Billboard 200 Chart Moves: ‘The Greatest Showman’ Soundtrack Hits a Top 10 Milestone

On the latest Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Aug. 11), Drake’s Scorpion was a non-mover at No. 1, scoring a fifth week atop the list. The set earned 145,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Aug. 2, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, just 12,000 were in traditional album sales, as the set continues to be overwhelmingly powered by streaming activity.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the week’s most popular albums based on their overall consumption. That overall unit figure combines pure album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the action on the rest of the Billboard 200:

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— Soundtrack, The Greatest Showman – No. 9 — As the soundtrack to The Greatest Showman spends a 30th nonconsecutive week in the top 10, it becomes one of just seven soundtracks to earn at least 30 weeks in the top 10 in the past 50 years. The former No. 1 album bowed on the chart dated Dec. 30, 2017 at No. 71, rose to No. 63 the following week, and then to No. 5 in its third frame. It ruled at No. 1 for two weeks (in its fourth and fifth weeks), and has been among the top 10 in all but just four of its total 34 chart weeks.

In the past 50 years, since the chart dated Aug. 10, 1968, just seven soundtracks have spent 30 weeks in the top 10. In the last half-century, the Dirty Dancing soundtrack spent the most weeks in the region, with 48 frames between 1987 and 1988. The Whitney Houston-led The Bodyguard is next, with 42 weeks in 1992, 1993 and 1994, followed by Frozen (41 weeks in 2014), Prince and The Revolution’s Purple Rain (37, 1984-1985), Saturday Night Fever (35; 1978) and The Lion King (31; 1994-1995).

— Kanye West, ye – No. 25 — The album nets a 4 percent unit gain (rising to 18,000 units earned), but also a big 70 percent increase in album sales (jumping to 6,000 sold), thanks to the vinyl LP release of the album. The vinyl edition of the set was released on July 27, and follows its CD configuration bow on June 29, and its initial streaming and digital download issue on June 1. The album debuted atop the Billboard 200 dated June 16 courtesy of its streaming and download activity, with 208,000 equivalent album units earned (of which 85,000 were download album sales). 

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— Anne-Marie, Speak Your Mind – No. 74 — The album — with 10,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 2, according to Nielsen Music — rises with a 27 percent gain thanks largely to streaming activity by its newly added track, “Don’t Leave Me Alone” (David Guetta featuring Anne-Marie).

— Boz Scaggs, Out of the Blues – No. 82 — The veteran artist notches his 18th entry on the Billboard 200, as his newest blues effort bows at No. 82 with 9,000 equivalent album units earned (nearly all from traditional album sales). Over on the sales-ranked Blues Albums chart, Out of the Blues bows at No. 1, securing Scaggs his third leader on the tally. Scaggs made his Billboard 200 chart debut on April 17, 1971, when Moments arrived at No. 187. He went as high as No. 2 on the list with 1976’s Silk Degrees, which spent five weeks parked in the runner-up slot.

— Florida Georgia Line, Dig Your Roots – No. 117 — Dig Your Roots nets a 100th week on the list, becoming the country duo’s third (of three) full-length sets to spend 100 weeks on the tally. It follows 2014’s Anything Goes (101 weeks) and 2012’s Here’s to the Good Times (256).