Billboard 200 - 9/7/2019 - 'Lover' - 867K units/679K sales

[letshavefun3]

Do CDs/vinyls purchased from the singer’s websites (as opposed to amazon) count towards the billboard chart? What about CD sales at merch tables during concerts? Thanks!

[Deleted]

Oh... so Lana Del Rey will not debut at #1 or 2 like with all her albums so far

😕

[HolidayGuy]

letshavefun- all of those things count, as long as they're reported.

[Gary]

They have to have a barcode

CDs that don't will not count - second hand stores may not have them for instance

[HolidayGuy]

Billboard's latest Swift report:

www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/8528382/taylor-swift-lover-sales-in-us-after-three-days

Taylor Swift's 'Lover' Sales Near 575,000 in U.S. After Three Days on Sale
8/26/2019 by Keith Caulfield

Taylor Swift’s Lover continues to do brisk business, as sales of the album approached 575,000 copies sold in the U.S. through Sunday (Aug. 25), according to initial sales reports to Nielsen Music. The album was released on Friday (Aug. 23), so it’s powered through nearly 575,000 in just three days.

Lover already has the biggest sales week for any album since Swift’s own reputation sold 1.216 million copies in its first week and debuted at No. 1 on the Dec. 2, 2017-dated Billboard 200 chart.

It was reported earlier that through Lover’s second day of release, its sales neared 500,000, thus making it 2019’s top-selling album after just 48 hours (breezing past Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soundtrack, with 444,000 copies sold in 2019 through Aug. 22). Further, on Lover’s first day of release (which included robust pre-order sales), it tallied the biggest sales week of 2019 for an album, having sold around 450,000 copies. (It beat the opening frame of Jonas Brothers’ Happiness Begins, which launched with 357,000 copies sold in the week ending June 13.)

For the full tracking week ending Aug. 29, industry sources now suggest Lover could sell — on the low end of forecasts — around 630,000, and, if the album continues to perform strongly, over 650,000. (That's up from a forecast of 550,000 made on Saturday, Aug. 24.)

Lover’s first-week sales are aided by the set’s release in four collectible deluxe editions at Target, as well as dozens of merchandise/album bundles sold through Swift’s official website.

In terms of equivalent album units earned, those in the know project the album may start with over 750,000 units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 29 — up from a forecast of 700,000. Equivalent album units comprise traditional album sales, track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units. Equivalent album units are used to rank the most popular albums of the week, as reflected on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

It’s expected that Lover will bow at No. 1 on the Sept. 7-dated Billboard 200 chart, securing Swift her sixth No. 1 album.

[Gary]

Never seen them do daily sales updates before

[jodakyellow]

Aug 26, 2019 19:26:54 GMT -5 Gary said:

Never seen them do daily sales updates before

Adele’s 25 release week was the first and, until now, last time I saw it

[Gary]

Well I look forward to the day 4 update

[KeepDeanWeird]

HDD referenced the add-ons: ‘Her pre-release singles, meanwhile, could add as much as 300k to her release-to-date total by first week’s end.’

Shouldn’t that total known or close to known since it’s for the period beginning with Me!’s release until last Thursday night? I wonder why Billboard hasn’t mentioned it since it would explain the plausibly of hitting 1MM.

Regardless, I’m completely impressed by her ability to get the public to BUY.

Ironically, purchases will hurt the future chart performance of singles and album since it’s less likely those fans will stream if they own. OC, they could be like me - I’ve stashed away my CDs and uploaded my digital files to a cloud and I stream everything except for the 1100 songs that aren’t available on Spotify.

[Gary]

In First Five Days, Taylor Swift's 'Lover' Has Earned Biggest Week for Any Album Since Her Own 'Reputation' in 2017

8/28/2019 by Keith Caulfield





In its first five days of release, Taylor Swift’s Lover has claimed the largest week for any album in the U.S., in terms of total units earned, since her last release, reputation, in 2017.

According to initial reports to Nielsen Music through Tuesday, Aug. 27, Lover has earned over 750,000 equivalent album units in the U.S., of which more than 625,000 are in album sales. Lover was released on Friday, Aug. 23.

Until Lover, the largest week for any album in 2018 and 2019 — in terms of equivalent album units earned — was tallied by the debut week of Drake’s Scorpion, which earned 732,000 units in the week ending July 5, 2018.

