Big Sean makes it Big on both charts this week. The Michigan rapper zipped past the Michigan rocker to beat Kid Rock by a nose on the sales chart. He significantly increases his lead on the combined/BB200 chart with much higher track sales. Fifty Shades holds number 3 on both charts in its third week while Drake drops from 2nd to 4th on both.
I’m pleasantly surprised at how little the new combined chart is effected by TEAs/SEAs compared to the old one. I thought we would see far more changes in the top 10, but it’s not too bad. Below the top 10, there is a lot of movement, but only us diehards are concerned about that. Being in the Top 10 gets you better placements on end-caps, iTunes front pages and media mentions, so falling out of the top 10 can hurt. I agree that economically a TEA/SEA is worth the same as an album sale, but I still think album sales are something different. Buying a single or streaming it shows commitment to the track. Buying the album shows commitment, at least for a time, to the Artist and hearing their entire vision. There are charts to track successful singles, I wish the BB200 had stayed at it is. They should have created a new combined chart and featured it as strongly as the BB200 and Hot100. Anyway…I guess I’m becoming like Carson on Downtown Abbey complaining about the changing times. They will change and I’m wondering what the new release date will do to the charts.
In any event, the only change in the top 5 this week is that Chris Brown gets tossed from it while Taylor joins returns. I can totally live with that outcome. Ed and Sam both move up a spot, but this week they are separated by last week’s chart topper, Imagine Dragons (drop off wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t good either). Maroon 5 returns to the top 10 again (pushing back Now 53 because you can’t buy track versions of the songs from that album – you buy them from the original albums).
Pop acts One Direction and Fifth Harmony move up on the combined chart, while Country act (and new Mom, Congrats!) Carrie Underwood moves back.
Sales Chart
LW TW Artist / Album Label Sales Index % Change
— 1 BIG SEAN DARK SKY PARADISE DEF JAM 135,577 —
— 2 KID ROCK FIRST KISS WARNER BROS. 134,575 —
3 3 FIFTY SHADES OF GREY SOUNDTRACK REPUBLIC 66,424 -41%
2 4 DRAKE IF YOU’RE READING THIS, IT’S TOO LATE YMCMB/REPUBLIC 57,726 -55%
— 5 CHRIS BROWN & TYGA FAN OF A FAN: THE ALBUM RCA 52,528 —
4 6 TAYLOR SWIFT 1989 BIG MACHINE 47,381 -15%
1 7 IMAGINE DRAGONS SMOKE + MIRRORS KIDINAKORNER/INTERSCOPE 43,013 -75%
6 8 ED SHEERAN X ATLANTIC 40,203 -9%
5 9 SAM SMITH IN THE LONELY HOUR CAPITOL 38,842 -17%
— 10 RED OF BEAUTY AND RAGE ESSENTIAL 34,902 —
7 12 NOW 53 VARIOUS ARTISTS NOW/LEGACY 31,695 -19%
15 16 MAROON 5 V 222/INTERSCOPE 17,952 15%
37 43 CARRIE UNDERWOOD GREATEST HITS: DECADE #1 19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 6,675 -2%
38 47 ONE DIRECTION FOUR SYCO/COLUMBIA 5,519 -15%
Sales Plus Streaming Chart (sales+track equivalent albums+stream equivalent albums)
LW TW Artist / Album Label SPS Index % Change [TEAs/SEAS, Position Change]
— 1 BIG SEAN DARK SKY PARADISE DEF JAM 167,742 — [22K, 0]
— 2 KID ROCK FIRST KISS WARNER BROS. 138,988 — [4.5K, 0]
3 3 FIFTY SHADES OF GREY SOUNDTRACK REPUBLIC 107,277 -34% [41K, 0]
2 4 DRAKE IF YOU’RE READING THIS, IT’S TOO LATE YMCMB/REPUBLIC 106,739 -43% [49K, 0]
4 5 TAYLOR SWIFT 1989 BIG MACHINE 78,576 -5% [31K, +1]
5 6 ED SHEERAN X ATLANTIC 70,062 -7% [30K, +2]
— 7 CHRIS BROWN & TYGA FAN OF A FAN: THE ALBUM RCA 67,707 — [15K, -2]
6 8 SAM SMITH IN THE LONELY HOUR CAPITOL 59,519 -15% [21K, +1]
1 9 IMAGINE DRAGONS SMOKE + MIRRORS KIDINAKORNER/INTERSCOPE 56,391 -71% [13K, -2]
7 10 MAROON 5 V 222/INTERSCOPE 47,656 7% [30K, +6]
10 18 NOW 53 VARIOUS ARTISTS NOW/LEGACY 31,695 -19% [0K, -6]
28 37 ONE DIRECTION FOUR SYCO/COLUMBIA 12,437 -11% [7K, +10]
27 41 FIFTH HARMONY REFLECTION EPIC 12,055 -16% [Off Sales Chart]
38 47 CARRIE UNDERWOOD GREATEST HITS: DECADE #1 19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 10,248 -2% [3.5K, -4]
