CHART STORY: OH, LORDE!

Lava/Republic’s Lorde has taken the throne. Her sophomore release, Melodrama, has officially bowed at #1 on our Sales Plus Streaming (SPS) Chart this week with more than 110k.

Counting the Crush-managed Lorde, four debuts can actually be found in this Top 5. 2 Chainz’s Pretty Girls Like Trap Music (Def Jam) lands at #2 with nearly 94k. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s The Nashville Sound (Southeastern) comes in at #4 with 53k, and Nickelback’s Feed the Machine (BMG) is at #5 with north of 47k.

As for other noteworthy debuts, Young Thug’s Beautiful Thugger Girls (Atlantic) enters at #9 with 32k and Fleet Foxes’ Crack-Up (Nonesuch) rounds out the Top 15 with nearly 26k. Interestingly, on the Album Sales Chart, Young Thug’s album, which proved its strength with streaming, doesn’t make the Top 15 (or Top 35 for that matter). There, Royal Blood’s How Did We Get So Dark? (Warner Bros.)—a real rock record—makes the Top 10, though.

A $6.99 Father’s Day sale at iTunes helped move a few titles up the SPS chart, as RCA’s Trolls soundtrack jumps #21-17, Hollywood’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix, Vol. 1 leaps #43-31 and Zac Brown Band’s Welcome Home (Southern Ground/Atlantic) goes #41-32.

Meanwhile, Metallica’s Hardwired… To Self-Destruct (Blackened) re-enters at #36, powered in large part by an ongoing ticket bundle that underscores the loyalty of the fanbase.

When it comes to SPS marketshare, UMG leads with 59%, SME is #2 with 22% and WMG follows with 20%.

Streeting this week are albums from We The Best/Epic’s DJ Khaled and KIDinaKORNER/Interscope’s Imagine Dragons, who look like they’ll be battling it out for the #1 spot, as well as sets from Def Jam’s Vince Staples, Ingrooves’ Joe Bonamassa, BMG’s 311 and eOne’s Bone Thugs.