(G)I-DLE Scores Fourth Top 10 on Album Sales Chart With ‘2’
Written by Keith Caulfield on March 14, 2024
(G)I-DLE collects its fourth top 10-charting album on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated March 16), as the South Korean pop group’s latest release, 2, debuts at No. 4 with 8,500 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending March 7, according to Luminate.
Also in the top 10 of the latest Top Album Sales chart, Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson lands his first solo top 10 as his new set The Mandrake Project bows at No. 5. Plus, ScHoolboy Q’s new Blue Lips starts at No 6, marking his fourth top 10-charting effort.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
TWICE’s With YOU-th holds at No. 1 on Top Album Sales with nearly 17,000 sold (down 82%), after debuting atop the list a week ago. LE SSERAFIM’s Easy is also a non-mover, sitting at No. 2 in its second week with 10,500 (down 69%). Taylor Swift’s chart-topping 1989 (Taylor’s Version) rises 6-3 with nearly 9,000 (down 5%).
(G)I-DLE’s 2 debuts at No. 4 with 8,500 sold – essentially all from CD sales. The set was available in four collectible CD editions, including one Target-exclusive variant. All packages contained branded paper merchandise, some of which is randomized.
Dickinson’s The Mandrake Project starts at No. 5 with 8,000 sold, landing the Iron Maiden singer his first solo top 10 effort. The set was available to purchase as a standard digital album, in four CD variations (a standard edition, two with enhanced packaging, and one with a signed insert), and a pair of vinyl LPs (including one with a signed insert).
ScHoolboy Q’s Blue Lips debuts at No. 6 with nearly 8,000 sold – with more than half of that sum from vinyl sales (4,000 – his best week ever on vinyl). The set was issued in just one vinyl edition, pressed on translucent blue-colored vinyl.
Four former No. 1s round out the latest top 10: Swift’s Lover is steady at No. 7 (7,000; down 2%), Swift’s Folklore rises 9-8 (6,000; up 2%), Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts jumps 16-9 (5,500; up 14%) and Swift’s Midnights dips 8-10 (nearly 5,500; down 10%).
In the week ending March 7, there were 1.153 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 9.6% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 850,000 (down 12.9%) and digital albums comprised 304,000 (up 1.4%).
There were 442,000 CD albums sold in the week ending March 7 (down 17.1% week-over-week) and 403,000 vinyl albums sold (down 7.9%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 4.318 million (down 30.3% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 4.601 million (down 47.8%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 11.936 million (down 36% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 8.963 million (down 40.6%) and digital album sales total 2.973 million (down 16.2%).
