Billboard 200 3/7: BTS #1: 422k. YoungBoy 91k. Ozzy 77k.

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/8551818/bts-map-of-the-soul-7-number-1-debut-projected-billboard-200

BTS' 'Map of the Soul: 7' Bound for Big No. 1 Debut on Billboard 200 Albums Chart
2/24/2020 by Keith Caulfield

BTS is on course for its fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as industry forecasters expect the pop group’s latest release, Map of the Soul: 7, to enter atop next week’s tally. The set, which was released Feb. 21 via Big Hit Entertainment, could earn 300,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 27, with most of that sum driven by album sales.

The seven-member South Korean act topped the Billboard 200 with its last three charting albums: Map of the Soul: Persona (in April 2019), Love Yourself: Answer (September 2018) and Love Yourself: Tear (June 2018).

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The top 10 of the March 7-dated Billboard 200 chart (where Map of the Soul: 7 is likely to debut at No. 1) is scheduled to be revealed on Billboard’s website on Sunday, March 1.

Remarkably, Map of the Soul: 7 is selling strongly without the aid of a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer, nor any merchandise/album bundles, as has become the norm for many major releases.

Map of the Soul: 7 is trending well in sales thanks in large part to the availability of four elaborate collectible CD packages -- the same release strategy employed by BTS with its three No. 1 albums, as well as many other South Korean pop acts.

Each of the four CD variants of Map of the Soul: 7 has the same base contents (the CD album, a photo book, lyric book, a mini note book, a postcard, a sticker, coloring paper and a poster), though each has slight differences depending on which of the four CD packages the customer purchases. Further enhancing the collectability of the packages: each contains one of 32 randomized photo cards.

Other albums aiming for top 10 debuts on next week’s Billboard 200 chart include YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s Still Flexin, Still Steppin and Ozzy Osbourne’s Ordinary Man.

[forg]

While there's no typical tour/merch bundle, having 4 CD variants definitely helped boost the sales as hardcore fans will buy them all.

Further enhancing the collectability of the packages: each contains one of 32 randomized photo cards.

So this means a hardcore fan can buy 32 CDs to collect all 32 photo cards and since it's randomized there's a chance they can buy more but they can probably re-sell or trade with fellow fans online.

[Deleted]

BLACKPINK should do these numbers

[Mathgeek]

Nobody is buying 32 albums. Majority of fans buy 1 album. BTS is selling out US stadiums so this idea that fewer fans are hoarding albums to boost sales is crazy.

That’s not to say that some fans aren’t buying 4 or more but it’s definitely not the majority.

[Gary]

Not to say anyone here is doing it or that it still happens here but I have seen people here in past years admit to buying several copies of the same album. That practice, less common with streaming likely but it is not unheard of

[Mathgeek]

Feb 24, 2020 19:36:20 GMT -5 Gary said:

Not to say anyone here is doing it or that it still happens here but I have seen people here in past years admit to buying several copies of the same album. That practice, less common with streaming likely but it is not unheard of

My daughter bought 8 copies of Taylor Swift’s album. It definitely happens.

[forg]

KPop is popular here in my country and there are fans who are willing to SPEND a lot on expensive KPop merchandise which they have no means but to buy abroad so there's added international shipping cost and customs tax on top of the pricey items. Some are entrepreneurial and resell their items with a marked-up price of course.

I've learned not to underestimate fan devotion. Buying 32 copies is very extreme I know and definitely not the majority but I won't be surprised if quite a few or an organized fan group does it especially buying stuff is so easy with credit cards.

[Naos]

If people don't think people will buy multiple copies of music for the other products included, just look at AKB48. A couple years ago, they released a single that included voting tickets. It sold over 2 million in a day, but soon after, there were a ton of those copies in the trash. It's not as extreme as that, I'm sure, but it's clear it does happen.

[Deleted]

BTS has been doing the CD variants and collectible photo card thing for several albums/EPs now and there are definitely stans out there who will buy multiple copies. However, I don't sense that most US fans are nearly as fervent about this as the int'l fans are.

[Gary]

BTS Achieves Fourth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With ‘Map of the Soul: 7’

3/1/2020 by Keith Caulfield



Plus: YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Ozzy Osbourne debut in the top 10.

BTS lands its fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with the biggest week of 2020 for any release.

Map of the Soul: 7 storms in atop the tally with 422,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Feb. 27, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. Of that sum, 347,000 are in album sales. It’s the fourth No. 1 in less than two years for the seven-member South Korean pop group.

