After taking back the Billboard 200 album chart from One Direction last week, Taylor Swift has retained the top spot on the chart with 1989. The album has now spent five non-consecutive weeks at the top.
Billboard notes that, overall, Swift’s four albums have spent a total of 29 weeks at the top, putting her at No. 3 among female artists. Only Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey have beat her, with 46 and 30 weeks at the top, respectively.
This week also marks the second Billboard 200 chart that combines album sales, digital track sales and on-demand streaming data from Nielsen Music to determine positions. On the current Billboard 200, actual album sales make up 81.4 percent of total music consumption through the week ending on Dec. 7.
1989 scored 274,000 units in total, with 230,000 of that coming from actual album sales. The album beat Pentatonix’s That’s Christmas To Me, which moved 221,000 units.
The No. 3 album of the week is AC/DC’s new Rock or Bust, which moved 172,000 units. That’s far down from 2008’s Walmart-exclusive Black Ice, which exploded with 784,000 copies sold in its debut week.
Sam Smith’s In The Lonely Hour was at No. 4 with 81,000 units. One Direction’s Four rounded out the Top 5 with 75,000 units.
Other albums on the chart include Idina Menzel’s Holiday Wishes (66,000 units); Michael Buble’s Christmas (66,000); Garth Brooks’ Man Against Machine (57,000); and Mary J. Blige’s The London Sessions (57,000).
image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com