Meet The Beatles: 2020's Best Selling Rock Band
Just in case you thought a handful of decades or so could dim the popularity of the English quartet known as The Beatles, the Nielsen Music Midyear Report is here to disabuse you of that notion. According to the data measuring "album-equivalent unit" (a measurement of album sales across all media as well as streams), the title of 2020's biggest selling rock band belongs to Paul, John, George, and Ringo. The Beatles have moved 1.094 million album-equivalent units in the US in the first half of 2020, far more than any other act in the rock genre, and the only such act to crack the million unit figure. And if you expand that to all genres, they're the only act of any kind to cross the million-album-unit threshold except one: Korean pop sensation BTS, which has shifted 1.417 million album-equivalent units in the US in the first half of 2020. Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images BTS, a Korean boy band which has been compared to The Beatles for the intense fervor of their biggest fans, are the artists behind 2020's bestselling album of the year in terms of physical copies sold, with more than 500,000 units (minus digital downloads and streams) of their new album Map of the Soul: 7 sold in the US.BTS, of course, is a current group still going strong, along with other top-selling pop artists like Billie Eilish (number one in the pop world for total consumption), but within the rock genre, the classics are king. But 50 years after the breakup of The Beatles, the only rock group without a robust decades-old back catalog to crack the top five is Imagine Dragons, which sold 593,000 album-equivalent units between January and June of this year. The other biggest-selling rock acts are Queen with 768,000 units sold, Fleetwood Mac with 565,000 units sold, and Metallica with 551,000 units sold....
Auburn Is Paying Gus Malzahn An Absurd Amount Of Money To No Longer Coach For The School
Back in 2013, things were going great for Auburn and their then-brand new head coach Gus Malzahn. The school won the SEC and reached the BCS National Championship, losing a 34-31 nailbiter to Florida State. It seemed like the Tigers were primed for a long run of success. Flash forward to 2020, and Auburn is suddenly rudderless. The Tigers have only won 10 games one other time in Malzahn's eight years, and have an abysmal 2-5 bowl record during his tenure. He's also only 3-5 in Iron Bowl games against Auburn's biggest rival, Alabama. This year, the Tigers are 6-4 and middle of the pack in the SEC West. That poor record was enough for Auburn to buy out the remainder of Malzahn's contract. But don't feel bad for Malzahn, though. He's going to earn $21.45 million. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images Per Malzahn's contract, half of that money – $10.275 million – is due within 30 days of termination. The remainder will be paid out over the next four years in installments of about $2.68 million. Malzahn signed a seven-year, $49 million contract extension after the 2017 campaign. With 75% of that deal guaranteed, Auburn is in a financial bind. Even if Malzahn signs elsewhere, Auburn will be paying him every cent of his buyout. Twitter is understandably upset about this chain of events. The move comes at a time when millions of Americans are still struggling due to the coronavirus pandemic. Even many universities are feeling the impact, with layoffs, salary reductions, furloughs, and other negatives happening as a result of severe financial strain. Yet college football coaches seem to be immune. Florida State paid Willie Taggart $18 million to not coach for them. Now, Auburn is paying Malzahn even more. This won't be the last time a university pays a coach millions to leave the school. But maybe it'll at least lead to some smarter negotiating down the line....