BTS’ big bow is accompanied by two more debuts in the top 10, from YoungBoy Never Broke Again and Ozzy Osbourne.

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 comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new March 7-dated chart, where Map of the Soul: 7 enters at No. 1, will be posted in full on Billboard's website on March 3.


Map of the Soul: 7 was released on Feb. 21 via BigHit Entertainment. Its first-week total of 422,000 equivalent album units comprises 347,000 in album sales, 48,000 in SEA units and 26,000 in TEA units. The album’s SEA sum equates to 74.79 million on-demand streams of the set’s 20 tracks in its first week.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the achievements BTS earns with the act’s latest No. 1 debut:

Biggest Week of 2020: With a whopping 422,000 equivalent album units earned, Map of the Soul: 7 lands the largest week for any album in 2020. The last set to tally a bigger week was Harry Styles’ Fine Line, which arrived at No. 1 with 478,000 on the Dec. 28, 2019-dated list.

Biggest Week for a Group in Four Years: Map of the Soul: 7 scores the largest week for an album by a group, in units, since the Dec. 5, 2015-dated chart, when One Direction’s Made in the A.M. bowed at No. 2 with 459,000 units.


BTS Continues to Grow: Map of the Soul: 7's overall first-week units of 422,000 and its first-week sales of 347,000 are high-water marks for the group. Each of BTS' last four albums -- all No. 1s -- have started with successively larger first-week units and sales. The act's last album, Map of the Soul: Persona began with 230,000 units (with 196,000 in sales) on the April 27, 2019-dated chart. Before that, Love Yourself: Answer started with 185,000 units (141,000 in sales) on Sept. 8, 2018, and Love Yourself: Tear bowed with 131,000 units (100,000 in sales) on June 2, 2018.

Biggest Sales Week for an Album in 2020: Map of the Soul: 7 sold 347,000 copies -- the biggest sales week for any album in 2020, and the best sales frame for a set since Harry Styles’ Fine Line sold 393,000 copies in its first week (Dec. 28, 2019-dated chart).

Map of the Soul: 7 sold well without the aid of a concert ticket/album sale redemption offer, nor any merchandise/album bundles, as has become the norm for many major releases (including Fine Line).

That said, Map of the Soul: 7 sold strongly thanks in large part to the availability of four elaborate collectible CD packages -- the same release strategy employed by BTS with its three No. 1 albums, as well as many other South Korean pop acts. Of Map of the Soul: 7’s first-week sales of 347,000, sales of its CD variants comprised 95% (330,000), while its digital album totaled just 5% (17,000).

Each of the four CD variants of Map of the Soul: 7 has the same base contents (the CD album, a photo book, lyric book, a mini notebook, a postcard, a sticker, coloring paper and a poster), though each has slight differences depending on which of the four CD packages the customer purchases. Further enhancing the collectability of the packages: each contains one of 32 randomized photo cards.

Fourth No. 1 Album: Before Map of the Soul: 7, BTS led the Billboard 200 with its last three charting albums: Map of the Soul: Persona (2019), Love Yourself: Answer (Sept. 2018) and Love Yourself: Tear (June 2018). The group has now racked up four albums in a little more than one year and nine months’ time, as its first leader, Love Yourself: Tear, bowed at No. 1 on the list dated June 2, 2018.

The last act to earn four No. 1 albums faster was Future, who logged his fourth No. 1 (a self-titled album, on March 11, 2017) just one year and seven months after his first (DS2, Aug. 8, 2015). He claimed his fifth No. 1 one week after his fourth No. 1, when HNDRXX bowed atop the list dated March 18, 2017.

The last group to generate four No. 1s faster than BTS was The Beatles, who took just one year and five months between Yesterday and Today (July 30, 1966) and Magical Mystery Tour (Jan. 6, 1968).

And finally, the last group to log its first four No. 1s faster than BTS was The Monkees, who took just one year and 21 days between the quartet’s self-titled debut album (with its first week at No. 1 on Nov. 12, 1966) and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones, Ltd. (Dec. 2, 1967).

10th Mostly Non-English Album at No. 1: Map of the Soul: 7 is the 10th album performed mostly in a language other than English to reach No. 1. The previous mostly non-English No. 1s were BTS’ three earlier leaders, SuperM’s The First Mini Album EP (2019), Andrea Bocelli’s Si (2018), Il Divo’s Ancora (2006), Josh Groban’s Closer (2004), Selena’s Dreaming Of You (1995) and The Singing Nun’s self-titled album (1963).

