> Garth also made deals with certain chains (very large ones - Target,if I
> remember correctly) to double weight reports to Soundscan on sales of his
> double albums sold, which artificially boosts his total sales numbers.
I don't think that's right. There was some controversy when the boxed set
came out because each of the CDs was being counted as a unit, but that's
true for all the RIAA-certified sales (it's specifically mention in the
gold/platinum criteria grid). So a double album counts as two units whether
it's Double Live or one of those Beatles Anthology sets. And while it's
true that Elvis started out in a singles-oriented market, Elvis albums were
coming out almost from the beginning. But even after accounting for Elvis's
handicap in that regard, Brooks' sales record is still astonishing, given
that he didn't make his first album until 1989, and his name is surrounded
by the names of folks who have been selling for 2 or 3 times as long; the
only one who comes even close to matching him is Mariah Carey, whose first
album came out in 1990, and she's only sold half as many units.
Jon Weisberger, Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger
