The bad news for the music industry: This week was a weak one for album sales, totaling around 4.54 million total records sold, the lowest weekly total since Nielsen began compiling the stats in 1991. Considering that Lady Gaga sold more than a million by herself when Born This Way debuted in 2011, we're sure the music biz can't wait for ARTPOP to drop next week. For now, here's the results from last week's sales.
THE WINNER
Katy Perry is the only real "winner" on the charts this week, selling 286,000 copies of Prism during its first week of release. This may seem low compared to the more than 900,000 that Justin Timberlake sold with the first volume of his 20/20 series, nor the 600,000 Drake sold last month in his new album's first week, but Prism is Perry's best debut to date. Altogether, the pop songstress sold more than nos. 2 through 9 on the chart.
OTHER DEBUTS
Fifth Harmony, the third place finalists on last season of The X Factor, debuted at no. 6 with their debut album Better Together selling 28,000 copies. It's the best debut for an act from the show yet. DJ Khaled came in at no. 7 with his Suffering From Success moving 27,000 copies, a less than successful performance compared to Kiss The Ring's 2012 debut. AFI, the last new album in the Top 10 with its Burials, sold less than half of its previous debut, with 25,000 copies.
RETURNEES
Pearl Jam dropped to no. 2 this week, selling an additional 46,000 copies of Lightning Bolt. Drake is hanging around better than most albums at the moment, as he moved up to no. 3 by selling 44,000 copies of Nothing Was The Same during its fifth week. Bangerz by Miley Cyrus also stuck around, selling 44,000 copies and moving back one place to no. 4. Lorde's Pure Heroine dropped in sales to 40,000, but it moved up to no. 5 in the Top 10 in its fourth week. Justin Timberlake and, yes, Luke Bryan, made reappearances with The 20/20 Experience 2 of 2 and Crash My Party, respectively. 20/20 sold 26,000 copies in its fourth week, and Party sold just under 25,000 copies in its eleventh week.
