LOS ANGELES: Taylor Swift’s album 1989 reclaimed the top spot on the US Billboard 200 chart on Wednesday, besting rapper Nicki Minaj’s new release The Pinkprint.
1989 has been atop the chart for six of its eight weeks in release. It sold 331,000 album copies, 433,000 songs and no streams, totaling 375,000 sales units, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.
Swift, 25, is one of a handful of top artists currently protesting some streaming sites like the popular Spotify.
The revamped Billboard 200 now counts 10 songs as equal to one album unit, while 1,500 online streams equal one album unit.
The new formula unveiled this month is an effort to better represent current music consumption, Billboard said. Album sales have been in steady decline with the rise of individual song downloads and Internet streaming.
Backed by No. 1 hit Shake It Off, 1989 has so far sold a total of 3.4 million copies, making it the second-best selling album of this year.
Minaj’s The Pinkprint debuted at No. 2 with 244,000 total sales units while D’Angelo and the Vanguard’s Black Messiah, the R&B singer’s first album in 14 years, entered the chart at No. 5 with 117,000 total sales units.
Last week’s top album, J. Cole’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive dropped to No. 4 with 135,000 total sales units.
A cappella quintet Pentatonix held at No. 3 with That’s Christmas to Me registering 214,000 total sales units.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 27th, 2014.
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