TWICE Scores Sixth Top 10 in a Row on Album Sales Chart With ‘STRATEGY’

TWICE scores its sixth top 10 in a row on the Top Album Sales chart as STRATEGY debuts at No. 2 on the Dec. 21-dated list. The set sold 81,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 18, according to Luminate. Also shaking up the top 10: ROSÉ’s solo debut rosie enters at No. 3, Sabrina Carpenter’s year-old Fruitcake debt at No. 4, J. Cole’s 2014 Forest Hills Drive reenters at No. 5 following a 10th anniversary reissue and Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack jumps 17-10.

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.

Of STRATEGY’s first-week sales of 81,000, CD sales comprise 72,000, with the remaining sales comprising vinyl and digital download albums. The album’s first-week sales were aided by its availability across more than 15 CD and vinyl editions, all inclusive of collectible paper ephemera (some randomized).

At No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department nets a 10th nonconsecutive week on top, with 201,000 copies sold (down 45%), as it continues to profit from the Target-exclusive release of the CD and vinyl editions of the Anthology version of the album.

ROSÉ’s solo debut set rosie arrives at No. 3 on Top Album Sales with 70,000 copies sold. Pop group BLACKPINK, of which she is a member, has logged three top 10s, including two No. 1s: THE ALBUM in 2020 and BORN PINK in 2022. Of rosie’s first-week sales of 70,000, CD sales comprise 30,000, vinyl sales comprise 29,000 and the remaining sales are comprised of digital download album purchases and cassettes. The set’s first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across more than 15 physical variants of the album across CD and vinyl editions, many including collectible ephemera (some randomized).

Sabrina Carpenter’s 2023 holiday effort Fruitcake debuts at No. 4 on Top Album Sales (39,000 sold) following its wide release on CD, vinyl (in three variants) and cassette on Dec. 6. The set scores the biggest sales week for a holiday album in four years, and the largest sales week in the modern era for a holiday album on vinyl.

J. Cole’s chart-topping 2014 Forest Hills Drive returns to the top 10, reentering at No. 5 (33,000; up 2,648%), following its 10th anniversary reissue on CD, vinyl and digital download – with some versions including bonus tracks. The Wicked film soundtrack, a former No. 1, falls 2-6 with 30,000 (down 41%); Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet slips 5-7 with 28,000 (though, up 25%); Chappell Roan’s former leader The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess falls 3-8 (nearly 21,000; down 16%) and Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft falls 4-9 (18,000; down 21%).

Closing out the top 10 is Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas TV soundtrack, jumping 17-10 with nearly 14,000 copies sold (up 13%). The set, which peaked at No. 2 in Dec. 2022, returns to the top 10 for the first time since the Jan. 7, 2023-dated list when it ranked at No. 8.