09.11.2020 – L.dK Weekly

ARIANA GRANDE SCORES HER THIRD NUMBER ONE ALBUM WITH POSITIONS; SWEETENER & THANK U, NEXT RETURN TO TOP TEN!

As Ariana occupies three spots in the Top Ten, Stevie Nicks adds her record-extending 12th Top Ten record, and Sam Smith bows in the Top 20 with Love Goes.

On the latest edition of L.dK Weekly, Ariana Grande’s Positions takes the crown in its first week out of the gate, becoming the 56th album to reach No.1 on the Top 50. The album opens with total sales of 156,000 copies (130,000 from first-week sales; 20,000 from pre-sales).

Grande’s Third No.1: Positions is Ariana Grande’s third effort to top the L.dK Top 50, following in the footsteps of juggernauts Sweetener & thank u, next which ruled for three and four weeks respectively. Grande now ties with Taylor Swift as the female artist with the second most chart-toppers! Stevie Nicks holds the record with five number-ones. Positions also marks the singer’s fifth album to hit the Top Ten as K Bye for Now reached No.2 in January this year, and Dangerous Woman topped out at No.8 in 2017.

Grande’s Fastest-Selling Album: With combined sales of 156,000 copies, Positions marks Grande’s greatest sales week to date, surpassing thank u, next which opened to sales of 150,000 in its first week on sale. In 2018, Sweetener started with 120,000 units. Overall, Positions is the 7th fastest-selling album of 2020 (6th among female artists), and the 21st fastest-selling album of all time (20th among female artists).

Gold for Grande: In just one week, Grande’s Positions has already been certified Gold for sales exceeding 100,000 units. It is the fourth album from the singer to be certified Gold or higher: Sweetener is certified 5 x Platinum (and has sold over 1.74 million copies), thank u, next is 3 x Platinum (with 1.15 million sold), and her live set K Bye for Now has twice earned Platinum status (727,000 sold to date).

Alongside her new No.1 hit, Grande places her two previous chart-leaders in the Top Ten this week: Sweetener rockets 23-7 (24,000) logging a 30th week in the Top Ten, and thank u, next soars 31-8 (also with 24,000 sold) earning a 20th frame in the top tier.

Grande’s three other records also make gains inside the Top 50: Dangerous Woman flies 39-27 moving 10,000 copies; My Everything rises 48-43 selling 5,000 copies; K Bye for Now returns at No.48 with 3,000 units.

In non-Grande related news… Taylor Swift’s folklore drops to No.2. It ceases its record-tying fourteen week long reign, dating to its No.1 debut for the chart dated 3rd August. In its fifteenth week on the ranking, folklore moves 53,000 units (down 15 percent). It has sold 1.67 million copies to date.

Joji’s Nectar falls to No.3 after four weeks in the runner up spot, although sales are up by 9 percent to 45,000 sold. The album has now sold 328,000 copies since its release, earning it a Platinum certification – denoting sales exceeding 300,000 units!

Dipping one rung to No.4 is Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection with 30,000 copies sold (down 15 percent): the hit, which peaked at No.2 for a record nine weeks, has now sold 1.1 million copies to date! It is joined in the Top Five by another compilation album as Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits advances 6-5 also selling 30,000 units (up 7 percent).

Stevie Nicks launches at No.6 with her first live album Live in Concert: the 24 Karat Gold Tour as it sells 26,000 units in its first week. The debut marks Nicks’ 12th album to hit the Top Ten – extending her record for the most Top Ten albums ever!

Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours tumbles 5-9 (23,000 – down 26 percent) as it becomes the band’s first album to be certified 6 x Platinum for sales exceeding 1.8 million units! In-fact: Rumours is only the seventh album in history to sell over 1.8 million copies. After peaking at No.1 for five weeks in 2017, Rumours this week tallies a 49th frame in the Top Ten.

Rounding out the Top Ten is Lana Del Rey’s No.3 peaking Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass which drops to No.10 from No.8 selling 23,000 units (up 4 percent).

