Katy Perry has made a splash with her latest single, “Roar,†selling more downloads in a week than any other song this year. But it was not quite enough to make her No. 1 on Billboard’s official singles chart.
“Roar,†which leaked online a couple of days before its official release date last week â€" no big whoop to Ms. Perry, it seemed â€" sold 557,000 copies in its first week out, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That is more than early industry estimates, and the best week for a song since Taylor Swift’s “I Knew You Were Trouble,†which logged 582,000 sales during the last week of 2012.
But since Billboard’s Hot 100 chart incorporates airplay and online streaming along with sales, “Roar†reached only No. 2. Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,†still huge on the radio and online, notched its 11th week at No. 1.
On the album chart, the country singer Luke Bryan also had an excellent opening week, with 528,000 copies of his latest album, “Crash My Party†(Capitol Nashville). It is Mr. Bryan’s second No. 1 album of the year, after his compilation “Spring Break … Here to Party†(can you guess what many of his songs are about?), which reached the top in March.
The R&B singer K. Michelle opens at No. 2 with 72,000 sales of her debut, “Rebellious Soul†(Atlantic), and Vol. 47 of the pop collection “Now That’s What I Call Music!†fell one spot to No. 3 with 52,000. Mr. Thicke’s album, also called “Blurred Lines†(Star Trak/Interscope), fell one spot to No. 4, with 48,000, and last week’s No. 1, the self-titled release by the Civil Wars â€" an indie-folk duo which may or may not still exist â€" fell to No. 5 in its second week out with 39,000 sales, a 66 percent drop.
