Posted August 8, 201410 yr This is a list of the top 100 largest sales weeks for an album for the decade to date, that is from January 1st 2010 and ending December 31st 2019. I thought it might be interesting to see :D Italic refers to an album that was not on its début week and purple refers, as ever, to British artists. Rank. Chart Date - Sales - TITLE - Artist 1. 15/11/14 - 1,287,000 - 1989 - Taylor Swift 2. 10/11/12 - 1,208,290 - RED - Taylor Swift 3. 11/06/11 - 1,108,403 - BORN THIS WAY - Lady GaGa 4. 13/11/10 - 1,046,718 - SPEAK NOW - Taylor Swift 5. 06/04/13 - 968,018 - THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE - Justin Timberlake 6. 17/09/11 - 963,970 - THA CARTER IV - Lil Wayne 7. 23/11/13 - 792,394 - THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP 2 - Eminem 8. 10/07/10 - 741,413 - RECOVERY - Eminem 9. 03/03/12 - 729,900 - 21 - Adele 10. 12/10/13 - 657,922 - NOTHING WAS THE SAME - Drake 11. 03/12/11 - 630,571 - TAKE CARE - Drake 12. 28/12/13 - 617,319 - BEYONCÉ - Beyoncé 13. 13/10/12 - 599,915 - BABEL - Mumford & Sons 14. 14/12/13 - 546,230 - MIDNIGHT MEMORIES - One Direction 15. 01/12/12 - 539,665 - TAKE ME HOME - One Direction 16. 27/07/13 - 528,471 - MAGNA CARTA…HOLY GRAIL - Jay-Z 17. 31/08/13 - 527,783 - CRASH MY PARTY - Luke Bryan 18. 27/02/10 - 501,665 - SOLDIER OF LOVE - Sade 19. 11/12/10 - 495,835 - MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY - Kanye West 20. 13/02/10 - 480,922 - NEED YOU NOW - Lady Antebellum 21. 24/12/11 - 479,377 - CHRISTMAS - Michael Bublé 22. 07/01/12 - 467,236 - CHRISTMAS - Michael Bublé 23. 31/12/11 - 447,673 - CHRISTMAS - Michael Bublé 24. 12/11/11 - 447,411 - MYLO XYLOTO - Coldplay 25. 03/07/10 - 446,680 - THANK ME LATER - Drake 26. 27/08/11 - 436,078 - WATCH THE THRONE - Jay-Z & Kanye West 27. 03/11/12 - 409,303 - NIGHT TRAIN - Jason Aldean 28. 22/11/14 - 401,599 - 1989 - Taylor Swift 29. 07/01/12 - 398,766 - 21 - Adele 30. 06/12/14 - 387,098 - FOUR - One Direction 31. 07/06/14 - 382,665 - GHOST STORIES - Coldplay 32. 11/12/10 - 375,191 - PINK FRIDAY - Nicki Minaj 33. 07/07/12 - 374,264 - BELIEVE - Justin Bieber 34. 04/01/14 - 373,803 - BEYONCÉ - Beyoncé 35. 14/04/12 - 358,653 - MDNA - Madonna 36. 27/12/14 - 353,538 - 2014 FOREST HILLS DRIVE - J. Cole 37. 12/03/11 - 351,649 - 21 - Adele 38. 19/10/13 - 349,755 - THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE: 2 OF 2 - Justin Timberlake 39. 01/10/11 - 347,479 - OWN THE NIGHT - Lady Antebellum 40. 17/11/12 - 344,249 - RED - Taylor Swift 41. 08/06/13 - 338,677 - RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES - Daft Punk 42. 04/12/10 - 334,505 - THE GIFT - Susan Boyle 43. 03/01/15 - 331,478 - 1989 - Taylor Swift 44. 17/04/10 - 329,107 - RAYMOND V RAYMOND - Usher 45. 06/07/13 - 326,841 - YEEZUS - Kanye West 46. 10/01/15 - 325,609 - 1989 - Taylor Swift 47. 20/11/10 - 319,701 - SPEAK NOW - Taylor Swift 48. 27/11/10 - 317,895 - THE GIFT - Susan Boyle 49. 