RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – NOVEMBER 19: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO COVERS.) Taylor Swift performs during … [+]
Taylor Swift rules the Billboard 200 again this week, which has been the case more often than not throughout the past several months. The singer’s The Tortured Poets Department is steady at No. 1 on the list of the most-consumed full-lengths in the U.S. for the fourteenth nonconsecutive frame, and the title enjoys a huge gain in units shifted, which helps it retain its control over the highest rung on the tally.
The Tortured Poets Department shifted 142,000 equivalent units throughout the U.S. last week, according to Billboard. That’s not an unusual number for Swift, though it is up quite a bit from the frame prior.
Last frame, Swift topped the Billboard 200 with the same title, though it didn’t perform nearly as well. The Tortured Poets Department hit No. 1 on the competitive roster last time around with just over 71,000 equivalent units moved.
From one week to the next, total consumption of The Tortured Poets Department grew by 98%. Swift’s latest album nearly doubled its total number of units shifted in the span of only a few days, which is an impressive feat–especially for a set that has already been in charge for as long as this project has.
Sales are largely to thank for the massive gain in consumption. Billboard reports that sales of The Tortured Poets Department grew to 84,000 last week. The period before, it sold just under 12,000 copies. That means the set experienced a more than 600% uptick in pure purchases.
The Tortured Poets Department was also a big winner once again on streaming platforms. The lengthy effort racked up another 75 million plays on platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, and others. Those streams are translated by Billboard into more than 57,000 equivalent units.
Fans of Swift may have been more inspired to consume The Tortured Poets Department in large numbers this past week in an effort to help her beat her longtime rival. Ye–formerly known as Kanye West–dropped his new album Vultures 2 alongside Ty Dolla $ign a little more than a week ago, and they were hoping to send it right to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Instead, it’s forced to settle for second place, as it shifted 107,000 equivalent units.
