Things are not looking good for Lady Gaga right now. Despite all the promotion, awards show performances and her Saturday Night Live appearance, ARTPOP is doing far worse than expected. It fell from No. 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart to No. 8, stepping aside so Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP 2 could reclaim the top.
MM LP 2 sold 120,000 copies in its third week, which was still down from last week, when it sold 210,000 copies. It started its chart run with 792,000 copies sold, the second biggest debut of the year.
Five Finger Death Punch’s new release The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2 opened with 77,000 copies, which was good enough for No. 2 on the chart, notes Billboard. The first Wrong Side album sold 112,000 copies earlier this year, but also debuted at No. 2.
Now 43 stayed at No. 3 with 63,000 copies sold, while Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas from the cast of Duck Dynasty had the No. 4 spot with 60,000 copies. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack debuted to 55,000 copies, far less than the soundtrack for the first film. Clearly, Taylor Swift’s presence can boost any album sales and she may be needed for the Mockingjay soundtrack.
Daughtry’s Baptized kicked off with 55,000 copies as well, while Yo Gott’s I Am sold 48,000 copies.
ARTPOP fell a whopping 82 percent to just 46,000 copies sold. It is only the third No. 1 album of the year to drop by at least 80 percent in its second week. Both Justin timberlake’s second 20/20 Experience and Kanye West’s Yeezus fell just over 80 percent in their second weeks. Billboard notes that the killer for ARTPOP may have been an emphasis on pre-orders to boost the week one sales.
Kelly Clarkson’s Wrapped in Red (44,000) and Minneapolis radio station KTCZ’s Cities 97 Sampler, Live From Studio C: Vol. 25 (40,000) rounded out the top 10.
Eminem’s “The Monster” with Rihanna topped the Digital Songs chart with 241,000 downloads.
image: Amazon