Adele’s ’25’ Scores Sixth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart
Adele's "25" scores a sixth straight week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the set earned another 363,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Dec. 31, 2015, according to Nielsen…
Adele’s 25 scores a sixth straight week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the set earned another 363,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Dec. 31, 2015 (down 70 percent), according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 307,000 were in pure album sales (down 73 percent).
25 sold 7.44 million copies in the U.S. through the week ending Dec. 31. It finishes 2015 as the top selling album of the year, and is the biggest seller of any calendar year since 2004 (when Usher’s Confessions sold 7.98 million).
25 was released through XL Recordings/Columbia Records on Nov. 20.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Jan. 16, 2016-dated chart (where 25 is No. 1 for a sixth frame) will be posted in full to Billboard’s Websites on Tuesday, Jan. 5.
25 is the first album to tally its first six weeks at No. 1 since Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed a Dream also claimed its first six weeks at No. 1 (Dec. 12, 2009 through Jan. 16, 2010).
In addition, 25 is the first set to spend at least five weeks in a row at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since the Frozen soundtrack notched eight straight frames at No. 1 in early 2014 (on the charts dated March 29 through May 17, 2014). The Frozen album spent a total of 13 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1.
But wait, there’s more! 25 is the first album released since 2001 to sell more than 300,000 copies in each of its first six weeks on sale. The last to do so was Creed’s Weathered, which blew through 300,000-plus in each of its first six weeks, following its release on Nov. 20, 2001.
As the latest tracking week reflects the frame ending Dec. 31, there are few debuts on the Billboard 200 because most artists and record labels tend not to release new albums so close to the Christmas holiday (Dec. 25). That said, there are still a few new entries, the highest of which is Kid Ink’s Summer in the Winter at No. 50 (16,000 units; 11,000 copies sold). The set was released on Dec. 25, and marks the rapper’s fifth charting album.
Back in the top 10, Justin Bieber’s Purpose is a non-mover at No. 2 (217,000 units; down 5 percent) while Twenty One Pilots’ former No. 1 Blurryface vaults 11-3 (79,000 units; up 33 percent). The latter (46,000 sold in pure album sales; up 16 percent) benefits from sale pricing in the iTunes Store, where it was discounted to $7.99 during the tracking week. It also gains thanks to the continued growth of its single “Stressed Out.” On the all-genre Radio Songs airplay chart, the song bounded into the top 15 of the tally dated Jan. 9 (in only its fourth chart week). It’s also No. 4 on the latest Digital Songs chart, with 159,000 downloads sold in the week ending Dec. 31 (up 95 percent).
On the new Billboard 200, One Direction’s Made in the A.M. climbs 6-4 (75,000 units; down 19 percent) while Fetty Wap’s self-titled set jumps back into the top 10, rising 21-5 with 70,000 units (up 69 percent). The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness ascends 9-6 with 69,000 units (down 4 percent) and Selena Gomez’s Revival zooms 15-7 with 57,000 units (up 9 percent). The latter title is down 26 percent in pure album sales (to 21,000 sold) but rallies thanks to TEA units (28,000; up 73 percent).
Chris Brown’s Royalty dips 3-8 in its second week (55,000 units; down 70 percent) and Taylor Swift’s 1989 is down 8-9 (54,000 units; down 26 percent).
Bryson Tiller’s Trapsoul rounds out the top 10, as the album hits a new peak, flying 33-10 (53,000 units; up 59 percent). It surpasses its previous high-water mark of No. 11, notched in its debut frame (Oct. 17-dated chart). The album has ranked in the weekly top 40 since its release.
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