Overall audio equivalent album units climb 9%, audio on-demand streams surge 16% and vinyl album sales grow 11%.
Lil Baby’s My Turn and Roddy Ricch’s “The Box” lead Nielsen Music/MRC Data’s 2020 midyear charts, as reflected on multiple lists, below.
Here’s a breakout of some of the data’s highlights.
‘My Turn’ Takes the Crown: For the tracking period of Jan. 3 through July 2, 2020, Lil Baby’s My Turn was the most popular album in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. The rap effort earned 1.467 million equivalent album units in that span of time.* (See full top 10 chart, below.)
Equivalent album units — for album titles and chart rankings cited below — comprise of traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album, or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. (For the sake of clarity, equivalent album units do not include listening to music on broadcast radio or digital radio broadcasts.) All numbers cited in this story are for the U.S. only.
My Turn — which was released on Feb. 28 via Quality Control/Motown/Capitol Music Group — debuted at No. 1 on weekly Billboard 200 chart dated March 14, and has accumulated five weeks in the pole position on the tally, the most of any title this year (through the July 11-dated chart, which reflects the tracking week ending July 2). It’s Lil Baby’s first No. 1, and his fourth top 10 effort overall.
Of My Turn’s 1.467 million units earned, SEA units drove 1.412 million of that sum — equating to 2.178 billion on-demand audio and video streams generated by the songs on the album in the first half of the year. The remaining 55,000 units of My Turn’s overall 1.467 million sum came from 31,000 in album sales and 25,000 in TEA units.
Of the 26 songs on My Turn, seven have each accumulated at least 100 million on-demand streams in 2020, led by “Sum 2 Prove,” with 293.8 million clicks. (It’s the 21st most-streamed song in the first half of 2019.)
My Turn is followed by The Weeknd’s After Hours and Lil Uzi Vert’s Eternal Atake as the Nos. 2 and 3 biggest albums of 2020, so far. They close out the midyear point with 1.423 million and 1.374 million units earned, respectively.
R&B and hip-hop albums hold the Nos. 1-5 slots on the midyear tally, as The Weeknd’s R&B set After Hours is No. 2, while hip-hop is represented by My Turn, Eternal Atake, Roddy Ricch’s Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial (No. 4) and Post Malone’s Hollywood’s Bleeding (No. 5). Both Please Excuse Me and Hollywood’s Bleeding were released in 2019, and continued their success into 2020.
Audio Equivalent Album Units Gain 9.4%: In the first half of 2020, audio equivalent album units** grew by 9.4%, totaling 361.21 million (versus 330.29 million at the comparable midpoint of 2019; Jan. 4 – July 4, 2019). (Audio equivalent album units do not include video streams. Note: Due to reporting methodology changes from a major video provider, year over year video streaming comparisons are not reflective of industry trends and therefore are not included in this story.)
R&B/Hip-Hop Dominates: Overall equivalent album units for the R&B/hip-hop genre totaled 108.86 million for the first half of 2020. That amounts to a leading 28.4% of the total volume across all genres (382.85 million) – the most of any genre. The next-largest genre is rock, with 19.3% of volume — 73.74 million of 382.85 million.
Additionally, the R&B/hip-hop genre represented a 31.2% of all on-demand song streams in 2020 (156.30 billion of 500.99 billion) – the largest percentage share of any genre. Again, rock is runner-up among genres in the world of on-demand streams (audio and video combined), with 15.5% of the market (77.78 billion of 500.99 billion).
BTS’ Big Sales: BTS’ Map of the Soul: 7 is the top selling album at the midpoint of 2020, with 552,000 copies sold (see chart, below) across all formats (physical CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc., along with digital album downloads).
The Korean pop group’s latest album (and fourth No. 1 on the weekly Billboard 200 chart) was the only title to surpass a half-million in sales in the first half of the year. Its sales were likely encouraged by the availability of four elaborate collectible CD packages (the same release strategy employed by the act with its three earlier No. 1s). CD sales comprise 96% of the album’s total sales thus far, while the remaining 4% were in digital album sales.
BTS is also the top selling artist, in terms of overall album sales across all titles and formats (physical CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc., along with digital album downloads), with 757,000 copies sold of the group’s entire catalog in the first half of 2020. BTS also leads all acts in terms of just physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.), as the group sold 720,000 albums (of its total 757,000) on physical formats.
The top selling artist, in terms of digital album downloads, is The Weeknd, with 283,000 copies sold across his catalog of albums. The Weeknd also has the top selling digital album at the midyear point, with After Hours having sold 273,000 downloads.
In the first half of the year, overall album sales across all formats fell by 18.1% to 45.5 million copies sold (down from 55.6 million). (Album sales have fallen on a yearly basis since 2012.)
In terms of only of physical albums, sales dropped by 20.3% to 27.9 million (down from 35 million). Isolating just CD album sales, they fell by 30.2% to 18.51 million (down from 26.53 million).
As for digital albums, sales are down 14.3% to 17.66 million (down from 20.60 million).
