This year four recordings have sold 1 million copies in their first week of release. In the previous history of the music industry, only two albums ever generated those kinds of initial sales. “Why the sudden increase of records achieving what not long ago was considered an impossible dream? Part of the answer is the overall growth of the music business, which soared from sales of $7.5 billion in the U.S. in 1990 to $14.5 billion last year, according to the Recording Industry Assn. of America. But mostly it’s marketing.” – Los Angeles Times