13/04/13 - 317,587 - THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE - Justin Timberlake 50. 17/07/10 - 313,292 - RECOVERY - Eminem 51. 16/07/11 - 310,309 - 4 - Beyoncé 52. 11/01/14 - 310,270 - BEYONCÉ - Beyoncé 53. 06/07/13 - 296,642 - BORN SINNER - J Cole 54. 10/03/12 - 296,549 - 21 - Adele 55. 17/12/11 - 292,501 - CHRISTMAS - Michael Bublé 56. 17/04/10 - 290,903 - MY WORLD 2.0 - Justin Bieber 57. 01/03/14 - 287,668 - THE OUTSIDERS - Eric Church 58. 09/11/13 - 285,839 - PRISM - Katy Perry 59. 10/04/10 - 282,672 - MY WORLD 2.0 - Justin Bieber 60. 13/12/14 - 281,212 - 1989 - Taylor Swift 61. 06/10/12 - 280,128 - THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE - Pink 62. 25/10/14 - 278,096 - OLD BOOTS, NEW DIRT - Jason Aldean 63. 27/12/14 - 277,607 - 1989 - Taylor Swift 64. 31/12/11 - 276,689 - 21 - Adele 65. 16/04/11 - 276,446 - FEMME FATALE - Britney Spears 66. 08/01/11 - 276,142 - SPEAK NOW - Taylor Swift 67. 05/01/13 - 275,508 - RED - Taylor Swift 68. 18/12/10 - 271,567 - THE GIFT - Susan Boyle 69. 26/10/13 - 270,417 - BANGERZ - Miley Cyrus 70. 09/04/11 - 270,381 - F.A.M.E. - Chris Brown 71. 19/05/12 - 267,338 - BLOWN AWAY - Carrie Underwood 72. 29/09/12 - 265,961 - AWAY FROM THE WORLD - Dave Matthews Band 73. 11/12/10 - 262,865 - THE GIFT - Susan Boyle 74. 01/01/11 - 259,136 - SPEAK NOW - Taylor Swift 75. 03/05/14 - 258,807 - FROZEN - Soundtrack 76. 09/08/14 - 258,643 - 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER - 5 Seconds Of Summer 77. 30/11/13 - 258,201 - ARTPOP - Lady GaGa 78. 01/01/11 - 254,341 - THE GIFT - Susan Boyle 79. 21/04/12 - 253,057 - PINK FRIDAY: ROMAN RELOADED - Nicki Minaj 80. 17/03/12 - 246,529 - 21 - Adele 81. 25/12/10 - 243,227 - THE GIFT - Susan Boyle 82. 19/06/10 - 242,630 - TO THE SEA - Jack Johnson 83. 02/12/10 - 241,214 - A THOUSAND SUNS - Linkin Park 84. 12/01/13 - 241,202 - RED - Taylor Swift 85. 10/11/12 - 241,139 - GOOD KID M.A.A.D CITY - Kendrick Lamar 86. 11/12/10 - 240,530 - SPEAK NOW - Taylor Swift 87. 02/10/10 - 240,209 - PASSION PAIN AND PLEASURE - Trey Songz 88. 08/01/11 - 240,022 - THE GIFT - Susan Boyle 89. 04/12/10 - 239,234 - O HOLY NIGHT - Jackie Evancho 90. 08/12/12 - 237,541 - UNAPOLOGETIC - Rihanna 91. 25/02/12 - 237,479 - 21 - Adele 92. 30/04/11 - 234,527 - WASTING LIGHT - Foo Fighters 93. 28/07/12 - 234,289 - UNCAGED - Zac Brown Band 94. 07/01/12 - 232,938 - TM:103: HUSTLERZ AMBITION - Young Jeezy 95. 20/12/14 - 230,238 - 1989 - Taylor Swift 96. 24/07/10 - 229,296 - RECOVERY - Eminem 97. 17/09/11 - 228,926 - I'M WITH YOU - Red Hot Chili Peppers 98. 01/01/11 - 227,673 - MICHAEL - Michael Jackson 99. 10/12/11 - 227,133 - CHRISTMAS - Michael Bublé 100. 10/12/11 - 226,714 - HERE AND NOW - Nickelback
