Paul McCartney's new album 'Memory Almost Full' has debuted at number three on the US Billboard Chart after shifting 160,541 units.
The debut represents another small shift in the music-selling paradigm, which generally equates chart success with major label support. McCartney's album was released through the Hear Music record label, part-owned by Starbucks.Whilst McCartney's success must be qualified with the facts that: A) Starbucks runs a cunning business model with massive market reach across the States; and B) he's Paul McCartney; it shows that artists can still sell records whilst the music industry continues its slide.
If anything, it shifts the power balance in the direction of the artist, in an atmosphere that now favours innovation over tired convention.
It was McCartney's highest debut since 1997's acclaimed 'Flaming Pie' album, which reached number two, despite selling some 40,000 less copies than 'Memory Almost Full'.
