Billboard 200: 7/6/13: Kanye West No. 1- 327,000

[HolidayGuy]

Official: Kanye West's 'Yeezus' Sells 327,000; Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart
By Keith Caulfield | June 25, 2013

It's official: Kanye West's new album "Yeezus" debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 327,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It's the biggest week for a rap album since Drake's "Take Care" arrived with 631,000 at No. 1 in November of 2011.

The latest sales week ended at the close of business on Sunday, June 23.

"Yeezus" marks West's sixth No. 1 album and sixth straight chart-topper. Only his debut album, "The College Dropout," missed the top slot. It bowed and peaked at No. 2. His tally of six leaders includes his 2011 collaborative album with Jay-Z, "Watch the Throne."

West's sixth No. 1 album ties him for the second-most No. 1s among rap acts in history. His sum is equal to Eminem and Nas. Only West's "Watch the Throne" partner, Jay-Z, has more No. 1s: 12.

The full top 10 of the new Billboard 200 will be revealed on Wednesday, June 26.

With 327,000 sold, "Yeezus" also earns the third-largest sales week this year. Ahead of it are the debuts of Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience" (968,000) and Daft Punk's "Random Access Memories" (339,000).

However, "Yeezus" also tallies West's lowest sales debut yet. All of his previous efforts have bowed with a debut north of 400,000. Until now, his smallest solo start was logged by "The College Dropout," with 441,000.

On the Friday before its release (June 14), industry sources had forecast "Yeezus" to sell perhaps 500,000 in its first week. Those projections were scaled back the day after it went on sale (June 18) to 360,000 to 380,000. By last Friday (June 21), the "Yeezus" forecast fell to 330,000 to 340,000.

[Enigma.]

Very far away from 500k in the end.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

I wonder if there being no booklet or anything with the cd turned people off from getting it in that format?

[Glove Slap]

I'd say it's a combo of that and the fact that if you don't release any singles or videos, the more casual chunk of your fanbase simply won't know you have an album out unless you check music sites.

A few of my friends who have bought Kanye's albums in the past did not know he had a new album out until I told them, I'm sure there are similar stories elsewhere.

[Wave.]

I think Kayne had said that he didn't care about sales this go around. These sales are most likely the die hard fans, and/or word of mouf.

[HolidayGuy]

He also said radio was a place he didn't want to be anymore.

[crystalphnx]

Top Four Albums All Debut This Week On Billboard 200

Led by Kanye West's Yeezus, all of the top four albums on the Billboard 200 this week are new entries. West's Yeezus arrives with 327,000 -- the third-largest sales week of the year. It's bested only by the debuts of Justin Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience (968,000) and Daft Punk's Random Access Memories (339,000).

J. Cole's Born Sinner enters at No. 2 this week with 297,000, his best sales week yet. It's the largest debut at No. 2 since the Dec. 11, 2010, chart, when Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday bowed with 375,000. Coincidentally, she was stuck behind a debut from West as well. That week, his My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy launched at No. 1 with 496,000.

Behind Cole this week is the third rap debut in the top three: Mac Miller's Watching Movies With the Sound Off, starting at No. 3 with 102,000.

Kelly Rowland's fourth studio album, Talk a Good Game, is the fourth and final arrival in the top 10. It lands at No. 4 with 68,000, marking her third 10 set. The arrival is Rowland's smallest start, dipping below the 77,000 that launched her last album, 2011's No. 3-debuting Here I Am.

But let's get back to West. The sales launch for Yeezus is softer than industry sources had forecast. On the Friday before its release (June 14), it had been tipped to start with perhaps 500,000. However, a week later, its sales projection had fallen to 330,000 to 340,000.

On the other hand, Cole blew past expectations, selling about 100,000 copies more than the 150,000 to 200,000 that was forecast on June 14. Even better, its start is larger than the projection made on the day after its release on June 18, when insiders said it could do 270,000 to 290,000.

As for Miller, his album starts on target with forecasts made on June 19. However, his bow is smaller than that of his last release, 2011's No. 1-debuting Blue Slide Park (144,000).

