It's still cold out there for new music releases after the first full week of album sales during 2015, so it's not surprise that Taylor Swift was still on top of the Billboard 200 when today's numbers came out. It's the eighth week of ten that 1989 has been available where the record ended up on top, which makes it her second most-decorated album yet (Fearless spent 13 nonconsecutive weeks at no. 1 during 2008-'09). It moved 244,000 equivalent albums last week.
Unfortunately due to Hurricane Swift, Nicki Minaj may just have to settle with peaking at no. 2 with The Pinkprint, which spent its third consecutive week at the no. 2 spot on the Billboard 200. It's sales results were far behind 1989, collecting 84,000 equivalent albums during the week. Ed Sheeran came in just a nose behind the emcee, moving 83,000 equivalent copies of x.
Sam Smith might not necessarily have seen an increase in album sales last week but he's stayed steady and that's helped In The Lonely Hour remain near the top of the charts. Last week it moved up one spot to no. 4 with 82,000 equivalent sales, providing another challenge for second place.
Perhaps the most impressive showing in the Top 10 (aside from Swift) was the Guardians of The Galaxy Awesome Mix Vol. 1, which placed at no. 5 with 70,000 albums moved, all of them actual album sales. Hozier is another act benefitting from Nielsen Soundscan's new metrics, moving up to no. 6 with 60,000 equivalent albums sold of his self-titled debut.
J. Cole was an act that took home most of his haul from actual album sales, as Forest Hills Drive slid to no. 7 with 57,000 equivalent sales (and 47,000 actual).
Only one album saw an actual increase in sales following the Christmas lull and that was the soundtrack for Into The Woods, which saw 57,000 equivalent sales as the film continues to succeed in the theaters. One Direction and Four were the biggest sliders of the week (aside from Pentatonix...out of business post-Christmas). The album came from no. 4 to no. 9 with 55,000 equivalent sales. Ariana Grande continues to thrive under the new metric, as she came in at no. 10 again with My Everything, which moved 33,000 equivalent albums...while only selling 11,000 actual albums.
Want to see that actual Albums Top 10? Tune in tomorrow when we break down that list.
