No one would have expected Taylor Swift‘s “The Life of a Showgirl” to lose its grip on the album chart in week 2, and it indeed held on at the top of the Billboard 200, with 338,000 equivalent album units in its second week out.
Last week, Swift set a record in the Luminate/Soundscan-era data-keeping books with 4.002 million units. Although this week’s figure marked a predictably significant drop-off from that record-buster, even the second week for “Showgirl” ranked as the fifth best week for any album this year, per Billboard and Luminate. The only albums that had a higher number than 338,000 units in a single frame this year were first-week figures for releases from Wallen (who opened with 493,000), the Weeknd (who started with 490,000), Sabrina Carpenter (which started with 366K) and, of course, Swift’s own debut tally.
Breaking down that 338K figure for Swift’s second week, 101,000 of those units came in the form of pure album sales, Billboard reported. That sales figure represented the biggest drop for “Showgirl” in week 2, down 97%, after a first week that included all the pre-sales for the album, plus a number of release-week-only variants. Nonetheless, 101,000 is a pure-sales figure that few contemporary albums ever reach in a week, and “Showgirl” had little competition in easily standing atop Billboard’s separate Top Album Sales chart for a second week.
Streaming had a stronger hold, down from the juggernaut first-week figure by only 55%. The album’s tracks picked up a still-staggering 307.59 million on-demand official streams, which calculated out in the chart formula to 236,000 SEA (streaming equivalent album) units. Needless to say, “Showgirl” didn’t have any challengers in returning to No. 1 on Billboard’s Top Streaming Albums chart.
Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” spent a dozen nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 this year. That’s a run at the top of the Billboard 200 that Swift will no doubt be hoping to match in the coming months. Looking at the release schedule, it appears as if there won’t be a lot standing in the way of an extended reign, as there are no further obvious pop blockbusters currently scheduled to come out between now and the end of 2025, barring any last-minute surprises from a superstar.
With no music stars interested in putting albums out right now in Swift’s shadow, there were no new entries in the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for the week ending Oct. 10.
The only relatively fresh blood on the chart is in Olivia Dean’s “The Art of Loving,” which debuted at No. 8 two weeks ago, then rose one spot to No. 7 last week, and is up yet one more spot to No. 6 in week 3. The latest weekly tally for the album is 36,000 equivalent album units, up 5% from the previous week.
Everything else in the top 10 is very familiar fare — perhaps overly familiar, for some tastes. Following Swift near the top of the list are the “KPop Demon Hunters” soundtrack at No. 2 (104,000 units), Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” at No. 3 (79,000 units), Cardi B’s “Am I the Drama?” in fourth place (50,000) and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Man’s Best Friend” in the No. 5 spot (45,000)
Following Dean at No. 6 are Bad Bunny’s “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” in seventh place (33,000 units), SZA’s “SOS” at No. 8 (32,000), Alex Warren’s “You’ll Be Alright, Kid” — not to be confused with Swift’s “You’re on Your Own, Kid,” of course — at No. 9 (32,000) and, finally, a second Wallen mega-seller, “One Thing at a Time,” in 10th place (31,000).
Results for the Hot 100 will come in Monday, with Swift’s “The Fate of Ophelia” expected to repeat at the top there as well.
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