MILEY CYRUS THUNDERS TO NO.1 WITH PLASTIC HEARTS!

Plastic Hearts nabs the biggest debut since August; plus, Fiona Apple re-enters the Top Ten!

Miley Cyrus scores her first No.1 album on the L.dK Weekly Top 50, becoming the 57th album to lead the chart. The title bows with combined sales of 251,000 copies, earning it the biggest sales week since August, and nabbing Cyrus her third Top Ten hit!

Of Plastic‘s 251,000 opening sales figure, 176,000 copies are from first week sales, and a further 75,000 are pre-sales, derived from singles released prior to the album itself.

The debut is the largest for any artist since the chart dated 3rd August, when Taylor Swift’s folklore drew 259,000 units in its opening stanza. Overall, it is the fourth fastest-selling album of the year, behind only the debut frames of Lady Gaga’s Chromatica (473,000), Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia (289,000) and folklore!

Cyrus has now collected three Top Ten albums, although Plastic becomes her first to reach the Top Five. Prior to this week, Cyrus had climbed highest with SHE IS COMING which peaked at No.6 in 2019. Her 2017 effort Younger Now stalled at No.7.

Impressively, Plastic already ranks as the No.1 seller among Cyrus’s previous records. SHE IS COMING has been certified Gold with close to 130,000 sold, while Younger Now has received no sales certifications.

Away from Cyrus… slipping to No.2 this week is Taylor Swift’s folklore after it returned for a fifteenth cumulative week at the summit. The album sold 75,000 copies this week (down 8 percent).

Ariana Grande drops one spot to No.3 with her three-week leader Positions selling 59,000 units (down 17 percent).

BTS’s BE dips 3-4 in its second frame with 30,000 copies (down 22 percent). The K-Pop set has now been certified Silver after just two weeks, for selling in excess of 60,000 copies.

Capping the Top Five: Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia remains at No.5 with 28,000 units (even with last week). Future led the list for eight weeks earlier in the year.

Joji’s No.2 peaking Nectar drops out of the Top Five after nine weeks in the tier, falling 4-6 with 28,000 copies (down 23 percent). Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits descends 6-7 with 23,000 units (down 15 percent) after a week at No.1 in 2017; and Harry Styles rises 10-8 with his former No.1 Fine Line, on sales of 23,000 copies (up 21 percent).

Dropping 7-9 this week is Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection: the album held the No.2 spot earlier this year for a total of nine weeks, and earns 22,000 copies (down 16 percent) this time around. The compilation record has now been certified 4 x Platinum, denoting sales of over 1,200,000 copies!

Capping the Top Ten: Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters zooms nine places to No.10 selling 20,000 copies (up 53 percent). The alternative LP debuted and peaked at No.4 in April, and this week marks its first appearance in the Top Ten since the chart dated 20th July when it also sat at No.10. Fetch has never dipped outside the Top Twenty Five during its thirty-three weeks in the Top 50. Since its release, it has been certified 2 x Platinum!

Industry Sales: Boosted by Cyrus’s blockbuster new release, music sales soared by 20.8% to 955,000 copies, versus last week’s haul of 790,000. It’s the greatest performance since the chart dated 27th July when 1,000,000 albums were sold across all formats. Stacked against the same week last year (652,000), sales are up by a massive 46.4%!

Onto Next Week: Three albums are set to impact in the coming chart week. Both Shawn Mendes’s Wonder & Rina Sawayama’s Sawayama look set to compete for spots in the Top Ten with upwards of 40,000 units each. Tori Amos will also be gunning for a Top 40 start with her festive EP Christmastide, possible debuting with around 10,000 sold.

Notable Moves in the Top 50

No.13 – Infinite Things / Paloma Faith’s latest album Infinite Things falls to No.13 in its third week, after peaking at No.8 for two straight weeks. The album has now sold 71,000 copies, and has been certified Silver for selling over 60,000 units. It is Faith’s second album to receive a sales certification, after her 2017 effort The Architect achieved Platinum status.

No.15 – Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks / Nicks’s 1991 compilation set Timespace ranks at No.15 this week (up from No.18 last week) moving 14,000 copies. The million-selling collection celebrates a whole year in the L.dK Top 50! It is only the second compilation record to achieve this, following Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits (54 weeks to date). Moreover, it is the fifth work from Nicks to chart for an entire year: it joins 1981’s Bella Donna (with 116 weeks on the tally, it is the longest-charting album ever), 1983’s The Wild Heart (79), 1985’s Rock a Little (72 weeks) and The Other Side of the Mirror from 1989 (54 weeks).

No.30 – thank u, next / Ariana Grande’s 2019 smash hit has now become her second album to be certified 4 x Platinum, denoting sales exceeding 1,200,000 units. It follows her 2018 release Sweetener which recently went 6 x Platinum (1,800,000).

Top 50

1. [NEW] Plastic Hearts – Miley Cyrus (1)
2. [-1] folklore – Taylor Swift (19)
3. [-1] Positions – Ariana Grande (5)
4. [-1] BE – BTS (2)
5. [=] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (36)
6. [-2] Nectar – Joji (10)
7. [-1] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (54)
8. [+2] Fine Line – Harry Styles (51)
9. [-2] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (24)
10. [+9] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (33)
11. [=] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (66)
12. [=/2] Good News – Megan Thee Stallion (2)
13. [-5] Infinite Things – Paloma Faith (3)
14. [-5] DISCO – Kylie Minogue (4)
15. [+3] Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (52)
16. [-3] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (98)
17. [+3] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (74)
18. [-3] The Collection – Alanis Morissette (34)
19. [-5] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (27)
20. [-4] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (23)
21. [-4] Live in Concert: the 24 Karat Gold Tour – Stevie Nicks (5)
22. [=] Diva – Annie Lennox (96)
23. [-2] Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey (19)
24. [+3] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (116)
25. [=] Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (103)
26. [+4] Album No.8 – Katie Melua (7)
27. [-1] A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (91)
28. [+3] After Hours – The Weeknd (37)
29. [+13] Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos (50)
30. [-7] thank u, next – Ariana Grande (45)
31. [+2] Such Pretty Forks in the Road – Alanis Morissette (18)
32. [-4] Piano Sketches – Birdy (4)
33. [-4] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (25)
34. [=] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (78)
35. [+4] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (30)
36. [-12] 50 Words for Snow – Kate Bush (2)
37. [=] Medusa – Annie Lennox (70)
38. [+11] Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (29)
39. [+1] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (90)
40. [-5] The Red Shoes – Kate Bush (55)
41. [+2] 25 – Adele (102)
42. [+3] Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS (41)
43. [+3] Shake the Spirit – Elle King (50)
44. [+4] Love Goes – Sam Smith (5)
45. [-9] In a Dream – Troye Sivan (15)
46. [-2] Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (80)
47. [-6] Love + Fear – MARINA (60)
48. [re] WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? – Billie Eilish (24)
49. [re] Dancing Queen – Cher (87)
50. [re] Tango in the Night – Fleetwood Mac (59)

TAYLOR SWIFT RECLAIMS THE NO.1 SPOT!

folklore earns a fifteenth week at the top; BTS open at No.3 with BE!

