HALFWAY HOME!

Thanks to Adele’s two albums and One Direction, Doug Morris’ Sony Music lengthened its lead over ex-colleague Lucian Grainge’s UMG in total marketshare at the halfway mark of the year, leading by 1.6 percentage points (30.5 to 29.8), though the outcome is reversed when it comes to TEA (Track Equivalent Albums), where UMG leads by just under a percentage point (30.1 to 29.2). If you add UMG and EMI, the total is 39 in total marketshare and 39.3 in TEA.

For the full marketshare chart, click here.

In new releases, Team Stringer/Barnett’s Columbia Records (13.2, +5.0 over last year) stretches its lead over Monte Lipman’s Universal Republic (8.8, +2.9), which is bolstered by Top 10 efforts from a pair of Young Money/Cash Money releases in Nicki Minaj (#7) and Drake (#8), as well as Gotye (#11).

Atlantic Records (5.9, -.6), whose biggest hit was from fun. (#23), leapfrogs Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope Geffen A&M (5.7, -1.5), led by Madonna (#12), though both lose ground from last year.

Peter Edge and Tom Corson’s RCA Music Group, with Whitney Houston’s Greatest Hits at #4, scores at 4.4, a slight dip of .1 percentage points from last year, while Dan McCarroll’s Capitol Music Group also dips .1 at 3.4, with Now 41 their biggest release, at #5.

Rob Cavallo and Todd Moscowitz’s Warner Bros. Records and Steve Bartels’ IDJ are in a dead head at 3.0, thanks to hits from The Black Keys (#15) and Rihanna (#16), respectively.

In the Country field, Gary O’s SME Nashville remains flat at 2.8, while Mike Dungan’s UMG Nashville is up 1.2 to 2.4, largely thanks to Lionel Richie’s Tuskegee, presently the biggest seller of any album released this year.