Frozen Soundtrack Album Cover - P 2014
This story first appeared on Billboard.com.
The soundtrack to Disney’s Frozen holds for a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, while Beyonce‘s self-titled album is also stationary, at No. 2.
Frozen sold another 86,000 copies in the week ending Jan. 12, according to Nielsen SoundScan, down 48% from its 165,000 haul the previous week. (That sum was bolstered by sale pricing in the iTunes Store—an assist that wasn’t provided in the most recent tracking week.)
As previously noted, it was initially forecast last week that Beyonce would likely return to No. 1 this week. However, Frozen bested its sales projections, selling about 5,000 to 10,000 more than expected. The forecast for Beyonce was around 90,000 last Wednesday (Jan. 8), but was then scaled back to 80,000 by the weekend. Beyonce finishes the week at No. 2 with 79,000 (down 40% from 130,000 a week ago).
Sources credit the continued success of Frozen not to a breakout radio hit or special sale pricing, but to its parent film, which continues to do blockbuster business in theaters. According to Box Office Mojo, Frozen has earned $318 million at the U.S. and Canadian box offices through Jan. 13. It finished at No. 2 at the box office during the weekend ($15.1 million), behind the new release Lone Survivor ($38.5 million).
Since Frozen received a wide release on Nov. 27, 2013, the movie has been among the top three films every weekend at the box office. It’s currently the fourth-highest-grossing film released in 2013, behind The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Iron Man 3 and Despicable Me 2.
With Frozen having sold 86,000, this is the first week the top-selling album in the country sold fewer than 100,000 copies since the chart dated Sept. 28, 2013, when Keith Urban‘s Fuse bowed at No. 1 with 98,000. The rule of Frozen this week is the smallest sum at No. 1 since J. Cole‘s Born Sinner rose to No. 1 on the July 20, 2013, chart, with just 58,000.
It’s fairly normal to see low sales figures at the top of the chart in January, because few major new albums arrive to market and the industry is readjusting after a busy holiday shopping season.
That said, Frozen is the first theatrical film soundtrack to rule at No. 1 for multiple weeks since Dreamgirls spent two weeks at No. 1 in early 2007. The last animated film to spend more than one week at No. 1 was Disney’s The Lion King, which roared for 10 nonconsecutive weeks in 1994 and 1995.
So far, the multi-artist Frozen soundtrack has sold 589,000 in seven weeks, while Beyonce has sold 1.5 million in five weeks.
After Frozen and Beyonce comes the first—and only—debut in the top 10 of the chart, Kid Ink‘s My Own Lane at No. 3. It’s the rapper first full-length album for a major label (RCA Records) and it starts with 50,000. It also arrives at No. 1 on the Rap Albums chart.
As for the rest of the top 10: Eminem‘s The Marshall Mathers LP 2 falls 3-4 with 36,000 (down 35%), Lorde‘s Pure Heroine is steady at No. 5 with 33,000 (down 28%), and One Direction’s Midnight Memories holds at No. 6 with 24,000 (down 46%). Katy Perry‘s PRISM slides 4-7 with 23,000 (down 55%), Miley Cyrus‘ Bangerz jumps 13-8 with 20,000 (down 34%), and Imagine Dragons’ Night Visions rises 10-9 with 17,000.
R. Kelly‘s Black Panties rounds out the top 10, up one slot to No. 10, selling slightly more than 17,000. Like Frozen at No. 1, the sales sum for the No. 10 album is notably low this week. But, it’s smaller than usual. Black Panties logs the third-smallest sum ever for the week’s No. 10 album since SoundScan started powering the chart in 1991. (Only two weeks in early 2012 registered smaller sales at No. 10, but both weeks’ sales came in at about 17,000 after rounding.)
Over on the Digital Songs chart, Katy Perry trots up three slots to No. 1 with “Dark Horse,” featuring Juicy J, selling 243,000 downloads for the week (up 6%). The single, which is the third release from her PRISM album, is making great gains at radio. This week, it climbs 15-11 on the Pop Songs airplay chart (known as Mainstream Top 40 on Billboard.biz).
Perry’s previous single, the ballad “Unconditionally,” topped out at No. 15 on the Digital Songs chart.
Last week’s leader, Pitbull‘s “Timber,” featuring Ke$ha, drops to No. 2 with 227,000 (down 25%). A Great Big World & Christina Aguilera‘s “Say Something” falls 2-3 with 218,000 (down 10%). OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars” slips 3-4 with 185,000 (down 22%).
Eminem’s “The Monster,” featuring Rihanna, is stationary at No. 5 with 162,000 (down 27%). Passenger’s “Let Her Go” is also a non-mover at No. 6 with 146,000 (down 21%).
Aloe Blacc‘s “The Man” re-enters the chart at No. 7 with 139,000 (up 191%) thanks to the song’s use in TV commercials for Beats by Dre. The spots, which have been airing since November, have recently earned huge exposure during the NFL playoffs.
The first Beats commercial with “The Man” featured basketball player Kevin Garnett. Then, a second clip, starring San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick, began running in December. The latter spot was widely seen during the 49ers’ Jan. 12 game against the Carolina Panthers, and is the catalyst for “The Man’s” sales gain this week.
Lorde’s “Team” hits the top 10 for the first time, rising 13-8 with 125,000 (up 6%), and Bastille’s”Pompeii” also reaches the top 10, rising 14-9 with 124,000 (up 9%).
Idina Menzel, who voices one of the lead characters in Disney’s Frozen film, hits a new high, as her version of the movie’s “Let It Go” climbs 12-10 with 118,000 (down 9%). Another rendition of the song, by Demi Lovato, slides 25-36 with54,000 (down 31%). Menzel’s performance of the song is the one featured in the movie, while Lovato’s take plays over the film’s closing credits.
Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Jan. 12) totaled 4.3 million units, down 21% compared with the sum last week (5.4 million) and down 17% compared with the comparable sales week of 2013 (5.1 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 9.7 million, down 15% compared with the same total at this point last year (11.4 million).
Digital track sales this past week totaled 25.6 million downloads, down 16% compared with last week (30.6million) and down 11% stacked next to the comparable week of 2013 (28.8 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 56.2 million, down 11% compared with the same total at this point last year (63.4 million).
Next week’s Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2012 when: A$AP Rocky‘s Long.Live.A$AP debuted at No. 1 with 139,000 and the Kidz Bop 23 album started at No. 2 with 81,000.
