TOP 15

YOUR TOP 15: It's beginning to look a lot like (a Taylor Swift) Christmas. The Big Machine superstar will remain at #1 next week as we approach the final weekend before Christmas. Tomorrow marks the release of the Les Misérables soundtrack, just ahead of the film's Christmas Day release; the Hugh Jackman-Anne Hathaway OST may provide a challenge to Swift the following week, on the final chart of 2012. It may all come down to the onslaught of iTunes gift card redemptions, which could reach record levels this year. Meanwhile, Capitol's Essential Now That's What I Call Christmas rockets up the chart and into Top 15 contender status, thanks to 99 cent pricing from Amazon MP3. Here's the picture as we head into the weekend, assuming the Mayan apocalypse doesn't prevent us from having one:

Taylor Swift (Big Machine) 270-295k
One Direction (Syco/Columbia) 150-175k
Bruno Mars (Atlantic) 150-175k
* T.I. (Grand Hustle/Atlantic) 150-175k
Michael Bublé (Reprise) 140-160k
Rod Stewart (Verve) 120-135k
* 12/12/12: The Concert For Sandy Relief (Columbia) 95-110k
Phillip Phillips (19/Interscope) 90-100k
Mumford & Sons (Glassnote) 80-90k
Alicia Keys (RCA) 80-90k
Now 44 (Capitol) 70-80k
P!nk (RCA) 70-80k
Essential Now That's What I Call Christmas (Capitol) 70-80k
Adele (XL/Columbia) 70-80k
Justin Bieber (Island/IDJ) 65-75k
Lady Antebellum (Capitol Nashville) 65-75k
Blake Shelton (Warner Bros. Nashville) 65-75k
Jason Aldean (Broken Bow) 65-75k

* Debuts

And if all that isn't enough to stuff your stocking, enjoy the dulcet tones of the Jingle Cats. (12/20p)