Ed Sheeran - = cover, courtesy of Atlantic Records
Ed Sheeran’s “=” launched at midnight late Thursday/early Friday, and it unsurprisingly rocketed up the US iTunes album sales chart.
The album quickly hit #1 on the all-genre listing, and it retains the pinnacle position as of press time at 1:15AM ET.
Sean Feucht’s “Let Us Worship America” currently occupies the #2 position, while Elton John’s “The Lockdown Sessions” sits at #3.
Mastodon’s “Hushed and Grim” (#4) and Brandi Carlile’s “In These Silent Days” (#5) complete the Top 5.
iTunes is only one factor, and its impact on the overall Billboard 200 chart has grown smaller amid the decline of sales and rise of streaming. In this case, however, it is hard to imagine anything but Sheeran’s album reigning as the biggest release in America (and other key worldwide markets).