BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS — Red Carpet Arrivals — 2018 BBMA’s at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada — … [+] Pictured: Taylor Swift — (Photo by: Brian Friedman/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)
Taylor Swift rules the Billboard 200 again this week with her latest project The Tortured Poets Department. The set has now lived on top of the ranking of the most-consumed albums in the U.S. for four frames, and it seems like it’s headed for a fifth turn in just a few days.
The Tortured Poets Department is one of 11 titles from Swift that take up space on the Billboard 200 this week. Of that collection, all but two are on the rise. Her latest can’t climb any higher, and one older set is actually falling, while all of her other works find a way to improve on the competitive tally.
1989 is the only album by Swift that doesn’t either remain steady or rise on the Billboard 200. This week, the pop blockbuster slips eight spots, settling at No. 160 on the tally. It’s also Swift’s lowest-ranking hit title this time around.
While 1989 may be declining in status on the Billboard 200, the Grammy-winning album is actually gaining when looking at consumption. According to Luminate, the set was up just 0.2% in terms of total listening and buying of the set and the music featured on it. The Billboard 200 must have been so competitive this frame that even a minor improvement wasn’t enough to keep the project from slipping.
1989 may not be lifting, but the re-recorded take on the title is doing well. 1989 (Taylor’s Version) is up from No. 24 to No. 18 this week. The project, which reimagined songs from the original and included previously unheard cuts, moved another 9,189 equivalent units this past tracking period–a growth of the exact same number of percentage points as the first take on 1989.
Swift manages to climb the Billboard 200 with all of the following albums: Lover, 1989 (Taylor’s Version), Midnights, Folklore, Reputation, Red (Taylor’s Version), Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), Evermore, and Fearless (Taylor’s Version). The Tortured Poets Department is still comfortable at No. 1, and in its fourth frame, it shifted another quarter-million units.
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is the biggest gainer in Swift’s catalog when looking at the Billboard 200 this week. The title leaps 21 spaces to land at No. 125. It also moved 10,521 equivalent units, according to Luminate, which is up more than 13% from last period.
