Share

Adele’s 25 makes USA chart history with first week sales

This meant that even people who pay the $10 monthly fee for Spotify Premium could not listen to Adele’s album on the service.

Advertisement

In 2012, Adele’s “21” sold more copies in England than Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. This sets a new record for album sales in the first week after release.

The previous single-week sales record was held by Justin Timberlake’s boy band NSYNC and their No Strings Attached album, which sold 2.42 million albums back in 2000. The British singer-songwriter that achieved global stardom with her emotionally charged 21 album had been away for 3 years, yet her return single, “Hello”, broke sales records for first-week downloads.

In its first four days, the album sold more than 2.4 million copies, becoming the highest-selling album in its debut week in the US. 25 is the first album to sell more than 3 million copies in a week in Nielsen history, and only the second to surpass 2 million sold in a single frame.

Coming in at #8 was Enya with her latest album Dark Sky Island, which garnered 48,000 EAUs (46,000 in pure album sales).

The equivalent album unit sales numbers for 25 are just as ridiculous, pushing the album to 3.48 million sales in its first week on store shelves.

Adele’s enormous album sales have likely been influenced by her decision to not make “25” available on streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music, meaning fans needed to purchase the album to listen to it.

Usher’s 2004 album Confessions sold more than a million copies in its debut week. And that was when albums actually sold.

“It came down to the wire, but in the final week of 2014, Swift’s 1989 finishes as the year’s top selling album”.

“I’d like to find you describe a male artist as a dad”.

Whitney Houston performs in Shanghai in July, 2004. Just imagine how many more records this album will shatter as we get closer to the holiday season.

Advertisement

The Beatles (from left) Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon arrive in London after a trip to Paris in February 1964.

It's Official: Adele Sells 3.38 Million Albums in the US