As expected, the opening week sales tally for Ariana Grande’s “Break Free (featuring Zedd)” pales in comparison to that earned by previous single “Problem (featuring Iggy Azalea).”
The song, which debuted last Wednesday, scored 161,000 paid downloads in its inaugural week.
“Problem,” which debuted the last week of April, moved a considerably stronger 438,000 in its first frame. While it benefited from extra days of availability–it launched early on Monday rather than late on Wednesday–its dominant lead is not solely attributable to that disparity. It actually sold at a faster pace.
#5 on this week’s edition of Billboard’s Digital Songs chart, “Break Free” is the second strongest debut. 5 Seconds of Summer’s “Amnesia,” which also launched last week, claims #4 on the chart with sales of 162,000.
That margin of victory can, however, be attributed to extra days of availability. Had “Break Free” and “Amnesia” launched simultaneously, “Break Free” would have ranked higher on the chart.
Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” claims the #1 spot for a second consecutive week with sales of 185,000. MAGIC!’s “Rude” clocks in at #2 with 180,000, while Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy (featuring Charli XCX)” is third with 171,000 in sales.
Grande’s “Problem (featuring Iggy Azalea)” claims sixth with sales of 146,000. Nico and Vinz’ “Am I Wrong” slips to #7 with 126,000, while Jason DeRulo’s “Wiggle (featuring Snoop Dogg)” (120,000, #8), Maroon 5’s “Maps” (104,000, #9) and Charli XCX’s “Boom Clap” (97,000, #10) complete the top ten.