Taylor Swift's 'Speak Now' sets new record low on Billboard 200

'Country Strong' soundtrack rebounds in the chart's only good news

By Katie Hasty Wednesday, Jan 12, 2011 2:10 PM

Taylor Swift

Credit: AP Photo

Taylor Swift’s “Speak Now” tops the Billboard 200 again this week. Bummer.

It’s not a bummer because of the artist that she is, but because the 52,000 copies she sold of the set is the lowest sales frame for a No. 1 album in SoundScan’s history, according to Billboard. That company started tracking this sort of data in 1991.

The previous low was at the end of January in 2007, when the “Dreamgirls” soundtrack moved a little more than 60,000.

Still, that makes it six non-consecutive weeks at the top for “Speak Now.” This week’s sales total is down 32% from the previous week’s.

Nicki Minaj’s “Pink Friday” is up No. 4 to No. 2 (39,000, -36%), Bruno Mars’ “Doo-Wops & Hooligans” ascends No. 7 to No. 3 (38,000, -15%) and Daft Punk’s “Tron: Legacy” soundtrack moves No. 6 to No. 4 (34,000, -37%). Eminem’s “Recovery” slips No. 3 to No. 5 (33,000, -47%), Rihanna’s “Loud” descends No. 3 to No. 6 (33,000, -46%) and Kanye West’s “By Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” falls No. 5 to No. 7 (33,000, -43%).

Mumford & Sons’ “Sigh No More” stays tight at No. 8 (31,000, -20%), Jason Aldean’s “My Kinda Part” emerges No. 13 to No. 9 (29,000, -15%) and the soundtrack to “Country Strong” flies up No. 149 to No. 10 (28,000, +477%). The ascent can be attributed to the fact that the film went wide in theaters on Friday.

Katie Hasty
Managing Editor

After five years as a columnist and editor at Billboard, Katie Hasty joined HitFix in 2009 for music and film reporting out of New York. The Midwest native has worked as a writer, music promoter and in A&R since 1999 and performs with her band Numbers And Letters.