via Showbiz 411

What happened to rap? It’s off the charts with two minor exceptions: a sluggish new album from 50 Cent, and an oldish album at the bottom of the charts by SchoolBoyQ.

What’s in? Pop, Pop R&B, white kids, black kids who sound white. Led Zeppelin reisssued its first three albums from 196-1972. They are all in the new top 40 albums and sold a total more than 60,000 copies total. Yikes.

Is rock back? Heavy rock too?

Not selling: Mariah Carey’s “Me I Am Mariah” and Michael Jackson’s “Xscape.” The latter at least had a couple of good weeks. Mariah’s CD, with great reviews and terrific tracks, has gone nowhere.

Country albums take four of the top 10 spots this week: Miranda Lambert is number 1, followed by Brantley Gilbert and Lucy Hale. A country compilation, “Now Country 7,” is also in the top 10. CONTINUE READING

Biggest Selling iTunes Artists within last 24 hours

With a fortune estimated at £45 million, Adele has topped the Sunday Times under-30s music rich list for the second year running. Despite releasing no new material last year, the singer’s wealth increased by £15 million in 2013.

Adele, 26, has released two studio albums – 19 (2008) and 21 (2011) – and wrote the theme tune to the 2012 James Bond film, Skyfall. She was also awarded an MBE last year for services to music.

DJ Calvin Harris is second on the list, with an estimated £30 million to his name. The DJ, whose real name is Adam Richard Wiles, released his third studio album, 18 Months, in 2012 and has enjoyed nine UK Top 10 hits from the record. First week sales of over 50,000 also propelled 18 Months to the top of the UK album chart.

Cheryl Cole, who has not released new music for two years, has dropped a position from last year and is now third in the list with £16 million.

The top 10 list is dominated by the five members of One Direction – Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson – who each have a fortune estimated at £14 million. Read more