How much "Heaven"?
Hello Fred. I have followed your column and Billboard charts for years and have [watched] three "American Idol" winners debut at No. 1. My question to you is how many singles does someone have to sell in order to knock a song ("We Belong Together") out of the top spot when the airplay of that single is somewhere near 200 million listeners? How are sales calculated over the airplay? I would think that a single that has that many listeners would fare better than a single that sells maybe 100,000-200,000 singles. Thanks for listening, love this column. Jamal Cannady, Baltimore, Md. Dear Jamal. There's no one sales figure I can give you, as every week the chart positions are relative to each other, not a constant number. Carrie Underwood had a tougher assignment than most, since the airplay figures on "We Belong Together" are record-setting. It was reported that Carrie's "Inside Your Heaven" sold 130,000 commercial singles in the United States. Add in her paid digital download sales and airplay (which is minimal), and her total combined sales and airplay was enough to put her on top.
This week, Carrie's sales declined, driving down her single 3-1 on the Hot 100, while Bo Bice debuted at No. 2 with his take on "Inside Your Heaven". Since airplay on "We Belong Together" continues to set new records, Mariah Carey reclaimed the No. 1 position. (Ask Billbord)
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