LASH POINTS



• While the "Now 25" album stays put at No. 1 on The Billboard 200 (149,000; down 33%), the "Hairspray" soundtrack zips up two slots to No. 2 (101,000; up 41%) and Prince bows at No. 3 with "Planet Earth" selling 96,000 copies. It's his lucky 13th top 10 album and his third studio set in a row to debut in the top three. 2004's "Musicology" (aided by the "go to his concert, get an album" offer) started at No. 3 with 191,000, and 2006's "3121" bowed at No. 1 with 183,000. Overall, "Planet Earth" is his 34th album to reach The Billboard 200, dating back to the Oct. 28, 1978, entrance of "For You." He earned his first top 10 album with "1999" in May 1983 ... On the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, "Planet Earth" debuts at No. 1, giving the artist his fourth chart-topper on that tally ... "Planet Earth" was initially unavailable as a digital album, though it will soon bow via digital retailers ... In the United Kingdom, 3 million copies of the new album were distributed free with the purchase of the July 15 edition of the Daily Mail. Columbia Records, which released the album in the United States, was originally slated to issue the set in the United Kingdom as well. However, once Columbia became aware of the free giveaway plans -- which were not initially shared with the company -- the label declined to distribute the album in the United Kingdom.