Problematic: James Blunt‘s first album ‘Back to Bedlam’ sold 2.6 million in the US and was certificated 2x platinum. His first single ‘Beautiful’ was a Valentines Day hit that brought him to national spotlight. Blunt kept Atlantic Records alive as ‘Back to Bedlam’ was selling 55k a week. Blunt was so convincing that he even held hands with supermodels. A hit can turn anybody into a instance rock star. I believe Blunt’s album ‘Back to Bedlam’ is a great record all they way through. It’s rich in songwriting, emotion, and story telling. His live show is excellent along with his commanding stage presence.

I noticed his new album ‘All The Lost Souls’ fell off the top 50 album charts in 7 weeks. ‘All The Lost Souls’ does not have the spark or intensity of ‘Back To Bedlam’, but I would have thought he would have attracted a broader fan base other than top 40 flavor of the month music buyers. I cannot figure out what happened, although it seemed many people were unaware that he even had a new album out.

The Scottish singer and songwriter KT Tunstall is another artist that came off the heels of a platinum record and may be facing doomsday. Tunstall had her break with a performance on Later with Jools Holland of her song “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree”. She even picked up three BRIT Awards and a Grammy nomination. Her new record ‘Drastic Fantastic’ stalled at 125k and is sitting on #120 on the album charts.

The Road to Success: The Eagles new album ‘Long Road Out of Eden’ sold 707k in the Wal-Mart chains. These are old school numbers. In fact, people are finding the new “exclusive” album at small mom-and-pop record stores and big chains like Virgin Megastore with price tags ranging from $18.99 to $24.99. Everybody wants a piece of the Eagles.

Red Bull Takes on The Music Biz: Red Bull is now pushing a serious music initiative, according to Digital Music News. A stand-alone recording label with 360-degree concept that integrates Red Bull branding seems a possibility.

The new Radiohead album due December 31 on CD: They also released a statement that described the ComScore data as “wholly inaccurate” information which “in no way reflect definitive market intelligence or, indeed, the true success of the project.” Whatever….

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The Eagles’ new album, “Long Road Out of Eden,” takes the No. 1 spot on The Billboard 200 after Billboard revised a significant chart policy today.

Billboard will now allow exclusive album titles that are only available through one retailer to appear on The Billboard 200 and other charts, effective with this week’s charts.

According to Wal-Mart, The Eagles ‘The Long Road Out of Eden’ sold 707,253. These sales represented the highest first week sales of any music product in the past two years at Wal-Mart. This sold twice as much as Britney’s Blackout. Britney Spears’ new album, “Blackout,” which would have been No. 1 had the Eagles’ data not been reported, will open at No. 2 with first-week sales of only 290,000 copies. Based on projections, the Blackout album was expected to sell 350,000.

Britney’s Blackout: “Blackout,” will finish at No. 1 this week, according the chartmakers. “Blackout” sold between 325,000 and 350,000 copies and remains the No. 1 downloaded album on iTunes and the fifth bestselling CD on Amazon.com.

What is interesting today is that the charts are less relevant. The Eagles‘ latest double CD album, ‘Long Road Out Of Eden‘, will sell more than twice as much as Britney’s Blackout. The Eagles album is only available at Wal-Mart retailers and is expected to sell 700k+. The Eagles new record is not elgible for the Billboard Album chart because its being carried by a single retailer.

Prince attacks fansites: Prince and his lawyers are sending out legal letters to ‘Prince’ fan sites asking them for compensation. Is this the new artist business model? Giving away music for free in a weekly newspaper and generate revenue from fansites?

The letter reads…

Prince’s representatives have requested that the fansites provide them with “substantive details of the means by which you [the fansites] propose to compensate our clients [Paisley Park Enterprises, NPG Records and Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG)] for damages…” (Read more here)

American Idol will undergo some changes in its 7th season: This season will feature fewer celebrity mentors and the contestants will be now allowed to show off their instrumental talent. (More here…)

Check out Feist flawlessly perform “1234” on SNL.

Most Radiohead fans are choosing to download the newest album without paying for it, according to researcher ComScore Inc.

Fewer than four out of 10 fans worldwide who downloaded ‘In Rainbows’ between Oct. 10 and Oct. 29 purchased it, paying $6 on average, ComScore said today in a statement.

In the U.S., 40 percent of Radiohead fans who downloaded ‘In Rainbows’ paid an average $8.05. Outside the US, 36 percent paid for the digital recording at an average price of $4.64. (Bloomberg)

The Bottom Line: Most fans paid $0 for the Radiohead album.

Jewels new album was produced by Big & Rich’s John Rich and will be released through Valory Music Company. “She’s just one of the best singer/songwriters in any genre,” Borchetta says, adding that a move to country is “a natural progression for her.”

20th Century Fox, has lifted its ban on the use of Universal Music Group content. The band was viewed as retaliation against a the lawsuit lodged by Universal against MySpace, also owned by News Corp. (WSJ)

CMT orders Reality Show: CMT has purchased episodes of “Can You Duet?,” a new reality competition show from “American Idol” producer FremantleMedia. “We’ve been looking to get into the music competition game, but we really wanted to do it correctly,” said CMT head of development Bob Kusbit. The producers are working to find a record label to sign the show’s winners. (Variety)

B-Unique, the British label home to Kaiser Chiefs and Primal Scream, has struck a deal with Warner Music U.K. that it will become integrated into Atlantic Records UK. B-Unique will also establish a artist management division. (Billboard)

San Diego based alt act We Shot The Moon who features Jonathan Jones the singer of the band Waking Ashland have signed to the Militia Group.