26.10.2020 – L.dK Weekly

TAYLOR SWIFT’S FOKLORE RULES FOR A THIRTEENTH WEEK; GOES 5 X PLATINUM!

As Swift’s foklore becomes her bestselling album ever, Katie Melua’s new Album No.8 debuts at No.2, and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours returns to the Top Five!

This week, Taylor Swift’s foklore ruled once again, for a thirteenth consecutive turn. With sales of 62,000 units this week (down 9 percent), folklore has now sold an impressive 1.56 million units to date, meaning it is certified 5 x Platinum for lifetime sales exceeding 1.5 million copies.

folklore is the fifteenth album to surpass 1.5 million copies in total sales, and is the second record from Swift to attain such success! Her 2019 No.1 hit Lover has sold 1.53 million units to date (until this week, it ranked as Swift’s bestselling LP). This makes Swift just the fourth artist to have multiple albums be certified 5 x Platinum or higher.

• Lana Del Rey – Norman Fucking Rockwell! (3.39 million) & Lust for Life (2.48 million)
• Lady Gaga – *with Bradley Cooper, A Star is Born (3.27 million) & Chromatica (1.70 million)
• Annie Lennox – Diva (1.86 million) & Medusa (1.70 million).
• Taylor Swift – folklore (1.56 million) & Lover (1.53 million)

Note: Swift’s 2017 set reputation sold just over 700,000 and has since been certified 2 x Platinum.

Georgian singer-songwriter Katie Melua makes her L.dK Weekly debut this week as Album No.8 lands at No.2 on sales of 57,000 copies. It knocks Joji’s Nectar down to No.3 after three weeks in the runner up spot (41,000 – down 18 percent).

Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection sinks 3-4 (33,000 – down 14 percent) after spending a record-breaking nine weeks at No.2, as it tallies an eighteenth week inside the Top Five. This marks the seventh longest stay in history, passing Cyndi Lauper’s She’s so Unusual, MARINA’s Love + Fear and Annie Lennox’s Diva which also remained in the Top Five for a total of 17 weeks. Collection is now tied with three other records for the seventh-longest stay in the top tier.

• 38 weeks – Lana Del Rey / Norman Fucking Rockwell!
• 31 weeks – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper / A Star is Born
• 28 weeks – Lana Del Rey / Lust for Life
• 27 weeks – Fleetwood Mac / Rumours
• 21 weeks – Alanis Morissette / The Collection
• 21 weeks – Adele / 25
• 19 weeks – Stevie Nicks / Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks
• 18 weeks – Ariana Grande / Sweetener
• 18 weeks – Annie Lennox / Medusa
• 18 weeks – Carole King / A Beautiful Collection

Returning to the Top Five for the first time since 2018, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours thunders 7-5 moving 32,000 copies (up 45 percent). The album logs a twenty-seventh week in the Top Five, extending its record for the most weeks in the Top Five for any record by a band or group (it once held the overall record in 2017). Fleetwood Mac appear again in the Top Ten this week as their Greatest Hits ticks 9-7 on sales of 26,000 copies (up 30 percent).

After peaking at No.3, Lana Del Rey’s spoken word poetry set Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass dives 4-6 (28,000 – down 13 percent). Del Rey’s seventeen-week No.1 smash NFR! meanwhile tumbles 5-8 (25,000 – down 8 percent) as it adds a record-padding 59th week in the Top Five.

Kate Bush’s The Whole Story slips 8-9 after hitting No.4 in 2018 (22,000 – up 4 percent) and Alanis Morissette’s No.2-peaking The Collection plummets 6-10 (20,000 – down 20 percent).

Industry Sales: Music sales totalled 626,000 copies this week across albums, marking an increase of 4.6% compared to the previous week’s haul of 598,000 units.

Onto Next Week: With no major releases set for this coming week, Taylor Swift’s foklore could be bound for a fourteenth week at the summit, perhaps with around 60,000 units.

Top 50

1. [=/13] folklore – Taylor Swift (13)
2. [NEW] Album No.8 – Katie Melua (1)
3. [-1] Nectar – Joji (4)
4. [-1] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (18)
5. [+2] Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (97)
6. [-2] Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey (13)
7. [+2] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (48)
8. [-3] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (60)
9. [-1] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (68)
10. [-4] The Collection – Alanis Morissette (28)
11. [-1] Fine Line – Harry Styles (45)
12. [=] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (30)
13. [-2] Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (46)
14. [+3] In a Dream – Troye Sivan (9)
15. [-1] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (21)
16. [-1] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (26)
17. [-4] The Album – BLACKPINK (3)
18. [=] Such Pretty Forks in the Road – Alanis Morissette (12)
19. [+3] Medusa – Annie Lennox (64)
20. [-4] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (19)
21. [-1] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (72)
22. [-1] Diva – Annie Lennox (90)
23. [-4] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (17)
24. [+1] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (110)
25. [-2] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (24)
26. [+3] After Hours – The Weeknd (31)
27. [+3] 25 – Adele (96)
28. [-2] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (92)
29. [-1] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (84)
30. [-6] A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (85)
31. [=] Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (74)
32. [-5] Shake the Spirit – Elle King (44)
33. [-1] In Isolation – Elle King (15)
34. [+2] Tango in the Night – Fleetwood Mac (55)
35. [+6] Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (24)
36. [-3] Love + Fear – MARINA (54)
37. [=] Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos (45)
38. [-4] Bloom – Troye Sivan (57)
39. [-1] Dancing Queen – Cher (82)
40. [-5] True Colors – Cyndi Lauper (17)
41. [+1] Madame X – Madonna (51)
42. [+7] The Wild Heart – Stevie Nicks (78)
43. [+1] Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS (35)
44. [-5] Zeros – Declan McKenna (7)
45. [-5] Love Stuff – Elle King (36)
46. [-1] Mirage – Fleetwood Mac (37)
47. [-1] Heart – HEART (34)
48. [-1] Bad Animals – HEART (68)
49. [-1] Hounds of Love – Kate Bush (44)
50. [re] The Sensual World – Kate Bush (48)