LAST QUARTER STANDING

With the three-quarters mark in the rear-view mirror, the music industry hopes the last three months are better than the previous nine, with the big Q4 guns about to fire, including Bruce Springsteen, Rascal Flatts, Alicia Keys, Carrie Underwood, Nelly, Chris Brown, Mary J. Blige, Mariah Carey and Britney Spears.

Sales continue to languish at around 15% below last year, so it’ll take more than a monster Q4 to revive the biz, but there were some winners. For a full chart, click here.

UMG once again tops the music groups in total marketshare, with almost a third of the pie, up slightly from last year. SBMG is off more than 2.5 percentage points from last year, while both WMG and EMI were up less than a percentage point each.

In new releases, Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope A&M continues to lead the pack, thanks to Top 10 albums from Fergie and Maroon 5, with Robin Thicke, Gwen Stefani and 50 Cent among the acts contributing to their #1 ranking.

Warner Bros. continues to be the runner-up, with #2 Linkin Park leading the way, while Curb’s Tim McGraw, Michael Buble, White Stripes, Josh Groban and My Chemical Romance have supplied additional retail power.

Bob Cavallo’s Disney Records climbs to #3, in large part due to having two sequels in the Top 10 in High School Musical 2 and Hannah Montana 2, as well as Rascal Flatts’ Me and My Gang, with the follow-up hitting this week.

Antonio “L.A.” Reid’s Island Def Jam busted open a number of albums this year, including the biggest debut of the year in Kanye West along with Fall Out Boy, Bon Jovi, Ne-Yo, Rihanna, Young Jeezy and Fabolous.

At Columbia, Team Barnett/Rubin’s biggest albums of the year to date include Beyonce, John Mayer, the Dreamgirls soundtrack and Dixie Chicks, good for #5.

RCA Music Group is up next at #6, with the year’s biggest-selling album in Daughtry, followed by LPs from divas Avril Lavigne and Kelly Clarkson.

Universal Records Group is at #7, represented by #4 Akon, #12 Amy Winehouse and rock breakouts Hinder.

Capitol Music Group boasts Corinne Bailey Rae, Joss Stone and the Beatles for its #8 position, while Zomba Label Group is up next at #9, featuring big guns Justin Timberlake, T-Pain and Ciara.