Beatles` LOVE grabs top spot as CD sales slump

Canadian music stores suffered from the post-Christmas blues after album sales took a typical tumble in the last week of 2006.
According to figures compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, every artist in the top 10 saw their sales decrease significantly, with Sarah McLachlan's latest effort taking the biggest hit on the album charts.
Her Christmas disc Wintersong dropped out of the No. 1 spot after one week on top, falling down to No. 27, with sales of the album dipping from 46,000 last week to just under 5,000 this week -- a drop of almost 90%.
Grabbing the top spot this week was the Beatles remix collection LOVE on sales of 15,000. Eminem's mixtape-style showcase The Re-Up (14,000) was not far behind in second, and Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds jumped 10 spots to No. 3.
The compilation MuchDance 2007 climbed one notch to No. 4, Gwen Stefani's The Sweet Escape moved up two positions to No. 5, and Nelly Furtado's Loose claimed No. 6. Il Divo's Siempre slipped three to No. 7, Akon's Konvicted rocketed up nine spots to No. 8, Mes Aieux's Tire-Toi Une Buche occupied the No. 9 slot, and U2's U218 Singles hung onto the No. 10 position, after placing 11th last week.
There were no new entries in the top 100, an indication of how new CD releases completely shut down over the holidays.
In the U.S., Omarion's 21 (119,000) debuted in the No. 1 spot, followed by Akon in second, the Dreamgirls soundtrack in third, Nas's Hip-hop Is Dead in fourth, and Young Jeezy's The Inspiration in fifth.