August 8, 201410 yr Author Top 50 Début Weeks: Rank. Chart Date - Sales - TITLE - Artist 1. 15/11/14 - 1,287,000 - 1989 - Taylor Swift (2014 debut) 2. 10/11/12 - 1,208,290 - RED - Taylor Swift 3. 11/06/11 - 1,108,403 - BORN THIS WAY - Lady GaGa 4. 13/11/10 - 1,046,718 - SPEAK NOW - Taylor Swift 5. 06/04/13 - 968,018 - THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE - Justin Timberlake 6. 17/09/11 - 963,970 - THA CARTER IV - Lil Wayne 7. 23/11/13 - 792,394 - THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP 2 - Eminem 8. 10/07/10 - 741,413 - RECOVERY - Eminem 9. 12/10/13 - 657,922 - NOTHING WAS THE SAME - Drake 10. 03/12/11 - 630,571 - TAKE CARE - Drake 11. 28/12/13 - 617,319 - BEYONCÉ - Beyoncé 12. 13/10/12 - 599,915 - BABEL - Mumford & Sons 13. 14/12/13 - 546,230 - MIDNIGHT MEMORIES - One Direction 14. 01/12/12 - 539,665 - TAKE ME HOME - One Direction 15. 27/07/13 - 528,471 - MAGNA CARTA…HOLY GRAIL - Jay-Z 16. 31/08/13 - 527,783 - CRASH MY PARTY - Luke Bryan 17. 27/02/10 - 501,665 - SOLDIER OF LOVE - Sade 18. 11/12/10 - 495,835 - MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY - Kanye West 19. 13/02/10 - 480,922 - NEED YOU NOW - Lady Antebellum 20. 12/11/11 - 447,411 - MYLO XYLOTO - Coldplay 21. 03/07/10 - 446,680 - THANK ME LATER - Drake 22. 27/08/11 - 436,078 - WATCH THE THRONE - Jay-Z & Kanye West 23. 03/11/12 - 409,303 - NIGHT TRAIN - Jason Aldean 24. 06/12/14 - 387,098 - FOUR - One Direction (2014 debut) 25. 07/06/14 - 382,665 - GHOST STORIES - Coldplay (2014 debut) 26. 11/12/10 - 375,191 - PINK FRIDAY - Nicki Minaj 27. 07/07/12 - 374,264 - BELIEVE - Justin Bieber 28. 14/04/12 - 358,653 - MDNA - Madonna 29. 27/12/14 - 353,538 - 2014 FOREST HILLS DRIVE - J. Cole (2014 debut) 30. 12/03/11 - 351,649 - 21 - Adele 31. 19/10/13 - 349,755 - THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE: 2 OF 2 - Justin Timberlake 32. 01/10/11 - 347,479 - OWN THE NIGHT - Lady Antebellum 33. 08/06/13 - 338,677 - RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES - Daft Punk 34. 17/04/10 - 329,107 - RAYMOND V RAYMOND - Usher 35. 06/07/13 - 326,841 - YEEZUS - Kanye West 36. 27/11/10 - 317,895 - THE GIFT - Susan Boyle 37. 16/07/11 - 310,309 - 4 - Beyoncé 38. 06/07/13 - 296,642 - BORN SINNER - J Cole 39. 01/03/14 - 287,668 - THE OUTSIDERS - Eric Church (2014 debut) 40. 09/11/13 - 285,839 - PRISM - Katy Perry 41. 10/04/10 - 282,672 - MY WORLD 2.0 - Justin Bieber 42. 06/10/12 - 280,128 - THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE - Pink 43. 25/10/14 - 278,096 - OLD BOOTS, NEW DIRT - Jason Aldean (2014 debut) 44. 16/04/11 - 276,446 - FEMME FATALE - Britney Spears 45. 26/10/13 - 270,417 - BANGERZ - Miley Cyrus 46. 09/04/11 - 270,381 - F.A.M.E. - Chris Brown 47. 19/05/12 - 267,338 - BLOWN AWAY - Carrie Underwood 48. 29/09/12 - 265,961 - AWAY FROM THE WORLD - Dave Matthews Band 49. 09/08/14 - 258,643 - 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER - 5 Seconds Of Summer (2014 debut) 50. 30/11/13 - 258,201 - ARTPOP - Lady GaGa
