MUSIQ FOR THE MASSES

When last we heard from Def Soul/IDJ’s Musiq, his name was Musiq Soulchild, and he was at the forefront of a burgeoning neo-soul movement that would ultimately generate millions (and millions) of sales and set the stage for the career development of some authentically musical artists.

Is a #1 album-chart debut "developed" enough for you?

"Musiq’s last album was a revelation to many fans, and they’ve obviously become a serious sales base," said Tower’s Robert Stapleton, who knew Musiq would sell as soon as he downloaded the new single from KaZaA. "This is an artist who’s poised to be around for a while.

The other impressive debut of the week belongs to Columbia’s Lauryn Hill, whose MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 scored a solid #3 debut. "It’s a pretty unconventional way to introduce all new material," said Stapleton, who first heard the entire album on Limewire two weeks ago. "Columbia did an excellent job building buyer awareness for such a unique project.

Rounding out the Top Five are Epic’s Celine Dion at #2, Murder Inc/IDJ’s Ashanti at #4 and Roadrunner/Columbia/IDJ/SMS’s Spider-Man soundtrack, barely edging out A&M/Interscope’s surging Sheryl Crow, who posted a 6% gain this week.

Speaking of gains, clearly the adults are driving this week’s marketplace. Besides Celine’s 52% increase (happy Mothers Day?), the O Brother soundtrack, Norah Jones (who breaks into the Top 15 this week!), Alan Jackson, Bonnie Raitt and Enya all experienced healthy gains.

And speaking of adults, how about that nutty Tom Waits? His TWO Anti/Epitaph albums debuted with virtually identical sales at #30 and 31. "Waits is one of my favorites," said Tower’s Stapleton. "I’m going to go download some of his stuff now!"