Lady Gaga has beat out Eminem for the top spot on the Billboard 200 with her new album “Artpop,” which sold 258,000 copies in its first week. The set marks Gaga’s second No. 1 album.
Momma Monster earned her first No. 1 for “Born This Way,” which sold 1.1 million in its first week, due in great part to Amazon’s 99 cent album download deal.
The majority of “Artpop” albums sold were digital downloads, accounting for 57 percent of sales while the rest were physical CDs. “Artpop” is the fifth time Gaga has been in the top 10, following “The Fame” (No. 2), “The Fame Monster” (No. 5), “The Remix” (No. 6) and “Born This Way.”
Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” trails behind at No. 2 with 210,000. Last week, the rapper had the second-largest sales frame of the year after selling 792,000 copies.
The pop music compilation “Now 48,” which includes smash singles from Katy Perry, Robin Thicke and Justin Timberlake, enters at No. 3 with 114,000. Excluding the first “Now” set, all have debuted in the top 10. “Now 47” entered at No. 2 with 82,000 sold.
Down one spot in its third week, “Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas” takes No. 4 with 66,000, while Perry’s “PRISM” slips from No. 4 to 5 with 46,000.
Kelly Clarkson’s holiday album “Wrapped in Red” holds on to No. 6 with 42,000.
The Beatles score their 31st top 10 album this week with “On Air: Live at the BBC Volume 2,” which arrives at No. 7 with 37,000. The Fab Four last charted in the top 10 in 2006 with the release of “Love,” a companion album to the Cirque du Soleil production based on its music.
R&B singer Jhené Aiko’s debut EP, “Sail Out,” starts at a respectable No. 8 with 34,000. Aiko has made a name for herself contributing to songs by hip-hop’s elite, including Kendrick Lamar, Big Sean, Wale, J. Cole and Drake. The 25-year-old is currently on tour with Drizzy.
Ironically, Drake’s “Nothing Was the Same” sits just below Aiko at No. 9, down from No. 7, with 33,000.
Lorde’s “Pure Heroine” falls from No. 8 to 10 with 32,000.
This week’s total album sales added up to 5.4 million units, down 5% from last week (5.7 million) and down 20% compared to the same week in 2012 (6.8 million). To date, 2013’s album sales total 239.7 million, a 7% decrease from this same point in 2012 (258.1 million).