Billboard 200: 08/08 #1 Taylor Swift 846k

[iHype.]

Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’ Off to Fast Start, Over Half-Million Units Earned in U.S. in First Three Days
www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9425264/taylor-swift-folklore-half-million-units-first-three-days

Taylor Swift’s new album Folklore has earned more than 500,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in its first three days of release, according to initial reports to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. The set was released with little advance notice on Friday, July 24.

Per those reports, Folklore has, in just its first three days, already surpassed the biggest week of 2020 for any album, captured earlier this month by the arrival of Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die, which launched with 497,000 units in the week ending July 16. The last album to garner at least 500,000 units in a week was Swift’s previous LP, Lover, which bowed at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated Sept. 7, 2019, with 867,000 units earned in the week ending Aug. 29, 2019.

Of Folklore’s more than 500,000 units tallied in its first three days, album sales power more than 400,000, while the bulk of the remainder is in SEA units.

Folklore’s 16 songs garnered 126 million on-demand streams in its first two days of release in the U.S. No album outside of the R&B/hip-hop or Latin genres has generated that many streams in a week in 2020. (The biggest streaming week for any album in 2020 was earned by Legends Never Die’s debut frame, with 422.63 million.)

Folklore is currently only available to purchase via Swift’s official webstore or via digital retailers such as the iTunes Store. No information has been announced regarding a wider release on any physical format (CD, vinyl, etc.) to retailers outside of Swift’s webstore.

Swift’s webstore is selling over a dozen physical/digital album bundles (with a CD, vinyl LP or cassette, plus the digital album). All of the physical/digital bundles deliver the digital version of the album upon purchase to the customer, while the physical version will ship to the customer later. Sales of such bundles – where two formats of the same album are bundled together – are counted as one sale, with the album configuration sold determined by the first version of the album that is fulfilled to the customer.

Swift’s store additionally has over a dozen merchandise/digital album bundles currently available to purchase.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

That's huge any way you see it.

[NeRD]

Unbelievable.

[Caviar]

Queen of Sales

[Gary]

Taylor Swift Achieves Seventh No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart & Biggest Week of 2020 With 'Folklore'
8/2/2020 by Keith Caulfield



Plus: Logic and The Kid LAROI debut in top 10.
Taylor Swift’s Folklore flies in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, capturing the biggest week for any album since Swift’s last release, 2019’s Lover.

Folkore was released with little advance notice on July 24 and earns Swift her seventh No. 1 album.

Folklore starts with 846,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending July 30, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. That marks the largest week registered for any album since Swift’s own Lover, which debuted at No. 1 on the Sept. 7, 2019-dated chart with 867,000 units.

Further, in the last four years, the three biggest weeks for any album have been racked up by Swift. Dating back to July of 2016, the three largest frames for any album are: Swift’s Reputation (1.24 million units, Dec. 2, 2017-dated chart), Lover (867,000) and Folklore (846,000).

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). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Aug. 8-dated chart (where Folklore bows at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard's website on Aug. 4.

Folklore’s debut of 846,000 equivalent album units is led by 615,000 in album sales, 218,000 in SEA units (equating to 289.85 million on-demand streams of the tracks on the album), and 13,000 in TEA units.

Seventh No. 1 Album: Folklore marks Swift’s seventh No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, tying her with Janet Jackson for the third-most leaders among women in the history of the chart. Ahead of them on the leading ladies list are Barbra Streisand, with 11 No. 1s, and Madonna, with nine. Among all acts, The Beatles have the most No. 1 albums, with 19.

Before Folklore, Swift topped the chart with Lover (No. 1 for one week, Sept. 7, 2019-dated chart), Reputation (No. 1 for four weeks, 2017-18), 1989 (No. 1 for 11 weeks, 2014-15), Red (No. 1 for seven weeks, 2012-13), Speak Now (No. 1 for six weeks, 2010-11) and Fearless (No. 1 for 11 weeks, 2008-09).

Most No. 1 Debuts Among Women: All seven of Swift’s No. 1 albums have debuted at No. 1 -- a record among female artists. Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, Madonna and Britney Spears are tied with the second-most debuts at No. 1 among women, with six each. (Beyoncé, Gaga and Spears each have a total of six No. 1 albums -- and all of them also debuted at No. 1. Meanwhile, six of Madonna's nine total No. 1s debuted atop the list.)

Among all acts, Jay-Z has the most debuts at No. 1, with 14. All 14 of his No. 1 albums have debuted at No. 1.

