HSM2 Soundtrack Hits #1

As if the phenomenal success of High School Musical 2 on the Disney Channel isn't enough, the soundtrack to the show had just hit #1 on the Billboard Album charts, racking up sales for the week that is the 2nd highest of the year so far. The impact of the show is quite impressive:

Most impressively, "High School Musical 2" outsold the rest of the top 10, which collectively mustered sales of only 514,000. Digitally, 326,000 individual tracks were sold in the week ended Sunday, and 20,000 ringtones were sold as well.

The TV tuner's "You Are the Music in Me" is at No. 9 on the single chart, having sold 60,000 downloads, the leader among the tuner's six top-40 tracks. A separate track, "What Time Is It," sold 25,000 physical singles in addition to its digital sales.

Arrival of the sequel sent the original on a 37% sales spike. The "HSM" soundtrack sold 30,000 copies, rising 12 slots to No. 16. The original, which was the biggest-selling album of 2006, now has a cume of 4.1 million.

That's why I said earlier that while the Disney Channel itself has no advertisers and thus, the ratings actually do not translate directly into advertising dollars, the indirect impact in terms of merchandising and brand name is enormous. This is something other hit TV shows do not have.

Zz.