The release game plays on - JamaicaObserver.com

Saturday, November 21, 2009 5:35 PM

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The release game plays on

Sean Paul, Sean Kingston and Matisayhu...

By Steven Jackson

Sunday, July 12, 2009

New singles by artistes Sean Paul and Sean Kingston are top-10 charters online, but another big artiste, Matisyahu, has yet to see online chart success with his single.

All three dancehall/pop artistes have released singles to support their August album release dates. Sean Kingston's Fire Burning is number two and three on iTunes' Top 10 songs charts in Canada and US respectively. It is also number one on iTunes' US Hip-Hop charts in Canada; number six in Germany; number nine in Austria; number three in New Zealand; and number four in Sweden.

Matisayhu... releases album in August.

Sean Paul's So Fine is number seven on the Japan Pop charts on iTunes, among the Internet's most popular music stores. Paul's new single is not charting on the hip-hop charts nor reggae charts. Online sales account for 28 per cent of major label sales up to March this year, based on Observer analysis of the big four labels - Warner, Sony, Universal and EMI.

While Matisyahu's single, One Day, is available for download on iTunes, it is not currently charted.

The three will battle for the top of the charts with the impending and almost simultaneous release of their respective albums. The pressure is such that each artiste needs to hit number one and go platinum in order to equal or better their previous release. The problem is that they are their biggest rivals, as Sean Paul's Imperial Blaze will be released on August 18 whilst Matisyahu's Light and Kingston's Tomorrow will be released on August 25.

Stakeholders in June downplayed the impact arguing that sales are less affected by simultaneous releases and more by the label's marketing spend and the album's quality. But in a recession, Americans - the largest record market - may choose the best amongst the three.

Sean Paul

Social networking site, MySpace puts Sean Kingston at 35.8 million page-views; Sean Paul at 17.1 million and Matisyahu at 6.1 million. Sean Kingston and Sean Paul have album sales over 1,000,000, whilst Matisyahu has sold over 500,000.

Sean Paul hit number one on Billboards' Top Reggae Albums for his 2002 and 2005 releases Dutty Rock and Trinity respectively. The Trinity was his best charting album peaking at number seven on The Billboard 200.

Matisyahu hit number one on Billboards' Top Reggae Albums for his 2006, 2007 and 2008 releases Youth, No Place to Be and Shattered respectively. Youth was his best charting album peaking at number four on the Billboard 200. Sean Kingston hit number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums for his sole self-titled release. It also peaked at #6 on The Billboard 200.

New and catalogue songs currently top the iTunes Reggae Songs chart worldwide. Serani's No Games tops UK and France; Seed's Ding tops Germany and Austria, Sean Paul's Temperature tops Belgium; Bedouin Soundclash's When the Night Feels My Song tops Canada; Natasja's Gi'Mig Danmark Tilbage tops Denmark; Han-Kun's Keep it Blazing tops Japan; The Black Seeds' So True tops New Zealand; and Moonraisers' Rise Up tops Portugal; Elias & Frans' Who's da Man? tops Sweden; and Phenomden's Stah da tops Switzerland. Bob Marley tops the charts in the US, Australia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Spain.

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