As for Swift’s reputation, it started with 1.238 million units (of which 1.216 million were album sales).

Equivalent album units comprise album sales, track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units. Equivalent album units are used to rank the most popular albums of the week, as reflected on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

Lover already logged (by just its second day of release) the biggest sales week for any album since reputation sold 1.216 million copies in its first week and debuted at No. 1 on the Dec. 2, 2017-dated Billboard 200 chart.

For the full tracking week ending Thursday, Aug. 29, industry forecasters expect Lover to earn around 825,000 to 850,000 equivalent album units, with album sales perhaps 650,000 to 700,000 of that sum.

Lover’s first-week sales are aided by the set’s release in four collectible deluxe editions at Target, as well as dozens of merchandise/album bundles sold through Swift’s official website.

It’s expected that Lover will bow at No. 1 on the Sept. 7-dated Billboard 200 chart, securing Swift her sixth No. 1 album.

[thegreatdivine]

Final/official Billboard numbers today!

[WolfSpear]

I’ll get around to buying it... eventually.

What do you all think of it so far? She lost me a bit with “Reputation”...

[kierz7]

Official: Taylor Swift's 'Lover' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart With 867,000 Units Earned in First Week in U.S.

Of the set’s 867,000 equivalent album units earned, 679,000 were in album sales. Album marks superstar’s sixth No. 1.

Of the set’s 867,000 equivalent album units earned, 679,000 were in album sales. Album marks superstar’s sixth No. 1.

Taylor Swift’s new album, Lover, blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with the biggest week for any album since her last release, reputation, in 2017.

Lover earned 867,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 29, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 679,000 were in album sales. Both figures are the largest registered for any album in a single week since Swift’s reputation debuted with 1.238 million units in its first week, of which 1.216 million were in album sales (in the week ending Nov. 16, 2017).

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Sept. 7-dated chart (where Lover enters at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard's websites on Wednesday, Sept. 4 (one day later than usual, due to the Labor Day holiday in the U.S. on Sept. 2).

www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/8528870/taylor-swift-lover-album-debuts-at-no-1-on-billboard-200-chart

[Choco]

Sept 1, 2019 10:40:28 GMT -5 WolfSpear said:

I’ll get around to buying it... eventually.

What do you all think of it so far? She lost me a bit with “Reputation”...

Much more in line with Red creatively. There's very little of the reputation sound.

[Me. I Am l!nk!nfan815...]

The album is just not impressive. Her weakest material by far, IMO.

[Enigma.]

Why not post the whole article?

[Gary]

Sept 1, 2019 11:18:39 GMT -5 Enigma. said:

Why not post the whole article?

OK



Official: Taylor Swift's 'Lover' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart With 867,000 Units Earned in First Week in U.S.
9/1/2019 by Keith Caulfield


Of the set’s 867,000 equivalent album units earned, 679,000 were in album sales. Album marks superstar’s sixth No. 1.
Taylor Swift’s new album, Lover, blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with the biggest week for any album since her last release, reputation, in 2017.

Lover earned 867,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 29, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 679,000 were in album sales. Both figures are the largest registered for any album in a single week since Swift’s reputation debuted with 1.238 million units in its first week, of which 1.216 million were in album sales (in the week ending Nov. 16, 2017).

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units. Units are comprised of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Sept. 7-dated chart (where Lover enters at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard's websites on Wednesday, Sept. 4 (one day later than usual, due to the Labor Day holiday in the U.S. on Sept. 2).

In total, Lover begins with 867,000 equivalent album units earned, of which 679,000 were in album sales; 13,000 were in TEA units and 175,000 were in SEA units. The latter figure translates to 226 million on-demand audio streams earned for the album’s songs during its release week.

Let’s take a look at some of the highlights behind the numbers of Swift’s big week with Lover:

Biggest Overall Week for an Album Since Swift’s Last Album, reputation: As Lover starts with 867,000 equivalent album units earned, it logs the biggest single week for any album, in terms of units, since Swift’s last album, reputation. It debuted with 1.238 million equivalent album units earned in the week ending Nov. 16, 2017 (and bowed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated Dec. 2 of that year).