2020’s Biggest Week for an Album, and Biggest for Any Album Since Swift’s Last Release, Lover: Folklore’s start of 846,000 equivalent album units marks the largest week for 2020 for any album. It blows past the previous high, which was registered just last month by the opening stanza of Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die (497,000 units in the tracking week ending July 16; as reflected on the chart dated July 25).

In addition, Folklore nabs the biggest week for any album since Swift’s last release, Lover, less than a year ago. It launched atop the list dated Sept. 7, 2019, with 867,000 units earned in the week ending Aug. 29, 2019.

Lover was released on Aug. 23, 2019. Unlike the surprise-released Folklore, Lover was preceded by months of traditional promotion, which began with the release of the set’s first single, “Me!,” featuring Brendon Urie, on April 26, 2019.

Also, while Lover was available widely to purchase at all retailers in its first week, including Target, which carried four deluxe CD editions of the set, Folklore had a limited availability at retail in its first week. Folklore was only sold via Swift’s official webstore or via digital retailers. Folklore will be released on CD widely to all retailers on Aug. 7.

Swift Has the Three Biggest Weeks for Any Album in the Last Four Years: In the last four years, the three biggest weeks for any album have been racked up by Swift. Dating back to July of 2016, the three largest frames for any album were tallied by the debut weeks of Swift’s Reputation (1.24 million units, Dec. 2, 2017-dated chart), Lover (867,000) and Folklore (846,000).

The last time anyone not named Taylor Swift had a bigger week than Folklore was Drake, who saw his Views album launch with 1.04 million units at No. 1 on the May 21, 2016-dated chart.

Biggest Sales Week for an Album Since Lover: Folklore sold 615,000 copies in its first week, marking the largest sales frame for any album since Swift’s Lover sold 679,000 copies in its debut week (Sept. 7, 2019-dated chart).

As noted above, in Folklore’s first week of release, the album was only available to purchase through Swift’s website and digital retailers.

During the album’s first week, Swift’s webstore sold over a dozen physical/digital album bundles (with a CD, vinyl LP or cassette, plus the digital album). All of the physical/digital bundles delivered the digital version of the album upon purchase to the customer, while the physical version will ship to the customer later. Sales of such bundles -- where two formats of the same album are bundled together -- are counted as one sale, with the album configuration sold determined by the first version of the album that is fulfilled to the customer.

Swift’s store additionally sold an array of merchandise/digital album bundles.

‘Folklore’ Is Already 2020’s Top Selling Album: With 615,000 copies sold of Folklore in its first week, the album has already become 2020’s top selling album. It surpasses the previous top-seller, BTS’ Map of the Soul: 7, which has sold 574,000 since its release on Feb. 21.

First Act to Have Seven Different Albums Sell at Least 500,000 in a Single Week: As Folklore sold 615,000 copies in its first week, Swift becomes the first act to have seven different albums each sell at least 500,000 copies in a single week, since Nielsen Music/MRC Data began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. Swift previously achieved half-million sales frames with the debut weeks of her last six full-length studio albums: Lover (679,000, in 2019), 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 was previously tied with Eminem, who has seen six of his albums each sell at least 500,000 copies in a week.

Largest Streaming Week of 2020 for an Album by a Woman: Folklore garnered 218,000 SEA units in its first week, which equals 289.85 million on-demand streams of its songs in its first week. That’s the biggest streaming week of 2020 for any album by a woman, and the biggest by a non-rap album this year. The only albums to generate bigger streaming frames in 2020 are two rap titles: Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die, with 422.63 million in its opening week, and Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake, with 400.42 million and 348.72 million in its first and second weeks, respectively.

Folklore’s 289.85 million streams also mark the second-biggest streaming week ever for an album by a woman, behind only the debut frame of Ariana Grande’s Thank U, Next (307.07 million; chart dated Feb. 23, 2019).

At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Logic’s No Pressure launches with 221,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 172,000 are in album sales (supported by an array of merchandise/album bundles), 48,000 are in SEA units (equaling 65.16 million on-demand streams of the album’s songs) and 1,000 are in TEA units.

No Pressure -- which Logic describes as his "farewell" effort as he announced his "retirement" -- racks up his biggest week for an album since Everybody opened at No. 1 on the May 27, 2017-dated chart with 248,000 units.

No Pressure is Logic’s seventh top 10 effort, stretching back to his first chart entry, Under Pressure, which debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the Nov. 8, 2014-dated chart.

Juice WRLD’s Legends Never Die falls from No. 1 to No. 3 in its third week, after two frames on top, with 107,000 equivalent album units (down 34 percent), while Pop Smoke’s former No. 1 Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon dips 2-4 with nearly 107,000 units (down 23 percent).

