Atlantic Ranks As Industry's No 1 Label Of The Week As Lil' Kim & Sean Paul Score Top Ten Debuts

NEW YORK, NY (Atlantic Records) - Atlantic Records ranks as the No 1 label in the music industry this week, according to SoundScan, garnering 7.95% of the current marketshare (week ending 10/2/05). The company's achievement was driven by top ten debuts from Lil' Kim's "NAKED TRUTH" (Queen Bee/Big/Atlantic) and Sean Paul's "THE TRINITY" (VP/Atlantic), which also ranks as the highest-ever reggae debut in SoundScan history. In addition, Paul Wall's recent No 1-debuting album, "THE PEOPLE'S CHAMP" (SwisaHouse/Asylum), comes in this week in the No 17 spot.

Atlantic's industry-leading status follows a string of recent top ten Billboard 200 premieres from a diversity of artists, including Staind's No 1-debuting "CHAPTER V" (Flip/Atlantic), Missy Elliott's "THE COOKBOOK" (Goldmind/Atlantic), Death Cab For Cutie's "PLANS," Jason Mraz's "MR. A-Z," The PSC's "25 TO LIFE" (Grand Hustle/Atlantic), and Boyz N Da Hood's self-titled Bad Boy debut.

Atlantic's winning streak is on track to continue with the release this week of Twista's "THE DAY AFTER," Shinedown's "US AND THEM," Simple Plan's "MTV HARD ROCK LIVE" (Lava/Atlantic), Trina's "GLAMOREST LIFE" (Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic), and O.A.R.'s "STORIES OF A STRANGER" (Lava/Atlantic). Also hitting U.S. stores yesterday was singer/songwriter James Blunt's acclaimed debut album, "BACK TO BEDLAM" (Custard/Atlantic), which held the No 1 spot in his native England for a remarkable 9 weeks.