The xx and Run the Jewels Sold More Records Than the Weeknd Last Week (But He Still Gets #1)

 The xx and Run the Jewels Sold More Records Than the Weeknd Last Week (But He Still Gets #1)

The Weeknd’s latest album, Starboy, has kept the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart this week, even though it wouldn’t have even cracked the top five going by just sales, The New York Times reports. Starboy‘s success this week was largely due to streaming: The album’s tracks were were streamed a lofty 57.2 million times in the week ending January 19, according to Nielsen Music data used by Billboard. But Starboy sold only 13,000 copies as a full album.

In fact, six albums outsold Starboy last week. At No. 2, in its first week on the chart, was the xx’s I See You, which sold 36,000 copies, though its songs were streamed only 12.3 million times. Among other albums outselling Starboy despite charting lower were Run the JewelsRun the Jewels 3 and the Trolls soundtrack.

Last year, streaming consumption overtook sales for the first time in history.

Starboy has now topped the chart for its third consecutive week, and its fourth week overall since being released in late November. 

Revisit our feature “The Dark Knight Returns: A Conversation With the Weeknd.” 

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