This week, Selena Gomez collects her first No. 1 title on the Billboard 200 with the arrival of “Stars Dance.” The Hollywood Records release sold 97,000 copies in its first week—a career-high frame for the singer.
Each of her four albums have steadily grown larger in their debut weeks, bowing with successively bigger sums and placing higher on the chart.
Her 2009 debut, “Kiss and Tell,” opened at No. 9 with nearly 66,000. It was followed by the No. 4-ranking “A Year Without Rain” in 2010 (which slightly exceeded 66,000) and then 2011’s “When the Sun Goes Down” (No. 3 peak, a week after it launched at No. 4 with 78,000).
Gomez has been red hot this year, scoring her biggest hit single yet with the lead track from “Stars Dance,” “Come & Get It.” The cut sailed to No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 (her first top 10) and No. 2 on the Pop Songs airplay chart.
Gomez, who just turned 21 last week, is also the youngest solo female artist to hit No. 1 since her friend Taylor Swift in 2010. On the chart dated Nov. 13 of that year, the then-20-year old Swift debuted at the top with her second leader, “Speak Now.”
Gomez bumps Jay Z’s “Magna Carta . . . Holy Grail” down to No. 2 with 77,000 (down 40%). It had ruled the list for two weeks.
It’s a good week for all things Disney, as Hollywood Records’ sister label, Walt Disney Records, sees its “Teen Beach Movie” soundtrack soar from No. 8 to No. 3. The set sold 57,000 in its second week of release, jumping into the top three with a monster gain of 128%.
The increase follows a full week’s worth of impact from the movie’s Disney Channel premiere on July 19. In addition, repeated airings of film—along with its quick turnaround DVD release on July 30—should ensure another solid sales week for the soundtrack.
The “Kidz Bop 24” album falls 3-4 with 39,000 (down 37%), while Marc Anthony debuts at No. 5 with his new Spanish-language album “3.0” (nearly 39,000). “3.0” marks Anthony’s best sales week and highest-charting set since his 2002 English album “Mended” debuted and peaked at No. 3 with 111,000. He previously tallied two top 10 sets, but both were English affairs: “Mended” and his 1999’s self-titled effort.
“3.0” is the highest-charting Spanish set by any act since April 30, 2011—when Mana’s “Drama y Luz” debuted at No. 5 with 47,000—and the biggest sales frame for a Spanish effort since Nov. 25, 2011, when Romeo Santos’ “Formula: Vol. 1” launched with 62,000 at No. 9.
Back in this week’s top 10: Florida Georgia Line’s “Here’s to the Good Times” slips 5-6 with 30,000 (down 6%), and Imagine Dragons’ “Night Visions” falls 6-7 with 27,000 (down 4%).
Rock band We Came As Romans notches its first top 10 album and best sales week yet, as “Tracing Back Roots” starts at No. 8 with 26,000. The group previously topped out at No. 21 in 2011, where its last release, “Understanding What We’ve Grown to Be” launched with 19,000.
Next up in the top 10 is the “Rich Gang” compilation from Young Money and Cash Money Records, which starts at No. 9 with 24,000. It’s the highest-charting hip-hop compilation since the “Good Music Cruel Summer” set ranked at No. 7 on Oct. 13, 2012. (It debuted at No. 2 the week previous.)
Rounding out the top 10 is Justin Timberlake’s “The 20/20 Experience,” which falls one rung to No. 10 with 21,000 (down 14%).
Over on the Digital Songs chart, we have a new No. 1: One Direction’s “Best Song Ever” crashes in with 322,000 downloads sold. It’s the biggest debut for a song since Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble” bowed at No. 1 on Oct. 27, 2012, with 416,000.
“Best Song Ever” isn’t One Direction’s largest sales week, however. The group bulldozed through 341,000 copies of its “Live While We’re Young” when it started at No. 1 on the Oct. 20, 2012, Digital Songs chart.
“Best Song Ever” was written for One Direction’s upcoming documentary film “This Is Us,” and it doubles as the lead single from the group’s forthcoming third studio album.
One Direction bumps last week’s chart-topper, Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” down to No. 2 with 312,000 (down 9%).
Miley Cyrus’ “We Can’t Stop” also falls a slot to No. 3 with 191,000 (down 8%) while Jay Z’s “Holy Grail” (featuring Timberlake) is steady at No. 4 with 160,000 (down 3%).
Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” descends two notches to No. 5 with 159,000 (down 8%), while Ariana Grande’s “Baby I” debuts at No. 6 with 141,000. It follows “The Way,” featuring Mac Miller, which launched at No. 6 earlier this year with 219,000. Grande is the only woman to debut two singles in the top 10 of the Digital Songs chart this year.
Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” falls 5-7 (119,000; down 14%); Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” featuring Pharrell Williams, dips 6-8 (114,000; down 14%); and Bruno Mars’ “Treasure” moves 8-9 (110,000; down 6%). Closing out the top 10 is Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Same Love,” featuring Mary Lambert, slipping one rung to No. 10 with 105,000 (down 6%).
Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending July 28) totaled 4.68 million units, down 1% compared with the sum last week (4.71 million) and down 4% compared with the comparable sales week of 2012 (4.9 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 161.2 million, down 6% compared with the same total at this point last year (172.1 million).
Digital track sales this past week totaled 23.2 million downloads, up 2% compared with last week (22.8 million) and down 3% stacked next to the comparable week of 2012 (23.8 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 775.4 million, down 3% compared with the same total at this point last year (797.3 million).
Next week’s Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2012 when Rick Ross’ “God Forgives, I Don’t” launched at No. 1 with 218,000.
