Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience was the best-selling album of 2013, but few executives in the music industry will be smiling when they see the numbers. It was the lowest-selling No. 1 album for a year since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking sales for Billboard.
The 20/20 Experience was the only album released in 2013 to reach 2 million copies sold. According to Billboard, the album, which features the hits “Mirrors” and “Suit & Tie,” sold 2.43 million copies since its March 19 release.
That’s the lowest total for a best-selling album of any year since Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III topped 2008 with 2.87 million copies. That year and 2013 also have another sad mark in common. Since 1991, those are the only years with the top-selling album selling less than 3 million copies.
Last year, Adele’s 21 was the best-selling album of 2012 with a whopping 4.14 million copies sold. The same album also topped 2011 with 5.82 million copies.
The second-best selling album of 2012 was Taylor Swift’s Red, which sold 3.31 million copies.
The second biggest album of 2013 was Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP 2, which sold 1.73 million copies. Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party was third with 1.52 million.
Here’s the full Top 10 for 2013:
Justin Timberlake - The 20/20 Experience (2.43 million copies)
Eminem - The Marshal Mathers LP 2 (1.73 million)
Luke Bryan - Crash My Party (1.52 million)
Imagine Dragons - Night Visions (1.4 million - first released in 2012)
Bruno Mars - Unorthodox Jukebox (1.4 million - first released in 2012)
Florida Georgia Line - Here’s To The Good Times (1.35 million - first released in 2012)
Drake - Nothing Was The Same (1.34 million)
Beyonce - Beyonce (1.3 million)
Blake Shelton - Based on a True Story (1.11 million)
Jay Z - Magna Carta...Holy Grail (1.1 million)
image: NBC