The soundtrack to Disney’s “Frozen” freezes out the competition on the Billboard 200 this week, selling 165,000 copies and rising to No. 1 from No. 4 last week (+55%). “Frozen” is the first soundtrack to earn the top spot since exactly a year ago when the soundtrack to “Les Misérables” went No. 1.
“Frozen” is currently the fourth-highest grossing film of 2013 and continues to score big at the box office. The soundtrack’s sales were recently boosted by discount pricing in the iTunes store. It debuted at No. 18 on Dec. 14 and has steadily climbed the charts with sales now totaling 503,000. The only other animated film soundtracks to reach No. 1 are Jack Johnson’s “Curious George” (2006), and Disney’s “Pocahontas” (1995) and “The Lion King” (1994).
Beyonce’s self-titled album drops to No. 2 in its fourth week in the charts, logging 130,000 in sales (-58%). “Beyoncé” held the top spot for three weeks and has sold 1.43 million copies. This week’s total puts her ahead of her previous effort, 2011’s “4,” which had sold 1.39 million in the same time frame.
The top 10 is rounded out by returning artists and releases. At No. 3 is Eminem’s “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” with 55,000 copies sold (-55%), Katy Perry’s “PRISM” moves No. 5 to No. 4 with 51,000 (-48%), Lorde’s “Pure Heroine” climbs No. 7 to No. 5 with 46,000 (-40%), One Direction’s “Midnight Memories” slides No. 2 to No. 6 with 45,000 (-68%) and Luke Bryan’s “Crash My Party” jumps No. 14 to No. 7 with 43,000 (-19%).
For the first time since its debut week in April 2013, OneRepublic’s “Native” returns to the top 10 at No. 8 with 35,000 (-3%). Also returning, the “Now 48” compilation bounces from No. 12 to No. 9 with 34,000 (-42%). At No. 10, Imagine Dragons’ “Night Visions” slips from its No. 9 spot last week with 31,000 (-50%).
Sales are down 43% this week compared to the previous week and down 14% compared to the same week last year.