Update 2: Thanks to a weekly sales total of 172,000, Taylor Swift’s “1989” remains #1 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart.
It also claims #1 on the publication’s revamped Billboard 200. That chart, which reports on the sum of pure sales, track equivalent albums (10 track sales = 1 album sale) and streaming equivalent albums (1500 track streams = 1 album sale), credits “1989” with 244,000 total weekly units.
This week’s Billboard 200 top ten:
1) Taylor Swift – 1989 – 244K total units (172K from pure album sales)
2) Nicki Minaj – The Pinkprint – 84K total units (51K from sales)
3) Ed Sheeran – x – 83K total units (39K from sales)
4) Sam Smith – In the Lonely Hour – 82K total units (48K from sales)
5) Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix, Vol. 1 – 70K total units (70K from sales)
6) Hozier – Hozier – 60K total units (25K from sales)
7) J. Cole – 2014 Forest Hills Drive – 59K total units (47K from sales)
8) Into the Woods – 57K total units (51K from sales)
9) One Direction – FOUR – 55K total units (33K from sales)
10) Ariana Grande – My Everything – 43K total units (11K from sales)
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Update: Thanks to its weekly sales count of approximately 179,000, Taylor Swift’s “1989” holds the #1 position on the pure album sales chart.
“1989” is also a lock to land atop Billboard’s revamped 200. According to Hits Daily Double, the combination of pure album sales, track equivalent albums (10 track purchases = 1 album sale) and streaming equivalent albums (1500 song streams = 1 album sale) clocks in at roughly 238,975 total units for the Swift album.
Other top performers in conjunction with the new Billboard 200 methodology include Ed Sheeran’s “x” (~86,706), Sam Smith’s “In the Lonely Hour” (~81,076), Nicki Minaj’s “The Pinkprint” (~78,889) and “Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix, Volume 1” (~76,469).
Billboard’s official sales data will be released Wednesday morning.
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Aware that the holiday sales rush is over, everyone within the music industry knew to expect a reduced weekly sales total for Taylor Swift’s juggernaut “1989.”
The album’s first tally of 2015 is not, however, something at which to sneeze.
According to Hits Daily Double, “1989” moved approximately 178,975 copies during the first sales week of the New Year. Down from the 326,000 moved during Christmas week, the total nonetheless gives the album another dominant victory in the weekly sales race.
“Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix, Volume 1,” the week’s second-best-seller, moved what Hits is reporting as about 76,469 copies.
While Billboard’s more authoritative sales data (due Wednesday morning) will differ slightly from that reported by Hits Daily Double, it will not at all change the weekly portrait. Swift’s “1989” will once again top the album sales chart.
Other notable New Year’s week performers included the “Into the Woods” soundtrack (~52,118), Nicki Minaj’s “The Pinkprint” (~50,889), Sam Smith’s “In the Lonely Hour” (~50,776), J. Cole’s “2014 Forest Hills Drive” (~47,458) and Ed Sheeran’s “x” (~41,706).