Biggest Sales Week for an Album Since reputation: Lover sold 679,000 copies in its first week, which is the largest sales week for any album since reputation entered with 1.216 million sold.

Aiding Lover’s first week: the set’s release in four collectible deluxe CD editions at Target, as well as dozens of merchandise/digital album bundles sold through Swift’s official website. The album also had a standard CD edition that was available widely at retail, along with an equivalent digital album that was available via all digital retailers.

Comparably, the reputation album was supported by two deluxe editions available exclusively at Target, and a standard CD and digital edition. Notably, during reputation’s first week, its digital edition was exclusively sold via the Apple iTunes Store. It became widely available via all digital retailers in its second week. Further, reputation’s sales were also likely goosed by fan participation in the Taylor Swift Tix powered by Ticketmaster Verified Fan program, where the purchase of an album would help secure greater access to tickets for Swift’s then-upcoming reputation stadium tour. (Swift has announced no plans to tour in support of Lover.)

In addition, Lover is Swift’s first album to be available to stream in full across all streaming services in its first week. Reputation was not available to stream in full during its debut week -- just four pre-release tracks were streamable. Reputation eventually premiered on streaming services on Dec. 1, 2017 -- three weeks after the album’s release on Nov. 10. Reputation’s lack of streaming availability may have driven some fans to purchase the album in its first week, instead of waiting to stream it weeks later. Conversely, Lover racked up a sizable streaming debut (more on that in a moment) likely thanks to its wide availability on streaming services.

Only Woman With Six Albums to Sell at Least 500,000 Copies in a Single Week: With Lover’s sales debut of 679,000 copies sold, Swift becomes the first woman to have six different albums each sell at least 500,000 copies in a single week. (The only other act to do so is Eminem.) Swift previously managed the half-million one-week sales feat with the debut weeks of her last five full-length studio albums: reputation (1.216 million, in 2017), 1989 (1.287 million, 2014), Red (1.208 million, 2012), Speak Now (1.047 million, 2010) and Fearless (592,000; 2008). Swift also remains the only act to have four different albums each sell a million copies in a single week.

Swift’s Sixth No. 1 Album: Lover is Swift’s sixth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart. It follows five other Swift sets that also started atop the list: reputation (four nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1, 2017-18); 1989 (11 nonconsecutive, 2014-15); Red (seven nonconsecutive, 2012-13); Speak Now (six nonconsecutive, 2010-11); and Fearless (11 nonconsecutive, 2008-09).

Five No. 1s This Decade: Lover grants Swift her fifth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 this decade (2010-present). In turn, she ties Lady Gaga for the most No. 1s this decade among women. (Drake has the most No. 1s this decade among all acts, with nine.)

Second-Biggest Streaming Week Ever for an Album by a Woman, or Pop Album: With Lover’s robust streaming start of 175,000 SEA units, which equates to 226 million on-demand audio streams for its songs during the tracking week, the album notches the second-biggest streaming week ever for an album by a woman, the second-largest for a pop album, and the second-biggest of any album in 2019. In all three metrics, Lover was only beat by the debut week of Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next, which entered with 228,000 SEA units (equaling 307 million on-demand audio streams).

The rest of the new top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart dated Sept. 7, where Lover opens at No. 1, is scheduled to be announced later today (Sept. 1).

[lights]

Sept 1, 2019 11:15:36 GMT -5 Me. I Am l!nk!nfan815... said:

The album is just not impressive. Her weakest material by far, IMO.

Mariah stans hahaha

[Mayman]

Sept 1, 2019 11:33:54 GMT -5 lights said:

Sept 1, 2019 11:15:36 GMT -5 Me. I Am l!nk!nfan815... said:

The album is just not impressive. Her weakest material by far, IMO.

Mariah stans hahaha

Mariah DID give us one of the best albums of 2018.

[lights]

Sept 1, 2019 12:06:04 GMT -5 Mayman said:

Sept 1, 2019 11:33:54 GMT -5 lights said:

Mariah stans hahaha

Mariah DID give us one of the best albums of 2018.

Didn't know she even had an album out.

[Deleted]

I'm pretty impressed with her numbers. Her singles are doing soso, but she is still a monster album seller. Or what is the reason that her singles doesn't match the popularity of her albums. Is somebody else pulling the strings here?

