John Mayer "Battle Studies" #1 with Taylor Swift Bump

John Mayer, Twitter user extraordinaire, has used the Taylor Swift bump and scored his second #1 album on the Billboard 200 albums chart with "Battle Studies." And John Mayer did it against a line-up of heavy hitters. Albums released the same day as "Battle Studies" included albums by Norah Jones, Paul McCartney, Casting Crowns, Leona Lewis, OneRepublic, 50 Cent, Janet Jackson, and American Idol winner Kris Allen. Selling 286,000 copies, John Mayer's fifth studio album also beat out Andrea Bocelli's "My Christmas," which sold 185,000 to hold the #2 position for the second straight week.

But what about that Taylor Swift bump?

It is no secret that Taylor Swift is the music industry story of 2009 -- with the lone possible exception of the death of Michael Jackson. Her album "Fearless," which currently sits at #10, is the biggest selling album of 2009. She recently swept the Country Music Association Awards, including the coveted Entertainer of the Year award, then followed that up with a near sweep of the awards she was nominated for at the American Music Awards (five out of six, with Michael Jackson taking the sixth award -- Favorite Pop/Rock Album). To say that Taylor Swift is currently on fire is to master understatement.

So it should be no surprise that the one track that Taylor Swift appears on, "Half of My Heart," is the most downloaded track from the new John Mayer album. It debuted at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart and at #12 on the Digital Songs chart. It is also the highest debuting single in the Hot 100 for the week ending November 22.

Taylor Swift currently has two collaborative hits in the Billboard Hot 100. Besides "Half of My Heart," she is also charting with Boys Like Girls' "Two Is Better Than One," which sits at No. 40. She has her own singles at #15 ("You Belong With Me") and #26 ("Fifteen"). The 19-year-old country crossover artist has had 21 Hot 100 hits since January 2007.

She also is charting three albums: the aforementioned "Fearless," "Sounds of the Season" (#20) and "Taylor Swift" (#47).

John Mayer is charting with two other singles from "Battle Studies" as well. "Who Says," the first single from the album currently sits at #55, having peaked at #17. "Heartbreak Warfare," a song that appears on the "Battle Studies" bonus disc version, debuted at #100.

"Battle Studies" is the follow-up to "Continuum," which debuted at #2 in 2006, even though it sold better its first week (300,000 copies) than did "Battle Studies." John Mayer also topped the Billboard 200 back in 2003 with "Heavier Things," also with a better sales count (317,000).

Although "Battle Studies" may have debuted at #1 on its own, especially given John Mayer's strong track record, the fact that Taylor Swift is even on the album more than likely had some impact on sales. One thing is certain: There is no indication that her presence on the new album hurt record sales...

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Source:

Billboard.com