Update (featuring corrections): Taylor Swift’s “1989” outsold three high-profile new releases to convincingly reign atop the Billboard 200.
It also, impressively, crossed the two million mark in its third week of release.
Swift’s “1989” claims the top spot on the strength of 312,000 third-week sales. Through three weeks of release, the album has moved 2.000 million copies (2.001 based on Billboard’s rounded data).
The remainder of the weekly top ten is as follows:
2) Foo Fighters – Sonic Highways – 190K
3) Pink Floyd – The Endless River – 170K
4) Garth Brooks – Man Against Machine – 130K*
5) Big KRIT – Cadillactica – 44K
6) Nick Jonas – Nick Jonas – 37K
7) NOW 52 – 37K
7) Pentatonix – That’s Christmas to Me – 34K
9) Sam Smith – In the Lonely Hour – 30K
10) George Strait – The Cowboy Rides Away – 30K
*Billboard confirms that data from Brooks’ GhostTunes store was not reported to SoundScan. As such, its actual first week sales figure was higher than that which will go down in Billboard history.
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If the authoritative data Billboard issues Wednesday does not exceed that reported Tuesday by Hits Daily Double, Taylor Swift’s “1989” will need a fourth week to officially cross the two million mark.
There is no doubt, however, about the fact that it reigns as the hottest-selling album for a third consecutive week.
According to Hits’ report, Swift’s fifth studio album sold approximately 309,787 copies in its third week of release. Unrivaled by any new or old album available in the marketplace this week, the estimated tally would bring the cumulative “1989” total to 1.998 million (1.999 million based on Billboard’s rounded sales data).
But regardless of whether it powers Swift past the 2 million mark, it clearly represents an impressive total. Down only 23% from the week two sales figure, it provides further support for the notion that this is a monster.
Foo Fighters’ “Sonic Highways,” the week’s strongest debut, grabs the #2 overall position with approximately 190,051 first-week sales. Pink Floyd’s new “The Endless River” scores #3 with about 167,302, while Garth Brooks’ comeback album “Man Against Machine” is good for #4 on the strength of roughly 126,122 sales.
Other notable performers Big KRIT’s “Cadillactica” (~42,302), “NOW 52” (~37,520) and Nick Jonas’ “Nick Jonas” (~36,802).
