Month: December 2022

RM’s Indigo re-enters Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated Dec. 31) at a new peak of No. 2 following the set’s CD release on Dec. 16. The album bounds back onto the list with 79,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 22 (up from less than 500 sales the week previous), according to Luminate. Of that 79,000 sales figure, CD sales comprise 77,500, while digital download album sales comprise 1,500.

Indigo debuted at No. 10 on the Top Album Sales chart dated Dec. 17 with 10,500 sold, following the set’s initial retail release as a digital download album. It slipped off the chart the following week, only to return on the new list after its CD release.

Like many K-pop releases, the CD configuration of Indigo was issued in collectible deluxe packages (three, including exclusive versions for Target and the Weverse webstore), each with a standard set of items and one randomized element (a photocard).

Also on Top Album Sales, Taylor Swift’s Midnights becomes the first album to spend its first nine weeks at No. 1 since the list launched in 1991. And, Bo Burnham’s Inside (The Songs) re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 8 following its deluxe vinyl release.

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.

Swift’s Midnights holds at No. 1 on Top Album Sales for a ninth week — the entirety of it chart run. The effort sold 97,000 copies in the week ending Dec. 22 (up 31%). Midnights is the first album to spend its first nine weeks on the chart at No. 1 since the list launched with the May 25, 1991-dated chart.

Midnights is not the first title on Top Album Sales with nine weeks at No. 1 in a row, nor nine weeks in total at No. 1. The last album with nine consecutive weeks at No. 1 was Adele’s 21, which linked together 10 straight weeks (of its total 24) in 2012. And, the last album with nine weeks in total at No. 1, nonconsecutively, on Top Album Sales was Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born soundtrack, with 10 weeks at No. 1 in 2018-19.

Midnights’ sales gain of 31% is owed to holiday shopping, as the chart reflects the sales week ending Dec. 22. (We’ll still see holiday gift-giving purchases impacting next week’s chart, dated Jan. 7, 2023, as that chart will reflect the tracking week of Dec. 23-29.) The bulk of Midnights’ sales were vinyl-driven, with 68,000 on vinyl sold for the week — up 41%. That also marks the third-largest sales week for any vinyl album in 2022, following the debut weeks of Midnights (575,000) and Harry Styles’ Harry’s House (182,000). Midnights continues to profit from its availability across five vinyl variants — all colored vinyl editions, including one exclusive to Target.

Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack falls 2-3 on Top Album Sales with just over 23,000 sold (up 33%) — its largest sales week of 2022. Harry Styles’ former No. 1 Harry’s House moves 3-4 with 23,000 (up 41%); Michael Jackson’s Thriller rises 6-5 with nearly 23,000 (up 67%); Matteo, Andrea and Virginia Bocelli’s A Family Christmas dips 5-6 with 20,000 (up 43%), and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours is a non-mover at No. 7 with nearly 20,000 (up 55%).

Bo Burnham’s Inside (The Songs) re-enters Top Album Sales at No. 8 with 19,000 sold following the album’s release in a deluxe triple-vinyl set on Dec. 16. The new expanded edition of the set includes 26 additional tracks and was offered in six variants (a standard black vinyl; plus four color variants, one of which included a signed insert by Burnham). Vinyl sales comprise the majority of the album’s total sales for the week, with 18,500 on wax.

Inside (The Songs) debuted at No. 43 on the June 29, 2021-dated chart and first reached the top 10 on the Jan. 1, 2022-dated list, when it re-entered at No. 3 after its initial vinyl LP release. The album has been absent from Top Album Sales since June.

Kendrick Lamar’s good kid, m.A.A.d city jumps 19-9 on Top Album Sales with 15,000 sold (up 97%), owed to stock replenishment of his recently released 10th anniversary edition of the album. Taylor Swift’s Evermore rounds out the top 10, falling 8-10 with 14,000 (up 23%).

In the week ending Dec. 22, there were 3.897 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 33.9% compared to the previous week). That’s the biggest week of 2022 and the largest for album sales since the week ending Dec. 23, 2021, when 4.231 million were sold.

In the week ending Dec. 22, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 3.526 million (up 39%) and digital albums comprised 371,000 (down 1.1%).

There were 1.276 million CD albums sold in the week ending Dec. 22 (up 27.5% week-over-week) and 2.232 million vinyl albums sold (up 46.7%). It’s the largest week for CD album sales in 2022, and the biggest since the week ending Dec. 23, 2021, when there were 1.584 million CD albums sold.

Further, the 2.232 million vinyl albums sold in the week ending Dec. 22 marks the largest week for vinyl album sales since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. It surpasses the 2.115 million vinyl albums sold in the week ending Dec. 23, 2021.

Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 35.098 million (down 11.6% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 41.891 million (up 3.6%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 97.359 million (down 8.4% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 77.539 million (down 3.9%) and digital album sales total 19.821 million (down 22.8%).

Travis Scott returned to his native Houston on Saturday (Dec. 24) to hold the third annual Winter Wonderland and Toy Drive through his Cactus Jack Foundation.

For the Christmas Eve event, the rapper, his team and several members of his family gave out toys to one thousand families and children in need in the neighborhood of Sunnyside. Additionally, the Cactus Jack Foundation gifted Roku TVs and pairs of Scott’s Air Jordan 1 Low OG SP ‘Black Phantom’ sneakers.

In a statement, the superstar said he was “grateful” to be able to hold the event in his hometown. “The holiday season was my favorite as a child and I know some families are having a tough time in our community this year,” he continued. “We wanted to do our part to ensure we still spread the Christmas joy to area children. Sometimes even Santa needs a helping hand to deliver.”

The “Sicko Mode” rapper’s ‘Black Phantom’ shoes are just one element of his latest collaboration with Nike, which also includes a six-piece apparel collection featuring hoodies, cargo pants and shorts in both black and green.

As the year draws to a close, Scott was also tapped by Future to direct the music video for his pal’s single “712PM” and headlined the tribute to the late Virgil Abloh at Art Basel Miami. However, any hope for THE SCOTTS, his long-planned full-length follow-up with Kid Cudi to their 2020 No. 1 hit of the same name was officially dashed when Cudi declared the project dead in the water earlier this month.

Get a look at Scott and his family at the Winter Wonderland and Toy Drive below.

In a way, “Callaíta” by Bad Bunny and Tainy helped set the tone for Un Verano Sin Ti, even though the song was released on May 31, 2019, three years prior to the Billboard staff’s favorite album of 2022. With its serene intro and seagull squawking from afar, the banger encapsulates the essence of the record’s eternal summer energy — it is the outro track of Benito’s latest groundbreaking LP, after all. 

With the Bunny’s continued momentum of viral milestones, his number of billion-view music videos on YouTube also keeps growing, and “Callaíta” recently made the cut. 

The visual already feels like a classic, with the Puerto Rican rapper rocking his famous buzzed triangular hairstyle from the late ‘10s. The video follows a woman who loves taking shots at the bar, but she’s low-key otherwise. Then, a group of beach- and partygoers hit the shores where there’s a merry-go-round spinning on the sand, and Benito gets his chance with the quiet gal. 

A few weeks apart from Un Verano Sin Ti dropping, “Callaíta” reached one billion streams on Spotify this year. “Seeing that ‘Callaita’ became what it became is insane. It’s humbling that people still connect with the song after so many years,” Tainy recently told Billboard Español of the song reaching the milestone on Spotify. “You get a sense of those classic songs that you grew up listening to and still hear today, and can’t comprehend how they still connect with people after so many years. I’m happy that we were able to create a song that has stood the test of time.”

The producer continued: “We always had dreams about things we wanted to do, but they had a limit. Because we didn’t think it was possible for people like me — where I come from, who I am, our position in the world — and to see that I’ve been able to exceed that by a billion from what I initially thought could be possible, it just makes you feel like this is all blessings. [I’m] just here to have a responsibility of inspiring more people that could do twice as much as what [I’ve] done. That’s the most special part for me.”

Revisit the song and its video above.

Aside from singing, BTS is also known for its larger-than-life dance moves and crisp choreography. And despite going on 10 years of being in the septet, a good dance practice every now and then helps keeps its members in peak performance shape.

Suga wanted to go back to the basics and shared a 10-minute video on Thursday (Dec. 29) to BTS’ official YouTube page of him taking a Hip-Hop Dance 101 class with the help of a private instructor.

Before the lesson kicked off, Suga sat down at the camera and told viewers, “Hello everyone. At age 30, I’ve come to take dance lessons. Basic hip-hop moves. It’s been about 12 years since I last did this in high school. I’ll give it a try.”

After dancing to tracks by Snoop Dogg, 2Pac and more, Suga exclaimed, “I feel like a trainee!” referencing his days in K-pop training camp prior to joining BTS. He elaborated, “I’m a mess. This is so hard. It’s so hard to do this [basic moves] after a long time. I feel kind of dumb doing this. When I first joined as a trainee I’d never danced before.”

Suga concluded the first day of dance lessons with a message to his fans about what he has been up to lately. “I’ve learned some basic hip-hop moves. I’ve suddenly got an interest in learning at the age of 30,” he shared.” I’m taking all kinds of lessons now. I’ve started playing the keyboard again. I’m also taking guitar and dance and Japanese and English.”

The video featured two more classes with Suga honing his skills, and finished with a note from the instructor to always practice his moves, but in alternating positions in the body.

Watch Suga’s dance-lesson video above.