LINKIN PARK - EMI CONTENT WITH ROBBIE.S US SALES

Pop hunk ROBBIE WILLIAM's record company EMI have denied that his album ESCAPOLOGY has bombed in America - insisting they're happy with his sales performance there.

Escapology sold just 21,000 copies in its first week, entering the BILLBOARD album chart at number 43. Conversely, heavy metal act LINKIN PARK, who entered at number one, sold 810,000 in their first week.

But EMI - who splashed out $120 million (GBP80 million) to sign up Williams last year (02) - insist reports that call him a stateside flop are rubbish.

MARK COLLEN, senior vice president of marketing for EMI, says, "America is a totally totally different market and you cannot compare it in any way to the UK.

"If you look at how COLDPLAY have done it, they've spent months touring, they've spent months doing radio shows, and that's very much the strategy that we're taking with Robbie.

"The question you keep asking me - 'Am I happy with 21,000?' Yes, because I was expecting 10 - 15,000 records."