This is either an indication that the music industry needs to churn out some more hits, or perhaps that the albums at the top of the downloads chart are simply that good, but either way the top three haven't changed for four weeks (merely rearranged themselves). In case you don't know what singles we're referring to...
THE THIRD TRIUMVIRATE (IT'S A HISTORY REFERENCE)
For the third straight week, New Zealand's rising star Lorde has topped the downloads chart with her hit "Royals." The track moved 309,000 digital copies during the week, a 5 percent rise. The rise in sales is especially impressive considering that her album Pure Heroine also debuted during the week.
Katy Perry might have been "stuck" in the no. 2 spot for three weeks, and her single "Roar" may have "only" sold 218,000 copies this week, but the pop songstress certainly wields the most power of the three women topping the downloads chart at the moment. Perry is the only performer with more than one track in the Top 10, and she's got three at that. Pre-release "Dark Horse" has the no. 10 spot, selling 99,000 downloads last week, and new release "Walking On Air" debuted at no. 8 with 113,000 downloads.
Miley Cyrus maintains the no. 3 spot on the chart for the third straight week, with "Wrecking Ball" selling 214,000 downloads. We'll see if the release of her album Bangerz can boost the sales of her single in the same way that Lorde's release boosted "Royals."
ALSO DOING OKAY
Avicii hasn't managed to break into the monopoly that the aforementioned trio has at the moment, but "Wake Me Up!" is still going strong, placing at no. 4 for the second week with 167,000 copies.
Drake might not have been the biggest winner, but he was definitely the biggest improver this week. The continued success of his album Nothing Was The Same helped push "Hold On, We're Going Home" back to no. 5 after placing at no 13 last week, a 64 percent increase.
Other rappers still doing well are Jay Z and Eminem, whose "Holy Grail" and "Berzerk" respectively placed at nos. 6 and 7 on this week's chart.
Lady Gaga also hung around, but her "Applause" was the biggest dropper of the week, falling from no. 6 to no. 9. Perhaps folks were too busy considering her new album art.