With West, Cole and Miller all starting north of 100,000, it's the first time since November 2006 that three rap albums have debuted with sales that exceed 100,000. That Thanksgiving week saw the release of Jay-Z's Kingdom Come (680,000 sold first week), Snoop Dogg's Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (264,000) and 2Pac's Pac's Life (159,000).

This is also the first week since last October where two albums -- regardless of their genre -- started with more than 200,000. It last happened on the Nov. 10-dated chart (reflecting the sales week ending Oct. 28). That week, Taylor Swift's Red arrived with 1.2 million while Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid, M.A.A.D City started with 241,000.

As for the rest of the top 10 this week, last week's No. 1, Black Sabbath's 13, falls to No. 5 with 46,000 (down 71%). Daft Punk's Random Access Memories slips 2-6 with 40,000 (down 17%). Hunter Hayes' Hunter Hayes flies 80-7 for its highest chart rank yet, following the album's deluxe reissue on June 18. With nearly 40,000 sold (up 539%), it’s also the set's second-largest sales frame. It sold slightly more (exceeding 40,000) during Christmas week last year.

Rounding out the top 10 albums: Florida Georgia Line's Here's to the Good Times, which is pushed back 5-8 with 33,000 (down less than 1%). Timberlake's The 20/20 Experience slides 3-9 with 32,000 (down 8%) and Imagine Dragons' Night Visions rises 11-10 with 26,000 (down 7%).

Over on the Digital Songs chart, Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," featuring T.I. and Pharrell, remains at No. 1, earning the largest sales week of 2013: 424,000 downloads. It's the biggest week for a song since the week ending Dec. 30, 2012. That week, two songs sold more: Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble" (582,000) and Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven" (497,000). Both tunes profited from the redemption of digital music store gift cards received for the Christmas holiday on Dec. 25.

At No. 2 on the Digital Songs chart this week is Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise," rising one spot to No. 2 with 244,000 (up 19%). Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" falls a rung to No. 3 with 231,000 (though it’s up by 11%).

Daft Punk's "Get Lucky," featuring Pharrell Williams, remains at No. 4 with 205,000 (up 5%). Bruno Mars' "Treasure" rallies 12-5 with 185,000 (up 71%) and its best sales week and chart rank yet. The song profits from its performance by Mars on NBC's "The Voice" on June 18.

The music video premiere of Miley Cyrus' "We Can't Stop" helps the song's sales surge by 74%. The cut rebounds 17-6 with 161,000 in its third week. It debuted with 214,000 at No. 3 and then fell to 93,000 last week.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Can't Hold Us," featuring Ray Dalton, descends 5-7 with 151,000 (down 5%), and Fall Out Boy's "My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark (Light 'Em Up)" climbs 10-8 with 115,000 (up 2%). Blake Shelton's "Boys 'Round Here" falls 6-9 with 115,000 (down 15%), and Selena Gomez's "Come & Get It" dips 8-10 with 113,000 (down 12%).

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending June 23) totaled 5.5 million units, up 5% compared with the sum last week (5.3 million) and down 7% compared with the comparable sales week of 2012 (6 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 137 million, down 5% compared to the same total at this point last year (144.7 million).

Digital track sales this past week totaled 26.5 million downloads, up 3% compared with last week (25.6 million) and up 5% stacked next to the comparable week of 2012 (25.2 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 657 million, down 2% compared to the same total at this point last year (672.7 million).

