Lewis Capaldi has made his mark on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart with his latest album, “Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent,” entering the top 10. The album debuted at No. 4, marking Capaldi’s first top 10-charting effort on the chart. It achieved its position with strong sales of 20,000 copies in the United States during the week ending May 25, according to Luminate.
This achievement is significant for Capaldi, as it surpasses the sales of his debut studio album, “Divinely Uninspired to a Hellish Extent,” which peaked at No. 26 on the chart in 2019 with around 3,500 copies sold in its opening week. The success of “Broken By Desire…” demonstrates Capaldi’s growing popularity and the anticipation surrounding his new music.
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Joining Capaldi in the top 10 of the Top Album Sales chart are several other notable artists. Dave Matthews Band secures its eighth No. 1 album with “Walk Around the Moon,” which sold an impressive 40,000 copies. Ghost’s five-song covers set, “Phantomime,” enters the chart at No. 2, while SZA’s “SOS” re-enters at No. 3 following its physical release on CD and vinyl. Sleep Token’s “Take Me Back to Eden” debuts at No. 6, (G)I-DLE’s “I Feel” starts at No. 7, and Def Leppard’s “Drastic Symphonies,” featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, rocks in at No. 8.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks albums based solely on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to 1991 when Billboard began tabulating charts using electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. It is important to note that this chart only considers physical album sales and does not factor in streaming or track equivalent album units.
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In the case of “Broken By Desire…,” the album sold a total of 20,000 copies in its debut week. Physical sales accounted for 15,000 copies, with 8,000 on CD and 7,000 on vinyl. Digital download sales contributed 5,000 copies to the album’s first-week performance. To boost sales, the album was made available in various formats, including multiple vinyl LPs with exclusive color variants for different retailers, four CD editions with bonus tracks, and an iTunes Store-exclusive digital album with additional bonus tracks.
The overall album sales for the week ending May 25 in the U.S. reached 1.795 million copies, showing a 1% increase compared to the previous week. Physical albums, including CDs, vinyl LPs, and cassettes, accounted for 1.436 million copies, experiencing a slight decline of 0.8%. On the other hand, digital albums saw a rise of 8.6%, totaling 359,000 copies.
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Breaking down the physical album sales, there were 625,000 CD albums sold during that week, representing a 0.9% increase from the previous week. Vinyl albums sold 799,000 copies, experiencing a slight decrease of 2.2%. Looking at the year-to-date figures, CD album sales have increased by 4.3% compared to the same period last year, reaching a total of 13.918 million copies. Vinyl album sales have seen significant growth, up by 25.8% with a total of 19.588 million copies sold so far in 2023.
In summary, Lewis Capaldi’s “Broken By Desire to Be Heavenly Sent” has made a strong debut in the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart, signifying his increasing popularity. The album’s impressive sales numbers, along with the success of other artists on the chart, highlight the continued importance of physical album sales in the music industry. Despite the rise of digital and streaming platforms, fans still value and support physical music formats such as CDs and vinyl.