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As predicted last week, Taylor Swift's "Red" album remains at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for a sixth non-consecutive week, selling 276,000 according to Nielsen SoundScan. The set posts a big increase in sales (up 32%) -- as do most of the chart's titles. That's natural, since the most recent tracking week ended on Sunday, Dec. 23, when consumers were busy shopping for last minute Christmas gifts.
It should come as no surprise then that the week marked the busiest for album sales in 2012. There were 12.79 million albums sold last week -- the most in a frame since the week ending Dec. 25, 2011 (15.11 million).
The 2011 Christmas week sales figure is more robust compared to 2012 in part because of how the Christmas sales week in 2011 actually ended on Christmas Day itself. When Christmas Day falls on another day in the week, the shopping impact is spread out across two different chart weeks.
Back on the Billboard 200 chart this week, T.I.'s "Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head" album arrives at No. 2, giving the hip-hop star his eighth top 10 effort. The new set launches with 179,000 -- an improvement over the 160,000 that welcomed his last effort, 2010's "No Mercy." The latter title debuted at No. 4 upon its December release that year.
It should come as no surprise then that the week marked the busiest for album sales in 2012. There were 12.79 million albums sold last week -- the most in a frame since the week ending Dec. 25, 2011 (15.11 million).
The 2011 Christmas week sales figure is more robust compared to 2012 in part because of how the Christmas sales week in 2011 actually ended on Christmas Day itself. When Christmas Day falls on another day in the week, the shopping impact is spread out across two different chart weeks.
Back on the Billboard 200 chart this week, T.I.'s "Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head" album arrives at No. 2, giving the hip-hop star his eighth top 10 effort. The new set launches with 179,000 -- an improvement over the 160,000 that welcomed his last effort, 2010's "No Mercy." The latter title debuted at No. 4 upon its December release that year.