Next week's Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2012 when: Linkin Park's Living Things debuted at No. 1 with 223,000, barely ahead of Maroon 5's also-arriving Overexposed, at No. 2 with 222,000. The previous week's No. 1, Justin Bieber's Believe, fell to No. 3 with 115,000 (down 69%).

www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/chart-alert/1568168/top-four-albums-all-debut-this-week-on-billboard-200

[areyoureadytojump]

www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.24460/title.hip-hop-album-sales-the-week-ending-6-23-2013

Hip Hop Album Sales: The Week Ending 6/23/2013

#1. Kanye West - Yeezus - 327,000 (327,000)

#2. J. Cole - Born Sinner - 297,000 (297,000)

#3. Mac Miller - Watching Movies With The Sound Off - 102,000 (102,000)

#15. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis - The Heist - 23,000 (843,000)

#40. Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city - 9,100 (938,000)

#42. Lil Wayne - I Am Not A Human Being II - 8,900 (496,000)

#95. The-Dream - IV Play - 4,600 (42,000)

#121. Statik Selektah - Extended Play - 3,500 (3,600)

#130. Snoop Lion - Reincarnated - 3,400 (50,000)

#175. Kanye West - My Beautiful Twisted Dark Fantasy - 2,600 (1,346,000)

* data comes from Nielsen Soundscan, rounded to nearest thousandth for units above 10,000, nearest hundredth for units below 10,000. Each week, HipHopDX presents top albums in Hip Hop/related, and five notables.

[areyoureadytojump]

music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/week-ending-june-23-2013-albums-yeezus-123216776.html

Week Ending June 23, 2013. Albums: Yeezus!
By Paul Grein | Chart Watch


This week may mark the first time that the title of the #1 album also approximates what the artist blurts out when he is told his first-week sales number. Kanye West’s Yeezus enters The Billboard 200 at #1, with first-week sales of 327K. It’s West’s first studio album to sell fewer than 400K copies in its first week. The tally is down significantly from West’s last solo album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, which sold 496K in its first week in November 2010 (at the start of the holiday shopping season).

West’s album sold just 30K more copies than J. Cole’s sophomore album, Born Sinner, which debuts at #2 this week with first-week sales of 297K. This is West’s narrowest margin of victory to date. It’s the first time he has debuted at #1 with less than a 120K sales lead over #2.

West’s tally is just 9K ahead of what Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience sold in its second week in March (after selling 968K in its first week). West’s total is 17K behind what Taylor Swift’s Red sold in its second week in November 2012 (after blowing through 1,208,000 copies in its first week).

The initial first-week sales projection for Yeezus was 500K, but it was scaled back to about 370K the day after the album went on sale. By Friday, it was scaled back again to about 335K. It came in a little below that.

West’s characteristic bravado helped set up expectations for the album that would be hard to meet. “Man, I'm the Number One living and breathing rock star,” he said in a recent profile with W. (He was explaining how he came to write “I Am A God,” a track on the new album.)

He compared himself to Axl Rose, Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix. That comparison is apt. West has rock-star attitude to burn. Note that he didn’t say “I’m the Number One living and breathing record seller.” He’s a big seller, but he’s no Swift or Timberlake, to say nothing of Adele.

In the W interview, West seems aware of the benefits and costs of his ego. “On one end, I try to scale it back,” he said. “Because I don't want to close any of the doors needed to create the best product possible. But my ego is my drug. My drug is, ‘I'm better than all you other mother*******. Kiss my ***!'"

Despite the disappointing debut, it would be unfair to paint Yeezus as a stiff. Consider these facts:

The total for Yeezus is the third greatest one-week sales tally so far this year, behind The 20/20 Experience and Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories (339K).

West’s tally is the greatest for a hip-hop album since Drake’s Take Care bowed with sales of 631K in November 2011.

Yeezus is West’s sixth #1 album on The Billboard 200, which is more than any other artist who has made his or her recording debut in this century. West’s first album, The College Dropout, was released in 2004. Runners-up among artists who have debuted in this century, with five #1 albums each, are Linkin Park (debut: 2000), Alicia Keys (2001) and Justin Bieber (2009).

Only two other hip-hop artists have amassed six or more #1 albums. Jay-Z leads with 12 (counting a 2011 collabo with West). Eminem is tied with West with six #1 albums. Three hip-hop stars trail with five #1 albums each: 2Pac, Nas and DMX. (Nas’ total doesn’t include a 1997 album with The Firm. Each of the four members was identified on the album cover, but their names weren’t part of the artist billing.)

