Adele's '25' Rules for Third Week at No. 1
"25" sold 5.19 million copies in the United States in its first three weeks.
On the latest Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Dec. 26), Adele’s 25 crowns the tally
for a third straight week. It earned another 728,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 10, according to Nielsen Music. It was down 37 percent in total units for the week.
Of its weekly sum,
695,000 were in pure album sales. That’s a larger than expected figure, as industry forecasters were expecting it to sell around 650,000.
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 Dec. 26-dated chart (where Adele is No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, Dec. 15.
This is 25’s third week of selling in excess of 650,000 copies -- the first time an album has sold more than 650,000 in each of its first three frames since Nielsen Music began tracking sales in 1991. Four earlier albums managed to sell 650,000 in at least three different weeks, but none were in their first three frames.
The last titles to notch three (or more) weeks over 650,000 were The Beatles’ 1 and Backstreet Boys’ Black & Blue, both on the chart dated Jan. 6, 2001.
With 25’s third week sales of 695,000, the album’s total sales climb to 5.19 million.
It is now the largest selling album of any calendar year since 2011, when Adele’s previous album, 21, sold 5.82 million. (25 is also the only album to sell 5 million copies in a calendar year since 2011.)
25 is also one of only 11 albums released since 2005 to sell 5 million copies in total.
With three weeks left during the sales tracking year of 2015, it seems likely that 25 will surpass 6 million in sales by Dec. 31 (the final day of the final tracking week of 2015).
The last album to sell 6 million in a calendar year was Usher’s Confessions in 2004, with 7.98 million.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/c...art-third-week-coldplay-a-head-full-of-dreams
Adele Fends Off Coldplay to Top U.K. Album Chart Again
Adele's 25 (XL Recordings) comfortably saw off the challenge of Coldplay's A Head Full Of Dreams (Warner Music) to start a third week atop the U.K. album chart today (Friday). Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself" (Def Jam/Universal) started a second week at No. 1 on the singles chart.
New Official Charts Company data shows
25 with a huge third-week sales tally of 354,000, to bring its total U.K. sales to date to a heady 1.593 million. It was the highest total in an album's third week since Take That's The Circus sold 382,000 in its third week in 2008.
Coldplay, for their part, have the highest-selling No. 2 album for five years, moving 236,000 units of their new set. It's their first studio album not to debut at No. 1, but in more cheery news, opening sales far outstripped those of last year's Ghost Stories (168,000) or 2011's Mylo Xyloto (208,000). Their current single "Adventure Of A Lifetime" climbed 15-9 to become their 16th top ten U.K. hit.
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6805607/adele-coldplay-uk-album-chart
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Adele's '25' Hits 5 Million Sold in U.S.
It is just the 11th album released since 2005 to sell 5 million copies.
Adele's 25 has now sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music. It’s the first album to sell 5 million in a calendar year since Adele’s previous album, 21, did so in 2011.
After processing the first sales reports on Dec. 9, Nielsen Music says 25 has sold at least 510,000 copies -- so far -- in its third week on sale. Combined with the 4.49 million 25 sold in its first two weeks, the album has sold just over 5 million in pure album sales.
Industry forecasters suggest 25 could finish its third week with perhaps 650,000 copies sold. Billboard is scheduled to report 25’s official third-week sales figure on Dec. 14, after Nielsen Music has completed processing its sales reports for the week. The current sales tracking week ends at the close of business on Dec. 10.
Does Adele's Historic Sales Performance Mark a Turning Point for the Music Industry? A Debate
25 is the first album to sell 5 million copies in a calendar year since Adele herself did it in 2011 with her previous album, 21. That year, 21 sold 5.82 million and was the top-selling album of the year. (25 and 21 are the only albums to sell 5 million copies in a calendar year since 2004, when Usher’s Confessions cleared 7.98 million.)
Further, in terms of total sales (not just sales registered in a calendar year), 25 is one of only 11 albums released since 2005 to sell 5 million. (And of those, five are by Adele and Taylor Swift.)
In addition to 25, the albums released since 2005 that have sold more than 5 million in the U.S. are:
Swift’s 1989 (released in 2014; 5.5 million),
Adele’s 21 (2011; 11.3 million),
Swift’s Fearless (2008; 7 million),
Josh Groban’s Noel (2007; 5.82 million),
Swift’s self-titled album (2006; 5.56 million),
Daughtry’s self-titled album (2006; 5.04 million),
Nickelback’s All the Right Reasons (2005; 7.91 million),
Carrie Underwood’s Some Hearts (2005; 7.45 million),
Mariah Carey’s The Emancipation of Mimi (2005; 6.08 million) and
50 Cent’s The Massacre (2005; 5.36 million).
http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6805295/adele-25-5-million-sold