SoundScan has a tremendous image problem and they do NOT seem to care. I called at 8:30 this morning to find out Young Jeezy's first week's numbers (352,392 thanks to Warner Music Group and a BIG fuck you to SoundScan!!!)and some corporate idiot told me I could "buy a report" because they "don't give info away for free." Buy a report, Chris? To find out how many CDs one artist sold in his first week to mention on a free Blog? You are a joke, sir! Chris is an idiot who "works" in Client Services at SoundScam: (914) 684-5525--ClientServices@soundscan.com. Way to tote the corporate line, you dweeb!

So I called a friend at Warner Bros and we had a long talk about why SoundScan is so hated in the industry. Aside from the fact that their numbers are not 100% accurate in urban music (yet they repeatedly claim they are), and that one can even affect the charts by "buying" soundscan scans from stores (I have personally done this in the past so I know it's possible), they charge exorbitent rates from the labels to access this less than perfectly accurate data. Perhaps that's why Universal told them to "fuck off" last December, and got rid of their soundscan access until SoundScan came back to them with a reasonable price to access their data... I can't blame them. SoundScan has gotten crazy with their policies and pricing.

They have always been all about the money, but they've gotten REALLY outlandish with it lately. So the moral of this story is that if you want some quick info from Soundscan about an artist, don't bother. They are assholes and proud of that fact!! Better to call a friend at a label and get the information... or pay those dweebs at soundscan close to $20K a quarter to access their not-so-accurate data that they seem to feel is worth more than it really is.