HUNGER GAMES SOUNDTRACK LANDS AT NO. 1

According to conventional industry wisdom, nobody’s interested in soundtrack albums anymore. What people want are single records that can quickly be download onto their iPods from Apple’s iTunes store. Tell that to the producers of The Hunger Games CD, which sold 175,000 copies last week, according to Nielsen Soundscan. And Taylor Swift’s “Safe and Sound,” her second single release from the movie, debuted at No. 4 on the Digital Songs chart with 176,000 copies sold. What makes the sales results especially fascinating is that the title of the movie on the album cover constitutes a sales device Of 16 tracks on the album, only three are heard in the movie, and all of those are played behind the end credits, not during the film itself. Meanwhile, the debut album of Britain’s One Direction boy band, which also had sales of 175,000 in its opening week, dropped to No. 4 on the chart.