![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c7/Adele_%27Adele_Live_2016%27_-_Nashville_DSC04649_%2830409997695%29.jpg/180px-Adele_%27Adele_Live_2016%27_-_Nashville_DSC04649_%2830409997695%29.jpg)
The highest-selling albums and EPs in the United States are ranked in the Billboard 200, which is published by Billboard magazine. The data are compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly physical and digital sales, as well as on-demand streaming and digital sales of its individual tracks. In 2015, a total of 39 albums claimed the top position of the chart. One of which, American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's 1989 started its peak issue dated November 15, 2014.[1] 1989 was the longest-running number-one album of the year, staying atop the chart for six weeks and was the best selling album of 2015 before Adele's 25, which managed to surpass the album's sales but after the year-end cut-off.[2] Canadian hip hop soul artist Drake's fourth commercial release, If You're Reading This It's Too Late, became the third best-selling overall album and top-selling digital album with 535,000 digital units sold, 495,000 of which consisted of traditional whole album sales.[3]
Other albums with extended chart runs at number one include To Pimp a Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar, Dreams Worth More Than Money by Meek Mill, Kill the Lights by Luke Bryan, Beauty Behind the Madness by The Weeknd, Traveller by Chris Stapleton and 25 by Adele; four of these albums spent two weeks at the top while the other two spent three weeks at the top position. Throughout 2015, only two acts achieved multiple number-one albums on the chart: Drake with If You're Reading This It's Too Late and What a Time to be Alive, and Future with DS2 and also What a Time to be Alive.
Albums that reached number one on the Top Album Sales chart (which takes into account purely sales and not streaming) but did not reach number one on the Billboard 200 include That's the Spirit by Bring Me the Horizon, Got Your Six by Five Finger Death Punch and Cass County by Don Henley.[4]
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/12/Taylor_Swift_16_%2818912313709%29.jpg/170px-Taylor_Swift_16_%2818912313709%29.jpg)
Adele's 25 sold 1.9 million copies after two days of availability, and 2.3 million after three, becoming the fastest-selling album of the 21st century and the best-selling album of 2015.[2][5][6][7][8] The album reached sales of 2.433 million early on its fourth day, surpassing the single-week record for an album since Nielsen Soundscan began tracking sales in 1991, set by NSYNC's No Strings Attached in March 2000 when it debuted with 2.416 million copies.[9] By its fifth day, 25 had sold over 2.8 million copies, 1.45 million of which were digital sales, breaking the first-week record for a digital set.[10] In total, it sold 3.38 million copies in the US in its first week, becoming the first album to sell over 3 million copies in a week, and only the second to sell over 2 million in a single week.[11]
Since July 2015, the chart's tracking week began on Friday (to coincide with the Global Release Date of the music industry) and ends on Thursday.[12] This change happened between July 25 and August 1.
Chart history
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Kendrick_Lamar_%40_Grosse_Freiheit_36%2C_Hamburg_%289498448120%29_%28cropped%29.jpg/170px-Kendrick_Lamar_%40_Grosse_Freiheit_36%2C_Hamburg_%289498448120%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/24/Stapleton_ACL_20161002005.jpg/170px-Stapleton_ACL_20161002005.jpg)
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/ad/LukeBryanApr10.jpg/170px-LukeBryanApr10.jpg)
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/85/Selena_Gomez_-_Walmart_Soundcheck_Concert.jpg/170px-Selena_Gomez_-_Walmart_Soundcheck_Concert.jpg)
![](Https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/46/The_Weeknd_2015.jpg/170px-The_Weeknd_2015.jpg)
† | Indicates best performing album of 2015[13] |
See also
References
- ^ a b Caulfield, Keith (December 24, 2014). "Taylor Swift Back at No. 1 on Billboard 200, Nicki Minaj Debuts at No. 2". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
- ^ a b "Adele's '25' Already 2015's Biggest Selling Album in U.S. - Billboard". Billboard. November 23, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
- ^ "Drake Has the Top Selling Digital Album of 2015 - Complex". Complex. October 9, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
- ^ "Top Album Sales - 2015 Archive | Billboard Charts Archive". Billboard. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
- ^ Sisario, Ben (November 22, 2015). "Adele's 25 on Track to Break Sales Records". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (November 23, 2015). "Adele's '25' Sells 2.3 Million in First Three Days in U.S., Aiming for 2.9 Million Debut Week". Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
- ^ "Adele's '25' Is Already 2015's Biggest-Selling Album". Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ^ "Adele's '25' Became 2015's Best-Selling Album In Just 3 Days". Forbes. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
- ^ "Official: Adele Breaks *NSYNC's Single-Week U.S. Album Sales Record". Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
- ^ "Adele's '25' Sales Up to 2.8 Million in U.S., Headed for 3 Million Debut Week". Billboard. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
- ^ "Adele's '25' Official First Week U.S. Sales: 3.38 Million". Billboard. November 28, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
- ^ Billboard Staff (June 24, 2015). "Billboard to Alter Chart Tracking Week for Global Release Date". Billboard. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
- ^ "Billboard 200 Year-End Albums of 2015".
