Billboard’s final, more authoritative data will not be published until Sunday, but it is safe to declare The 1975’s “i like it when you sleep, for you are so beautiful yet so unaware of it” the winner in the weekly US album sales race.
According to Hits Daily Double’s weekly sales report, “i like it when you sleep” sold approximately 98,096 pure US copies during the official February 26-March 3 tracking week.
The tally comfortably positions The 1975’s album above Adele’s “25,” which grabs the runner-up position on the strength of approximately 58,985 sales.
Billboard’s data will differ — the discrepancy between the two sources has actually been atypically great in recent weeks — but the swing will not be enough to change the outcome. “i like it when you sleep” will take #1 on Top Album Sales.
It will also take #1 on the Billboard 200 consumption chart, which accounts for the sum of pure album sales, Track Equivalent Albums (track sales/10) and Streaming Equivalent Albums (track streams/1500).
— In terms of pure album sales, the week’s other top performers included Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “This Unruly Mess I’ve Made” (~45,813), Chris Stapleton’s “Traveller” (~30,715), Joey + Rory’s “Hymns” (~30,065), and Bonnie Raitt’s “Dig In Deep” (~27,100).
