HARDY grabs his first #1 billboard‘s Top Album Sales Chart (as of February 4), as his latest achievement The Mockingbird and the Crow flies on top of the count. The set, a half-rock, half-country project, was released in the US with 20,000 copies sold in the week ended Jan. 26, according to Luminate. HARDY has previously scored one entry on the list, peaking at No. 8 Einstein in 2020.
Also in the top 10 is Maneskin’s new studio work hurry! debuts at #3; Wilco’s 2022 album Cruel Country re-enters at No. 4 after its widespread release on CD and vinyl and enters the Top 10 for the first time; the soundtrack for it Halloween ends shocks a No. 7 entry upon its vinyl release; and Trippie Redds new Mansion Music opens at #9.
billboard‘s Top Album Sales Chart lists the week’s best-selling albums based on traditional album sales only. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Album-only sales were the only measurement used by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the December 6, 2014 listing. Thereafter, this table switched to a method that mixes album sales with title-equivalent album units and streaming-equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
from The Mockingbird and the CrowOf the 20,000 albums sold, physical sales include 5,000 (4,000 CDs and 1,000 vinyl LPs) and digital album sales include 15,000. The album’s launch also marks HARDY’s best selling week, surpassing the 5,000 sold in the debut frame of Einstein in 2020 (chart as of September 19, 2020).
When The Mockingbird and the Crow starts at #1 on Top Album Sales, stopping Taylor Swift’s chart-topping run midnight, which spends its first 13 chart weeks at number 1. On the new chart, it falls to number 2 (down 21%) with 17,000 copies sold. The set continues to be a hit on vinyl, with 9,000 sales this week on vinyl. In the last tracking week midnightTotal US vinyl sales crept past 1 million copies. Swift’s popularity on vinyl is well known, and in 2022 one of every 25 vinyl albums sold in the US was by Swift.
Rock band Maneskin sees their new album hurry! Bogen #3 in Top Album Sales with 11,000 copies sold. It is the act’s first chart entry and its best selling week.
Wilcos Cruel Countryreleased last May through digital retailers and streaming services, re-enters the charts with a new high of #4 following its release on CD and vinyl (7,000 copies sold across all formats; vs. negligible total sales the previous week). . . Cruel Country had previously topped the list at number 31 on July 2, 2022 after its limited CD release was timed to coincide with Record Store Day 2022 on June 18 last year. Everything said, Cruel Country is the eighth top 10 charting result in Top Album Sales for Wilco and tied with the act’s highest charting result on the list. (A whopping five of the band’s eight Top 10 all peaked at No. 4.)
Fleetwood Macs rumours falls 2-5 on Top Album Sales with 6,000 sold (down 20%) and Michael Jackson’s thriller down 5-6 with 5,000 units sold (down 13%).
The soundtrack to the film Halloween ends debuts at number 7 on Top Album Sales following its vinyl release on January 20th. The set sold nearly 5,000 copies across all formats that week. Halloween ends is the highest charting soundtrack from the Halloween franchise on the 31-year chart and surpassed the No. 9 peak of Halloween kills in 2021.
SZAs ctrl Vaults 57-8 on Top Album Sales with almost 5,000 sold – mostly from vinyl sales – following a restocking. Trippie Redd is new Mansion Music bows at No. 9 (the rapper’s fourth Top 10 appearance) with nearly 5,000 copies sold, while Harry Styles is the former leader Harry’s house up 11-10 with just over 4,000 units sold (down 7%).
In the week ended January 26, 1.653 million albums were sold in the US (down 6.3% from the previous week). Of these, 1.312 million (down 9.3%) were physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) and 341,000 (down 7.6%) were digital albums.
For the week ended January 26, 523,000 CD albums were sold (down 2.8% compared to the week) and 782,000 vinyl albums were sold (down 13.1%). Year-to-date CD album sales are 2,330 (down 3% compared to the same period a year ago) and vinyl album sales are 3,478 million year-to-date (up 27.4%).
In total, a total of 7.377 million albums have been sold year-to-date (up 6.2% compared to the same period year-to-date a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales are 6.044 million (up 13.5%) and total digital album sales are 1.333 (down 17.9%).