Exactly when did music sales make a comeback?

Maybe it was a week ago, when we learned rapper Lil Wayne sold over a million copies of his “The Carter III” CD. Now comes word that Coldplay’s latest, “Viva La Vida,” sold over 720,000 copies, making it the new No. 1 CD on the Billboard 200.

This makes for the biggest consecutive best-selling two weeks in three years.

Also, “Viva La Vida” is the biggest album pre-order in iTunes history, and the highest first-week album sales ever on the iTunes store. Certainly, that omnipresent Apple ad had a lot to do with that, as well as the fact the title track is the band’s first Hot 100 single.

“Viva La Vida” is the year’s second-biggest debut, following Lil Wayne.