August 8, 201410 yr Author Top 20 Male Sales Weeks: Rank. Chart Date - Sales - TITLE - Artist 01. 06/04/13 - 968,018 - THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE - Justin Timberlake 02. 17/09/11 - 963,970 - THA CARTER IV - Lil Wayne 03. 23/11/13 - 792,394 - THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP 2 - Eminem 04. 10/07/10 - 741,413 - RECOVERY - Eminem 05. 12/10/13 - 657,922 - NOTHING WAS THE SAME - Drake 06. 03/12/11 - 630,571 - TAKE CARE - Drake 07. 27/07/13 - 528,471 - MAGNA CARTA…HOLY GRAIL - Jay-Z 08. 31/08/13 - 527,783 - CRASH MY PARTY - Luke Bryan 09. 11/12/10 - 495,835 - MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY - Kanye West 10. 24/12/11 - 479,377 - CHRISTMAS - Michael Bublé 11. 07/01/12 - 467,236 - CHRISTMAS - Michael Bublé 12. 31/12/11 - 447,673 - CHRISTMAS - Michael Bublé 13. 03/07/10 - 446,680 - THANK ME LATER - Drake 14. 27/08/11 - 436,078 - WATCH THE THRONE - Jay-Z & Kanye West 15. 03/11/12 - 409,303 - NIGHT TRAIN - Jason Aldean 16. 07/07/12 - 374,264 - BELIEVE - Justin Bieber 17. 27/12/14 - 353,538 - 2014 FOREST HILLS DRIVE - J. Cole 18. 19/10/13 - 349,755 - THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE: 2 OF 2 - Justin Timberlake 19. 17/04/10 - 329,107 - RAYMOND V RAYMOND - Usher 20. 06/07/13 - 326,841 - YEEZUS - Kanye West Top 20 Female Sales Weeks: Rank. Chart Date - Sales - TITLE - Artist 01. 15/11/14 - 1,287,000 - 1989 - Taylor Swift 02. 10/11/12 - 1,208,290 - RED - Taylor Swift 03. 11/06/11 - 1,108,403 - BORN THIS WAY - Lady GaGa 04. 13/11/10 - 1,046,718 - SPEAK NOW - Taylor Swift 05. 03/03/12 - 729,900 - 21 - Adele 06. 28/12/13 - 617,319 - BEYONCÉ - Beyoncé 07. 22/11/14 - 401,599 - 1989 - Taylor Swift 08. 07/01/12 - 398,766 - 21 - Adele 09. 11/12/10 - 375,191 - PINK FRIDAY - Nicki Minaj 10. 04/01/14 - 373,803 - BEYONCÉ - Beyoncé 11. 14/04/12 - 358,653 - MDNA - Madonna 12. 12/03/11 - 351,649 - 21 - Adele 13. 17/11/12 - 344,249 - RED - Taylor Swift 14. 04/12/10 - 334,505 - THE GIFT - Susan Boyle 15. 03/01/15 - 331,478 - 1989 - Taylor Swift 16. 10/01/15 - 325,609 - 1989 - Taylor Swift 17. 20/11/10 - 319,701 - SPEAK NOW - Taylor Swift 18. 27/11/10 - 317,895 - THE GIFT - Susan Boyle 19. 29/11/14 - 312,000 - 1989 - Taylor Swift 20. 16/07/11 - 310,309 - 4 - Beyoncé Top 10 Group Sales Weeks: Rank. Chart Date - Sales - TITLE - Artist 01. 13/10/12 - 599,915 - BABEL - Mumford & Sons 02. 14/12/13 - 546,230 - MIDNIGHT MEMORIES - One Direction 03. 01/12/12 - 539,665 - TAKE ME HOME - One Direction 04. 27/02/10 - 501,665 - SOLDIER OF LOVE - Sade 05. 13/02/10 - 480,922 - NEED YOU NOW - Lady Antebellum 06. 12/11/11 - 447,411 - MYLO XYLOTO - Coldplay 07. 06/12/14 - 387,098 - FOUR - One Direction 08. 07/06/14 - 382,665 - GHOST STORIES - Coldplay 09. 01/10/11 - 347,479 - OWN THE NIGHT - Lady Antebellum 10. 08/06/13 - 338,677 - RANDOM ACCESS MEMORIES - Daft Punk
August 9, 201410 yr Author Et voilà. Hope this list is of some interest to people, needless to say I'll keep it updated. Interesting that the only million+ sales weeks of the decade to date have been by females - they really do have the strongest fanbases! I'm sure there are some mistakes and particularly formatting errors in the thread so feel free to point them out!