Taylor Swift’s folklore returns to the summit of the L.dK Weekly Top 50, celebrating a fifteenth non-consecutive week in charge! folklore debuted at No.1 on the chart dated 3rd August, and stayed at the top for its fourteen weeks, and has yet to sink below No.3.

folklore sold 81,000 copies in the most recent tracking week, surging by 35 percent from last week’s haul of 60,000 units. The album is helped largely by the release of folklore: the long pond studio sessions which included live versions of all 17 of folklore’s tracks.

6 x Platinum: folklore has now sold 1,868,000 copies in its short 18-week life: it has now reached 6 x Platinum status, meaning it has sold more than 1,800,000 units. It is Swift’s first album to sell as many (her previous set Lover topped 1.5 million and is certified 5 x Platinum) and is just the ninth album ever to reach the threshold!

2nd Bestselling Album of 2020: Passing Alanis Morissette’s The Collection & Lady Gaga’s Chromatica, folklore now ranks as the 2nd bestselling album of 2020 to date! For now, it is some distance behind Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia (2.063 million).

2nd Longest Running No.1: Now with 15 weeks at the summit, folklore remains the 2nd longest running number one album of all time. Only Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! has spent more time at the top, with 17 weeks in command.

In non Taylor Swift related news: Ariana Grande’s Positions drops to No.2 after crowning the Top 50 for its first three weeks. Album sales are down 36 percent to 71,000 in the week.

BTS burst onto Top 50 at No.3 with BE. Selling 38,000 units, it earns the K-Pop boyband their second consecutive Top 5 album, following Map of the Soul: 7 which premiered at No.1 in March with 123,000 sold (the year’s biggest figure at the time). MOTS: 7 descends 43-45 (5,000 units) in its 40th successive week on the chart. It is currently certified Platinum!

Joji’s No.2 peaking Nectar sinks 3-4 moving 36,000 copies (down 3 percent).

Re-entering the Top Five for the first time since the end of June, Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia bolts 9-5 moving 28,000 units (up 3 percent). The year’s bestselling smash has now spent 14 weeks inside the Top Five, including its 8-week tenure atop the list.

Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits sinks 5-6 after peaking at No.1 in 2019 (down 16 percent); Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection steps down 6-7 after logging nine weeks at No.2 (26,000 – down 17 percent).

Paloma Faith’s new Infinite Things is steady at its No.8 high following its debut one week ago. The LP sold 25,000 units this week (down 17 percent). It holds above Kylie Minogue, whose No.2 hit DISCO tumbles 4-9 in its third week (22,000 – down 39 percent).

Finally, Harry Styles’ Fine Line is steady at No.10 selling 19,000 copies (down 18 percent). The former No.1 hit has now spent 50 weeks inside the Top 50.

Industry Sales: Music sales overall dipped by 12.8% to 790,000 sold in the most recent week. Compared to the same week last year, it shows a slight dip of 1.2% (799,000 albums were sold in the same week in 2019). It marks just the second time that a week from 2019 has outperformed its mirror in 2020 – the other time this occurred was on the chart dated 24th February when 490,000 albums were sold, against 633,000 the previous year.

Onto Next Week: Miley Cyrus could score one the fastest-selling albums of 2020 with Plastic Hearts. The record is currently on track to sell around 200,000 copies in its opening frame!

Notable Moves in the Top 50

No.12 – GOOD NEWS / Megan Thee Stallion makes her first trip to the L.dK Weekly Top 50 this week as GOOD NEWS bows at No.12. It sold 17,000 copies in its first seven days.

No.13 – Sweetener / Ariana Grande’s 2018 iconic hit Sweetener leaves the Top Ten after a total of 32 weeks in the region, slipping 7-13 with 15,000 sold (down 50 percent). As a consolation prize, Sweetener becomes just the tenth album in history to sell 1,800,000 copies! Sweetener is Grande’s first album to be certified 6 x Platinum.

No.24 – 50 Words for Snow / The wintery dreamy set from Kate Bush debuts at No.24 with first week sales of 11,000 copies. Snow earns Bush her ninth Top 50 hit, although is currently her only release to land outside the Top 20. Apart from Snow, her lowest-charting album if 1978’s Lionheart which hit No.19 in 2017. Bush has collected five Top Five albums since the inception of L.dK Weekly, including her only No.1 hit Never for Ever.

No.32 – A Christmas Cornucopia / Debuting at a lowly No.32 this week is Annie Lennox’s A Christmas Cornucopia, originally released in 2010 and now benefitting from a re-release. The Christmas set bows with 8,000 copies sold. Like Bush’s aforementioned Snow, it is Lennox’s lowest-charting album to date currently. It is preceded by two No.1 hits 1992’s Diva and its 1995 follow-up Medusa – both rank among the bestselling albums of all time.

No.38 – Dangerous Woman / Grande again: this time its her 2016 hit Dangerous Woman receiving new honours. The album has now been certified Gold (100,000 sales) with weekly sales of 6,000 units.

