July 22, 2010

By By Ed Christman

Susan Boyle is in the studio recording a Christmas album according to U.S. retail sources. While details on what will be on the album are still unclear, Sony is targeting an October streetdate for the as-yet-untitled album.

Columbia spokeswoman Fran DeFeo confirms that Boyle is "recording a new album to come out later this year," but doesn't have any details on the nature of that recording.

While most retail and industry sales executives say that they expect Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" to be the industry's biggest selling album in the U.S. at the end of the year, most say the Susan Boyle album also will rack up healthy sales and at least one merchant is betting that Boyle will be the "must have" record for the gift-giving season.

Boyle's debut album "I Dreamed A Dream" has sold more than 3.7 million copies in the U.S. It was second only to Taylor Swift's "Fearless" in terms of overall sales in 2009.

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