Beyoncé sang for an estimated 104 million people at the Super Bowl on Sunday, and Justin Bieber has scored his fifth No. 1 album. But the biggest victory in the music industry is an independent rap duo from Seattle and its hit song about the pleasures of smelly secondhand clothes.
The duo, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, is No. 1 on Billboardâs Hot 100 singles chart for the third time in a row wth its song âThrift Shop,â featuring Wanz, which had 381,000 downloads last week â" far more than any other song â" and continues to gain radio play on multiple formats, including pop. The track has had 2.7 million downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and Macklemore & Ryan Lewisâs self-released album, âThe Heist,â is No. 16 this week with 21,000 sales. âThe Heist,â which opened at No. 2 in October, has sold a total of 313,000 copies.
Sales of some of Beyoncéâs songs doubled and even tripled last week. But that did not translate to blockbuster numbers, given the sales levels of her tracks the week before â" they were low, yet perfectly normal for catalog hits in an average week. âHalo,â for example, sold 19,000 copies last week, a weekly gain of more than 300 percent, but the song still landed at No. 105 on SoundScanâs ranking of digital track sales. (âHaloâ ! and other Beyoncé songs might well see another gain next week, since SoundScanâs reporting week ended Sunday evening, the night of the Super Bowl.)
The top four titles on Billboardâs album chart this week are all new. Mr. Bieberâs âBelieve Acousticâ (Schoolboy/RBMG/Island), featuring acoustic and live versions of songs from his most recent studio release, âBelieve,â is on top with 211,000 sales. Behind it are Andrea Bocelliâs âPassioneâ (Sugar/Verve), at No. 2 with 94,000; the indie duo Tegan & Sara, who reached No. 3 with 49,000 sales of âHeartthrobâ (Warner Brothers); and the R&B singer Charlie Wilsonâs âLove, Charlieâ (RCA), at No. 4 with 44,000 sales.
The âPitch Perfectâ soundtrack is No. 5 with 37,000 sales, and last weekâs No. 1, âSet You Freeâ (MCA Nashville) by the country singer Gary Allan, fell to No. 8 with 34,000.