Top 50

1. [+1/15] folklore – Taylor Swift (18)
2. [-1] Positions – Ariana Grande (4)
3. [NEW] BE. – BTS (1)
4. [-1] Nectar – Joji (9)
5. [+4] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (35)
6. [-1] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (53)
7. [-1] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (23)
8. [=/2] Infinite Things – Paloma Faith (2)
9. [-5] DISCO – Kylie Minogue (3)
10. [=] Fine Line – Harry Styles (50)
11. [+1] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (65)
12. [NEW] GOOD NEWS – Megan Thee Stallion (1)
13. [-6] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (97)
14. [+1] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (26)
15. [-2] The Collection – Alanis Morissette (33)
16. [+4] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (22)
17. [-3] Live in Concert: the 24 Karat Gold Tour – Stevie Nicks (4)
18. [-2] Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (51)
19. [-8] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (32)
20. [-3] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (73)
21. [-3] Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey (18)
22. [=] Diva – Annie Lennox (95)
23. [-2] thank u, next – Ariana Grande (44)
24. [NEW] 50 Words for Snow – Kate Bush (1)
25. [-6] Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (102)
26. [+9] A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (90)
27. [=] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (115)
28. [-3] Piano Sketches – Birdy (3)
29. [=] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (24)
30. [-4] Album No.8 – Katie Melua (6)
31. [-3] After Hours – The Weeknd (36)
32. [NEW] A Christmas Cornucopia – Annie Lennox (1)
33. [-9] Such Pretty Forks in the Road – Alanis Morissette (17)
34. [-1] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (77)
35. [+10] The Red Shoes – Kate Bush (54)
36. [-13] In a Dream – Troye Sivan (14)
37. [-1] Medusa – Annie Lennox (69)
38. [-1] Dangerous Woman – Ariana Grande (16)
39. [-5] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (29)
40. [+1] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (89)
41. [-10] Love + Fear – MARINA (59)
42. [+6] Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos (49)
43. [-11] 25 – Adele (101)
44. [-2] Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (79)
45. [-2] Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS (40)
46. [-16] Shake the Spirit – Elle King (49)
47. [-8] Manic – Halsey (18)
48. [-2] Love Goes – Sam Smith (4)
49. [-9] Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (28)
50. [=] Hounds of Love – Kate Bush (47)

Certifications: Silver (60,000), Gold (100,000), Platinum (300,000), Diamond (3,000,000)

ARIANA GRANDE CROWNS TOP 50 FOR THIRD WEEK WITH POSITIONS.

As Positions goes Platinum, Paloma Faith starts in the Top Ten.

Ariana Grande’s Positions posts a third week at No.1 on the L.dK Weekly Chart, becoming the singer’s third album to spend as many weeks at the top spot. It ties Sweetener as Grande’s longest-running number one hit, lagging only thank u, next which ruled for four weeks in 2019.

Positions swells by 14 percent, selling 111,000 copies in the most recent tracking week. The album has now sold 364,000 units since its release, and has been certified Platinum (denoting sales exceeding 300,000).

Grande now boasts four Platinum records: Sweetener (5 x Platinum), thank u, next (3 x Platinum), K Bye for Now (2 x Platinum) and the newly-minted Positions.

Also present in the Top Ten, sitting at No.7 for a third week is Grande’s 2018 No.1 hit Sweetener, shifting 30,000 copies (up 36 percent). Having spent 32 weeks in the Top Ten to date, the album now ranks as the tenth longest-charting album ever in the region, surpassing Annie Lennox’s Medusa which spent 31 weeks in the bracket.

Rising one spot to No.2 this week is Taylor Swift’s mega-hit folklore – on sales of 60,000 units (up 20 percent) – which earns its 17th straight week inside the top three. It holds above Joji’s No.2 peaking Nectar which reverses course 4-3 selling 37,000 copies (down 3 percent).

Kylie Minogue’s Disco slides 2-4 in its second week. Its sales dip by 38 percent to 36,000 sold. After two weeks, the album has been certified Silver (60,000).

Fleetwood Mac are up 6-5 with their Greatest Hits compilation set (32,000 – up 10 percent) as the album collects a double set of honours this week! Simultaneously, the set celebrates a whole year on L.dK Weekly (52 weeks) and reaches Triple Platinum status, having sold more than 900,000 copies since its release. It is the second album from Fleetwood Mac to be certified 3 x Platinum, as it follows Rumours which is tagged as 6 x Platinum (1.8 million).

Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection drops 5-6 and leaves the Top Five for the first time, after 21 weeks. It moves 31,000 units this week (up 3 percent).

Opening at No.8 on the Top 50, Paloma Faith debuts with Infinite Things. The album racked up sales of 30,000 copies in its opening week, a far cry from Faith’s last album The Architect which debuted at No.2 in November 2017 selling 218,000 units. Infinite is Faith’s second album to chart.

Capping the Top Ten are two of the top-selling albums of 2020: Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia climbs one spot to No.9 (27,000 – up 42 percent), and Harry Styles’s Fine Line lifts 11-10 (23,000 – up 27 percent).

Industry Sales: This week, total music sales surged by 17.3% to 905,000 across all formats. This is the largest sales week since the chart dated 3rd August when 969,000 albums were sold. Compared to the same week last year, when 623,000 units were sold, album sales are up by a massive 45.2%!

Onto Next Week: Multiple albums are scheduled to impact the L.dK Weekly Top 50 in the coming week. BTS are aiming for their second Top Five hit as their new set BE. could start with upwards of 60,000 units, and could potentially compete with Ariana Grande’s Positions for the No.1 spot. Megan Thee Stallion’s Good News is also gunning for a Top Ten start with around 30,000 units sold. It would be the first Top Ten for the rapper.

Annie Lennox’s Christmas Cornucopia is set for a Top 20 start following it’s 10th anniversary reissue. It’s release mirrors the retrospective arrival of Kate Bush’s winter-themed 50 Words for Snow. Both albums could debut with between 10,000 and 20,000 units.

Notable moves in the Top 50

No.11 – Fetch the Bolt Cutters / Fiona Apple’s critically acclaimed album debuted at No.4 earlier in the year, and has not left the Top 30 since. Now, in its 31st week, it roars 20-11 selling 21,000 copies, bringing its lifetimes sales figure to 615,000 copies. Fetch has now been certified 2 x Platinum (600,000).

No.14 – Live in Concert / Stevie Nicks’ live set slides 8-14 in its third week selling 17,000 units after reaching No.6. The album has now been certified Silver (60,000).

No.23 – In a Dream / Troye Sivan’s recent EP rose to No.2 upon its release, and now in its 13th week sits at No.23 with 11,000 copies in the most recent week. It is the second effort from Sivan to sell more than 300,000 units and earn a Platinum badge! His sophomore set Bloom has sold 627,000 to date.

No.32 – 25 / Adele’s 2015 chart mainstay 25 rises 36-32 this week shifting 8,000 copies. It makes its 100th appearance on the chart, dating to its first showing in March 2017. The album has been certified 4 x Platinum (1.2 million) and has sold more than 1.4 million copies to date. 25 is just the third record to stay on the Top 50 for 100 weeks, joining Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (101 weeks) and Stevie Nicks’ Bella Donna (114 weeks).

