Grammy Nominees collection is due on Jan. 29.
Overall, sales are down nearly 38 percent from last week, but they are down only 4 percent compared to the same slow week in '07 when Dreamgirls topped the charts with just 66,000 copies.
To recap, the week's Top 10 were as follows:
- In Rainbows, Radiohead
- As I Am, Alicia Keys
- Growing Pains, Mary J. Blige
- Now That's What I Call Music! 26, various
- Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift
- Exclusive, Chris Brown
- The Ultimate Hits, Garth Brooks
- Juno soundtrack, various
- Coco, Colbie Caillat
- Long Road Out of Eden, the Eagles