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. In 2014, a total of 33 albums claimed the top position of the chart. One of which, American R&B singer Beyoncé's self-titled visual album started its peak in late 2013. [1]
The soundtrack to the 2013 Disney film, Frozen was the longest-running number-one album of the year, staying atop the chart for thirteen non-consecutive weeks. [2] Other albums with extended chart runs include Beyoncé's self-titled visual album, Ghost Stories by Coldplay, the Marvel soundtrack Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 and 1989 by Taylor Swift; only three albums spent two weeks on the top position.
The Frozen soundtrack sold 165,000 additional copies in its sixth week upon its release, bringing its sales up to nearly 2.7 million units, becoming the highest-selling album during the debut week. [2] Taylor Swift's 1989 sold 1.28 million copies in its first week, making it the second album with the highest sales during the opening week, since 2002 when Eminem's third album, The Eminem Show opened up with 1.3 million. [3]
Between the weeks of December 6 and 13, the Billboard 200 switched from tracking pure album sales to album-equivalent units.
† | Indicates best performing album of 2014 [4] |
Issue date | Album | Artist(s) | Sales/Album- equivalent units | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|
January 4 | Beyoncé | Beyoncé | 374,000 | [5] [6] |
January 11 | 310,000 | [7] [8] | ||
January 18 | Frozen (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) † | Soundtrack | 165,000 | [9] [10] |
January 25 | 86,000 | [11] [12] | ||
February 1 | High Hopes | Bruce Springsteen | 99,000 | [13] [14] |
February 8 | Frozen (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)† | Soundtrack | 93,000 | [15] [16] |
February 15 | 94,000 | [17] [18] | ||
February 22 | Now 49 | Various Artists | 98,000 | [19] [20] |
March 1 | The Outsiders | Eric Church | 288,000 | [21] [22] |
March 8 | Frozen (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)† | Soundtrack | 89,000 | [23] [24] |
March 15 | Oxymoron | Schoolboy Q | 139,000 | [25] [26] |
March 22 | Mastermind | Rick Ross | 179,000 | [27] [28] |
March 29 | Frozen (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)† | Soundtrack | 99,000 | [29] [30] |
April 5 | 202,000 | [31] [32] | ||
April 12 | 161,000 | [33] [34] | ||
April 19 | 149,000 | [35] [36] | ||
April 26 | 133,000 | [37] [38] | ||
May 3 | 259,000 | [39] [40] | ||
May 10 | 115,000 | [41] [42] | ||
May 17 | 106,000 | [43] [44] | ||
May 24 | Now 50 | Various Artists | 153,000 | [45] [46] |
May 31 | Turn Blue | The Black Keys | 164,000 | [47] [48] |
June 7 | Ghost Stories | Coldplay | 383,000 | [49] [50] |
June 14 | 83,000 | [51] [52] | ||
June 21 | Platinum | Miranda Lambert | 180,000 | [53] [54] |
June 28 | Lazaretto | Jack White | 138,000 | [55] [56] |
July 5 | Ultraviolence | Lana Del Rey | 182,000 | [57] [58] |
July 12 | x | Ed Sheeran | 210,000 | [59] [60] |
July 19 | Trigga | Trey Songz | 105,000 | [61] [62] |
July 26 | 1000 Forms of Fear | Sia | 52,000 | [63] [64] |
August 2 | Mandatory Fun | "Weird Al" Yankovic | 104,000 | [65] [66] |
August 9 | 5 Seconds of Summer | 5 Seconds of Summer | 259,000 | [67] [68] |
August 16 | Hypnotic Eye | Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | 131,000 | [69] [70] |
August 23 | Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | Soundtrack | 109,000 | [71] [72] |
August 30 | 93,000 | [73] [74] | ||
September 6 | Blacc Hollywood | Wiz Khalifa | 90,000 | [75] [76] |
September 13 | My Everything | Ariana Grande | 169,000 | [77] [78] |
September 20 | V | Maroon 5 | 164,000 | [79] [80] |
September 27 | Anomaly | Lecrae | 88,000 | [81] [82] |
October 4 | Partners | Barbra Streisand | 196,000 | [83] [84] |
October 11 | Cheek to Cheek | Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga | 131,000 | [85] [86] |
October 18 | Bringing Back the Sunshine | Blake Shelton | 101,000 | [87] [88] |
October 25 | Old Boots, New Dirt | Jason Aldean | 278,000 | [89] [90] |
November 1 | Anything Goes | Florida Georgia Line | 197,000 | [91] [92] |
November 8 | .5: The Gray Chapter | Slipknot | 132,000 | [93] [94] |
November 15 | 1989 | Taylor Swift | 1,287,000 | [95] [96] |
November 22 | 402,000 | [97] [98] | ||
November 29 | 312,000 | [99] [100] | ||
December 6 | Four | One Direction | 387,000 | [101] [102] |
December 13 | 1989 | Taylor Swift | 339,000 | [103] [104] |
December 20 | 274,000 | [105] [106] | ||
December 27 | 2014 Forest Hills Drive | J. Cole | 375,000 | [107] [108] |
The Billboard 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by Billboard magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a recording act is remembered for its "number ones" that outperformed all other albums during at least one week. The chart grew from a weekly top 10 list in 1956 to become a top 200 list in May 1967, acquiring its existing name in March 1992. Its previous names include the Billboard Top LPs (1961–1972), Billboard Top LPs & Tape (1972–1984), Billboard Top 200 Albums (1984–1985), Billboard Top Pop Albums (1985–1991), and Billboard 200 Top Albums (1991–1992).
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American singer and songwriter Beyoncé has released eight studio albums, five live albums, three compilation albums, five EPs, one soundtrack album and two karaoke albums. To date, Beyoncé has sold over 200 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
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