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Justin Bieber’s ‘Purpose’ Annihilates One Direction For No. 1 In Album Sales & U.S. Chart

By Page Mackinley
Published on: 10:52 PST, Nov 22, 2015

Wiping the floor with One Direction, Justin Bieber’s Purpose lands at No. 1 on Billboard’s 200 Albums chart.

Bieber’s latest record was released on November 13, along with 1D’s. This is the heartthrob’s sixth time atop Billboard’s 200 chart, but it will surely be his sweetest reign. The No. 1 seals the Canadian singer’s comeback and recognizes his hard-won return and widely acclaimed new album.

On Friday, rival music trade Hits Daily Double announced Bieber’s Purpose landed at No. 1 on their Top Albums Chart and published sales and streaming figures, which differ slightly from Billboard. The latter is considered more authoritative numbers-wise. So, without further ado.

On Sunday (November 22), Billboard reports Purpose debuted on the 200 albums chart with 522,000 in traditional album sales, surpassing Bieber’s previous first week best of 374,000 for 2012’s Believe.

It gets better. Added to that figure are 123,000 units from TEA (or track-­equivalent albums, whereby 10 individual downloads of songs from an album equalling one album unit) and SEA (or stream-equivalent albums, whereby 1,500 streams equals one album), making 649,000 equivalent album units of Bieber’s album for the week ending November 19.

That 649,000 represents a few things. It’s the biggest first week sales posted by an artist this year (so far), trumping the 535,000 racked up by fellow Canadian Drake in the first week of February with his mixtape If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late.

And at 21-years-old, Bieber is also the youngest artist to debut on Billboard’s 200 chart with six No. 1, five of which before he hit 19. These are: My World 2.0 (2010), Never Say Never: The Remixes(EP) (2011), Under the Mistletoe (2011), Believe(2012), Believe: Acoustic (in 2013).

Obviously, the juggernaut that is Adele’s 25 is already clearing a path through the charts. The songstress is tracking for the biggest sales week of the year, with an estimated 2.5 million units in her debut week, and is set to break *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached record of 2.415 million units (which they posted in their first week in 2000).

However, Bieber’s 649,000 debut will remain the biggest first week sales by a male this year. Taylor Swift previously debuted with 1.29 million in 2014 with 1989. Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP opened with 792,000 back in 2013.

Bieber’s Purpose also set a new global streaming record for an album in its debut week with 205 million streams on Spotify. This smashes The Weeknd’s previous record of 90 million streams for Beauty Behind the Madness earlier this year. The Biebs broke the U.S. record with 77 million streams.

In the opposite corner, One Direction pulled 106 million streams worldwide. The boyband’s Made in the A.M. album take the No. 2 slot on Billboard’s 200. The band sold 459,000 album units, 402,000 of those in pure album sales.

Tracking Bieber’s victory, his sales ascendance began once Purpose dropped. Although One Direction’s Made in the A.M. was ahead in pre-orders the week before November 13 (ID had 170,000 in ­pre-orders during a 6-week period to Bieber’s 110,000 in a 3-week span), the boyband’s lead disappeared once both albums launched. By November 17, Hits was already calling it, and saying the race was over, in Bieber’s favor.

Billboard reports, after Purpose and M.I.T.A.M. arrived, Bieber scanned 270,000 units during the ­weekend compared to One Direction’s 190,000 downloads. The publication noted that shorter pre-order windows typically give artists, “a bigger lift during the debut week” but Bieber’s was “greater than anticipated.”

Marketing-wise, both One Direction and Bieber’s teams went for broke. ID bought out all the advertising headers at iTunes and sold tickets to fans for their appearances on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Jimmy Kimmel Live!. These were packaged with ­redeemable CD copies of Made in the A.M. Public access to these TV shows is typically free.

The boy band also sold tickets (with ­redeemable CDs bundles) to pre-release ­listening parties at movie theaters with One Live Media, and performed at the “GMA 40” livestream.

At retail, One Direction sold their album with five different covers at Target. Consequently, Made in the A.M. sold 81,000 to Purpose’s 28,000 units at the discount chain between Friday to Sunday. Without that covers tactic, the margin was less pronounced at Walmart, where ID sold 22,000 units to Bieber’s 19,000.

For Bieber’s part, the 21-year-old’s team staged five ­events, called “An Evening With Justin Bieber.” Three were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on release day, Chicago’s Allstate Arena on November 18, and the Toyota Arena in Houston, Texas, on November 19. Fans were given the option to buy $18 tickets for just the concert or pay an extra $4 to receive a digital copy of Purpose. A livestream of the concert was offered at $9.99, and included a redeemable download of the album.

The Canadian also partnered with ride-hailing app Lyft, which gives riders a download of his album for $5 through a “buy and ride” option, and a promotion with 1-800-Flowers. He also swung by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and completed a week-long stint on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. On Thursday, Bieber tweeted an offer to fans to purchase the album for $9.99 for a chance to meet with the superstar when he performs at the Capital FM Jingle Ball on December 6.

Currently, Bieber’s single “Sorry” is No. 1 worldwide on Spotify, No. 2 on the U.S. iTunes chart, No. 1 on the U.K.’s iTunes chart, and No.1 on the U.K’s Official Singles Top 40 chart.

On Friday, Bieber set a new record becoming only the second artist on history to score three top five hits in the history of the U.K.’s Official Singles Top 40 chart since John Lennon in 1981 with “Imagine” (No. 1), “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” (No. 3), and “(Just Like) Starting Over” (No. 5).

The Official Charts Company reports Bieber bagged his second U.K. No. 1 in with “Sorry,” with 104,000 combined chart sales and 5.35 millions streams, which is a new personal best for the Biebs.

He previously hit the No.1 spot five times with “What Do You Mean?” That long-player is now at No. 5 on the U.K.’s Top 40 Chart, while new entry “Love Yourself” debuts at No. 3. Bieber’s “Sorry” also dethrones Adele’s “Hello.”

In addition, every track on Purpose charted in the U.K. Official Top 100. Eight of those jams made the cut on the U.K.’s Official singles Top 40 chart.

It’s the first time “a living act” has achieved this many simultaneous entries on that chart. The last artist to nearly accomplish this was Elvis, 58 years ago, in 1957, with seven entries. Multiple Purpose singles are also populating official charts across Europe and worldwide on iTunes.

Following a complete takeover of the top spots on worldwide iTunes album charts after Purpose was released — most of these album placings have now slipped to No. 2 after Adele’s 25 leaked earlier this week — the Biebs’ album is already silver in the U.K. with over 60,000 copies sold.

His record debuted at No.2 on the official U.K. album chart with just over 90,000 combined chart sales, which puts it just behind One Direction, who stacked up just over 3,000 copies more. Purpose debuted at No. 1 on the official albums charts in Sweden, New Zealand, Norway, Australia and the Netherlands.

Today’s Billboard 200 Albums and Top Album charts news will no doubt spark another round of think pieces on Purpose. But, by and large, critical reception to Bieber and One Direction’s albums is where the difference between the two has been the most marked.

A combination of widespread positive reviews for Purpose, with most highlighting Bieber’s new album as maturer, quality content such as the Purpose: The Movement short film, and the Biebs’ comeback story — captured the media and public’s imagination more than One Direction’s derivative material.

For now, Bieber’s Purpose album is No. 1 on Billboard’s 200 album chart, with the biggest first week sales in 2015 by a male and any artist (pre-Adele). What a year this kid has had.

[Photo by Getty Images]

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