As the end of 2005 nears, two of music’s biggest artists are in a tight race for highest selling album of the year.

Mariah Carey is closing in on 50 Cent, who has sold 4.8 million records since the release of his album, The Massacre, in March, according to Nielsen Soundscan.

Carey trails slightly with 4.6 million records sold since the release of her album, The Emancipation of Mimi, in April.

If sales of Carey’s album were to continue at their current rate of almost 200,000 per week, she should be album to pass 50 who sold just 21,000 copies of his album last week.

The success Carey is having this year comes as a shock to many, because her pervious album, Charmbracelet, failed to capture her past success.

Sales of CDs and digital downloads for the year are down 8% when compared to last years numbers. However, single digital downloads are up 150 per cent over the last year, according to Nielsen Soundscan.






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