Taylor Swift's new album “1989” set a few new records, as Billboard reports the effort sold 1.287 million copies in the United States. That's actually 22% of all the album sold total this week.
That's obviously more than enough for No. 1 on the latest Billboard 200 chart, but is also the first album to sell that big since “The Eminem Show” in 2002, when that set sold 1.322 million.
Swift scored a million sales in a week with her two last sets: “Red” sold 1. 208 million in 2012 and “Speak Now” moved 1.047 in 2010. She was the first female artist to have sold a million in a week for two albums, and now clearly she's the first to have released three albums under the same feat. And, since SoundScan started tracking sales data in 1991, only 19 albums altogether have moved more than one million copies in one week; she's three of those 19.
Coldplay had the previous high-water sales mark for 2014, as “Ghost Stories” moved 745,000 in its first week.
Only the “Frozen” soundtrack has sold more albums total in 2014, with 3.2 million overall, but Swift could still possibly catch up.
Once you're done fanning yourself, consider this: “[O]f the top selling albums on the Billboard 200 chart for the week, 1989 sold more than Nos. 2-107 combined.” So here's the rest of the top tier on the chart anyway.
“Now That's What I Call Music 52” starts at No. 2 with 103,000 copies. Country singer Sam Hunt's new “Motevello” is at No. 3 with 70,000. Barry Manilow's “My Dream Duets” bows at No. 4 with 51,000 while Jason Aldean's “Old Boots, New Dirt” ascends No. 6 to No. 5 despite a 24% sales decline to 43,000. Florida Georgia Line's anything goes flip-flops with Aldean, now No. 6 with 38,000.
The deluxe reissue of “Led Zeppelin IV” is now No. 7 with 35,000 and Chris Tomlin's “Love Ran Red” debuts at No. 8 with 35,000. Last week's chart topper, Slipknot's “.5: The Gray Chapter” is now at the No. 9 slot with 34,000 and Black Veil Bride's new self-titled album rounds out the Top 10 at No. 10 with 30,000.
Year-to-date sales are now down 13% compared to last year's totals from the same time period.