Top 50

1. [=/3] Positions – Ariana Grande (3)
2. [+1] folklore – Taylor Swift (17)
3. [+1] Nectar – Joji (8)
4. [-2] Disco – Kylie Minogue (2)
5. [+1] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (52)
6. [-1] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (22)
7. [=] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (96)
8. [NEW] Infinite Things – Paloma Faith (1)
9. [+1] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (34)
10. [+1] Fine Line – Harry Styles (49)
11. [+9] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (31)
12. [-3] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (64)
13. [+2] The Collection – Alanis Morissette (32)
14. [-6] Live in Concert: the 24 Karat Gold Tour – Stevie Nicks (3)
15. [+2] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (25)
16. [+3] Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (50)
17. [-3] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (72)
18. [=] Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey (17)
19. [-7] Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (101)
20. [-7] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (21)
21. [-5] thank u, next – Ariana Grande (43)
22. [+3] Diva – Annie Lennox (94)
23. [+1] In a Dream – Troye Sivan (13)
24. [-2] Such Pretty Forks in the Road – Alanis Morissette (16)
25. [+15] Piano Sketches – Birdy (2)
26. [+2] Album No.8 – Katie Melua (4)
27. [-6] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (114)
28. [-5] After Hours – The Weeknd (35)
29. [-3] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (23)
30. [+3] Shake the Spirit – Elle King (48)
31. [+7] Love + Fear – MARINA (58)
32. [+4] 25 – Adele (100)
33. [-6] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (76)
34. [-5] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (28)
35. [-5] A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (89)
36. [-5] Medusa – Annie Lennox (68)
37. [-5] Dangerous Woman – Ariana Grande (15)
38. [NEW] Hey u x – Benne (1)
39. [-5] Manic – Halsey (17)
40. [re] Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (27)
41. [-4] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (88)
42. [-3] Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (78)
43. [+1] Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS (39)
44. [re] Bad Animals – HEART (70)
45. [+3] The Red Shoes – Kate Bush (53)
46. [-11] Love Goes – Sam Smith (3)
47. [re] The Wild Heart – Stevie Nicks (79)
48. [-5] Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos (48)
49. [re] 21 – Adele (49)
50. [re] Hounds of Love – Kate Bush (46)

Certifications: Silver (60,000 units), Gold (100,000), Platinum (300,000), Diamond (3,000,000)

ARIANA GRANDE POSITIONS HERSELF AT NO.1 FOR A SECOND WEEK!

Behind Grande’s Positions, Kylie Minogue’s Disco dances its way to a No.2 debut.

For a second consecutive week, Ariana Grande leads the L.dK Weekly Top 50 with her newest effort Positions. It registers a 38 percent drop in sales, moving 97,000 copies in its second week. The album has sold 253,000 since its release.

Grande also holds at No.7 on this week’s chart with Sweetener – it moves 22,000 copies (down 9 percent) as it notches a 31st week in the Top Ten.

Kylie Minogue makes her first appearance on L.dK Weekly as Disco shines at No.2. It opens with sales of 58,000 copies.

Rounding out the Top Five: Taylor Swift’s folklore slips 2-3 in its sixteenth week after commanding the Top 50 for fourteen straight weeks (50,000 – down 6 percent); Joji’s No.2 peaking Nectar falls one rung to No.4 (38,000 – down 16 percent); and Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection – another No.2 smash – likewise slips one spot to No.5 (30,000 – on par).

Fleetwood Mac’s Greatest Hits reverses course 5-6 selling 29,000 copies (down 4 percent) while front-woman Stevie Nicks dips 6-8 with Live in Concert: the 24 Karat Gold Tour (22,000 – down 16 percent).

Finally, two of 2020’s biggest albums re-enter the Top Ten: Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! bounces 12-9 (20,000 – down 5 percent) adding a record-padding 61st week inside the Top Ten; and Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia inches 11-10 (19,000 – down 14 percent).

Industry Sales: Music sales totalled 771,000 units across all albums sold – a drop of 10% compared to last week’s haul of 857,000. However, it still sports a 15.5% percent lead over the same week last year when 667,000 albums were sold.

Onto Next Week: Paloma Faith could be looking to score her second Top Ten hit with Infinite Things. It is currently tracking to sell roughly 20,000 – 25,000 copies in its debut frame. In the battle for the No.1 spot, Ariana Grande should easily claim the title for a third week, potentially with relatively even sales of 90,000 – 100,000 copies.

Notable Moves in the Top 50

No.11 – Fine Line / Harry Styles’ sophomore set has proved to be one of the most enduring albums of 2020, after debuting at No.1 in December 2019, it has yet to depart the Top 50, and revisited the Top Ten as recently as two weeks ago. This week (as it pushes 14-11 with 18,000 sold) it surpasses 1 million copies sold, becoming just the second album to do so by a solo male artist! It has sold 1,005,000 units to date, through its 48 weeks on the chart.

No.12 – Rumours / Fleetwood Mac’s magnum-opus drops 10-12 (16,000) as it logs a 100th week on the chart. It is the first album by a duo or group to achieve this, and the second overall. Rumours has sold 1,824,000 units to date.

No.19 – Timespace / Stevie Nicks extends her record the most million-selling albums this week as her 1991 compilation Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks crosses the threshold: it is up 21-19 moving 13,000 copies. It joins Bella Donna (1,389,000); Crystal Visions (1,283,000); The Wild Heart (1,050,000) & The Other Side of the Mirror (1,034,000).

No.30 – A Star is Born / The Greatest Album of All Time lifts 31-30 shifting 8,000 units in its 88th week on the chart. Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s soundtrack has now sold 3,301,000 to date, and is the second album in history to be certified 11 x Platinum or higher! The other? Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! has also been certified 11 x Platinum and has sold 3,457,000 to date.

No.40 – Piano Sketches / Birdy enters the Top 50 at No.40 with her new 4-track EP, selling 5,000 copies in its first week. It is Birdy’s third chart entry, following Beautiful Lies (No.2) and her self-titled debut (No.4).

No.48 – The Red Shoes / Kate Bush’s 1993 release The Red Shoes is easily her biggest studio album released to date (it peaked at No.2 in January 2018 and is certified 2 x Platinum). And this week it becomes her first such album to live for a whole year on the L.dK Top 50! With 52 weeks spent on the listing so far, it joins her compilation set The Whole Story as her second release overall to spend more than a year on the chart. Story sits at No.14 in its 71st appearance currently. Bush looks set to soon add another, as down at No.49 on the Top 50, The Sensual World clocks a 51st turn on the ranking.

