Adele's '21' is leading 2012 album sales

Adele's '21' is leading 2012 album sales

Adele's 21, the top-selling album in 2011 with 5.82 million copies, is also leading the 2012 race. The British singer's sophomore album sold an additional 3.7 million copies this year to crush the competition on Billboard's midyear top 10 list.

Her take is more than the combined total of the next four albums and is the only title to exceed sales of 1 million copies. Unless a similar smash moves in, 21 could triumph again as a year-end leader, a first since Nielsen SoundScan began tallying sales in 1991. Adele's 2008 debut, 19, lands at No. 10.

Half the albums in the top 10 are pre-2012 releases, underscoring the lack of a new blockbuster. R ecent albums by Lionel Richie, One Direction, Carrie Underwood and Nicki Minaj squeaked in, along with the Now 41 compilation.

Consumers have bought 150.5 million albums so far this year, down 3% compared with the equivalent period last year, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Digital songs fared better, with 698 million downloads sold, up 6%. And Billboard's midyear top 10 boasts a mostly fresh crop, crowned by Gotye's Somebody That I Used to Know. The oldest entry, Kelly Clarkson's Stronger, has been on the chart for 34 weeks.

2012'S TOP 10 ALBUMS (year-to-date sales in millions), according to Nielsen SoundScan:

1. Adele, 21 (3.67)
2. Lionel Richie, Tuskegee (0.91)
3. One Direction, Up All Night (0.90)
4. Whitney Houston, The Greatest Hits (0.82)
5. Various artists, Now 41 (0.71)
6. Carrie Underwood, Blown Away (0.60)
7. Luke Bryan, Tailgates Tanlines (0.58)
8. Nicki Minaj, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (0.56)
9. Drake, Take Care (0.55)
10. Adele, 19 (0.54)

2012'S TOP 10 DIGITAL SONGS (year-to-date sales in millions), according to Nielsen SoundScan:

1. Gotye featuring Kimbra, Somebody That I Used to Know (5.50)
2. fun. featuring Janelle Monae, We Are Young (5.09)
3. Carly Rae Jepsen, Call Me Maybe (4.06)
4. Kelly Clarkson, Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You) (3.32)
5. Nicki Minaj, Starships (3.16)
6. Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa, Payphone (3.08)
7. The Wanted, Glad You Came (2.892)
8. One Direction, What Makes You Beautiful (2.885)
9. Flo Rida featuring Sia, Wild Ones (2.79)
10. Justin Bieber, Boyfriend (2.60)