Last week, Ed Sheeran’s “Divide” topped the Billboard Top Album Sales and Billboard 200 charts.
This week, it only leads the latter.
Metallica’s “Hardwired … To Self-Destruct” moves into the #1 spot on the former, which ranks albums based on pure US sales.
Aided by a ticket/album bundle, “Hardwired” sold what Billboard reports as 100K pure copies during the March 10-16 tracking week. The figure gives Metallica’s album the edge over Sheeran’s “Divide,” which sold 87K pure copies in its second week of release.
“Divide,” however, generated considerably more overall units. With TEA (track sales/10) and SEA (track streams/1500) added to the pure sales total, “Divide” generated 180K total US units this week. That figure earns “Divide” a second week atop the Billboard 200.
A relative non-factor for track sales and streams, “Hardwired” generated 102K overall units. It takes #2 on the Billboard 200.
Credited with 57K weekly units, the “Beauty And The Beast” soundtrack starts at #3 on the Billboard 200. Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic” falls one spot to #4 with 54K, while the “Moana” soundtrack rises three places to #5 with 52K.
