Read All About It--Enya Outsells Garth Brooks

Country sensation Garth Brooks may be No. 1 on the national pop charts, but his “Ropin’ the Wind” isn’t the best-selling album in Southern California.

Not by a long shot.

Brooks’ album, which has dominated Billboard magazine’s national rankings for more than four months, wasn’t even in the Top 10 in area record stores for the chart dated March 21.

According to the SoundScan research firm that collects information for the Billboard charts, “Ropin”’ has sold fewer than 65,000 copies in the Los Angeles and San Diego area so far this year--about half as many as the leader, Nirvana’s “Nevermind.”

But don’t go looking for the the Southern California charts in Billboard. SoundScan sells individual sales figures for the top 99 regions to record companies, managers and concert promoters. The various charts suggest often wide-scale differences in sales patterns around the country.

“The national sales chart means nothing to us,” says Brian Murphy, president of Los Angeles-based Avalon Attractions. “What does it matter if an act sells a million copies everywhere else in the country, if their record isn’t moving out here?

“A promoter’s only concern is what music the fans are purchasing at record stores in his vicinity. Sometimes the results are quite surprising. For instance, who would have guessed that Enya would have sold so big here last week?”

Irish singer Enya’s ethereal “Shepherd Moons” album, which ranked No. 22 on the March 21 national chart, registered No. 5 in Los Angeles and No. 3 in San Diego that week.

Selling more than Enya in the Los Angeles region (which runs from Ventura to Orange counties), in order: Natalie Cole’s “Unforgettable,” Nirvana’s “Nevermind,” Bonnie Raitt’s “Luck of the Draw” and Michael Jackson’s “Dangerous.”

So how does Brooks--whose 1992 sales trail Nirvana in many of the nation’s top 20 retail markets--still maintain his reign at the peak of the national chart?

According to retailers, the singer’s “Ropin’ ” has racked up 75% of its impressive 5.5 million sales tally since September in the South and in rural cities across the country, where the album has remained No. 1 for months.

His album was No. 1 last week, for instance, in Dallas, Houston, Cleveland, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Tampa, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Denver, Phoenix, Sacramento, Charlotte, Nashville, Kansas City, Portland, Ore., Flint, Mich., and Jacksonville, Fla.

“What our data shows is that consumers in different regions like different styles of music,” said Mike Shalett, chief operating officer for SoundScan. “Alternative music does better in the Northeast and the West. Metal music does particularly well in the South and North Central areas. Country artists have always done well in the South and the North Central areas as well. Garth is proof of that.”

SELLING REGIONALLY: The national sales leaders on Billboard’s March 21 chart were Brooks, followed by Nirvana, Cole, Raitt and Michael Bolton.

But here’s the sales picture in four of the leading markets:

* The Top 5 in New York, which makes up about 10% of total sales: Raitt, Cole, Bolton’s “Time, Love and Tenderness,” U2’s “Achtung Baby” and Nirvana.

* The San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose area, which constitutes about 4.6% of the national total: Cole, Amy Grant’s “Heart in Motion,” Jackson, Raitt and Nirvana.

* Chicago, which accounts for about 3.3% of the national tally: “Wayne’s World” soundtrack, Nirvana, Jackson, Cole and Raitt.

* Philadelphia, which makes up about 3% of the nation’s total sales: Raitt, Grant, U2, Cole and Bolton.