The highest-selling albums and EPs in the United States are ranked in the Billboard 200, which is published by Billboard magazine. The data are compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly physical and digital sales, as well as on-demand streaming and digital sales of its individual tracks. In 2015, a total of 39 albums claimed the top position of the chart. One of which, American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's 1989 started its peak issue dated November 15, 2014.[1]1989 was the longest-running number-one album of the year, staying atop the chart for six weeks and was the best selling album of 2015 before Adele's 25, which managed to surpass the album's sales but after the year-end cut-off.[2]Canadianhip hop soul artist Drake's fourth commercial release, If You're Reading This It's Too Late, became the third best-selling overall album and top-selling digital album with 535,000 digital units sold, 495,000 of which consisted of traditional whole album sales.[3]
Adele's 25 sold 1.9 million copies after two days of availability, and 2.3 million after three, becoming the fastest-selling album of the 21st century and the best-selling album of 2015.[2][5][6][7][8] The album reached sales of 2.433 million early on its fourth day, surpassing the single-week record for an album since Nielsen Soundscan began tracking sales in 1991, set by NSYNC's No Strings Attached in March 2000 when it debuted with 2.416 million copies.[9] By its fifth day, 25 had sold over 2.8 million copies, 1.45 million of which were digital sales, breaking the first-week record for a digital set.[10] In total, it sold 3.38 million copies in the US in its first week, becoming the first album to sell over 3 million copies in a week, and only the second to sell over 2 million in a single week.[11]
Since July 2015, the chart's tracking week began on Friday (to coincide with the Global Release Date of the music industry) and ends on Thursday.[12] This change happened between July 25 and August 1.
^ abCaulfield, Keith (December 24, 2014). "Taylor Swift Back at No. 1 on Billboard 200, Nicki Minaj Debuts at No. 2". Billboard. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
^ ab"Adele's '25' Already 2015's Biggest Selling Album in U.S. - Billboard". Billboard. November 23, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
^"Drake Has the Top Selling Digital Album of 2015 - Complex". Complex. October 9, 2015. Retrieved December 21, 2015.
^"Top Album Sales - 2015 Archive | Billboard Charts Archive". Billboard. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
^Sisario, Ben (November 22, 2015). "Adele's 25 on Track to Break Sales Records". The New York Times. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (November 23, 2015). "Adele's '25' Sells 2.3 Million in First Three Days in U.S., Aiming for 2.9 Million Debut Week". Billboard. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
^"Adele's '25' Is Already 2015's Biggest-Selling Album". Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
^"Adele's '25' Became 2015's Best-Selling Album In Just 3 Days". Forbes. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
^"Official: Adele Breaks *NSYNC's Single-Week U.S. Album Sales Record". Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
^"Adele's '25' Sales Up to 2.8 Million in U.S., Headed for 3 Million Debut Week". Billboard. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
^"Adele's '25' Official First Week U.S. Sales: 3.38 Million". Billboard. November 28, 2015. Retrieved November 28, 2015.
^Billboard Staff (June 24, 2015). "Billboard to Alter Chart Tracking Week for Global Release Date". Billboard. Retrieved November 26, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (January 14, 2015). "Taylor Swift's '1989' Spends a Ninth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (January 21, 2015). "Meghan Trainor's 'Title' Album Earns Mighty Debut at No. 1 on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (February 4, 2015). "Taylor Swift's '1989' Scores Milestone 10th Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (February 11, 2015). "Taylor Swift's '1989' Spends 11th Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (March 17, 2015). "'Empire' Soundtrack Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart, Madonna Arrives at No. 2". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (March 17, 2015). "'Empire,' Madonna and Luke Bryan Debut in Top Three on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved March 18, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (June 24, 2015). "After 45-Year Wait, James Taylor Earns His First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved June 24, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (August 16, 2015). "Luke Bryan Bows at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart, Dr. Dre Debuts at No. 2". Billboard. Retrieved August 16, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (August 23, 2015). "Luke Bryan's 'Kill the Lights' Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved August 23, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (September 6, 2015). "The Weeknd's 'Beauty Behind the Madness' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved September 6, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (September 13, 2015). "The Weeknd Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (September 27, 2015). "Drake and Future's Surprise Album Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (September 27, 2015). "Seven Debuts Hit Top 10 of Billboard 200 Chart, Led by Drake & Future, Lana Del Rey and Mac Miller". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (October 11, 2015). "Janet Jackson Earns Historic Seventh No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved October 11, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (November 8, 2015). "Chris Stapleton Soars to No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart After CMAs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 9, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (November 15, 2015). "Chris Stapleton Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (November 22, 2015). "Justin Bieber Scores Sixth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'Purpose'". Billboard. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (November 29, 2015). "Adele's '25' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart, '21' Returns to Top 10". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
^Caulfield, Keith (December 13, 2015). "Adele's '25' Rules for Third Week at No. 1, Coldplay Debuts at No. 2 on Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved December 13, 2015.