Billboard 200 Preview: Taylor #1 256/232k, Tim Mcgraw & Faith Hill #2 104/98k

[Alex]

Taylor Swift’s Reputation album racks up a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, as the set earned 256,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Nov. 23, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 232,000 were in traditional album sales. The set debuted atop the list a week ago with 1.238 million units, of which 1.216 million were in album sales.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Dec. 9-dated chart (where Reputation holds at No. 1) will be posted in full on Billboard’s websites on Tuesday (Nov. 28).

Reputation is the first album to spend multiple weeks at No. 1 on the chart in four months, since JAY-Z’s 4:44 topped the list for two weeks (July 29 and Aug. 5-dated charts). Further, Reputation is the first album by a woman to rack up more than a single week at No. 1 in more than a year-and-a-half. Rihanna’s ANTI was the last to do so, with two nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Feb. 20 and April 2, 2016-dated charts. And Swift is the first woman to notch her first two weeks at No. 1 on the chart since Adele’s 25 ruled for its first seven frames (of 10 total nonconsecutive weeks) between Dec. 12, 2015 and Jan. 23, 2016.

The Reputation album continues to remain unavailable on streaming services, aside from the set’s four pre-release tracks: “Look What You Made Me Do,” “…Ready for It?,” “Gorgeous” and “Call It What You Want.” In turn, the album’s SEA units are rather small: 10,000. However, the album’s TEA units actually increase (13,000; up 63 percent) as the album became widely available to buy via all digital retailers (after a week of exclusivity in the iTunes Store), and all of its songs became available for purchase a la carte. In its first week at iTunes, only the four pre-release songs were available to buy as stand-alone tracks.

At No. 2 on the Billboard 200, superstar country couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill debut with their first collaborative effort, The Rest of Our Life. The album earned 104,000 units, of which 98,000 were in traditional album sales. The title’s debut grants McGraw his best sales week and chart rank since 2013’s Two Lanes of Freedom debuted and peaked at No. 2 with 107,000 copies sold in its first week. For Hill, the new set lands the diva her highest charting effort since her Fireflies set debuted at No. 1 on the Aug. 20, 2005 list, and her best sales frame since that Christmas, when Fireflies sold 145,000 copies in the week ending Dec. 25.

The debut week of The Rest of Our Life was aided by a concert ticket/album bundle sale redemption promotion with McGraw and Hill’s 2018 tour.

Sam Smith’s former No. 1, The Thrill of It All, dips one spot to No. 3 with 58,000 units (down 11 percent).

Garth Brooks’ new box set, The Anthology: Part I, The First Five Years, opens at No. 4 with 53,000 units — all from traditional album sales. (The album was released on Nov. 14, and only available on CD and withheld from streaming services.) The five-CD archival effort was bundled with Brooks’ new book about the first five years of his recording career.

The box set’s first three days of sales (Nov. 14-16) were not reported to Nielsen Music, so the title arrives on the list with its first full tracking week of activity (Nov. 17-Nov. 23). Had its first three days of sales been reported, the box would have debuted on the chart a week ago.

The Anthology: Part I is Brooks’ 19th top 10 album and fourth box set to reach the top 10. Anthology follows the 10-CD The Ultimate Collection (No. 6, 2016), the six-CD Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences (No. 1, 2013) and the six-CD The Limited Series (No. 1, 1998).

Pentatonix’s former Billboard 200 No. 1 A Pentatonix Christmas, released a little over a year ago, returns to the top 10, rising 17-5 with 47,000 units (up 131 percent) and 40,000 in traditional album sales (up 150 percent). The album jumps back to the top 10 as consumers start shifting into holiday music mode — the set is one of four Christmas albums within the top 40. The title will likely see another significant gain next week following the premiere of the group’s new NBC TV special, A Very Pentatonix Christmas (Nov. 27).

P!nk’s chart-topping Beautiful Trauma rallies 16-6 (44,000 units; up 95 percent) following her high-flying performance of the album’s title track on the American Music Awards (Nov. 19, ABC). The set sold 34,000 copies — up 129 percent.

Maroon 5’s Red Pill Blues is steady at No. 7 with 43,000 units (up 19 percent), Lil Uzi Vert’s Luv Is Rage 2 rises 11-8 with 41,000 units (up 33 percent) and Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) descends 5-9 with nearly 41,000 units (up 5 percent). Post Malone’s Stoney closes out the top 10, falling 4-10 with 39,000 units (up 1 percent).