Update: According to Nielsen Music, Adele’s “25” sold 307,000 US copies during the December 25-31 tracking week.
Down 73% from the previous week’s total, the count nonetheless keeps “25” atop the Billboard Top Album Sales chart. It is the sixth victory for “25” in as many weeks of availability.
With Track Equivalent Albums (track sales/10) and Streaming Equivalent Albums (streams/1500) added to the pure sales total, “25” generated 363,000 weekly consumption units. The tally earns “25” a sixth straight week at #1 on the consumption-oriented Billboard 200.
That chart’s Top 10 is as follows (pure sales data via Nielsen Music):
1) Adele – 25 – 363K units (307,171 from sales | US total now ~7.44m)
2) Justin Bieber – Purpose – 217K units (102,503 from sales | US total now ~1.27m)
3) twenty one pilots – Blurryface – 79K units (46,373 from sales | US total now ~592K)
4) One Direction – Made In The AM – 75K units (40,354 from sales | US total now ~743K)
5) Fetty Wap – 70K units (18,517 from sales | US total now ~254K)
6) The Weeknd – Beauty Behind The Madness – 69K units (24,747 from sales | US total now ~863K)
7) Selena Gomez – Revival – 57K units (21,155 from sales | US total now ~257K)
8) Chris Brown – Royalty – 55K units (36,067 from sales | US total now ~198K)
9) Taylor Swift – 1989 – 54K units (27,623 from sales | US total now ~5.65m)
10) Bryson Tiller – T R A P S O U L – 53K units (24,869 from sales | US total N/A)
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While it predictably suffered a steep decline from the previous week’s mark, Adele’s “25” still dominated the final weekly album sales race of 2015.
According to preliminary data from Hits Daily Double, “25” sold approximately 292,282 US copies during the December 25-31, 2015 tracking week.
Down 75% from last week’s figure, the tally more than doubles that of this week’s nearest competitor. It thus easily earns “25” a sixth consecutive weekly sales victory.
Justin Bieber’s “Purpose,” that nearest competitor, shifted what Hits reports as approximately 113,880 copies during the official tracking week.
In recent weeks, a greater than usual disparity has emerged between Hits’ preliminary data and the more authoritative Billboard/Nielsen report. One should expect those final Billboard numbers, due shortly, to again reflect such a discrepancy this week.
What one should not expect, however, is a different overall conclusion. Adele’s “25” will indeed hold #1 on Top Album Sales, and Justin Bieber’s “Purpose” will indeed rank as the runner-up.
According to Hits, the week’s other notable sellers (pure album sales) included twenty one pilots’ “Blurryface” (~52,453), One Direction’s “Made In The AM” (~42,840), Chris Stapleton’s “Traveller” (~38,130), and Chris Brown’s “Royalty” (~36,234).
