Breaking: Clay Aiken-Justin Timberlake Grudge Match Not Over Yet!

It looks as though this week’s music-chart battle isn’t actually finished yet: The L.A. Times is reporting that a “national sales chain” didn’t provide their numbers to Soundscan, meaning yesterday’s tallies (in which Timberlake trumped Aiken by a mere 12,000 copies) will have to be updated. Considering how narrow the margin is between J and Clay, this could possibly flip their chart positions, though that might depend upon which sales outlet has yet to report (if it’s Hot Topic, Aiken’s totally going to win–nothing goes better with an Emily Strange purse than an earnest cover of Mr. Mister’s “Broken Wings”).

Meanwhile, Megaforce Records–home of metal band Mushroomhead–is mighty suspicious of Soundscan’s numbers this week:

According to Megaforce sales data, Mushroomhead seems to have sold closer to the Hits Daily Double number of 26,000 units than SoundScan’s reporting of 12,183. How could there be such a shortfall in reporting?…Megaforce pays over $26,000 a year to receive sales numbers from Soundscan. Shouldn’t it be Soundscan’s job to report the actual sales numbers, not a guessing game. This industry, according to SoundScan, has been down in recent years, but who can you believe anymore?

Honestly? We can’t believe you’re shelling out $26,000 for this stuff. We just take whatever info we can for free from Billboard.com–who, by the way, have yet to mention this little mini-fiasco on their web site.

Timberlake No. 1 again, we think [LA Times] Soundscan FU** Up this week! [Velvet Rope]