Update: An impressive weekly total of 326,000 pure copies allows The Weeknd’s “Beauty Behind the Madness” to debut at #1 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart.
The debut sales figure is the second-greatest for a 2015 release. Only Drake’s “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” shifted more traditional copies (495,000).
With Track Equivalent Album (10 single sales = 1 album equivalent unit) and Streaming Equivalent Album (1500 single streams = 1 album equivalent unit) data included, The Weeknd’s “Beauty” posted a first week consumption total of 412,000 units. That earns it the #1 spot on the revamped, consumption-driven Billboard 200 chart.
The Top 10 of this week’s Billboard 200 follows (tentative until the chart goes to print Tuesday):
1) The Weeknd – Beauty Behind The Madness – 412K total units (326K from pure sales)
2) Halsey – Badlands – 115K total units (97K from pure sales)
3) Luke Bryan – Kill The Lights – 50K total units
4) Taylor Swift – 1989 – 44K total units (24K from pure sales)
5) Dr. Dre – Compton – 32K total units
6) Ed Sheeran – x – 28K total units
7) Maddie & Tae – Start Here – 28K total units
8) Beach House – Depression Cherry – 27K total units
9) Ben Rector – Brand New – 26K total units (25K from pure sales)
10) Disturbed – Immortalized – 26K total units
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A weekly total in excess of 300,000 powers The Weeknd’s “Beauty Behind the Madness” to #1 on the album sales chart.
According to Hits Daily Double, the singer-songwriter’s blockbuster album moved approximately 325,267 copies during the August 28 – September 3 tracking week. Billboard’s more authoritative data will differ slightly, but the disparity will not affect the ultimate conclusion: “Beauty Behind the Madness” was the week’s top album.
It will debut at #1 on the album sales chart.
In addition to posting an impressive pure sales figure, “Beauty Behind the Madness” posted massive first week Track Equivalent Album (10 single sales = 1 album equivalent unit) and Streaming Equivalent Album (1500 single streams = 1 album equivalent unit) totals. With sales, TEA and SEA combined, Hits estimates that “Beauty” generated a first week consumption total of ~415,267 album equivalent units.
That sum — second only to that of Drake’s “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” among 2015 releases — will earn “Beauty” the top spot on the Billboard 200.
While it did not challenge The Weeknd’s album for #1, Halsey’s “Badlands” got off to a strong start in its own right. Hits estimates that the album moved 97,782 pure copies and ~111,782 total consumption units during its first week; the totals will comfortably position “Badlands” at #2 on Top Album Sales and the Billboard 200.
Other top performers from a pure sales standpoint: Luke Bryan’s “Kill the Lights” (~42,570 sales), Ben Rector’s “Brand New” (~26,644), Taylor Swift’s “1989” (~25,307), Beach House’s “Depression Cherry” (~24,091), Maddie & Tae’s “Start Here” (~23,229), NOW 55 (~23,184), Disturbed’s “Immortalized” (~22,630), and Dr. Dre’s “Compton” (~18,019).
Other top performers from a total consumption standpoint: Luke Bryan’s “Kill the Lights” (~55,349 total units), Taylor Swift’s “1989” (~38,757), Ed Sheeran’s “x” (~28,026), Disturbed’s “Immortalized” (~27,612), Ben Rector’s “Brand New” (~27,244), Maddie & Tae’s “Start Here” (~27,229), Beach House’s “Depression Cherry” (~27,091), and Sam Hunt’s “Montevallo” (~25,449), and Future’s “DS2” (~25,264).