Last week's Billboard 200 chart brought the biggest stock of new albums yet in 2014, but that didn't stop one of the old guard from holding onto the top spot. Quite the opposite in fact.
As we reported last week, the debut of Frozen on DVD led to a huge boost in sales for the Frozen Original Motion Picture Soundtrack as well. Official numbers for how DVD's and Blu-rays sold haven't been released yet, but we know retailers positioned the album to further tempt the film's buyers, and that move led to 202,000 copies sold. Not only does that number give Frozen its seventh week atop the Billboard 200, but it also marks the highest selling week yet for an album that's been out more than four months. The previous high was the first week of 2014, when it sold 165,000 copies.
So about those new albums. Rapper YG came in at no. 2, top among the debuts. My Krazy Life is his debut album, and it managed to sell 61,000 copies, presumably not to the same buyers as those who picked up Frozen. He was followed by alternative rockers Foster The People, who moved 54,000 copies of Supermodel, a 20,000 jump from its debut album in 2011.
Skrillex received the most publicity among new album released the previous week, but he had to settle for no. 4 on the Billboard 200. Part of the reason might be that he offered Recess for free listening to fans who downloaded an app from his website. The album also only sold 6,000 hard copies, with the other 41,000 purchases coming via download. The Pretty Reckless join Foster The People in selling many more copies of its second album versus its first, as Going To Hell sold 35,000 copies (26,000 more than its last), coming in at no. 5 on the charts.
Places no. 6 and 7 belong to two returnees who have been in the Top 10 for three weeks now. Pharrell Williams sold another 34,000 more copies of G I R L to take the higher spot, while Rick Ross moved 27,000 units of Mastermind and took the latter spot. This is the first week Williams has outsold Ross however, and the album still has a while to go before it catches Mastermind for total sales.
The final three spots in the Top 10 were a blend of brand new and an old standard. No. 8 belongs to Enrique Iglesias, who debuted his Sex and Love with 24,000 copies sold. Taking Back Sunday was the last new act, and also the last spot, as Happiness debuted at no. 10. Lorde and Pure Heroine came in between the two debuts as the album sold just under 24,000 copies.
