STACKING UP SALES

Total album and single sales of CDs and cassettes for the week ended March 13, compared to week- ago and year-ago levels, in thousands of units sold:

Latest week:

Albums: 10.1

Singles: 2.0

Week-ago:

Albums: 10.0

Singles: 1.9

Year-ago:

Albums: 9.0

Singles: 1.8

Hits Magazine Tip of the Week John Sykes’ appointment as president of VH-1 signals a major change for the music channel. Besides a new look graphically and promotionally, insiders say, the channel will shift from adult contemporary to more progressive music. MTV executive Andy Schuon will pull double duty at VH-1 to ensure a smooth transition. The overhaul of VH-1, which earned a $12-million pretax profit last year, is viewed as a preemptive strike in the impending music channel wars, with a consortium including Time Warner, Sony, EMI, PolyGram, Ticketmaster and possibly TCI developing a channel. MTV’s shopping channel is on the back burner. Note: Hits magazine is a weekly music industry trade publication. Source: Soundscan Inc.