Boost Mobile taps Pusha T for their latest edition of "Be Heard Session", Pusha reflects about his brother No Malice rapping with Timberland in Middle school and how they ran in to Pharrell. Being in...



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Beats By Dre

Celebrity endorsements are behind increases in headphone sales, says a new report by market-research company the NPD Group. That's good news for artists with headphone lines such as Dr. Dre, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, Ludacris and Diddy.

Last year, headphones that cost $100 or more accounted for 3.5% of the market, up from 2% in 2009. Overall headphone sales increased 17% in units and 30% in dollars in 2010. This sales uptick is unusual for such a mature product category, says Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis at the NPD Group. While TVs, notebooks, MP3 players and digital cameras have seen unit sales declines, while headphone sales are strong. "It's one of the few that's growing," he told Billboard.

Endorsements by well known artists are helping drive that growth. Like mobile devices, Rubin said, headphones have become a fashion accessory to many Americans. He said NPD has found that 11% of consumers say headphones endorsed by music artists they know and like was either extremely or very important in their purchase decisions. For headphones that cost over $100, that figure rose to 18.

Mobile devices are also playing a role here. Rubin told Billboard that smartphones are emerging as a leading device used by headphone buyers. These connected devices lower the barriers to entry for adopting digital music. "That has the potential to multiply the installed base the iPod created."

Source: Glenn Peoples/Billboar

NEW YORK - A little more than a week after making their American television debut by performing "Uprising" during the "2009 MTV Video Music Awards," popular British band Muse has set high marks for record sales, debuting at #3 on the Billboard chart, with 128,000 copies sold. The "Uprising" single alone saw a week-over-week growth of 341% after the performance, jumping from 12,040 to 53,039 units sold this week.

"We've seen amazing growth for Muse, with this album selling nearly three times as many copies as the last album did in its debut week," says Tom Biery, General Manager of Warner Bros. Records. "One thing that was integral was the MTV Video Music Awards. Not only did we see dramatic sales increases a week later, but the band's performance was a top trending topic on Twitter that night. In addition, the band saw the traffic on its website reach its highest level in history."

Overall, all of the artists who performed at the 2009 VMAs saw significant sales increases starting on VMA weekend and continuing throughout the week, including Beyonce, who took to the stage with her megahit "Single Ladies," Green Day, who rocked the audience with "East Jesus Nowhere," JAY-Z, who closed out the show alongside Alicia Keys with "Empire State Of Mind," Lady Gaga, who brought "Paparazzi" to the Radio City Music Hall stage, Pink, who took "Sober" to great heights during the show, and Taylor Swift, who performed "You Belong to Me."

2009 VMA Performance Impacts

Beyonce

-- "Single Ladies" - Digital single sales went up 161% the week after the

performance

-- "I Am. . .Sasha Fierce" album - moves from #55 to #40 on the Soundscan

/ Billboard Top 200 Chart, +40%

Green Day

-- "East Jesus Nowhere" - Digital Single sales increased by 418% the week

after the performance

-- "21st Century Breakdown" album - saw a 17% increase in sales the week

following the performance

-- "21 Guns" - Single sales moved from a ranking of #17 to #14 on the

Soundscan "Hot Digital Tracks" chart, from 53,887 singles last week to

60,394 this week

JAY-Z

-- "Empire State Of Mind" immediately went to the #1 Top Song on iTunes

after the VMA performance & stayed there for the next 6 days, ahead of

the current single, "Run This Town".

-- The Blueprint 3 debuts at #1 on Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart w/ over

475,000 copies sold after the VMAs.

Lady Gaga

-- "Paparazzi" - moves from #12 to #3 in Soundscan, +170% increase in

digital single sales; 63,673 last week and 172,165 this week

-- "The Fame" album - moves from #23 to #12 in Soundscan / Billboard Top

200 Chart, +76.4%, 18,857 last week and 33,255 this week

Pink

-- "Sober" - moves from not ranked to #66 in Soundscan / Billboard Top

200 Chart, +200% increase in digital single sales this week; 7,435

last week and 22,915 this week

-- "Funhouse" album - moves from #63 to #28 in Soundscan / Billboard Top

200 Chart, +95%, 8,377 last week and 16,364 this week

Taylor Swift

-- "You Belong With Me" - 80% increase in iTunes sales from 9/12-9/14;

-- "Fearless" album - moves from #10 to #8 in Soundscan / Billboard,

+37%, 33,213 last week and 45,529 this week

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