Beyoncé's new self-titled album remains unstoppable on the Billboard 200 chart, as it spends a second week atop the list.

"Beyoncé" sold 374,000 copies in the week ending Dec. 22 (down 39%), according to Nielsen SoundScan. It bowed at No. 1 on the previous week's chart, after only three days on sale, with 617,000 sold.

The album was released on an off-cycle Friday, Dec. 13. Its debut on the chart a week ago came from sales in the week ending Dec. 15.

Thus, in its first 10 days of release, "Beyoncé" sold 991,000 and is (so far) the 12th biggest-selling album of 2013. There is one more tracking week left in the year -- the week ending Dec. 29. It's likely that "Beyoncé" will finish 2013 among the top 10 sellers (all of which have sold at least 1 million this year).

"Beyoncé's" debut was fueled by sales only from the iTunes Store, as the album was exclusively available through the retailer until the end of last week. After that, the set went on sale through all traditional sellers of music, including brick-and-mortar establishments. (Notably, both Target and Amazon.com declined to sell the CD version of the album.)

Impressively, "Beyoncé" sold more copies in its second chart week than the diva's last album, "4," did in its debut on the chart. The latter album was released in 2011 and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 310,000. (And, the album was released on a traditional Tuesday, giving the set six days of sales in its debut frame.)

In its second week, "4" sold 115,000 (securing a second, and final, week at No. 1).

Although "Beyoncé" became widely available in its second week, its digital sales remain strong (most of those coming from the iTunes Store). Of its 374,000 second week, downloads made up 63% (235,000). It was the top selling digital album of the week, and remains at No. 1 on the Digital Albums chart. (Among the top selling physical albums of the week, "Beyoncé" was the No. 3 seller, behind Garth Brooks "Blame It All On My Roots" and One Direction's "Midnight Memories.")

Speaking of Brooks, his Walmart-exclusive box set spends another week at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, selling 199,000 copies (up 16%). The cumulative sales of the six-CD/two-DVD box -- which sells for $24.96 -- now stand at 681,000. The album, like the rest of Brooks' titles, is unavailable as a download.

One Direction's "Midnight Memories" is No. 3 on the Billboard 200 -- up two spots -- with 166,000 (up 35%). The set has sold 954,000 in its four weeks on sale.

The Robertson's "Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas" album rises two rungs to No. 4 with 132,000 (up 22%), while Kelly Clarkson's "Wrapped In Red" slips two positions to No. 5 with 124,000 (down 9%).

Eminem's "The Marshall Mathers LP 2" climbs two positions to No. 6 (115,000; up 39%), Katy Perry's "PRISM" jumps 9-7 (99,000; up 67%) and the soundtrack to "Frozen" rises 10-8 with 81,000 (up 45%). Michael Buble's "Christmas" returns to the top 10, as it steps 13-9 with 68,000 (up 43%) and Luke Bryan's "Crash My Party" closes out the top 10, rising 14-10 with just over 68,000 (up 44%).

This week's chart represents the final full week of shopping before the Dec. 25 Christmas holiday, so it's natural to see an overall lift in album sales. (Album sales volume is up by 22% this week.) Next week's tracking frame ends on Dec. 29, so there will be two more days of pre-Christmas shopping (Dec. 23 and Dec. 24) in next week's chart. So, we should see the top of the Billboard 200 chart post some sizable numbers again.

Few significant albums were released on Dec. 17 -- the release date that impacts this week's chart -- so relatively few titles debut on the tally. The top debut this week is B.o.B's new "Underground Luxury," which bows at No. 22 with 35,000. His last album, 2012's "Strange Clouds," debuted and peaked at No. 5 off a 76,000 start.

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Dec. 22) totaled 10.6 million units, up 22% compared with the sum last week (8.7 million) and down 17% compared with the comparable sales week of 2012 (12.7 million). Year to date album sales stand at 280 million, down 9% compared to the same total at this point last year (306.2 million).

Next week's Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2012 when: Taylor Swift's "Red" held at No. 1 with 241,000 (down 12%), while the soundtrack to "Les Miserables" jumped 33-2 with 136,000 (up 218%).

http://www.billboard.com/articles/ne...oard-200-chart

They did it

Bey.

Congrats Bey. Slay the nation.

We all knew they would.

Katy Perry's "PRISM" jumps 9-7 (99,000; up 67%) .


After 2 months

PRISM and Beyonce

What are PRISM's total sales according to BB?

EDIT: 869K. Platinum next week?

Very nice for 1D

King

One Direction's "Midnight Memories" is No. 3 on the Billboard 200 -- up two spots -- with 166,000 (up 35%). The set has sold 954,000 in its four weeks on sale.

The top debut this week is B.o.B's new "Underground Luxury," which bows at No. 22 with 35,000. His last album, 2012's "Strange Clouds," debuted and peaked at No. 5 off a 76,000 start.

Not with him doing Fifth Harmony & Jhené Aiko's EP numbers

It's even worse when you can see he "sold out" with this album. The complete image change.

Down 39% is this like the smallest drop of the entire year for second week?

Beyoncé is SLAYINGGGGG

Next week is going to be very interesting *giggles hysterically*

I'm not aware of his new image.. but he's always been "pop", hasn't he?

Not BB snatching 9k from Bey . Still very impresive numbers ,PRISM might cross plat in 2 chart weeks also

Amazing sales