Back on the new Billboard 200, rapper YoungBoy Never Broke Again bows at No. 2 with Still Flexin, Still Steppin, which steps in with 91,000 equivalent album units. Most of that sum, 87,000, was in SEA units (equaling 137.3 million on-demand streams for the set’s songs) making it the most streamed album of the week. The artist has racked up 13 chart entries in just over two-and-a-half years. His previous album, AI YoungBoy 2, became his first No. 1, opening atop the chart dated Oct. 26, 2019.

Ozzy Osbourne’s Ordinary Man debuts at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, granting the rock legend his eighth top 10 album, and matches his highest rank ever on the list. The set starts with 77,000 equivalent album units earned, with 65,000 of that sum in album sales.


Osbourne previously topped out on the Billboard 200 at No. 3 in 2007 with Black Rain. His last studio album, 2010’s Scream, debuted and peaked at No. 4.

Justin Bieber’s Changes falls from No. 1 to No. 4 in its second week, earning 66,000 equivalent album units (down 71%). Roddy Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial slips 4-5 with 65,000 units (down 8%), A Boogie Wit da Hoodie’s Artist 2.0 descends 2-6 with 57,000 units (down 49%) and Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding shifts 6-7 with 50,000 units (up 1%).

The late Pop Smoke’s Meet the Woo, V.2 is a non-mover at No. 8 with 49,000 equivalent album units earned -- up 23% following the first full week of tracking impact after his death on Feb. 19. Trippie Redd’s former No. 1 A Love Letter to You 4 vaults 36-9 with 43,000 units (up 148%) after it was reissued with bonus tracks. Rounding out the new top 10 is Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, falling 7-10 with 38,000 units (down 14%).

[areyoureadytojump]

Link: www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9326042/bts-fourth-no-1-album-map-of-the-soul-7

[Gary]

1. BTS - 422K --- 347K in sales
2. Young Boy Never Broke Again 91K, 4K sales
3. Ozzy 77K, 65K in sales
4. Justin Bieber 66K
5. Roddy Ricch 65K
6. A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie 57K
7. Post Malone 50K
8. Pop Smoke 49K
9. Trippie Redd 43K (up from #36 - reissued with bonus tracks)
10. Billie Eilish 38K

[Gary]

Week 47 in the top 10 for Billie Eilish - the 34th album since 1963 to reach that mark

[fearlessarrow]

Wow 422k units!? That's crazy - I'm amazed at how BTS keeps outdoing themselves every album/EP, who knows where the ceiling could be.

[Gary]

At least in this country they still seem to be very front-loaded

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

More than 300k CDs sold for BTS. I wonder how many of those are actually will get played.

[Mathgeek]

I’m sure that they are as front loaded as those who do it with bundle deals and those CDs won’t get played no more than everyone else’s digital downloads. Doesn’t everyone know to stream instead of playing what you just bought?

[moonlite]

^The problem is that people don't stream them either, at least after the first week

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

^That's why the album will be, as one would expect, frontloaded.

[Choco]

Imagine buying 32 copies of an album for a photo.

I admire the dedication but sometimes it can't help but feel like the labels are truly abusing their young stans.

[Mathgeek]

No one is buying 32 albums. That’s more than $800. Majority of fans bought 1, at most 4 just to have all 4 versions, but 32? No.

Also, I’ve been to a BTS concert. Believe me, their fans aren’t majority young kids. They are diverse in age and background and while this album may be front loaded, it’s still a win for a foreign act that can’t get radio for that very reason without the song being stripped of its language.

On to next week!

[Naos]

Feb 25, 2020 4:34:46 GMT -5 @antigonerising said:

BTS has been doing the CD variants and collectible photo card thing for several albums/EPs now and there are definitely stans out there who will buy multiple copies. However, I don't sense that most US fans are nearly as fervent about this as the int'l fans are.

It's a very common thing for Japan and South Korea, not so much with the US and the west in general. 

[areyoureadytojump]

Now Billboard has removed the Search feature from this page:

www.billboard.com/business

I can't look up Top Album sales, etc...