[moonlite]

Sept 1, 2019 12:13:38 GMT -5 @sigur said:

I'm pretty impressed with her numbers. Her singles are doing soso, but she is still a monster album seller. Or what is the reason that her singles doesn't match the popularity of her albums. Is somebody else pulling the strings here?

But her album WILL most likely match the popularity of her singles. Lover's first week were heavily fueled by her fanbase and so were the singles seeing how they both debuted at #2 with extremely high numbers. Then they fell heavily and stayed around more "regular" numbers. Her album will probably perform the same way, seeing thats how Rep performed.

[brady47]

Sept 1, 2019 10:40:28 GMT -5 WolfSpear said:

I’ll get around to buying it... eventually.

What do you all think of it so far? She lost me a bit with “Reputation”...

I actually like it, I have to do another listen through to get my thoughts down. However, I think "Lover" is legit the best single she's released period. She wrote the song BY HERSELF, has a co-production credit as well (which she doesn't have for a lot of her songs). The song has gotten critical acclaim for her songwriting and production, and I don't remember her getting this much acclaim for a single since Wildest Dreams.

I feel like this is her "Thinking Out Loud". She already has 2 Album of the Year Grammy Awards, but she hasn't received a Song/Record of the Year Grammy yet, and I think this album is going to fill that void.

[brady47]

Sept 1, 2019 10:40:28 GMT -5 WolfSpear said:

I’ll get around to buying it... eventually.

What do you all think of it so far? She lost me a bit with “Reputation”...

Reputation was her "Rated R" and Lover will be her "Loud"

[wavey.]

Still impressive.

[anafan]

Congrats to her.

[forg]

Over 500K single sales week in 2019 is a big win

1M is just not realistic anymore in this era. Not sure even if Adele can still do it as well.

[Gary]

Taylor Swift's 'Lover' Accounted for 27% of All U.S. Album Sales in Its First Week
9/2/2019 by Keith Caulfield

Taylor Swift’s new album, Lover, was so big in its first week in the U.S., not only did it log the biggest week for any album -- in terms of either equivalent album units earned or albums sold -- since her last release, reputation, in 2017, but Lover also accounted for 27% of all album sales in the country.

According to Nielsen Music, Lover sold 679,000 copies in the week ending Aug. 29. That amounts to 27% of the total volume of all albums sold in the U.S. that week: 2.487 million (across all formats of albums: CDs, digital albums, cassettes, vinyl LPs, etc.). Or, think of it another way: a little more than one in four albums sold in the U.S. in the week ending Aug. 29 were Lover.

Having one album’s sales account for a large portion of the industry’s overall sales isn’t a new concept. Swift’s last album, reputation, held 29% of the market in its first week (1.216 million of 4.149 million), while the first week of Adele’s 25 carved out a huge 41% of the market (3.38 million of 8.2 million).

Further, thanks to Lover’s big sales, the album helped the industry yield the second-largest overall album sales week in 2019. Only the week ending April 18 tallied more sales, with 2.772 million. That week, there were 34 albums that sold at least 5,000, as compared to just 15 in the week ending Aug. 29. (Also helping in the week ending April 18: the debut of BTS’ Map of the Soul: Persona, which was the top-selling album that week with 196,000 sold.)

Lover’s first-week sales were so large, as compared to what most albums have sold in 2019, it became the biggest-selling album of 2019 after only one week on sale. The No. 2 biggest-seller of the year is Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soundtrack, with 447,000 sold in 2019 through Aug. 29.

That said, Lover’s large sales debut is an anomaly, as overall album sales continue to erode in the U.S., as more fans opt to consume music via streaming services. So far in 2019, through Aug. 29, album sales are down 19% (70 million sold year-to-date, as compared to 86.5 million sold year-to-date in 2018). In total for the 2018 year, album sales fell 17.7% to 141 million sold.

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Sept 1, 2019 19:57:10 GMT -5 forg said:

Over 500K single sales week in 2019 is a big win

1M is just not realistic anymore in this era. Not sure even if Adele can still do it as well.

She sold 4,5 million copies with "25" in 14 days...8 million WW

I'm calling 2-2.3 mil

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

BTW, they conveniently deleted this from the article: "The rest of the new top 10 of the Billboard 200 chart dated Sept. 7, where Lover opens at No. 1, is scheduled to be announced later today (Sept. 1)."