But Wait, There’s Vinyl! Vinyl album sales grew by 11.2% to 9.22 million (up from 8.30 million) in the first half of 2020. As usual, vinyl provides a rare bright spot in the overall album sales picture. (In 2019, vinyl album sales posted their 14th consecutive year of gains, while overall album sales fell for an eighth straight year.)
The top-selling vinyl album of 2020 at the midyear point (see chart, below) is Billie Eilish’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, with 85,000 vinyl LPs sold. So far in 2020, vinyl LP sales comprise 43% of the album’s overall sales of 198,000. (The remainder of When We All Fall Asleep’s 2020 sales are from CDs, with 59,000 sold, and digital albums, with 55,000 sold.)
Eilish has two titles among the top selling vinyl albums so far in 2020, as Dont Smile at Me places at No. 9 with 44,000 sold. She is the only act with two of the top 10-selling vinyl albums.
The No. 2 selling vinyl title of 2020 so far is Harry Styles’ Fine Line, while the soundtrack Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 is No. 3 with 56,000.
The top selling vinyl albums artist at the midyear point is The Beatles with 173,000 vinyl LPs sold across the band’s entire catalog. The Beatles’ biggest vinyl seller so far in 2020 is Abbey Road, with 54,000.
Eilish is the second-largest selling artist on vinyl, with 129,000 vinyl albums sold. Queen is the No. 3 vinyl seller, with 109,000 albums sold on wax (thanks largely to its Greatest Hits album, which is the No. 4 vinyl seller, with 56,000 sold).
Audio On-Demand Streams Climb: In the first half of 2020, audio on-demand streams grew 16.2% to 419.82 billion (up from 361.14 billion in the comparable time frame of 2019). (Note: Again, due to reporting methodology changes from a major video provider, year over year video streaming comparisons are not reflective of industry trends and therefore are not included in this story.)
‘Box’ Tops: Roddy Ricch’s smash hit single “The Box” is the most-streamed tune of 2020 so far (see charts, below), with 1.067 billion on-demand audio and video streams combined — the only track with a billion clicks thus far in 2020. It’s also the most-streamed song by only audio streams (728.68 million) or video streams (338.75 million).
“The Box” is from the rapper’s album Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial. “The Box” spent 11 weeks atop the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, which ranks the most popular songs of the week by blending streaming, sales and airplay data. It became the rapper’s first No. 1 on the tally, and he’s since topped the list as the featured artist on DaBaby’s “Rockstar.”
“The Box’s” robust streams powered Roddy Ricch to finish as the fourth-most streamed artist so far in 2020, with 2.65 billion clicks (audio and video combined). Drake leads all acts, with 3.39 billion across all of his songs.
“The Box” is also the No. 9 best-selling digital song of 2020 so far, with 182,000 downloads sold (see chart, below). The top-selling digital song of the first half of the year is The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” with 372,000 sold. Overall digital song sales dropped 23.3% to 127.83 million sold (down from 166.58 million in the comparable time frame of 2019). As music fans transition away from purchasing individual tracks to instead enjoy music via streaming services, digital track sales continue to erode while streams keep on climbing. (Digital song sales have fallen on a yearly basis since 2013.)
“The Box” is additionally the No. 8 biggest song in terms of radio audience for the first half of 2020 (see chart, below), with 1.332 billion audience impressions registered across all formats of radio. The biggest song on the radio at the midyear point is Post Malone’s “Circles,” with 2.266 billion audience impressions.
The most-heard artist across radio in the first half of 2020 was The Weeknd, as his catalog of songs collected 3.697 billion audience impressions. That sum is driven by two of the top 10 most heard songs of the year so far, “Blinding Lights” and “Heartless,” with 1.883 billion and 1.288 billion audience, respectively. Post Malone is runner up radio artist (3.493 billion), followed by Maroon 5 (3.421 billion) and Dua Lipa (2.738 billion).
