Poor Nicki Minaj. She just can’t catch a break, since Taylor Swift’s 1989 has refused to move from its perch atop the Billboard 200 album chart.
Swift’s album scored its eighth non-consecutive week at the top of the chart. Billboard reports that 1989 moved 244,000 total units, which is off 43 percent from last week’s 430,000 total.
When it comes to just album sales, 1989 notched 172,000 copies, topping the Top Album Sales chart.
1989 has earned Swift’s longest non-consecutive run at the top since Fearless, which had 13 non-consecutive weeks at Ni. 1 in 2008 and 2009. Her previous album, Red, had “only” seven weeks in 2012 and 2013.
Minaj kept on to the No. 2 slot with The Pinkprint, which sold 84,000 units, with 51,000 copies sold. Ed Sheeran jumped to No. 3 with X, which had 83,000 units sold.
Interestingly, Ariana Grande’s My Everything continues to take advantage of Billboard’s new formula for the Billboard 200. The magazine now counts digital streaming and individual track sales to calculate the chart. Thanks to that, My Everything came in at No. 10 this week. But if Billboard went back to the old format - which only included actual album sales - the album would have only been at No. 26.
Here’s what the full Top 10 for this week looks like:
1. Taylor Swift, 1989 (244,000 units)
2. Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint (84,000)
3. Ed Sheeran, X (83,000)
4. Sam Smith, In The Lonely Hour (82,000)
5. Guardians of the Galaxy (70,000)
6. Hozier (60,000)
7. J. Cole, 2014 Forest Hills Drive (59,000)
8. Into The Woods (57,000)
9. One Direction, Four (55,000)
10. Ariana Grande, My Everything (43,000)
image courtesy of Roger Wong/INFphoto.com