Update: Drake’s surprise “If You’re Reading This it’s Too Late” tops Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart with an opening week sales total of 495,000.
That dominant total came despite the fact that “If You’re Reading This” was only available for three of the tracking period’s seven days.
The total represents the best for a Hip-Hop/R&B album since Beyonce’s surprise” Beyonce” moved 618,000 in December 2013 and the best for a rap album since Eminem’s “MMLP2” debuted to the tune of 792,000 in November of that year.
With track equivalent album (10 single sales = 1 album sale) and streaming equivalent albums (1500 single streams = 1 album sale) included, the set claims a debut consumption unit total of 535,000. That allows for a clear #1 debut on the revamped Billboard 200.
The top ten follows:
1 – Drake – If You’re Reading This it’s Too Late – 535K units (495K from pure sales)
2 – 50 Shades of Grey Soundtrack – 258K units (210K from pure sales)
3 – Sam Smith’s – In the Lonely Hour – 164K units (124K from pure sales)
4 – Ed Sheeran – x – 140K units
5 – Taylor Swift – 1989 – 125K units
6 – Meghan Trainor – Title – 72K units
7 – NOW 53 – 72K units (72K from pure sales)
8 – Beck – Morning Phase – 71K units (64K from pure sales)
9 – 2015 Grammy Nominees Album – 65K units (65K from pure sales)
10 – Maroon 5 – V – 63K units
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While it was no “Beyonce,” Drake’s surprise mixtape/album “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” still proved to be a sales behemoth in its first three days of release.
According to sales data Hits Daily Double, Drake’s album moved approximately ~497,602 copies from its release late Thursday through the end of tracking on Sunday. Billboard will issue a more authoritative mark Wednesday morning, but it will fall in the same ballpark.
Thanks to its impressive opening weekend total, “If You’re Reading This” convincingly ranks as the best-selling album for the entire week ending February 15.
The “50 Shades of Grey” soundtrack, which was the presumed winner prior to the surprise emergence of Drake’s album, settles for second on the strength of approximately ~204,925 sales. That figure might pale in comparison to the Drake mark, but it still represents an immensely impressive total.
Benefiting from his significant Grammys exposure, Sam Smith’s “In the Lonely Hour” grabs the #3 slot on the pure sales chart. It moved ~130,596 copies during the week following the 2/8 Grammy Awards ceremony. (Beck’s “Morning Phase,” which bested “In the Lonely Hour” for Album of the Year, grabs the #8 slot on the strength of its ~57,149 weekly sales).
Taylor Swift’s juggernaut “1989” follows at #4 with ~92,430 sales, while Ed Sheeran’s Grammy-nominated “x” holds at #5. It moved ~86,318 copies last week.
— The inclusion of track equivalent album (10 single sales = 1 album sale) and streaming equivalent album (1500 single streams = 1 album sale) does not affect the pecking order within the top three. Drake’s “If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late” rules with 541,585 total consumption units (sales + TEA + SEA), while “50 Shades” (~247,917) and Sam Smith’s “In the Lonely Hour” (~174,271) follow. Ed Sheeran’s “x” moves up to #4 on the consumption chart (with ~131,182 units), while Swift’s “1989” grabs the #5 slot on the strength of ~125,040.
