SZA’s ‘SOS’ Spends Second Week Atop Billboard 200 Albums Chart

SZA’s SOS spends a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Dec. 31), as the album earned 180,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 22 (down 43% from its opening frame a week ago), according to Luminate. The set debuted atop the list with 318,000 units.

Also in the top 10, BTS member RM scores his first top 10-charting album, as Indigo re-enters the list at No. 3 following its CD release on Dec. 16. The set debuted on the Dec. 17-dated chart at No. 15 after its initial release via streaming services and as a digital download album. RM becomes the first member of BTS to earn a solo top 10 album on the Billboard 200.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Dec. 31, 2022-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Dec. 28 (one day later than usual, due to the Christmas Day holiday on Dec. 25). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.

Of SOS’ 180,000 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 179,000 (down 42%, equaling 236.52 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 1,000 (down 87% and TEA units comprise less than 1,000 (down 49%).

Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 Midnights is a non-mover at No. 2 — though up 12% to 155,000 equivalent album units earned. The set’s sales were up 31% to 97,000, owed to holiday shopping as the chart reflects the sales week ending Dec. 22. (We’ll still see holiday gift-giving purchases impacting next week’s chart, dated Jan. 7, 2023, as that chart will reflect the tracking week of Dec. 23-29.) The bulk of Midnights’ sales were vinyl-driven, with 68,000 on vinyl sold for the week — up 41%. That also marks the third-largest sales week for any vinyl album in 2022, following the debut weeks of Midnights (575,000) and Harry Styles’ Harry’s House (182,000). Midnights continues to profit from its availability across five vinyl variants — all colored vinyl editions, including one exclusive to Target.

RM’s Indigo re-enters the Billboard 200 at No. 3 with 83,000 equivalent album units earned (up 1,290%) following its CD release on Dec. 16. It’s a new high for the set, and RM’s first top 10 album as a soloist. (The seven-member group BTS, of which RM is a member, has logged seven top 10s, six of which reached No. 1.)

RM is the first member of BTS to earn a solo top 10 album on the Billboard 200, and the second to reach the chart in 2022 with a solo project, following the No. 17 debut and peak of J-Hope’s Jack in the Box (July 30 chart).

Indigo debuted at No. 15 on the Billboard 200 dated Dec. 17 with 31,000 equivalent album units, following the set’s initial release via streaming services and as a digital download album for purchase. It slipped off the chart the following week, only to return on the new list after its CD release.

Of the album’s 83,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 22, album sales comprise 79,000 (up from less than 500 sales the week previous), while SEA units comprise 4,000 (down 28%; equaling 5.3 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum (down 32%).

CDs comprise 77,500 of Indigo’s sales for the week, while digital album purchases comprise 1,500. Like many K-pop releases, the CD configuration of Indigo was issued in collectible deluxe packages (three, including exclusive versions for Target and the Weverse webstore), each with a standard set of items and one randomized element (a photocard).

A trio of former No. 1s is next on the Billboard 200, as Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains falls 3-4 with 76,000 equivalent album units earned (down 25%), Michael Bublé’s Christmas is a non-mover at No. 5 with 72,000 (up 16%), and Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss dips 4-6 with 60,000 (down 10%).

Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song jingles 8-7 (59,000 equivalent album units earned; up 24%), Vince Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack glows 9-8 (56,000; up 20%) and Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas dashes 11-9 (53,000; up 18%).

Bad Bunny’s former No. 1 Un Verano Sin Ti closes out the new top 10, as it falls 7-10 with 52,000 equivalent album units earned (though up 2%).

Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.

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