Top 50

1. [=/2] Positions – Ariana Grande (2)
2. [NEW] Disco – Kylie Minogue (1)
3. [-1] folklore – Taylor Swift (16)
4. [-1] Nectar – Joji (7)
5. [-1] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (21)
6. [-1] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (51)
7. [=] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (95)
8. [-2] Live in Concert: the 24 Karat Gold Tour – Stevie Nicks (2)
9. [+3] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (63)
10. [+1] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (33)
11. [+3] Fine Line – Harry Styles (48)
12. [-2] Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (100)
13. [+16] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (20)
14. [+2] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (71)
15. [=] The Collection – Alanis Morissette (31)
16. [-8] thank u, next – Ariana Grande (42)
17. [+1] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (24)
18. [-8] Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey (16)
19. [+2] Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (49)
20. [=] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (30)
21. [+11] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (113)
22. [+2] Such Pretty Forks in the Road – Alanis Morissette (15)
23. [+10] After Hours – The Weeknd (34)
24. [-5] In a Dream – Troye Sivan (12)
25. [=] Diva – Annie Lennox (93)
26. [-4] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (22)
27. [+1] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (75)
28. [-11] Album No.8 – Katie Melua (4)
29. [+7] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (27)
30. [+1] A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (88)
31. [-5] Medusa – Annie Lennox (67)
32. [-5] Dangerous Woman – Ariana Grande (14)
33. [+8] Shake the Spirit – Elle King (47)
34. [-11] Manic – Halsey (16)
35. [-22] Love Goes – Sam Smith (2)
36. [-6] 25 – Adele (99)
37. [+2] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (87)
38. [-1] Love + Fear – MARINA (57)
39. [+1] Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (77)
40. [NEW] Piano Sketches – Birdy (1)
41. [+4] Dancing Queen – Cher (85)
42. [-7] Tango in the Night – Fleetwood Mac (58)
43. [re] Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos (47)
44. [=] Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS (38)
45. [re] True Colors – Cyndi Lauper (19)
46. [re] In Isolation – Elle King (16)
47. [re] Heart – HEART (35)
48. [-2] The Red Shoes – Kate Bush (52)
49. [-2] The Sensual World – Kate Bush (51)
50. [re] Cuz I Love You – Lizzo (16)

Certifications: Silver (60,000 units), Gold (100,000), Platinum (300,000), Diamond (3,000,000)

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

TAYLOR SWIFT TALLIES RECORD-TYING FOURTEENTH WEEK AT NO.1 WITH FOLKLORE!

Further down the Top Ten, Harry Styles & Dua Lipa return to the region!

Taylor Swift leads the L.dK Weekly Top 50 for a fourteenth consecutive week, tying the record for the longest consecutive reign in chart history! folklore earned 62,000 units (on par) in the past seven days, and has sold 1.62 million copies to date.

By spending a fourteenth successive week at No.1, folklore matches Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! which also ruled for its fourteen weeks in September-December 2019. Overall, folklore is the second longest-running number one album ever, behind only NFR! which has ruled for a total of seventeen weeks.

Rebounding 3-2 this week is Joji’s Nectar which moved 41,000 copies (even with last week), and nabs a fourth aggregate week at its No.2 highpoint. Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection reverses 4-3 with 35,000 sold (up 6 percent) after peaking in the runner-up spot for nine weeks, while adding a 19th week in the Top Five, tying Stevie Nicks’ Crystal Visions for the fifth longest stay in the region!

Katie Melua’s Album No.8 drops 2-4 in its second week shifting 32,000 units (down 44 percent).

Capping the Top Five: Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours paces at No.5 selling 31,000 copies (down 4 percent), spending a 28th week in the Top Five – it ties Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life for the third longest stay in the bracket. Rumours ruled the Top 50 for five weeks in 2017. The Mac are also up 7-6 with Greatest Hits moving 28,000 units (up 7 percent), a compilation set that spent a week at the top spot in April 2019.

Returning to L.dK’s Top 10 for a seventeenth week is Harry Styles’ former No.1 record Fine Line: roaring 11-7 on sales of 22,000 units (up 22 percent). It forces Lana Del Rey’s Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass down two rungs to No.8 with 22,000 sold (down 22 percent) after it reached No.3, and pushes Del Rey’s NFR! down to No.10 (from No.8) with 21,000 sold (down 16 percent). The seventeen-week leader tallies a record-extending 60th week inside the Top Ten!

Sandwiched in between Del Rey’s two records is Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia. The record – which commanded the Top 50 for eight weeks earlier this year – springs 12-9 selling 21,000 (up 23 percent). It has now spent 26 weeks in the Top Ten.

Industry Sales: Overall music sales lifted by 3.9% to 651,000 units in the most recent tracking week. Its the biggest week in music since album sales totalled 699,000 for the chart dated 5th October 2020, four weeks ago. It also represents a rise of 2% compared to the same week last year, when 638,000 records were sold.

Onto Next Week: The Top Ten is set for a big shake-up in the upcoming week with three records set to impact, two coming from some of L.dK’s biggest artists historically. Ariana Grande’s new effort Positions will be eyeing a No.1 debut with upwards of 100,000 units, following in the footsteps of her two previous studio albums which both reached No.1. Sam Smith and Stevie Nicks will likely both be vying for a Top Five debut, with Smith’s Love Goes aiming for around 50,000 units, and Nicks’ Live in Concert: the 24 Karat Gold Tour is gunning for an opening of around 40,000 copies. Smith will be looking for his second Top Five album after 2017’s No.1 hit The Thrill of it All, while Nicks could claim her record-padding twelfth Top Five hit!

Notable Moves in the Top 50

No.12 – Manic / Halsey’s third studio album returns to the Top 50 at No.12 earning 16,000 units after being re-released with new previously released singles. The album debuted in the pole position in January with the year’s biggest sales week at the time (114,000) and this week nabs its fourteenth turn on the ranking.

No.21 – 21 / Following Adele’s hosting gig on the most recent instalment of SNL, Adele’s 2011 hit 21 returns (appropriately) at No.21. It sold 10,000 copies in the tracking week, and marks its 47th appearance on the weekly run down. 21 peaked at No.4 in 2018 and has been certified Platinum for sales of over 300,000 copies. In-fact, all three of Adele’s albums registered gains on this week’s chart: the 4 x Platinum juggernaut 25 moves 27-25 with 9,000 sold (in its 97th charting week), and her debut album 19 re-enters at No.35 selling 5,000 copies, and earning a 31st week on the chart.