Industry Sales: Thanks in part to a packed release schedule, music sales for the week totalled 857,000 units, marking a 31.6% surge from last week’s figure of just over 650,000 units. It marks the biggest sales week for the industry since the chart dated 10th August when 875,000 albums were sold. It also sports a 30.8% increase from the same week last year when 655,000 records were consumed.

Onto Next Week: Kylie Minogue’s Disco could be on track for a Top Five with upwards of 50,000 copies sold.

Notable Moves in the Top 50

No.12 – Norman Fucking Rockwell! / After spending a record 60 weeks inside the Top Ten, Lana Del Rey’s juggernaut NFR! departs the region, slipping from No.10 to No.12 in its 62nd week on the list. The album – which ruled the Top 50 for a record 17 weeks – has spent just two weeks outside the Top Ten to date, and earlier this year was crowned the bestselling album of all time!

No.13 – Love Goes / Sam Smith’s third studio album had been projected to debut in the Top Ten alongside new albums from Grande and Nicks, however it underperforms by quite a margin, coming in at No.13 with 20,000 copies sold. It marks a sharp 85% decline compared to the debut of Smith’s last album The Thrill of it All.

No.16 – The Whole Story / Kate Bush’s only compilation record drops 11-16 moving 16,000 copies. The album has now been certified 3 x Platinum – becoming Bush’s only LP to do so. It has sold 910,000 units to date.

No.17 – Album No.8 / Katie Melua’s No.2 peaking Album No.8 slides 4-17 in its third week, selling 14,000 copies. It has now been certified Gold with 103,000 units sold.

Top 50

#. [+/-/=] Album – Artist (WoC)

1. [NEW] Positions – Ariana Grande (1)
2. [-1] folklore – Taylor Swift (15)
3. [-1] Nectar – Joji (6)
4. [-1] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (20)
5. [+1] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (50)
6. [NEW] Live in Concert: the 24 Karat Gold Tour – Stevie Nicks (1)
7. [+16] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (94)
8. [+23] thank u, next – Ariana Grande (41)
9. [-4] Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (99)
10. [-2] Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey (15)
11. [-2] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (32)
12. [-2] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (62)
13. [NEW] Love Goes – Sam Smith (1)
14. [-7] Fine Line – Harry Styles (47)
15. [-1] The Collection – Alanis Morissette (30)
16. [-5] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (70)
17. [-13] Album No.8 – Katie Melua (3)
18. [-3] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (23)
19. [-2] In a Dream – Troye Sivan (11)
20. [-2] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (28)
21. [-8] Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (48)
22. [-6] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (21)
23. [-11] Manic – Halsey (15)
24. [-4] Such Pretty Forks in the Road – Alanis Morissette (14)
25. [-3] Diva – Annie Lennox (92)
26. [+2] Medusa – Annie Lennox (66)
27. [+12] Dangerous Woman – Ariana Grande (13)
28. [-4] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (74)
29. [-10] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (19)
30. [-5] 25 – Adele (98)
31. [-5] A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (87)
32. [-5] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (112)
33. [-3] After Hours – The Weeknd (33)
34. [-13] 21 – Adele (48)
35. [+8] Tango in the Night – Fleetwood Mac (57)
36. [-7] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (26)
37. [-3] Love + Fear – MARINA (56)
38. [-1] Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (26)
39. [-6] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (86)
40. [-4] Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (76)
41. [-9] Shake the Spirit – Elle King (46)
42. [-4] Bloom – Troye Sivan (59)
43. [+5] My Everything – Ariana Grande (3)
44. [-3] Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS (37)
45. [-3] Dancing Queen – Cher (84)
46. [-2] The Red Shoes – Kate Bush (51)
47. [-2] The Sensual World – Kate Bush (50)
48. [re] K Bye for Now – Ariana Grande (40)
49. [re] Tough Love – Jessie Ware (37)
50. [re] Hounds of Love – Kate Bush (45)

Certifications:

Silver – 60,000. Gold – 100,000. Platinum – 300,000. Diamond – 3,000,000