Chart Watch Extra: Top Albums At Half-Time

By Paul Grein | Chart Watch – Wed, Jul 4, 2012 2:58 PM EDT

Adele's 21 sold 3,668,000 copies in the first half of 2012, which is more than any other album has sold in the first half of the year since 50 Cent'sThe Massacre blew through 4,022,000 copies in the first half of 2005.21 sold more copies in the first half of this year than it did in the first half of 2011 (2,517,000), when it was a new release. It's the first album to finish as the top-seller of the first half of the year twice since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for Billboard in 1991.

Otherwise, the album sales news was grim. 21 was the only album that sold 1 million copies in the first half. Eleven albums sold 500K copies. This is down from past years. (I have the depressing details below.)

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