It's an odd span for Nielsen and the Billboard 200, as the international (and official) album release date shifted from Tuesdays to Fridays last week. The next, regular Billboard 200 report should come next Saturday, however Billboard has tried to transition by running a report in the meantime that adds last weeks totals to the four days in-between official release dates. Music Times is trying to run things a little differently, by noting the Top 10 by actual sales during that period. We found our numbers by taking Billboard's 11-day reports and subtracting last week's sales.
That still leaves Meek Mill at the top, easily. His Dreams Worth More Than Money sold an additional 61,000 copies in the shortened span. That technically makes him the second musician this year to spend two weeks at no. 1—along with Taylor Swift's 1989 and Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly—even if it's more like 1.5 weeks at no. 1.
Using our methodology, Ed Sheeran is the biggest winner, moving from no. 4 to no. 2 with x, which sold 24,000 copies across the four-day span. Swift another performer enjoying the lack of competition, as 1989 sold 23,000 copies and placed no. 3.
Last week we wondered if the Magic Mike XXL soundtrack would see a sales boost, much like the albums behind some of 2015's other hit films, and indeed it did, rising to no. 4 with 22,000 in sales during the shortened week. That's nearly as many as it had in its first full week.
Sam Hunt and Montevallo stay strong, getting up to no. 5 this week by moving 19,000 copies, while Miguel and last week's no. 2, Wildheart, downshift to no. 6 by moving 17,000 copies.
Believe it or not, despite the shift in release dates, there were still a few new albums last week. Only one managed to crack the Top 10: Rapper Jake Miller dropped his Rumors EP at no. 7 with 16,000 copies sold.
Maroon 5's placement is tricky. The pop rockers didn't place on last week's Top 10 so we're not sure how many copies of V were sold in the last span. However as the album has been out for nearly a year, so we guessed that sales are fairly consistent from day-to-day at this point. We took its 11-day totals and divided it evenly among them, leading us to estimate that the record took in around 14,000 copies over four days, thus earning the no. 8 spot.
Breaking Benjamin gets one more week in the Top 10 as Dark Before Dawn moved 12,000 copies, and X Ambassadors rounds out the list as VHS sold 9,000 additional copies.
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