the industry

Justin Timberlake Had the Best-Selling Album of 2013

Singer Justin Timberlake (C) performs onstage at the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 10, 2013 in Los Angeles, California.
Singer Justin Timberlake (C) performs onstage at the 55th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on February 10, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

He sold 2.43 million copies of The 20/20 Experience (Part 1), which makes it the top album in yet another dismal year for record sales. (For comparison: Adele’s 21 — which was No. 1 for two years running, and admittedly something of a fluke — sold 5.82 million copies in 2011, and 4.41 in 2012.) Industry sales were down 8 percent overall last year, dropping to 289.4 million albums sold. On the bright side, if you are invested in the future of the record industry and/or Blue Ivy Carter’s college fund: Beyoncé just sold 1.3 million albums in seventeen days.

Timberlake Had the Best-Selling Album of 2013