Someone's got money on their mind, and that might explain the huge push in album sales for Sam Smith this year. The vocalist has passed the million-album sales mark in the United States for his debut In The Lonely Hour during the latest sales period and therefore earned platinum status. That accomplishment makes him the only performer to achieve platinum status in both the U.S. and the UK this year.
The album has been perhaps the longest lingering name on the Billboard 200 during the latter half of the year, as it remains in the Top 10 despite having been released during the end of May. Last week the album sold more than 60,000 additional copies, taking the no. 9 spot on the overall album sales charts. It's the record's 19th non-consecutive week in the Top 10.
The record never even reached the top of the Billboard 200, interestingly enough, debuting at no. 2 behind Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence. A few weeks after the huge first week for Del Rey, In The Lonely Hour had passed it for overall sales, causing analysts to speculate whether Capitol Records' decision to withhold Smith's album from Spotify and other streaming services for its first few weeks helped boost sales over the long run. Maybe but probably not: The steady release of successful singles such as "Stay With Me" and "I'm Not The Only One" have kept new listeners coming to stores for the album.
In The Lonely Hour is only the third album to have sold more than a million copies during 2014. The original motion picture soundtrack for Frozen has topped the list this year, accumulating 3.4 million copies sold during the last 11-plus months while Taylor Swift has made up ground quickly, selling 3 million units of 1989 during its six weeks on the charts.
