Contrary to reports published last week, Billboard has announced this morning that the Eagles' new album Long Road Out of Eden is the number one album in the Billboard 200, beating the Britney Spears "comeback" album. The announcement comes after a change in chart rules that "will now allow exclusive album titles that are only available through one retailer to appear on The Billboard 200 and other Billboard charts." According to the report, Nielsen Soundscan places the album at number one with 711,000 copies sold, primarily at Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) stores. Spears' new album Blackout is charting at number two (it would have been number one) with 290,000 copies sold.

The change is also a product of the new methods that music is beginning to be distributed through in the market, with Billboard's chart director Geoff Mayfield noting "it was inevitable that Billboard's charts would ultimately widen the parameters to reflect changes that are unfolding in music distribution." Before this, exclusive albums like the Eagles album sold exclusively by one retailer were only eligible for the Top Comprehensive Albums chart, which primarily tracks catalog releases. The change also came about because Wal-Mart chose to report the data for the high sales of the album.

It may dismay Britney fans out there that defiantly defend her, but in the end it is a nice position for the Eagles to chart with their new album. More importantly, this kind of change by Billboard indicates that as the record industry shifts and changes with regard to digital releases and limited physical release availability (the Eagles' album is not the first and won't be the last exclusive title from any store), charting practices will stay on top of the game. Of course, the most surprisingly and perhaps best news to come out of this change is just the sheer number of copies sold at Wal-Mart stores for the album. Maybe the CD still has life in it yet, but it could also point to the generational gap that exists with music listeners and buyers in today's market.

Britney Spears is set to top the Billboard 200 and Top Comprehensive albums this week, despite potentially higher sales by the Eagles first album in 27 years: Long Road Out of Eden. Sales of Britney's Blackout sat at 124,000 copies yesterday according to Billboard and the album is expected to sale about 200,000 - 250,000 more before the end of the charting week. In 2003, Britney's In the Zone album sold over 600,000 copies in its debut week, which means with the projected figures, her album sales are still not as high as hoped. Unfortunately, that is a trend common for all album releases since 2003.

On the other side, the Eagles new album, which is being sold exclusively in Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) stores and on the band's official website, is reported to potentially outsell Blackout if Wal-Mart decides to report the sales. Even if Wal-Mart were to decide to report sales, the Eagles new album would only be eligible for the Top Comprehensive Albums chart. Billboard notes "titles that are not generally available at retail are not eligible to appear on The Billboard 200, but are entitled to chart on Billboard's Top Comprehensive Albums, which includes catalog titles and proprietary albums from retailers willing to report those sales."

It's a shame that the first new album in 27 years by the Eagles will potentially not become a "number one," but at the same time it is not surprising to read that the band is enjoying heavy sales of their album. In 1994, their live album Hell Freezes Over topped the Billboard 200 for two weeks. At the same time, you cannot blame the band for choosing to make an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart, especially given the chain's status as number one music retailer, and the history the company has with exclusive and limited album releases.