Separated from the competition by a staggering margin, Katy Perry’s “Prism” has convincingly won the weekly album sales race.
Billboard confirmed Wednesday that “Prism,” on the strength of 286,000 opening week sales, is number one on its Billboard 200 album sales chart.
Disappointing in the context of the album’s lofty expectations, the tally is not without its upside. Representing a sizable gain from the 192K opening week units moved by Perry’s 2010 predecessor “Teenage Dream,” the 286K total also gives “Prism” a lead over the combined total for the week’s next-best-sellers.
Other top five performers include Pearl Jam’s “Lightning Bolt” (#2, 46K), Drake’s “Nothing Was the Same” (#3, 44K), Miley Cyrus’ “Bangerz” (#4, 43K) and Lorde’s “Pure Heroine” (#5, 40K).
Three of the chart’s next four positions are occupied by new releases. Though it came in below early forecasts, Fifth Harmony’s “Better Together” EP ranks as the second best debut–and sixth overall–with 28K in sales. DJ Khaled’s “Suffering from Success” follows with 27K, while AFI’s “Burials” claims ninth on the strength of 25K sales.
Justin Timberlake’s “The 20/20 Experience Part 2” places eighth with 26K, while Luke Bryan’s “Crash My Party” claims tenth with 25K in weekly purchases.
Billboard did not reveal specific sales numbers for week two of TLC’s “20” and week one of Tori Kelly’s “Foreword EP,” but Hits Daily Double estimates the tallies at 19K and 16K, respectively.