ALBUM AND SINGLE SALES

• Lady Antebellum trailed only Eminem in Nielsen SoundScan’s top-selling, all-genre albums of 2010 as Need You Now came in at No. 2 with 3.09 million copies sold. Though her third album, Speak Now, was released only 10 weeks prior to the end of the year, Taylor Swift finished 2010 as the third-best seller of the year with 2.96 million.  Swift is also 2010's best-selling act in terms of overall albums, with 4.47 million sold; Eminen is second and Lady Antebellum is third.
• In terms of all-genre digital singles sales, Lady Antebellum made the Top 10 with “Need You Now” selling 3.18 million tracks.

Billboard’s Top Country Albums of 2010
based on information from Nielsen SoundScan

1. Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
2. Fearless - Taylor Swift
3. Speak Now - Taylor Swift
4. Play On - Carrie Underwood
5. The Foundation - Zac Brown Band
6. Lady Antebellum - Lady Antebellum
7. Revolution - Miranda Lambert
8. Wide Open - Jason Aldean
9. Southern Voice - Tim McGraw
10. The Incredible Machine - Sugarland

Billboard’s Top Country Songs of 2010

1. “Love Like Crazy” - Lee Brice
2. “Rain Is A Good Thing” - Luke Bryan
3. “Why Don’t We Just Dance” - Josh Turner
4. “All Over Me” - Josh Turner
5. “The Man I Want To Be” - Chris Young
6. “Roll With It” - Easton Corbin
7. “Gimmie That Girl” - Joe Nichols
8. “All About Tonight” - Blake Shelton
9. “Come Back Song” - Darius Rucker
10. “She Won’t Be Lonely Long” - Clay Walker

• Three Country artists made the Top 10 in the Top Billboard 200 Artists of 2010 in all genres. Taylor Swift captured the top spot, with Lady Antebellum coming in at No. 4 and the Zac Brown Band at No. 10. On the Top Billboard 200 Albums year-end chart, Lady Antebellum held the No. 3 spot with Need You Now, and Swift scored a double with Fearless and Speak Now at Nos. 7 and 9, respectively. For the second consecutive year, Taylor Swift is Billboard’s most-played artist, topping their annual all-genre Artist Airplay chart with more than 1.128 million airplay detections in 2010.
• With the close of 2010 came the close of the first decade of the new millennium. Taylor Swift came in at No. 9 on Nielsen SoundScan’s top-selling singles of the decade, with “Love Story” selling 4.01 million tracks.
• Lady Antebellum’s huge hit, “Need You Now,” took the top spot on Billboard’s Master Ringtone chart.
• Garth Brooks remained at the No. 1 spot on the Top Selling Artists of the Nielsen SoundScan era with 68.5 million albums sold. George Strait came in at No. 6 (42.3 million) and Tim McGraw at No. 8 (39.4 million). Metallica edged Shania Twain out of No. 1 by only 121,000 for Top Selling Album of the Nielsen SoundScan era. Twain’s Come On Over has sold 15.5 million albums to date.

RIAA CERTIFICATIONS

The Recording Industry Association (RIAA) certified 17 Gold (500,000 units), 7 Platinum (1 million) and seven Multi-Platinum (2+ million) Country albums in 2010.

Multi-Platinum Country Albums (in millions)

• (6) Taylor Swift – Fearless
• (3) Lady Antebellum – Need You Now
• (3) Sugarland – Enjoy the Ride
• (3) Taylor Swift – Speak Now
• (3) Carrie Underwood – Carnival Ride
• (2) Lady Antebellum – Lady Antebellum
• (2) Zac Brown Band – The Foundation

Platinum Country Albums

• Brooks & Dunn – #1s… & Then Some
• Alan Jackson – Good Time
• Miranda Lambert – Revolution
• Carrie Underwood – Play On
• Keith Urban – Defying Gravity

Digital singles certification included 35 Gold, 14 Platinum and four multi-Platinum.

Multi-Platinum Country Singles (in millions)

• (6) Taylor Swift – “Love Story”
• (4) Lady Antebellum – “Need You Now”
• (3 Carrie Underwood – “Before He Cheats”
• (2) Zac Brown Band – “Chicken Fried”

Platinum Country Singles

• Jason Aldean – “Big Green Tractor”
• Billy Currington – “People Are Crazy”
• Lady Antebellum – “I Run to You”
• Miranda Lambert – “Gunpowder & Lead”
• Brad Paisley – “She’s Everything” and “Then”
• Brad Paisley featuring Alison Krauss – “Whiskey Lullaby"
• Kellie Pickler – “Best Days of Your Life”
• Sugarland – “All I Want To Do” and “Stuck Like Glue”
• Taylor Swift – “Today Was A Fairytale”
• The Band Perry – “If I Die Young"
• Carrie Underwood – “Cowboy Casanova”
• Zac Brown Band – “Toes”

Mastertone certifications included one Platinum (Jason Aldean’s “Big Green Tractor”) and two Gold (Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” and Conway Twitty’s “Hello Darlin’”).