Susan Boyle's dream might just be a wakeup call to the major record labels with a message the flies in the face of the way they've done business for over a decade. Her heretical message? Genuine talent will out sell hype and image. Susan Boyle caught the attention of the world when she stepped up onto the stage in front of a mocking Simon Cowell, a man who embodies the image over substance problem the music business faces today. But all of the snickering ended as she sang the first note.
Her raw talent won over that audience but it apparently has won over music fans world wide with her debut album "I Dreamed a Dream" setting a record in her native UK but more importantly, becoming the biggest selling first week release in the US for 2009, despite not having the benefit of a full season of the popular television show for exposure and publicity. She also set a record in New Zealand as fastest selling worldwide female debut ever, according to 3news.
Hits Double Daily's final chart shows that Boyle's album sold 669,843 copies in the U.S. last week and that number tops Eminem's "Relapse" which sold 608,000 units its first week.
Will the music business wake up and start looking for people with genuine talent again? It's doubtful. It's far easier for them to blame downloaders, sue students and bars instead of admitting that they brought their own failure upon themselves. So Susan Boyle will likely remain an anomaly in the world of disposable and forgettable McPop stars and poptarts who are here today, gone later today.
[Update] Columbia Records sent over a release after this article went to press. The Soundscan numbers ended up being higher than the Hits Double Daily numbers. When the dust settled the album Soundscaned 700,763 copies in the U.S. last week. This also earned Susan Boyle the distinction of having the largest ever debut for a female artist on the Billboard 200 in the Soundscan era. We'll have more in tomorrow's Day in Pop for you.
