Slowdive scores its first top 10 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Sept. 16) as the band’s new album Everything Is Alive debuts at No. 3. The set launches with 12,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 7, according to Luminate. It’s the best sales week yet for the British group, and its second chart entry, having previously topped out at No. 22 with its self-titled release 2017.
Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, the late Jimmy Buffett’s 1985 best-of album Songs You Know by Heart: Jimmy Buffett’s Greatest Hit(s) re-enters the list at No. 1 – its first week atop the 32-year-old tally. Plus, YouTuber and Twitch streamer Dream sees his debut effort To Whoever Wants to Hear launch at No. 8.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. 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. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Songs You Know by Heart sold 15,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Sept. 7 (up from about 200 copies in the previous week), following Buffett’s death on Sept. 1. It’s the best sales week for the album in 24 years, since the chart date of July 3, 1999, when it sold 17,000 copies.
Travis Scott’s chart-topping Utopia holds at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 12,000 sold (down 58%), while NewJeans’ former leader 2nd EP ‘Get Up’ is a non-mover at No. 4 with 11,000 (down 19%) and Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) rises 6-5 with 10,000 (down 23%). NCT Dream’s ISTJ: The 3rd Album climbs one spot to No. 6 (8,000; down 37%) while Swift’s chart-topping Midnights bumps 9-7 (nearly 8,000; down 24%).
YouTuber and Twitch streamer Dream starts at No. 8 with his first album release, To Whoever Wants to Hear, with nearly 7,000 copies sold. J-Hope’s Jack in the Box slips 8-9 (6,000; down 49%) and Stray Kids’ 5-Star: The 3rd Album rises 15-10 (6,000; down 17%).
In the week ending Sept. 7, there were 1.630 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 2.2% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.287 million (down 3.4%) and digital albums comprised 342,000 (up 2.6%).
There were 543,000 CD albums sold in the week ending Sept. 7 (down 1.5% week-over-week) and 734,000 vinyl albums sold (down 5.1%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 23.826 million (up 1.5% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 31.881 million (up 20.1%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 68.831 million (up 6.7% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 56.075 million (up 11.3%) and digital album sales total 12.756 million (down 9.9%).
