Taylor Swift may have topped the Albums Sales Charts for the eighth time but her "low" week of 172,000 copies sold means that 1989 will not catch Usher's streak of 200,000-plus sales weeks that he set with Confessions during 2004.
A more noticeable trend on this week's top albums chart was soundtracks: As Billboard pointed out on its Billboard 200 coverage, end-of-the-year gift cards often go to purchasing soundtracks versus traditional music albums as people seek to buy the music that accompanies films they either saw or received during the holiday season. Examples of this take spots nos. 2 and 3 this week: Guardians of The Galaxy Awesome Mix Vol. 1 took no. 2 by selling 70,000 copies, a sales amount that allowed it to place at no. 5 on the actual Billboard 200 despite not being able to be streamed or downloaded individually. The original motion picture soundtrack for Into The Woods came up to no. 3, selling 51,000 albums as the film continues its run in theaters.
Nicki Minaj came in narrowly behind the previous soundtrack, selling 51,000 copies of The Pinkprint and maintaining the no. 3 spot on the chart.
Sam Smith may get a significant boost on the other chart thanks to his streaming and downloads prowess but he's still selling whole albums as well: In The Lonely Hour sold 48,000 copies, enough to hold off J. Cole, who fell to no. 6 by moving 47,000 units of Forest Hills Drive. Ed Sheeran, another performer taking advantage of the new Billboard 200 metrics, only comes in at no. 7 on the actual Albums chart as x sold 39,000 copies. One Direction completes the British-dominated back of the chart as Four takes no. 8 with 33,000 copies sold.
Two more soundtracks round off the Top 10 this week. The soundtrack for the new Annie film sold 28,000 copies during its fifth week on the charts, allowing it to jump from no. 28 to no. 9. A less recent film made its return to the Albums charts last week as Frozen comes in at no. 10, selling just fewer than Annie and reminding us why it was the no. 2 best-selling album of 2014.