No.23 – Sweetener / With a new full length from Ariana Grande right around the corner, her previous full-length records dot the list in anticipation. Ranking highest is her three-week leader Sweetener – a chart mainstay which hops 28-23 (10,000 sold) in its 93rd appearance on the chart. Sweetener is by far Grande’s biggest hit on L.dK Weekly, having spent three weeks at the top, and sold over 1.71 million copies to date. Returning at No.31 is Grande’s longest-running No.1 hit and 3 x Platinum certified thank u, next (4 weeks at the top) on sales of 6,000 copies in its 40th turn on the list. Further down the chart: her Silver-certified Dangerous Woman returns at No.39 with 4,000 units (12th week on the chart) and her sophomore album My Everything is back at No.48 selling 2,000 copies (2nd week). All records in question are expected to climb on next week’s chart alongside Grande’s new record being released!

Top 50

1. [=/14] folklore – Taylor Swift (14)
2. [+1] Nectar – Joji (5)
3. [+1] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (19)
4. [-2] Album No.8 – Katie Melua (2)
5. [=] Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (98)
6. [+1] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (49)
7. [+4] Fine Line – Harry Styles (46)
8. [-2] Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey (14)
9. [+3] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (31)
10. [-2] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (61)
11. [-2] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (69)
12. [re] Manic – Halsey (14)
13. [=] Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (47)
14. [-4] The Collection – Alanis Morissette (29)
15. [=] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (22)
16. [+4] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (20)
17. [=] In a Dream – Troye Sivan (10)
18. [-2] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (27)
19. [+3] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (18)
20. [-2] Such Pretty Forks in the Road – Alanis Morissette (13)
21. [re] 21 – Adele (47)
22. [=] Diva – Annie Lennox (91)
23. [+5] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (93)
24. [-3] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (73)
25. [+2] 25 – Adele (97)
26. [+4] A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (86)
27. [=] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (111)
28. [-9] Medusa – Annie Lennox (65)
29. [-4] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (25)
30. [-4] After Hours – The Weeknd (32)
31. [re] thank u, next – Ariana Grande (40)
32. [=] Shake the Spirit – Elle King (45)
33. [-4] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (85)
34. [+2] Love + Fear – MARINA (55)
35. [re] 19 – Adele (31)
36. [-5] Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (75)
37. [-2] Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (25)
38. [=] Bloom – Troye Sivan (58)
39. [re] Dangerous Woman – Ariana Grande (12)
40. [-3] Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos (46)
41. [+2] Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS (35)
42. [-3] Dancing Queen – Cher (83)
43. [-9] Tango in the Night – Fleetwood Mac (56)
44. [re] The Red Shoes – Kate Bush (50)
45. [+5] The Sensual World – Kate Bush (49)
46. [-5] Madame X – Madonna (52)
47. [re] Crystal Visions – Stevie Nicks (41)
48. [re] My Everything – Ariana Grande (2)
49. [-9] True Colors – Cyndi Lauper (18)
50. [-2] Bad Animals – HEART (69)

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)

TAYLOR SWIFT‘S FOLKLORE COLLECTS A TWELFTH WEEK AT NO.1

As folklore continues its reign, Fleetwood Mac send two records back into the Top Ten: with Rumours tying a longevity record.

For a twelfth consecutive week, the L.dK Top 50 is led by Taylor Swift’s folklore. This week the album moves 68,000 units (down 7 percent).

folklore is just the third album to rule the Top 50 for at least 12 weeks, as it ties the reign of Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born which ruled for 12 weeks between October 2018 and March 2019. Only Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! has stayed at the top spot for longer – leading for 17 weeks between September 2019 and March 2020.

Swift’s hit record is only the second to spend twelve consecutive weeks at No.1. Del Rey’s NFR! commanded the chart for fourteen straight weeks in September-December 2019, while Gaga & Cooper’s 12-week dominion was divided over three stints – its longest was between October and December 2019 when it ruled for six consecutive weeks (a record at the time).

Logging a third week at its No.2 peak in the Top 50: Joji’s Nectar drops by 25 percent to 50,000 sold.

Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection rises 4-3 selling 38,000 copies (up 2 percent) and surpasses 1 million units in combined sales (1.011 million to be precise).

Beautiful is the seventh album to sell more than 1 million units during 2020, marking the most million-selling records in a single calendar year, surpassing 2019’s bevy of six million-selling albums. Del Rey’s NFR! has sold more than 1 million copies in both years.

Lana Del Rey’s Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass drops 3-4 with 32,000 sold (down 22 percent) after spending a total of four weeks at is No.3 peak. NFR! keeps at No.5 moving 27,000 units (down 19 percent) – it logs a record-padding 38th week in the Top Five, and 58th in the Top Ten.

Beyond the Top Five: Alanis Morissette’s The Collection stays at No.6 (25,000 – on par), Kate Bush’s The Whole Story stays at No.8 (21,000 – on par), and Harry Styles’ Fine Line bumps 12-10 (20,000 – up 25 percent).

Soaring from No.13 to No.7 this week is Fleetwood Mac’s iconic 1971 album Rumours (this week it blooms by 46 percent to 22,000 copies sold). It returns to the Top Ten for the first time since November 2019, logging a staggering 46th week inside the Top Ten! It ties Stevie Nicks’ Bella Donna as the second longest-running Top Ten album ever. The smash hit – which peaked atop L.dK Weekly for five weeks – has sold 1.72 million copies to date.

Fleetwood Mac appear again at No.9 with their 1988 compilation Greatest Hits , up from No.14 (20,000 – up 42 percent). The set also reached No.1 on L.dK, spending a single week at the top spot in April 2019.

Industry Sales: Music sales totalled 598,000 units across all albums this week. It marks the first time since the chart dated 16th March that weekly consumption has dipped beneath 600,000 units.

Onto Next Week: Katie Melua’s Album No.8 could star inside the Top Ten with roughly 20,000 units.