Yeezus also debuts at #1 in the U.K. It’s West’s second album (following 2007’s Graduation) to reach #1 in both the U.S. and the U.K. West is only the second rap artist to amass two or more “transatlantic #1 albums.” Six of Eminem’s albums have reached #1 in both countries.

Yeezus sold 186K digital copies which puts it at #1 on Top Digital Albums. Cole’s album sold 158K digital copies. This marks the first time in digital history that two albums have each sold 150K digital copies in one week. (Until June 2008, no albums had sold 150K digital copies in one week.)

This marks the first time that rap albums have debuted in the top two spots since November 2010, when West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy and Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday debuted at #1 and #2. (Incidentally, that was West’s previous closest chart victory. He led Minaj by 121K copies that week.)

This week marks the fourth time that West has won a first-week sales battle with another rapper. It also happened in 2005 when Late Registration debuted at #1 and Tony Yayo’s Thoughts Of A Predicate Felon debuted at #2, and, most famously, in 2007 when Graduation debuted at #1 and 50 Cent’s Curtis debuted at #2.

J. Cole’s first-week tally (297K) marks a healthy increase from his debut album, Cole World: The Sideline Story, which sold 217K in its first week in October 2011 (when it opened at #1). J. Cole’s album would have ranked #1 in all but four weeks so far this year. The only other albums (besides West’s) to top 297K in weekly sales in 2013 are Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience (twice) and Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories (once).

Mac Miller’s sophomore album, Watching Movies With The Sound Off, debuts at #3 with first-week-sales of 102K. This marks the first time since November 2006 that three hip-hop albums have debuted with sales of 100K or more. That Thanksgiving week saw the release of Jay-Z's Kingdom Come (680K), Snoop Dogg's Tha Blue Carpet Treatment (264K) and 2Pac's Pac's Life (159K).

Watching Movies With The Sound Off (is it just me or does the title sound like the answer to a Wheel Of Fortune puzzle?) is Miller’s second top 10 album. Blue Slide Park debuted at #1 in November 2011 (with first-week sales of 144K). Incidentally, Miller is the youngest artist in this week’s top 10. He’s four months younger than Hunter Hayes. (Both are 21, but around here we count months.)

Kelly Rowland’s fourth studio album, Talk A Good Game, debuts at #4. It’s her third top 10 album (not counting four top 10 albums with Destiny’s Child.)

Hunter Hayes’ Hunter Hayes vaults from #80 to #7 in its 71st week, thanks to the release of a deluxe version of the album. This is its first week in the top 10. The album debuted at #18 in October 2011, hit an initial peak of #17 in February of this year (after the Grammys) and reaches this new peak this week. The album also jumps to #1 for the first time on Top Country Albums, where it displaces another red-hot debut album, Florida Georgia Line’s Here’s To The Good Times.

Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience, which drops from #3 to #9, becomes the first album to sell 2 million copies in 2013. The album has sold more than twice as many copies as its two chief rivals, Bruno Mars’ Unorthodox Jukebox (963K copies sold in 2013) and Mumford & Sons’ Babel (873K sold in 2013).

“Blurred Lines” by Robin Thicke featuring T.I. + Pharrell holds at #1 on Hot Digital Songs for the fourth week (424K). That’s the biggest one-week sales tally for any song since the week ending Dec. 30 (when sales traditionally swell). That week, Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble.” sold 582K copies and Bruno Mars’ “Locked Out Of Heaven” sold 497K copies. Will “Blurred Lines” also hold at #1 for the third week on the Hot 100? Count on it. But you’ll find out for sure out later today when we post Chart Watch: Songs.

Here’s the low-down on this week’s top 10 albums.

The Top Five: Kanye West’s Yeezus debuts at #1 (327K). It’s his seventh top 10 album…J. Cole’s Born Sinner debuts at #2 (297K). It’s his second top 10 album…Mac Miller’s Watching Movies With The Sound Off debuts at #3 (102K). It’s his second top 10 album…Kelly Rowland’s Talk A Good Game debuts at #4 (68K). It’s her third top solo 10 album…Black Sabbath’s 13 drops from #1 to #5 in its second week (46K).