August 9, 201410 yr Thanks for putting this together! I know it's been said to death but this really puts into perspective just how unbelievable the post-Grammys week for '21' was, especially considering how much it had already sold up to that point. The one that sticks out as quite strange in that list is Sade - what did they do to get first week sales on a similar level to One Direction and Jay-Z?!
August 9, 201410 yr Author Yes, it was! The one that sticks out as quite strange in that list is Sade - what did they do to get first week sales on a similar level to One Direction and Jay-Z?! You know I really have no idea. The only explanation I could think of was that it was their first album in a decade, was accompanied by their first tour in the same length of time and got very good reception. Their last album had been certified 3x Platinum so it was probably just a hugely anticipated release among their fanbase. Very impressive they shifted 500k in a week in February.
August 16, 201410 yr The one that sticks out as quite strange in that list is Sade - what did they do to get first week sales on a similar level to One Direction and Jay-Z?! Because Sade is an album seller that I'd put under the coffee table label.
August 16, 201410 yr Yay at red top and especially Speak Now in 3- one of the best albums ever Also nice to see Frozen on there Edited August 16, 201410 yr by Ultraviolence
August 16, 201410 yr Author Because Sade is an album seller that I'd put under the coffee table label. What does this mean? :lol:
October 25, 201410 yr Yay at red top and especially Speak Now in 3- one of the best albums ever Also nice to see Frozen on thereTaylor is actually super consistent with sales here, which is a good thing :dance: Gives me such high hopes for 1989... Praying that it sells over 1 mil opening week as well
October 25, 201410 yr Added Jason Aldean. I can't believe Coldplay have the biggest sales week / debut this year.
October 26, 201410 yr Big thanks for the list I highly doubt that Taylor can reach 1m, it'd be nice if she did though. But given that the second best opening of the year is under 400k, I'd say 800k could be quite accurate this time.
November 6, 201410 yr Author I think everyone was wrong. In retrospect we were probably silly to think her sales would drop off so much - I could imagine her next album opening with even more :drama:
November 6, 201410 yr Author Crazy that the only 1+ million sales week so far this decade have been by females, by the way! Of course when 3/4 of those weeks are Taylor, it's a bit less of a success for the female gender as a whole, but it's still bizarre and cool to see.
November 6, 201410 yr Really interesting lists compiled here. Quite sad the lack of influence 2014 has had on these lists for this decade (bar 1989's first week sales). Our Q4 this year is currently rather underwhelming in terms of upcoming releases. Hopefully 2015 gets things back on the right track.
November 6, 201410 yr In retrospect we were probably silly to think her sales would drop off so much - I could imagine her next album opening with even more :drama: Hmm, I don't think we were, really! I think it was fair to assume Taylor's monstrous success and mass appeal had been mainly down to her accessible, modern country sound and wholesome image. Despite the fact 'Red' was pop-centred and still achieved massive opening sales, there were songs on it that clearly would have appealed to the country music market, who are obviously much more loyal album-buyers than others. Also, since the debut of 'Red', she's had quite a bit of negative media attention about her private life which may have tainted the relatable image on which her success was built. So in further alienating her original country fanbase by transitioning completely to pop with '1989', I don't think anyone could have expected her first week to actually increase on that of 'Red', especially considering the state of 2014 album sales in general. In saying that though, I'm very happy to have been proven wrong! It just shows how much of a phenomenon Taylor Swift is as a personality and brand, considering that her music and other factors have changed significantly and yet her sales are higher than ever. Edited November 6, 201410 yr by Noahspike
November 6, 201410 yr Born This Way still has the highest digital sales debut in Billboard history tho
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