Top 50

1. [=/12] folklore – Taylor Swift (12)
2. [=/3] Nectar – Joji (3)
3. [+1] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (17)
4. [-1] Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey (12)
5. [=] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (59)
6. [=] The Collection – ALanis Morissette (27)
7. [+6] Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (96)
8. [=] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (67)
9. [+5] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (47)
10. [+2] Fine Line – Harry Styles (44)
11. [-2] Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (45)
12. [-2] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (29)
13. [-6] The Album – BLACKPINK (2)
14. [-3] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (20)
15. [+1] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (25)
16. [+1] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (18)
17. [-2] In a Dream – Troye Sivan (8)
18. [+1] Such Pretty Forks in the Road – Alanis Morissette (11)
19. [-1] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (16)
20. [+1] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (71)
21. [-1] Diva – Annie Lennox (89)
22. [+3] Medusa – Annie Lennox (63)
23. [-1] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (23)
24. [-1] A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (84)
25. [-1] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (109)
26. [+3] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (91)
27. [+6] Shake the Spirit – Elle King (43)
28. [-2] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (83)
29. [-2] After Hours – The Weeknd (30)
30. [-2] 25 – Adele (95)
31. [+1] Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (73)
32. [+4] In Isolation – Elle King (14)
33. [+5] Love + Fear – MARINA (53)
34. [+1] Bloom – Troye Sivan (56)
35. [-5] True Colors – Cyndi Lauper (16)
36. [+10] Tango in the Night – Fleetwood Mac (54)
37. [-3] Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos (44)
38. [+2] Dancing Queen – Cher (81)
39. [-8] Zeros – Declan Mckenna (6)
40. [+5] Love Stuff – Elle King (35)
41. [=] Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (23)
42. [-5] Madame X – Madonna (50)
43. [re] Crystal Visions: the Very Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (40)
44. [-5] Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS (34)
45. [re] Mirage – Fleetwood Mac (36)
46. [-4] Heart – HEART (33)
47. [=] Bad Animals – HEART (67)
48. [=] Hounds of Love – Kate Bush (43)
49. [-6] The Wild Heart – Stevie Nicks (77)
50. [re] Rock a Little – Stevie Nicks (71)

TAYLOR SWIFT’S FOLKLORE NABS ELEVENTH WEEK AT NO.1!

PLUS: BLACKPINK’s The Album enters at No.7, Joji’s Nectar goes Gold.

For an eleventh successive week Taylor Swift’s folklore emerges as the most popular album of the tracking period, raking in 73,000 units (down 19 percent). Swift’s hugely successful set has sold 1.43 million copies to date, and ranks as the longest running No.1 album of the year!

With eleven weeks at the summit, folklore ties Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life as the third longest running number one record of all time. Only Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! (17 weeks) and Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born (12) have ruled for longer.

At No.2: Joji’s Nectar remains in the runner-up spot for a second week, moving 66,000 copies (down 22 percent). The alternative album has now been certified Gold for selling over 100,000 units since its release.

Lana Del Rey holds at No.3 for a fourth non-consecutive week with Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass (41,000 – down 27 percent). She also appears at No.5 with Norman Fucking Rockwell!, down 4-5 (33,000 – down 30 percent) as the album earns a record-padding 37th week in the Top Five and 57th in the Top Ten. Between Del Rey’s two hits, Carole King rebounds 5-4 with A Beautiful Collection (down 5 percent).

Holding steady at No.6, Alanis Morissette’s The Collection sits at No.6 (25,000 – down 10 percent).

Korean K-Pop superstars BLACKPINK debut at No.7 with their first full-length studio effort The Album. It bows with 25,000 copies. By comparison: BTS’ most-recent Map of the Soul: 7 opened at No.1 selling 123,000 copies and has since been certified Platinum (300,000 units).

Rounding out the Top Ten: Kate Bush’s No.4 peaking compilation The Whole Story slides 7-8 (21,000 – down 8 percent); Stevie Nicks’ chart-topping collection Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks dips 8-9 (20,000 – down 10 percent); and Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia re-enters the Top Ten, moving 11-10 (19,000 – up 18 percent).

Industry Sales: Overall music sales totalled 637,000 units, marking a decline of 8.9% compared to the previous week.

Onto Next Week: There are no releases for the upcoming week. Taylor Swift’s folklore could very well earn a twelfth week at the top with around 75,000 units.

Notable Moves in the Top 50

No.12 – Fine Line / The second record from Harry Styles became one of the few titles by a male solo artist to top the L.dK Top 50 in December last year, and this week it drops from No.10 to No.12 selling 16,000 copies in its 43rd week on the ranking. While it leaves the Top Ten, as a consolation prize Fine surpasses 900,000 combined sales, earning a Triple Platinum certification!

No.13 – Rumours / Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours – an iconic set which ranks among the five most successful albums of all time on L.dK – soars 48-13 moving 15,000 units, resurging in popularity following the viral success of its hit “Dreams”. Rumours has shifted 1.7 million copies to date, and ranked as the No.1 album of 2017. This marks the album’s first visit to the Top 20 this year!

No.38 – Love + Fear / MARINA scored a massive hit in 2019, topping the chart for seven successive weeks with Love + Fear and selling over 1.8 million copies of the album. This week the record celebrates a whole year (52 weeks) on the L.dK Top 50!

TOP 50

1. [=/11] folklore – Taylor Swift (11)
2. [=/2] Nectar – Joji (2)
3. [=/4] Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey (11)
4. [+1] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (16)
5. [-1] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (58)
6. [=] The Collection – Alanis Morissette (26)
7. [NEW] The Album – BLACKPINK (1)
8. [-1] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (66)
9. [-1] Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (44)
10. [+1] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (28)
11. [+3] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (19)
12. [-2] Fine Line – Harry Styles (43)
13. [+35] Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (95)
14. [+1] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (46)
15. [-6] In a Dream – Troye Sivan (7)
16. [-3] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (24)
17. [=] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (17)
18. [-6] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (15)
19. [-3] Such Pretty Forks in the Road – Alanis Morissette (10)
20. [-2] Diva – Annie Lennox (88)
21. [-2] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (70)
22. [-2] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (22)
23. [+5] A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (83)
24. [-3] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (108)
25. [=] Medusa – Annie Lennox (62)
26. [-3] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (82)
27. [+4] After Hours – The Weeknd (29)
28. [+1] 25 – Adele (94)
29. [-2] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (90)
30. [-3] True Colors – Cyndi Lauper (15)
31. [-9] Zeros – Declan McKenna (5)
32. [=] Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (72)
33. [=] Shake the Spirit – Elle King (42)
34. [-4] Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos (43)
35. [=] Bloom – Troye Sivan (55)
36. [-2] In Isolation – Elle King (13)
37. [+6] Madame X – Madonna (49)
38. [=] Love + Fear – MARINA (52)
39. [+6] Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS (33)
40. [-4] Dancing Queen – Cher (80)
41. [-4] Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (22)
42. [=] Heart – HEART (32)
43. [-4] The Wild Heart – Stevie Nicks (76)
44. [-4] The Lion King: The Gift – Beyonce (10)
45. [+1] Love Stuff – Elle King (34)
46. [re] Tango in the Night – Fleetwood Mac (53)
47. [+2] Bad Animals – HEART (66)
48. [+2] Hounds of Love – Kate Bush (42)
49. [re] The Sensual World – Kate Bush (47)
50. [re] Lust for Life – Lana Del Rey (72)

TAYLOR SWIFT TALLIES RARE TENTH WEEK AT NO.1!

