Selena Gomez & benny blanco’s ‘I Said I Love You First’ Opens at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales Chart

Selena Gomez and benny blanco‘s inaugural joint album, I Said I Love You First, makes its entrance at No. 1 on Billboard‘s Top Album Sales chart (for the week of April 5). This marks Gomez’s fourth chart-topping album and blanco’s first. The album achieved sales of 71,000 copies in the U.S. for the week ending March 27, as reported by Luminate. This is Gomez’s highest sales week since 2015 and blanco’s best sales week ever.

From the total sales of 71,000, 21,000 were vinyl purchases, marking the highest vinyl sales week for either artist. The album, being the first collaboration of the real-life couple, also debuts at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart.

Overall, I Said I Love You First represents Gomez’s eighth top 10 placement on Top Album Sales, and it is the first for blanco.

Also making a top 10 debut in the most recent Top Album Sales chart are Japanese Breakfast’s For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) and My Morning Jacket’s is.

Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart measures the top-selling albums of the week strictly based on traditional album sales. The chart’s inception dates back to May 25, 1991, the week Billboard first began compiling charts using electronically monitored piece count data from SoundScan, now Luminate. For many years, pure album sales were the singular metric used for the Billboard 200 albums chart until Dec. 6, 2014, when the chart transitioned to a methodology merging album sales with track equivalent album (TEA) units and streaming equivalent album (SEA) units.

Among the 71,000 copies sold of I Said I Love You First, physical sales accounted for 38,000 (21,000 on vinyl and 17,000 on CD), while digital downloads made up 33,000.

The opening week sales of I Said I Love You First were greatly enhanced by the inclusion of seven vinyl variants (various color editions, some featuring alternate covers; including a signed option), three CD variations (standard CD, a signed edition, and a zine/CD version with deluxe packaging), a deluxe box set complete with branded merchandise and a CD, as well as 10 different digital download versions.

Of the digital download editions, there was initially a widely accessible standard edition at digital retail. Subsequently, during the album’s launch week, nine more download variants were released, initially available only through Gomez’s webstore, each priced at $5. Each variant included the 14 tracks from the standard album, along with additional material. Five of the variants featured one bonus track each (“Stained,” “Talk,” “That’s What I’ll Care [Seven Heavens Version],” “Scared of Loving You [Live From Vevo],” and “How Does It Feel To Be Forgotten [Live From Vevo],” respectively), while one offered two bonus tracks (an acoustic version and an extended version of the album single “Call Me When You Break Up”). Additionally, there was an Explained: Narrated by Selena Gomez edition (featuring 14 bonus tracks with Gomez’s commentary on each of the 14 songs), a Slowed & Reverbed edition (with 14 bonus slowed and reverbed versions of the songs), and an Instrumentals edition (with 14 bonus instrumental takes of the tracklist).

All nine download variants were made available in the iTunes Store on Wednesday (March 26). They were exclusive to the iTunes Store until March 27, which was also the last day they were offered in Gomez’s store.

Lady Gaga’s chart-topping MAYHEM remains stable at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with just over 13,000 sold (a drop of 44%).

Japanese Breakfast achieves its highest sales week and best chart position on Top Album Sales as For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women) starts off at No. 3 with 13,000 sold. (This is the act’s second top 10 appearance.) The album’s sales benefitted from the release of eight vinyl variants (including a signed version), alongside a standard digital download, CD, and cassette release. Vinyl sales accounted for just over 10,000 – representing the act’s best week on vinyl, leading to a No. 2 debut on the Vinyl Albums chart.

Kendrick Lamar’s previous chart-topper GNX holds its ground at No. 4 on Top Album Sales (slightly above 11,000; a decline of 9%), while The Weeknd’s chart-leading Hurry Up Tomorrow climbs from 15 to 5 (11,000; up 92% following the release of a deluxe CD boxed set edition sold in the artist’s webstore).

My Morning Jacket’s newest studio album, titled is, enters the Top Album Sales chart at No. 6 with nearly 10,000 sold – of which 7,000 were on vinyl. This marks the fifth time the act has reached the top 10. Additionally, it debuts at No. 4 on the Vinyl Albums chart. The album was offered in five vinyl variants, along with a standard CD and digital download version.

Completing the remainder of the top 10 on Top Album Sales: Sabrina Carpenter’s previous No. 1 Short n’ Sweet drops from 6 to 7 (almost 10,000; a decrease of 5%), LE SSERAFIM’s HOT falls from 1 to 8 in its second week (8,000; down 80%), Playboi Carti’s MUSIC drops from 3 to 9 (just over 7,000; down 51%), and Chappell Roan’s chart-topping The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess slides from 9 to 10 (7,000; down 13%).

• Source: NEWHD MEDIA