Plus: Ella Henderson debuts & Donny Osmond returns.
On the latest Billboard 200 albums chart, Meghan Trainor‘s Title zoomed in to the No. 1 slot, moving 238,000 overall units in the week ending Jan. 18, according to Nielsen Music. It was one of three arrivals in the top 10, which also boasted bows from Kidz Bop Kids‘ Kidz Bop 27 and Mark Ronson‘s Uptown Special. 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).
Let’s take a closer look at some of the action on the chart:
— Taylor Swift, 1989 – No. 2 — Taylor Swift’s 1989 sold its 4 millionth copy in the week ending Jan. 18, as the set’s cumulative sales rose to 4,036,000 in the week. (It sold an addition 92,000 copies in the frame ending Jan. 18.) Each of Swift’s five full-length studio albums have now sold at least 4 million. Her biggest seller is 2008’s Fearless (6.9 million), followed by her self-titled debut (5.5 million), 2010’s Speak Now (4.5 million), Red (4.1 million) and then 1989. In total, Swift has sold 27.1 million albums in the U.S.
1989 is the first album to sell 4 million copies since Swift herself did it almost exactly a year ago with a different album. In the week ending Feb. 23, 2014, Swift’s previous release, Red, crossed the 4 million mark.
— Ella Henderson, Chapter One – No. 11 — Led by her hit single “Ghost,” the British singer’s debut album arrives at No. 11 with 33,000 units. “Ghost,” meanwhile, jumps 28-22 (a new peak) on the Billboard Hot 100 and also rises 16-15 on the Pop Songs airplay chart. (Listen to an interview with Henderson on the Pop Shop Podcast, below.)
— RaeLynn, Me (EP) – No. 20 — The former The Voice contestant takes a bow at No. 20 with her first album, starting with 9,000 units. It also enters at No. 7 on Top Country Albums, powered by 5,000 in traditional sales. RaeLynn made a splash on the Hot Country Songs chart in December with “God Made Girls,” scaling to No. 7 on the list.
— Sam Hunt, Montevallo – No. 13 — The rising star’s album profits from sale pricing and promotion in the iTunes Store, where it was discounted to $7.99 during the week. In turn, it earns a 15 percent rise in overall units, and a 28 percent jump in album sales. (Though it does gain, the album is pushed down one position on the chart to No. 13.) Other country albums that see gains thanks to the iTunes promotion: Chase Rice’s Ignite the Night (115-63 with 8,000 units, up 40 percent) and Brett Eldredge’s Bring You Back (134-116 with 5,000 units, up 7 percent).
— Pearl Jam, Ten – No. 157 — In addition to a promotion touting country albums (see above), the iTunes Store also hyped alternative releases like Pearl Jam’s Ten. The classic title was on sale for just $6.99 and returns to the chart at No. 157 with just over 4,000 units (up 60 percent).
— Donny Osmond, The Soundtrack of My Life – No. 181 — Veteran pop star Donny Osmond collects his 16th charting solo album with this new mostly-covers set The Soundtrack of My Life. The album, which starts at No. 181 with 4,000 units, includes Osmond’s interpretations of The Supremes’ “Baby Love,” Stevie Wonder’s “My Cherie Amour” (with Wonder) and The Beatles’ “The Long and Winding Road.” Osmond has also earned seven entries with his sister Marie Osmond.