Every Moment Has A Song

(Reprinted from Rolling Stone)

Adele’s mega-smash 21 was 2012’s best-selling album in the United  States, marking the first time during the SoundScan era that the same album has  taken that top spot two years in a row, Billboard reports.

Selling 4.41 million copies this year (down from last year’s 5.82 million),   21 also became the 21st album to sell 10 million copies since SoundScan started tracking music sales in 1991.  The album hasn’t left the Billboard 200, nor the weekly top 40, since  its debut on March 21st, 2011. Along with topping the Billboard charts  again, Adele’s 21 was the best-selling  album on iTunes two years running.

Coming in second in album sales was Taylor Swift’s Red,  which moved 3.11 million copies. One Direction nabbed both the third and fifth  spots with their two records, Up  All Night (1.62 million) and Take  Me Home (1.34 million), becoming the first act in the SoundScan era to  take two of the top five spots. In fourth place was Mumford & Sons’ Babel, whose 1.46  million made it the biggest selling rock album of the year, and the only rock  record appear in the top 10.

Gotye had the year’s biggest digital single with “Somebody That I Used to  Know,” with sales of 6.8 million. Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” was second  with sales of 6.47 million; and fun. came in third with their Janelle Monáe  collaboration “We Are Young,” which sold 5.95 million. All three songs sold  more than the previous record-holder for sales in a single year, which was  Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” which moved 5.81 million in 2011.

In fourth place for singles was Maroon 5’s collaboration with Wiz Khalifa  “Payphone,” while Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” sold 3.98 million copies to land in  the fifth spot. Rounding out the top ten were One Direction’s “What Makes You  Beautiful” at number six (3.89 million), fun.’s “Some Nights” in seventh (3.84  million), Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” in eighth (3.82  million), Psy’s “Gangnam Style” in ninth (3.59 million) and Maroon 5’s “One More  Night” in tenth (3.46 million).