The Second Five: Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories drops from #2 to #6 in its fifth week (40K). It has been in the top 10 the entire time…Hunter Hayes’ Hunter Hayes vaults from #80 to #7 in its 71st week (40K). This is its first week in the top 10. It’s his first top 10 album… Florida Georgia Line’s Here’s To The Good Times drops from #5 to #8 in its 29th week (33K). This is its fourth week in the top 10…Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience drops from #3 to #9 in its 14th week (32K). It has been in the top 10 the entire time…Imagine Dragons’ Night Visions rebounds from #11 to #10 in its 42nd week (26K). This is its 11th week in the top 10.

Six albums drop out of the top 10 this week. Big Time Rush’s 24/Seven drops from #4 to #37. Darius Rucker’s True Believers drops from #6 to #13. Blake Shelton’s Based On A True Story… drops from #7 to #12. Goo Goo Dolls’ Magnetic plummets from #8 to #67. The Man Of Steel soundtrack drops from #9 to #29. The Lonely Island’s The Wack Album drops from #10 to #46.

Sigur Ros’ seventh studio album, Kveikur, debuts at #14. It’s the Icelandic group’s third album in a row to make the top 15…OneRepublic’s Native rebounds from #111 to #16 in its 13th week in the wake of the group’s appearance on the finale of The Voice…Falling In Reverse’s second studio album, Fashionably Late, debuts at #17. It’s the group’s second album in a row to make the top 20…Danielle Bradbery’s The Complete Season 4 Collection debuts at #19. Bradbery was the Season 4 winner on The Voice.

The Great Gatsby: Music From Baz Luhrmann’s Film drops from #24 to #28 in its seventh week. It returns to #1 on Top Soundtracks. It’s been #1 for five of its seven weeks.

Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band’s 2011 compilation Ultimate Hits: Rock And Roll Never Forgets jumps from #38 to #30 in its 61st week on the chart. It’s #1 on Top Catalog Albums for the second week.

Bruno Mars’ 2010 debut album, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, rebounds from #94 to #50 in its 140th week. The album tops the 2 million mark in U.S. sales this week. Mars’ current album, Unorthodox Jukebox, is on track to equal that success. The album, which rebounds from #19 to #11 in 28th week, has sold 1,443,000 copies. Jukebox this week tops 500K in digital sales. Doo-Wops has sold 640K digital copies.

Paul McCartney & Wings’ Rockshow is #1 on Top Music Videos for the second week.

Coming Attractions: Wale’s The Gifted is expected to vie for #1 next week. Also due: India.Arie’s Songversation, Skillet’s Rise, Bret Michaels’ Jammin’ With Friends, August Burns Red’s Rescue & Restore, Amon Amarth’s Deceiver Of The Gods and Jane’s Addiction’s Live In NYC.

[areyoureadytojump]

MILLION SELLERS CLUB

Justin Timberlake's 20/20 Experience crosses 2 million scanned.

Bruno Mar's Doo-Wops & Hooligans crosses 2 million scanned.

[chartfreak]

Jun 26, 2013 9:20:01 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

He also said radio was a place he didn't want to be anymore.

Let's hope radio bans him then.

[jgizzle89]

Jun 26, 2013 14:04:16 GMT -5 chartfreak said:

Jun 26, 2013 9:20:01 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

He also said radio was a place he didn't want to be anymore.

Let's hope radio bans him then.

Is there a condescending emoticon I can use as a response here?

Also, Paul needs to stop being such a hater. No one in their right mind believed Kanye was going to sell 500k. I was always predicting around 350k, and that's about what he got. Those absurdly inflated "predictions" seemed baseless from the start. They also had Cole selling well below 200k, which was equally as ridiculous considering the impressive bow from his last album. Not to mention the fact that he has a strong single out at the moment.

[areyoureadytojump]

5,508,000 albums were sold in the USA last week.

