Music, Billboard | featured news

Madonna‘s MDNA album debuts at number 1 on the British charts, but it’s a soft landing. According to Billboard, MDNA had sales of 56,000– very low for a number 1 album debut. In contrast, Bruce Springsteen‘s Wrecking Ball hit number 1 two weeks ago with 74,000 copies. Here in the US, Billboard is reporting–just as I did last week–that Lionel Richie is ahead of Madonna in the race for number 1. Those final numbers won’t be in until late Tuesday. But Richie is substantially ahead of Madonna on ITunes and amazon.com, the two chief sellers of music at this point.

Taylor Swift is No. 1 again: The singer is the top act on Billboard's "Money Makers" list. Swift earned more than $35 million in 2011, according to the Billboard list released Friday. U2 was second with $32 million. Kenny Chesney, Lady Gaga and Lil Wayne rounded out the top 5.

It's another honor for Taylor Swift. The country music superstar has been crowned "Woman of the Year" by Billboard magazine. The 21-year-old multiplatinum singer-songwriter is the youngest to receive the award, which has gone to Beyonce, Reba McEntire and Fergie. The announcement was made Tuesday.

Taylor Swift fans have spoken - more than a million times. The country pop superstar sold more than 1 million copies of her new album "Speak Now" to debut at the top of the Billboard album chart this week.

Could Eminem’s “Recovery” signal a recovery for the music industry as well? The rapper’s new album, which came out June 21, is now expected to sell as many as 750,000 copies in its opening frame and is a lock to come in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Today Billboard is touting that a song has set a new record for biggest jump to No. 1 on the Hot 100 singles chart: Taio Cruz' "Break Your Heart" featuring Ludacris rises 53-1.