The original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton: An American Musical slips 4-5 with 71,000 equivalent album units (down 9 percent). The album peaked at No. 2 on the July 18 chart after Disney+ premiered the filmed version of the Broadway show on July 3. Hamilton has now spent 27 nonconsecutive weeks in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 -- the most of any cast recording since Hair hung on for 28 weeks in 1969.

Gunna’s Wunna runs 21-6 on the new Billboard 200 with a 205 percent gain in equivalent album units earned (rising to 67,000) after the former No. 1 album was reissued on July 24 with eight additional tracks. Lil Baby’s previous chart-topper, My Turn, falls 5-7 with 53,000 equivalent album units earned (down 6 percent).

The Kid LAROI makes his Billboard 200 debut with F*ck Love at No. 8, which launches with 40,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, 33,000 are in SEA units (equaling 49.39 million on-demand streams of the albums songs), 7,000 are in album sales (aided by dozens of merchandise/album bundles) and a negligible sum from TEA units.

F*ck Love is the 16-year-old rapper’s (real name: Charlton Howard) first full-length mixtape. The set includes a guest turn from LAROI’s mentor, the late Juice WRLD.

Rounding out the new top 10 on the Billboard 200 are a pair of former No. 1s, as Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding shifts 7-9 with 33,000 equivalent album units (down 1 percent) and Harry Styles’ Fine Line dips 9-10 with 31,000 units (up 7 percent).

[m450n]

insane

[Gary]

1. Taylor Swift --- 846,000---- 615K sales, 218K SEA, 13K TEA
2. Logic --- 221,000 --- 172K Sales (bundles), 48K SEA, 1K TEA
3. Juice WRLD 107,000
4. Pop Smoke 107,000
5. Hamilton - 71,000
6. Gunna - 67,000 (deluxe reissue)
7. Lil Baby 53,000
8. Kid Laroi 40,000 --- 33K SEA, 7K sales
9. Post Malone 33,000
10. Harry Styles 31,000

[Gary]

#1 albums - Female
1. Barbra Streisand 11
2. Madonna 9
3. Taylor Swift and Janet Jackson 7

[Spidey]

Very impressive first week for Taylor. Wouldn't have thought that she would nearly match Lover.

[areyoureadytojump]

Link: www.billboard.com/articles/business/chart-beat/9428290/taylor-swift-folklore-billboard-200-number-1

[Gary]

Most weeks at #1 on the album chart overall

1. Beatles - 132
2. Elvis Presley - 67
3. Michael Jackson - 56*
4. Garth Brooks - 52
5. Kinston Trio - 46
6. Taylor Swift - 41

*Includes 'Number Ones' - 6 weeks as the best seller but did not chart on BB200 at that time

[Gary]

Weeks in the top 10

Post Malone - 45
Hamilton - 27
Lil Baby - 22

[onebuffalo]

Damn good numbers for a surprise release.

[Glove Slap]

Massive. I had her doing just below 800k at most. She continues to impress with her pull this far into her career.

[KeepDeanWeird]

Taylor pulls these numbers with a bunch of "No's":
1) hit single
2) pre-release sales
3) Target
4) warning
5) tv appearances
6) repeat of her proven hit formats (pop or country)

7) worries. LOL

[HolidayGuy]

Law of diminishing returns- a phrase practically foreign to Ms. Taylor Alison Swift .

[Push The Button]

5+ #1 albums among female artists.

Barbra Streisand: 11

People (1964)
The Way We Were (1974)
A Star is Born (1978)
Barbra Streisand’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 (1978)
Guilty (1980)
The Broadway Album (1985)
Back to Broadway (1993)
Higher Ground (1997)
Love is the Answer (2009)
Partners (2014)
Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway (2016)

Madonna: 9

Like a Virgin (1985)
True Blue (1986)
Like a Prayer (1989)
Music (2000)
American Life (2003)
Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005)
Hard Candy (2008)
MDNA (2012)
Madame X (2019)

Taylor Swift: 7

Fearless (2008)
Speak Now (2010)
Red (2012)
1989 (2014)
Reputation (2017)
Lover (2019)
folklore (2020)

Janet Jackson: 7

Control (1985)
Rhythm Nation 1814 (1989)
janet (1993)
The Velvet Rope (1997)
All For You (2001)
Discipline (2008)
Unbreakable (2015)

Lady Gaga: 6

Born This Way (2011)
ARTPOP (2013)
Cheek to Cheek (2014)
Joanne (2016)
A Star is Born (2018)
Chromatica (2020)