- ^ "January 3, 2015". Billboard 200.
- ^ "January 10, 2015". Billboard 200.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (December 31, 2014). "Taylor Swift's '1989' Spends Seventh Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved December 31, 2014.
- ^ "January 17, 2015". Billboard 200.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (January 7, 2015). "Taylor Swift's '1989' Earns Eighth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
- ^ "January 24, 2015". Billboard 200.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (January 14, 2015). "Taylor Swift's '1989' Spends a Ninth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
- ^ "January 31, 2015". Billboard 200.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (January 21, 2015). "Meghan Trainor's 'Title' Album Earns Mighty Debut at No. 1 on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
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- ^ Caulfield, Keith (March 17, 2015). "'Empire' Soundtrack Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart, Madonna Arrives at No. 2". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (March 17, 2015). "'Empire,' Madonna and Luke Bryan Debut in Top Three on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
- ^ "April 4, 2015". Billboard 200.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (March 25, 2015). "Kendrick Lamar Earns His First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
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- ^ Caulfield, Keith (April 8, 2015). "Wale Rules With Second No. 1 Album, 'Furious 7' Soundtrack Drives to No. 2". Billboard. Retrieved April 8, 2015.
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- ^ Caulfield, Keith (April 15, 2015). "'Furious 7' Soundtrack Speeds to No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
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- ^ Caulfield, Keith (April 22, 2015). "Shawn Mendes' 'Handwritten' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
- ^ "May 9, 2015". Billboard 200.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (April 29, 2015). "Alabama Shakes Scores Its First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
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- ^ Caulfield, Keith (May 6, 2015). "Zac Brown Band Earns Third No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
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- ^ Caulfield, Keith (May 13, 2015). "Mumford & Sons Scores Second No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved May 13, 2015.
- ^ "May 30, 2015". Billboard 200.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (May 20, 2015). "'Pitch Perfect 2' Soundtrack Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
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- ^ Caulfield, Keith (May 27, 2015). "Twenty One Pilots Earns Its First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved May 27, 2015.
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- ^ Caulfield, Keith (June 3, 2015). "A$AP Rocky Earns Second No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved June 3, 2015.
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- ^ Caulfield, Keith (June 10, 2015). "Florence + the Machine Scores First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved June 10, 2015.
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- ^ Caulfield, Keith (June 17, 2015). "Muse Earns Its First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved June 17, 2015.
- ^ "July 4, 2015". Billboard 200.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (June 24, 2015). "After 45-Year Wait, James Taylor Earns His First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
- ^ "July 11, 2015". Billboard 200.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (July 1, 2015). "Breaking Benjamin Earns Its First No. 1 Album on the Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
- ^ "July 18, 2015". Billboard 200.
- ^ Caulfield, Keith (July 8, 2015). "Meek Mill Claims His First No. 1 Album on the Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved July 8, 2015.
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- ^ Caulfield, Keith (July 12, 2015). "Meek Mill Reigns Again at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart Chart". Billboard. Retrieved July 12, 2015.
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- ^ Caulfield, Keith (July 19, 2015). "Tyrese Scores His First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
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- ^ Caulfield, Keith (August 9, 2015). "'Descendants' Soundtrack Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved August 9, 2015.
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