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The Arcade Fire Debuts at #2 on Album Charts

The music industry as whole may be floundering, but 2007 is shaping up to be a big year for independent artists and labels. A couple months after indie rockers the Shins' opened at #2 on the Billboard album charts with Wincing the Night Away, the Arcade Fire's hotly-anticipated sophomore album, Neon Bible, has debuted in the same position, with U.S. sales of 92,000 copies. Both albums were helped by an avalanche of online buzz, as well as high-profile pre-release appearances on Saturday Night Live.

The Arcade Fire's first album, Funeral, bowed at #131 on the chart, but has gone on to sell over 327,000 copies. They are—by a substantial margin—the most successful band in the history of Durham, North Carolina's truly independent Merge Records. It took the late Notorious B.I.G. —and a greatest-hits package at that—to keep them from the top spot.

"Obviously having the number two record in America is insane for a label like Merge," co-owner Mac McCaughan said.

--The ARTISTdirect Staff
03.15.07