Update 2: Taylor Swift’s “1989” debuts at #1 on the Billboard 200 with sales of 1.287 million.
Comprised of 647,000 physical sales and 640,000 digital ones, the total is the largest single week tally for an album since Eminem’s “The Eminem Show” moved 1.322 million in 2002.
This week’s #2 album is “NOW 52,” which scores that runner-up position on the strength of 103,000 sales. Sam Hunt’s new “Montevallo” claims #3 with 70,000, while Barry Manilow’s “My Dream Duets” is #4 with 51,000 sales. #5 belongs to Jason Aldean’s “Old Boots, New Dirt,” which added 43,000 to its total.
Other top ten albums: Florida Georgia Line’s “Anything Goes” (#6, 38,000), Led Zeppelin’s re-issue of “Led Zeppelin IV” (#7, 35,000), Chris Tomlin’s “Love Ran Red” (#8, 35,000), Slipknot’s “.5: The Gray Chapter” (#9, 34,000) and Black Veil Brides’ “Black Veil Brides” (#10, 30,000).
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Update: Billboard’s official album sales data did differ slightly from that reported by Hits Daily Double.
Unfortunately for those who anticipated a record bow for “1989,” the total was slightly lesser than the 1.316 million reported by Hits.
According to Billboard’s authoritative data, Taylor Swift’s “1989” debuted with an opening week sales tally of 1.287 million.
Shy of the 1.319 million moved by Britney Spears’ “Oops…I Did it Again,” which is the largest first week sales total ever recorded by a female artist’s release, the count is nonetheless enormously impressive.
The best total of Swift’s career–and the best for any album since Eminem’s “The Eminem Show” moved 1.322 million in 2002–it also gives the singer-songwriter a record third million-plus sales bow.
Not merely the best opening of 2014, it also instantly makes “1989” the top-selling release of 2014. Coldplay’s “Ghost Stories” previously held that distinction with a year-to-date total of 745,000. Only the “Frozen” soundtrack, which first shipped in 2013, has sold more copies than “1989” this year.
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A sales total for Taylor Swift’s “1989” has finally emerged, and it reveals that the singer-songwriter’s fifth studio album moved more than 1.3 million copies in its inaugural week.
It does not, however, represent a new high mark for an album by a female artist.
According to Hits Daily Double, Swift sold approximately 1,316,427 million copies of “1989” in its first week of release. The best total of Swift’s career–and her record-setting third consecutive total in excess of one million–the count nonetheless falls narrowly short of the aforementioned record for a female release.
Established by Britney Spears’ 2002 album “Oops…I Did it Again,” that record stands at 1.319 million.
Since that mark is based on official data from Billboard and Nielsen, it is advisable to wait until Billboard issues its authoritative “1989” sales count before assessing the status of Spears’ record. Billboard’s data does, after all, tend to differ slightly from that reported by Hits Daily Double.
But regardless of whether or not “1989” sets the record for a female release, it represents an enormous success for Taylor Swift.
It also represents the week’s best-selling release by a ratio of more than 13:1.