Post Malone leads album sales, Childish Gambino scores first #1 song: Comment from Music Biz President James Donio

James Donio, President of the Music Business Association (Music Biz), commented on this week’s sales numbers issued by Nielsen (published by Billboard – albums, singles) and BuzzAngle Music (published by HITS Daily Double – albums).

“Post Malone spends a second week at #1 on the Nielsen and BuzzAngle Music charts with his album beerbongs & bentleys, which moved over 192,000 album equivalent units. It’s the first non-soundtrack album to reign for multiple weeks this year and only the third overall, following Black Panther: The Album and The Greatest Showman soundtrack. It was also another big week for new albums, with four debuting in the Top 10. Singer-songwriter Leon Bridges’ Good Thing led the way at #3 on the Billboard 200 and #4 on the HITS Top 50 Chart, his highest chart position yet. Rock band Shinedown landed its fifth Top 10 album with ATTENTION ATTENTION at #5 on both charts, while Hip-Hop group Rae Sremmurd reached #6 on both charts with their new triple album SR3MM. Rock band Lake Street Dive rounded out the debuts with Free Yourself Up, their best-charting album at #8 on the Billboard 200.

“On the Billboard Hot 100, Drake’s 15-week streak at #1 was halted by Childish Gambino’s ‘This Is America,’ which was released following his performance on Saturday Night Live. The track’s now-viral video was a major sales driver, accounting for 68% of the song’s streaming total. It’s his first #1 and first Top 10, with his previous high-water mark coming when ‘Redbone’ reached #12 in August 2017.

“Next week, we’ll see whether Rock band Arctic Monkeys’ Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino can crack the Top 10 without any advance singles.”