2,440,000 were digital albums.

3,068,000 were cds/vinyl albums/cassettes.

More figures here:

www1.billboard.biz/bbbiz/photos/pdf/2013/TFMmw_0627.pdf

Album sales now -5.3% for 2013 (-5.2% last week)

[areyoureadytojump]

Country album sales are only up +1.2% now:

www1.billboard.biz/bbbiz/photos/pdf/2013/BCU_mw_0627.pdf

[cartman2002]

Here's this week's awards for the BB200

7.Hunter Hayes (2x Platnium)
33.Save Rock And Roll-Fall Out Boy (Gold)
125.Indicud-Kid Cudi (gold)
131.The Definite Collection-Stevie Wonder (platinum)
180.Girl On Fire-Alicia Keys (Platnium)
181.Hello My Name Is,,,-Bridgit Mendler (Gold)
194.Zion-Hillsong United (gold)

[Deleted]

Mr. Jump is probably happily coughing like crazy right about now

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/1568561/chart-moves-justin-timberlakes-2020-first-album-to-sell-2-million-in-2013

Chart Moves: Justin Timberlake's '20/20' First Album to Sell 2 Million in 2013

This week on the Billboard 200 albums chart, it was a hip-hop affair in the top three. Kanye West, J. Cole and Mac Miller debuted new albums, respectively at Nos. 1-3 on the list. West's "Yeezus" led the rap parade, selling 327,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Outside the top 10 on the Billboard 200 there were a number of movers and shakers, as usual. Let's take a look at some of them…

-- Justin Timberlake, "The 20/20 Experience" (No. 9): This week, Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience" becomes the first album to sell two million copies in 2013. The set, which slips 3-9 on the Billboard 200 with 32,000 sold (down 8%), sees its cumulative sales rise to 2.02 million in the U.S. It's also the only album to sell 1 million so far in 2013. The year's runner-up bestseller is Bruno Mars' "Unorthodox Jukebox," which has shifted 963,000. (The latter's total sales -- as it was released in late 2012 -- stand at 1.44 million.)

At the same time a year ago, only one album had shifted more than two million as well: Adele's "21." Through the sales week ending June 24, 2012, "21" had shifted 3.63 million in 2012. It of course finished the year as the top selling album, with 4.41 million.

-- OneRepublic, "Native" (No. 16): What a difference NBC's "The Voice" makes! After the band performed on the season finale of the talent series (June 18), the album flies 111-16 with a 366% gain. With 20,000 sold, it's the set's best sales week and chart rank since its debut at No. 4 on April 13 (60,000).

-- Hanson, "Anthem" (No. 22): The trio's new album debuts at No. 22 with 13,000 sold -- less than the arrival of their last effort, 2010's "Shout It Out" (14,000). However, "Anthem" is the group's highest-charting album since 2000. That year, its final studio set for Island Records, "This Time Around," debuted and peaked at No. 19.

-- Michelle Chamuel, "The Voice: The Complete Season 4 Collection" (No. 57): The three finalists from the just-closed season of "The Voice" debut within the top 75 this week -- all with their own same-titled compilation album. Each set features the contestant's respective performances from the competition series. Winner Danielle Bradbery is at No. 19 with the best sales week of any "Voice" finalist -- ever. Her set sold 18,000. Runner-up Chamuel starts with 7,000 at No. 57 and third-placers the Swon Brothers bow with just under 7,000 (No. 65).

-- Pink Floyd, "The Dark Side of the Moon" (No. 91): With 9.53 million sold, and sales of 3,000 to 8,000 per week, the classic is the next in line to hit the magic 10-million SoundScan-era sales threshold -- although it might take approximately two more years. Since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991, 22 albums have shifted 10 million.

-- Phish, "Ventura" (No. 123): The six-CD box set is the 31st chart entry for the band and bows with 3,000 sold. It features two live shows recorded in 1997 and 1998. Eighty-three percent of its sales came from non-traditional means, mostly from Phish's official merchandise web site, Phish Dry Goods.