Jan 5, 2017 Source: http://nypost.com/2002/12/06/music-ales-scam-retailers-reporting-bogus-album-numbers/ In one example of the sales inflation, an indie retailer in the Southeast recently reported to Nielsen Soundscan that it had sold roughly 3,000 percent more copies of Jay-Z's new album, "Blueprint 2" - an Island Def Jam release - than it actually did, according to sources both at the retail level and close to Universal. The scheme was verified by another indie retailer in the Southeast, which typically reports to Nielsen Soundscan triple the amount actually sold. For example, this store sold roughly 50 copies of Jay-Z's album recently, but scanned 150 for Nielsen Soundscan. This source says the practice has been ongoing for about three years, and is not limited to Island Def Jam releases. The Jay-Z album has lately been one of the nation's hottest. When it debuted in November, it knocked Eminem's "8 Mile" soundtrack out of the No. 1 spot.
Jan 5, 2017 Eminem's "The Eminem Show" was the top-selling U.S. album of 2002 with sales of 7.6 million copies, according to year-end figures released by Nielsen SoundScan. The soundtrack to the rapper's film "8 Mile" placed fifth on sales of 3.5 million units. Still, total CD album sales were down 10.7% in 2002, marking the sharpest sales decrease from the previous year in Nielsen SoundScan's 11-year tracking history. Beyond "The Eminem Show" and "8 Mile," the top-10 selling albums of last year were "Nellyville" (4.9 million), Avril Lavigne's "Let Go" (4.1 million), Dixie Chicks' "Home" (3.7 million), Pink's "Missundaztood" (3.1 million), Ashanti's self-titled release (3.09 million), Alan Jackson's "Drive" (3.05 million), Shania Twain's "Up!" (2.9 million) and the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" soundtrack (2.7 million).
Jan 5, 2017 every major record label inflates their sales, this isn't anything new. they probably did the same with Eminem & Aftermath/Shady too.
