Bad Bunny beats Taylor Swift in tight race to top spot

Bad Bunny’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” rises to No. 1 after its first full week of tracking, becoming the reggaeton star’s fourth album to reach the top. It was a close race to the top as the 17-song set rose to No. 1 with just 1,000 more units than the vinyl reissue of Taylor Swift’s “Lover (Live From Paris),” which the singer released on sale in its online store on January 7. .

In the tracking week ending January 16, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” gained 203,500 units while Swift’s “Lover: Live From Paris” re-entered the list with 202,500 units (all from sales of albums) following its reissue on vinyl (161,000 sold for the week). ), and very first version for digital download.

Bad Bunny debuted at No. 2 the previous week with only five days of activity since Billboard (and its data partner Luminate) only counts units Friday through Thursday, while “Debí” was released on a Sunday ( January 5). “Debí’s” rise to the top was largely fueled by its first full week of streaming activity, which totaled 264 million streams. The Spanish-language album was only available as a standard LP and digital download for purchase. Traditional album sales accounted for just under 8,000 album sales for the week.

It’s quite the opposite for Swift, whose album was exclusively available for purchase as a vinyl LP or download. Swift’s vinyl copies sold out almost instantly, propelling “Lover (Live From Paris)” to easily surpass its previous peak of No. 58 on the Billboard 200 chart. During this first – and very limited – drop in February 2023, the “Live From Paris” edition sold for well over $1,000 at second-hand retail stores and online stores.

It is the best-selling album of the week and the highest-charting live album on the Billboard 200 in over five years (also the biggest sales week for a live album on vinyl since Luminate started tracking sales in 1991). Not since Lionel Richie’s 2019 release, “Hello From Las Vegas,” has a live album reached such a level.

Apart from Swift and Bad Bunny, there are no new releases in the Top 10 this week: “SOS” by SZA holds 3rd place, followed by “GNX” by Kendrick Lamar in 4th place, “Wham” by Lil Baby goes to number 4. . 5 after a week at #1 and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet” is at #6. Billie Eilish’s “Hit Me Hard and Soft” remains at No. 7; Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing at a Time” is at No. 9; and Gracie Abrams’ “The Secret of Us” rounds out the top at No. 10.