Swift’s folklore holds Joji’s Nectar at bay, while Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! hits a new sales milestone.

Moving 90,000 copies in the most recent tracking week (down 22 percent), Taylor Swift’s folklore reigns for a tenth consecutive week, becoming just the fourth album in history to spend ten weeks at the top spot, and extending its record as the longest-running number one album of 2020!

Only three albums have led the L.dK Top 50 for a longer time: Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! (17 weeks), Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born (12 weeks), and Del Rey’s Lust for Life (11 weeks).

Settling for a No.2 start this week: Joji’s Nectar. The alternative set bows with 85,000 copies sold, marking the biggest debut for an album by a solo male artist since The Weeknd’s After Hours opened with 249,000 units sold in the week ending 30th March.

Lana Del Rey’s Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass bullets at its No.3 peak for a third non-consecutive week, earning its greatest sales week to date with 56,000 sold (up 47 percent). Del Rey’s 2019 juggernaut Norman Fucking Rockwell! follows at No.4 (up from No.5) with 47,000 units (up 46 percent).

NFR! has now sold 3.31 million copies, making it the first album in history to be certified 11 x Platinum (3.3 million) just a week after it became the bestselling of all time, passing Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born (3.25 million to date). This week marks the record-breaking set’s record-extending 36th week in the Top Five, and record-padding 56th turn in the Top Ten.

Rounding out the Top Five: Carole King tumbles 2-5 with A Beautiful Collection (39,000 – down 15 percent) after the album peaked at No.2 for a record nine weeks. While it drops to its lowest rank on the Top 50 so far, it goes 3 x Platinum this week for sales exceeding 900,000 copies!

Three further compilation records follow in the Top Ten: Alanis Morissette’s The Collection slides 4-6 on sales of 28,000 (down 15 percent), Kate Bush’s The Whole Story keeps at No.7 with 23,000 units (down 4 percent), and Stevie Nicks’ Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks fall 6-8 (22,000 – down 12 percent) while going 3 x Platinum! It is Nicks’ seventh album to be certified 3 x Platinum, a record among all artists.

Anchoring the Top Ten: Troye Sivan is down 8-9 with the No.2 hit In a Dream (20,000 – down 13 percent) and Harry Styles is down 9-10 with his former No.1 set Fine Line (17,000 – down 19 percent).

Industry Sales: Overall music sales totalled 699,000 albums this week, marking an uptick of 5.7 percent compared to last week’s figure of 661,000 units.

Onto Next Week: BLACKPINK’s The Album could start in the Top Ten with upwards of 20,000 units, while Taylor Swift’s folklore & Joji’s Nectar could both compete for No.1 with around 70,000-80,000 units.

Notable Moves in the Top 50:

No.22 – Zeros / Declan McKenna’s second full-length falls 19-22 this week with 8,000 units, and passes 60,000 in total sales. It is McKenna’s first LP to be certified Silver.

No.24 – After School / Melanie Martinez’ new EP (a follow-up to 2019’s K-12) launches at No.24 with 8,000 units in its first week. Martinez previously hit the Top Ten with both 2015’s Crybaby (No.4) and 2019’s K-12 (No.3) although neither have received a certification.

No.35 – Bloom / As his new Gold-certified EP In a Dream continues in the Top Ten for a sixth consecutive week, Troye Sivan’s 2018 No.1 record Bloom swings 38-35 moving 5,000 copies. The album (which has been present inside the Top 50 for a total of 54 weeks to date) has now sold exactly 600,000 units – it is Sivan’s first release to be certified Multi-Platinum!

The Top 50

1. [=/10] folklore – Taylor Swift (10)
2. [NEW] Nectar – Joji (1)
3. [=/3] Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass – Lana Del Rey (10)
4. [+1] Norman Fucking Rockwell! – Lana Del Rey (57)
5. [-3] A Beautiful Collection – Carole King (15)
6. [-2] The Collection – Alanis Morissette (25)
7. [=] The Whole Story – Kate Bush (65)
8. [-2] Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks – Stevie Nicks (43)
9. [-1] In a Dream – Troye Sivan (6)
10. [-1] Fine Line – Harry Styles (42)
11. [-1] Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa (27)
12. [+9] What’s Your Pleasure? – Jessie Ware (14)
13. [-1] Fetch the Bolt Cutters – Fiona Apple (23)
14. [-3] Chromatica – Lady Gaga (18)
15. [+5] Greatest Hits – Fleetwood Mac (45)
16. [+1] Such Pretty Forks in the Road – Alanis Morissette (9)
17. [-3] Ungodly Hour – Chloe x Halle (16)
18. [-3] Diva – Annie Lennox (87)
19. [-1] She’s so Unusual – Cyndi Lauper (69)
20. [-4] Petals for Armor – Hayley Williams (21)
21. [+6] Bella Donna – Stevie Nicks (107)
22. [-3] Zeros – Declan McKenna (4)
23. [=] Glasshouse – Jessie Ware (81)
24. [NEW] After School EP – Melanie Martinez (1)
25. [+5] Medusa – Annie Lennox (61)
26. [+5] Sweetener – Ariana Grande (89)
27. [-5] True Colors – Cyndi Lauper (14)
28. [-3] A Star is Born – Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper (82)
29. [=] 25 – Adele (93)
30. [-2] Little Earthquakes – Tori Amos (42)
31. [-7] After Hours – The Weeknd (28)
32. [=] Back to Black – Amy Winehouse (71)
33. [-7] Shake the Spirit – Elle King (41)
34. [+6] In Isolation – Elle King (12)
35. [+3] Bloom – Troye Sivan (54)
36. [+3] Dancing Queen – Cher (79)
37. [-2] Tusk – Fleetwood Mac (21)
38. [-1] Love + Fear – MARINA (51)
39. [re] The Wild Heart – Stevie Nicks (75)
40. [-7] The Lion King: The Gift – Beyonce (9)
41. [=] BADLANDS: Live at Webster Hall (5)
42. [-6] Heart – HEART (31)
43. [+3] Madame X – Madonna (48)
44. [+3] Rock a Little – Stevie Nicks (70)
45. [-3] Map of the Soul: 7 – BTS (32)
46. [-3] Love Stuff – Elle King (33)
47. [-13] Brightest Blue – Ellie Goulding (11)
48. [-4] Rumours – Fleetwood Mac (94)
49. [+1] Bad Animals – HEART (65)
50. [-5] Hounds of Love – Kate Bush (41)