Bet you can't guess what performer finished on top of the Billboard 200 this week! Taylor Swift and 1989? Okay, maybe it wasn't that hard to figure out. Although the album saw a big drop in terms of equivalent album sales (down to 155,000, the first time at less than 200,000 for the set), it still managed to take its ninth week at no. 1 since debuting 11 weeks ago.
There was a shakeup at no. 2 however: Following a three-week reign by Nicki Minaj and The Pinkprint, Ed Sheeran and x have crept back up to no. 2, moving 76,000 equivalent copies of his 2014 album (less than half of those were actual album sales). Minaj moved back to no. 3 with 60,000 equivalent sales, which marks the lowest point for the album so far.
Sam Smith maintains his no. 4 position from last week, with a nice balance of sales and streams for In The Lonely Hour, which moved 56,000 equivalent copies. If you want to see some real competition you'll have to turn in tomorrow when we report the true album sales Top 10: Rae Sremmurd and SremmLife may be at no. 5 on the Billboard 200, but the hip-hop duo's actual album sales are at 34,000, equal to the supposed album sales of Sheeran and Minaj this week. We'll see how it plays out.
Hozier maintains his place at no. 6 with his self-titled album, mostly thanks to downloads and streams of "Take Me To Church." The album moved 49,000 equivalent copies. J. Cole is yet another performer to sell 34,000 actual albums last week but the equivalent sales only come to 45,000 for Forest Hills Drive, leaving the rapper at no. 7.
Guardians of The Galaxy Awesome Mix Vol. 1 may be no. 8 on the Billboard 200 but it will most likely again be at no. 2 in terms of actual album sales. It moved 35,000 equivalent units last week...all of them actual albums. One Direction kept its no. 9 place as Four moved 32,000 equivalent units.
Ariana Grande has been the biggest benefactor of the new metrics at Billboard as she takes no. 10 again with My Everything. The album moved 28,000 equivalent copies...only 25 percent of which were actual album sales.
