Of Everwith 169,000 equivalent album units earned in the follow-up week ending December 24, album sales comprise just under 102,000 (down 34%), SEA units comprise 66,000 (down 61%, equaling 86.15 million streams on demand from the songs on the album) and The TEA units comprise just over 1,000 (85% less).
EverThe second week of was helped by the arrival of the album on CD on December 18th. The set was only available for purchase as a digital download in the first week of release. The cassette and vinyl LP configurations are to be made in 2021.
Ever is the companion set for your previous # 1 album Folklore, which topped the Billboard 200 on August 8. Folklore drops 3-8 on the new Billboard 200 with 53,000 equivalent album units (minus 61%). Both albums were released with little notice.
Paul McCartney’s McCartney III debuts in second place on the Billboard 200 with 105,000 equivalent album units won. Of that total, 102,000 are in album sales – which also makes it the best-selling album of the week, as it debuts first on the best-selling album sales chart. SEA units comprise 3,000 units (equivalent to 4.12 million streams on demand from the album tracks), and TEA units include an insignificant number.
McCartney IIIThe company’s robust sales have been aided by its availability on many vinyl CD and LP editions, including versions with alternative cover or colored vinyl. The album was released in more than 10 vinyl variants that, combined, sold 32,000 copies – the third biggest week of vinyl album sales since Nielsen Music / MRC Data started electronically monitoring music sales in 1991. Only Jack White’s debut weeks Lazareto (40,000) and Pearl Jam’s Vitalogy (34,000) were larger. McCartney III naturally it also debuts first on the weekly vinyl album chart, which ranks the best-selling vinyl LPs of the week. All said, McCartney III is McCartney’s top 10 album on the Billboard 200. This count includes his solo recordings and his albums with Wings.
Notably, McCartney is the first act to have a new album reaching the top two in each of the past six decades. It reached the first two times eight times in the 1970s and once each in the 80s, 90s, 2000s, 10s and 20. (McCartney is additionally only the third act with new top 10 albums in the past six decades, alongside Bruce Springsteen and James Taylor (McCartney and Springsteen are the only acts with new five albums on the top in the last six decades as well.)
Back to the new Billboard 200, former Eminem number 1 Music to be murdered rises from number 199 to number 3 after the album was relaunched in a deluxe edition on December 18 with 16 bonus tracks. The deluxe redux is dubbed Music to be murdered by: B side. The original 20-track album was released surprise on January 17th and debuted at number one on the February 1st chart. For tracking purposes, all versions of the album, new and old, are combined.
In the tracking week that ended on December 24th, Music to be murdered won 94,000 equivalent album units (up to 1,125%). Of this sum, SEA units comprise 57,000 (an increase of 761%, equaling 82.01 million on-demand flows from the 36 tracks), album sales comprise 33,000 (up to 3,401%) and TEA units comprise 4,000 (up to 3,868% ).
With the last week of follow-up ending on December 24, Christmas Eve, the top 10 of the Billboard 200 is especially festive, as six sets of holidays mark the region, mainly driven by the streaming activity of their seasonal songs. (The top 10 housed six sets of holidays on the chart of January 5, 1959, when Mitch Miller Christmas sings along with Mitch were the best and the top five were Christmas titles.)
Leading the pack of six holiday albums in the top 10 on the last Billboard 200 is Michael Bublé’s former number 1 Christmas, which remains in 4th place with 77,000 equivalent album units (up to 33%). Mariah Carey Merry Christmas jumps 10-5 (60,000; up to 36%), Nat King Cole’s The Christmas song reaches a new record, rising 8-6 with 60,000 units (an increase of 33%, exceeding the previous peak of No. 7), the launch of Carrie Underwood in 2020 My gift (the most recent holiday album in the top 10) falls 6-7 (57,000; an increase of 21%) and Pentatonix The best of Pentatonix Christmas 13-9 jingles (51,000; up to 24%).
Finally, the soundtrack by Vince Guaraldi Trio for Charlie Brown Christmas hits the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for the first time, while the album rises from 12 to 10 (50,000 equivalent album units won; 20% increase). The set was released in 1965 as an album accompanying the animated TV special and did not reach any Advertising panel ranking until 1987. That year, he debuted on the Top Holiday album chart, where he later reached number 2 (January 27, 2007).