Beyoncé: 6

Dangerously in Love (2003)
B’Day (2006)
I Am...Sasha Fierce (2008)
4 (2011)
Beyoncé (2013)
Lemonade (2016)

Britney Spears: 6

...Baby One More Time (1999)
Oops! I Did It Again (2000)
Britney (2001)
In The Zone (2003)
Circus (2008)
Femme Fatale (2011)

Mariah Carey: 6

Mariah Carey (1991)
Music Box (1993)
Daydream (1995)
Butterfly (1997)
The Emancipation of Mimi (2005)
e=mc2 (2008)

Celine Dion: 5

Falling Into You (1996)
Let’s Talk About Love (1998)
All The Way...A Decade of Song (1999)
A New Day Has Come (2002)
Courage (2019)

Miley Cyrus: 5

Hannah Montana (2006)
Hannah Montana 2 / Meet Miley Cyrus (2007)
Breakout (2008)
Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009)
Bangerz (2013)

Alicia Keys: 5

Songs in A Minor (2001)
The Diary of Alicia Keys (2003)
Unplugged (2005)
As I Am (2007)
Girl on Fire (2012)

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

Not chart-related, but this article how successful Folklore was in its first week worldwide:

Republic: Taylor Swift’s “Folklore” Debuts With Over 2 Million First-Week Global Units, Reaches Over 500 Million Global Streams

“folklore” enjoyed a mammoth opening week.

by Brian Cantor

Signposted by its chart-topping success in markets like the United States and United Kingdom, Taylor Swift’s “folklore” posted a massive opening week worldwide consumption number.

According to Republic, “folklore” debuted with over 2 million global consumption units. The units are defined as either an album sale or an equivalent unit from track sales or track streams.

In terms of streams, Republic adds that “folklore” generated over 500 million first-week audio and video streams around the world.

Along with spotlighting its success in markets like the US, UK, Australia and Ireland, Republic adds that “folklore” delivered the biggest opening week in China since her own “Lover” launched last year. Between “Lover” and “folklore,” Swift has the two biggest Western artist debuts in the country.

In the US, Swift scores her seventh #1 album. She also becomes the first artist in the modern era to sell at least 500K weekly copies (traditional album sales) with seven different albums.

[neverduplicated]

Taylor charts 6 albums on the Billboard 200 this week.  Her power is insane!  Does anyone know the record for most albums charted by an artist and female artist?

For comparison, the week Lover debuted, these were her other albums on the B200. It seems the release of folklore had a bigger impact on her catalogue than Lover.

#92 1989
#96 reputation
#183 Red

[chartfreak]

Aug 3, 2020 9:59:49 GMT -5 neverduplicated said:

Taylor charts 6 albums on the Billboard 200 this week.  Her power is insane!  Does anyone know the record for most albums charted by an artist and female artist?

This is truly a WOW, I don't think I've ever seen this.

[iHype.]

Prince has the record with 19 albums charting in a single week and Whitney has the record for women with 10 albums charting. Both happened post-death.

[Enigma.]

I bet DaBaby freaked out for having the #1 song in the country but the album being out of top ten and the second he found out that decided to put the deluxe version out.

[nickd]

Aug 3, 2020 11:52:52 GMT -5 iHype. said:

Prince has the record with 19 albums charting in a single week and Whitney has the record for women with 10 albums charting. Both happened post-death.

Does Drake have the record for most albums charting while alive?

[insen_13]

Taylor Swift did that! pure sales and a streaming force!

[Enigma.]

Some female pop albums besides Dua Lipa seemed to suffer when Taylor released. Chromatica is down 7, Manic 14, Cuz I Love You 9... Dua might have gained because she had the new song out (Un Dia).

[Naos]

Debuts outside Top 10:
64. Neck Deep - All Distortions Are Intentional
78. Flo Milli - Ho, Why Is You Here?
87. The Acacia Stain - Slow Decay
136. Nio Garcia & Casper Magico - Now Or Never

[iHype.]

Aug 3, 2020 13:53:22 GMT -5 nickd said:

Aug 3, 2020 11:52:52 GMT -5 iHype. said:

Prince has the record with 19 albums charting in a single week and Whitney has the record for women with 10 albums charting. Both happened post-death.

Does Drake have the record for most albums charting while alive?

Drake has done 7 in a single week, however the record is apparently Led Zeppelin who had 9 charting during October 27, 1979. 

[Gary]

If the Beatles count (2 living 2 dead)

then they had 14 at a time in 2010