Nielsen Music/MRC Data’s Midyear 2020 Charts:
2020’s Midyear Top 10 Albums (Based on Overall Equivalent Album Units*)
1. Lil Baby, My Turn (1.467 million)
2. The Weeknd, After Hours (1.423 million)
3. Lil Uzi Vert, Eternal Atake (1.374 million)
4. Roddy Ricch, Please Excuse Me for Being Antisocial (1.352 million)
5. Post Malone, Hollywood’s Bleeding (1.140 million)
6. Bad Bunny, YHLQMDLG (927,000)
7. Eminem, Music To Be Murdered By (855,000)
8. Justin Bieber, Changes (854,000)
9. BTS, Map of the Soul: 7 (842,000)
10. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (798,000)
2020’s Midyear Top 10 Selling Albums
1. BTS, Map of the Soul: 7 (552,000)
2. The Weeknd, After Hours (407,000)
3. Halsey, Manic (266,000)
4. Lady Gaga, Chromatica (264,000)
5. Kenny Chesney, Here and Now (249,000)
6. Eminem, Music To Be Murdered By (226,000)
7. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (198,000)
8. NCT 127, NCT #127: Neo Zone, The 2nd Album (196,000)
9. Justin Bieber, Changes (187,000)
10. Harry Styles, Fine Line (166,000)
2020’s Midyear Top 10 Selling Vinyl Albums
1. Billie Eilish, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (85,000)
2. Harry Styles, Fine Line (61,000)
3. Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 (56,000)
4. Queen, Greatest Hits (56,000)
5. The Beatles, Abbey Road (54,000)
6. Tame Impala, The Slow Rush (50,000)
7. Bob Marley & The Wailers, Legend (47,000)
8. Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon (44,000)
9. Billie Eilish, Dont Smile at Me (44,000)
10. Michael Jackson, Thriller (42,000)
2020’s Midyear Top 10 Selling Digital Songs
1. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” (372,000)
2. Tones and I, “Dance Monkey” (275,000)
3. Megan Thee Stallion, “Savage” (261,000)
4. Blake Shelton Duet With Gwen Stefani, “Nobody But You” (234,000)
5. Doja Cat, “Say So” (217,000)
6. Post Malone, “Circles” (214,000)
7. Maroon 5, “Memories” (204,000)
8. Dua Lipa, “Don’t Start Now” (204,000)
9. Roddy Ricch, “The Box” (182,000)
10. Gabby Barrett, “I Hope” (174,000)
2020’s Midyear Top 10 On-Demand Song Streams (Audio & Video Combined)
1. Roddy Ricch, “The Box” (1.067 billion)
2. Future featuring Drake, “Life Is Good” (702.798 million)
3. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” (500.283 million)
4. Doja Cat, “Say So” (396.073 million)
5. Tones and I, “Dance Monkey” (382.574 million)
6. Roddy Ricch featuring Mustard, “High Fashion” (380.093 million)
7. Arizona Zervas, “Roxanne” (375.830 million)
8. Megan Thee Stallion, “Savage” (371.900 million)
9. DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch, “Rockstar” (360.378 million)
10. Eminem featuring Juice WRLD, “Godzilla” (357.865 million)
2020’s Midyear Top 10 On-Demand Audio Streams
1. Roddy Ricch, “The Box” (728.681 million)
2. Future featuring Drake, “Life Is Good” (476.212 million)
3. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” (426.915 million)
4. Doja Cat, “Say So” (307.561 million)
5. Dua Lipa, “Don’t Start Now” (306.625 million)
6. Roddy Ricch featuring Mustard, “High Fashion” (304.343 million)
7. Arizona Zervas, “Roxanne” (300.750 million)
8. DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch, “Rockstar” (292.722 million)
9. Post Malone, “Circles” (291.099 million)
10. Megan Thee Stallion, “Savage” (289.284 million)
2020’s Midyear Top 10 On-Demand Video Streams
1. Roddy Ricch, “The Box” (338.754 million)
2. Future featuring Drake, “Life Is Good” (226.586 million)
3. Pinkfong, “Baby Shark” (124.726 million)
4. Eminem featuring Juice WRLD, “Godzilla” (122.446 million)
5. Lil Nas X, “Old Town Road” (107.744 million)
6. Tones and I, “Dance Monkey” (99.977 million)
7. 6ix9ine, “Gooba” (93.591 million)
8. Justin Bieber, “Yummy” (89.359 million)
9. Doja Cat, “Say So” (88.512 million)
10. Megan Thee Stallion, “Savage” (82.616 million)
2020’s Midyear Top 10 Radio Songs (Based on Audience)
1. Post Malone, “Circles” (2.266 billion)
2. Dua Lipa, “Don’t Start Now” (2.105 billion)
3. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights” (1.884 billion)
4. Maroon 5, “Memories” (1.852 billion)
5. Harry Styles, “Adore You” (1.727 billion)
6. Lewis Capaldi, “Someone You Loved” (1.667 billion)
7. Maren Morris, “The Bones” (1.575 billion)
8. Roddy Ricch, “The Box” (1.332 billion)
9. Billie Eilish, “Everything I Wanted” (1.329 billion)
10. The Weeknd, “Heartless” (1.288 billion)
* Nielsen Music/MRC Data’s consumption unit totals for album titles include SEA and TEA for an album’s songs registered before an album’s release, but during the tracking period. For example, Lil Baby’s My Turn album unit total includes SEA and TEA for its song “Woah” from Jan. 3 through Feb. 27, 2020, before the album was released on Feb. 28. (“Woah” was released in November of 2019.)
** Audio equivalent album units comprise traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported on-demand official audio streams generated by songs from an album, or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio streams generated by songs from an album. Video streams are not factored into the audio equivalent album units total. Due to reporting methodology changes from a major video provider, year over year video streaming comparisons are not reflective industry trends and therefore are not included in this story. Equivalent album units do not include listening to music on broadcast radio or digital radio broadcasts.
Source: Nielsen Music/MRC Data, for tracking period of Jan. 3 – July 2, 2020.