[Naos]

Debuts outside Top 10:
32. Grimes - Miss Anthropocene
58. Royce Da 5'9'' - The Allegory
60. The Amity Affliction - Everyone Loves You... Once You Leave Them
84. King Krule - Man Alive!
92. Pat Metheny - From This Place
109. Young Nudy - Anyways...
137. Calboy - Long Live The Kings
159. Ashe - Moral of the Story: Chapter 1
170. Surfaces - Where The Light Is

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

Two albums reached notable milestones in the Billboard 200 this week: 400 weeks charted for Back in Black, becoming the 15th album to do so, and, 200 for Views.

[areyoureadytojump]

roughstock.com/news/2020/03/44152-top-10-country-albums-in-pure-sales-march-2-2020

Top 10 Country Albums In Pure Sales: March 2, 2020
Posted By Matt Bjorke on Tuesday March 03, 2020 at 12:49PM PST

There's no major new action on this chart but as always, we have quite a few notables at the bottom of the chart which haven't before or may not ever appear on this chart again.

There were no major new releases this past week or shows where albums would rise or fall because of that so the chart is largely the same. This chart is interesting to juxtapose versus the Most-Consumed Albums chart as you can see that country's doing OK vs all genres in the Top 200 Albums chart and that streaming has taken over country music like it has other genres and slowly, but surely, is becoming the dominant factor on the charts. Below you'll find this week's best-selling traditional sales (or pure sales) chart.

Place Artist Album Week Total Scans

1 Luke Combs What You See Is What You Get 4,000 228,200
2 Blake Shelton Fully Loaded: God's Country 3,500 153,100
3 Chris Stapleton Traveller 1,900 2,592,500
4 Jason Aldean 9 1,700 140,800
5 Sturgill Simpson Sound & Fury 1,500 72,100
6 Little Big Town Nightfall 1,400 40,300
7 Miranda Lambert Wildcard 1,400 108,900
8 Luke Combs This One's For You (Too) 1,300 572,200
9 Carly Pearce Carly Pearce 1,200 6,000
10 Tyler Childers Country Squire 1,000 64,400
11 Brantley Gilbert Fire & Brimstone 1,000 70,000
12 Lady Antebellum Ocean 1,000 61,400
13 Tanya Tucker While I'm Livin' 1,000 43,500
14 Old Dominion Old Dominion 900 58,500
15 Morgan Wallen If I Know Me 800 50,000

-- Various Artists Country Music: Film by Ken Burns 700 38,400
-- Dustin Lynch Tullahoma 700 12,700
-- Kane Brown Experiment 700 241,600
-- Josh Turner I Serve A Savior 700 146,200
-- Ronnie Dunn Re-Dunn 600 9,800
-- The Highwomen The Highwomen 600 85,600
-- Jon Pardi Heartache Medication 600 52,000
-- Maren Morris GIRL 500 90,500
-- Restless Road Restless Road EP 500 500
-- Thomas Rhett Center Point Road 500 101,600
-- Midland Let it roll 500 40,800
-- Toby Keith Greatest Hits: Show Dog Years 500 23,200
-- Zac Brown Band The Owl 400 136,600
-- Hootie & The Blowfish Imperfect Circle 400 42,300
-- Billy Strings Home 400 13,000
-- Eric Church Desperate Man 400 244,800
-- The Steeldrivers Bad For You 400 40,300
-- Riley Green Different Round Here 400 244,400
-- Carrie Underwood Cry Pretty 400 533,200
-- Cody Johnson Ain't Nothin' To It 400 63,200
-- The Cadillac Three Country Fuzz 300 5,900
-- Colter Wall Songs Of The Plains 300 18,800
-- Vince Gill Okie 300 32,200
-- Tracy Lawrence Made In America 300 6,200
-- Justin Moore Late Nights & Longnecks 300 36,200
-- George Strait Honky Tonk Time Machine 300 142,900
-- THE LACS Kickin' Up Mud: The Hits 300 1,300
-- Garth Brooks Legacy (Vinyl LP Bundle) 200 46,800
-- Sheryl Crow Threads 200 49,000
-- Various Artists Garth Brooks Hits Vol 2 200 1,500
-- Lukas Nelson & POTR Turn Off The News (Build Garden) 200 19,900
-- Chase Rice The Album, Pt. 1 200 5,600
-- Reba Stronger Than The Truth 100 57,400
-- Paul Cauthen Room 41 100 5,700
-- Home Free Dive Bar Saints 100 19,900
-- Bryan Lanning Illegal 100 400
-- Hayes Carll What It Is 100 11,800
-- Ray Scott Nowhere Near Done 100 100
-- Rodney Crowell Texas 100 9,400