| Chart Listings: Billboard 200 Albums (February 20-27, 2013) Feb 20th 2013, 16:09 Mumford & Sons' 'Babel' Makes Grammy-Fueled Return To No. 1 On Billboard 200  Quote:
As forecasted a week ago, Mumford & Sons' Babel returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in the wake of their Grammy Award win for album of the year on Feb. 10. The set -- which rises 4-1 on the tally -- sold 185,000 copies in the week ending Feb. 17, according to Nielsen SoundScan, therefore posting a weekly gain of 242%.
The figure is a bit larger than label sources initially projected. A week ago, Babel was looking to maybe sell 150,000 to 170,000 in the week after the Grammy Awards. Sale pricing by the iTunes Store for Valentine's Day helped propel the album's sales. iTunes marked Babel down to $6.99 for a limited time, and the title was also featured in an email blast sent to iTunes customers.
In turn, the album scores a 260% gain in download sales, moving from 28,000 to 101,000 for the week. (It's the largest digital week for a non-debuting album since the week after Christmas, when Taylor Swift's Red sold 131,000 downloads.)
Physical sales for Babel last week were still robust, however, amounting to 55% of the album's sales for the frame.
Babel is also benefitting from two new deluxe editions that were released Feb. 5. The first, available exclusively at Target, includes three bonus live tracks. A second version, dubbed the "Gentlemen of the Road" edition, was widely released and boasts 12 extra live cuts.
Mumford & Sons performed twice during the Grammy Awards. The quartet sang the album's lead single, "I Will Wait," and later in the broadcast it performed as part of an all-star memorial tribute to Levon Helm.
This is the fourth nonconsecutive week Babel has ruled the Billboard 200. It spent its first three weeks at No. 1 last October.
Within the chart's top 10, in addition to Mumford at No. 1, the titles at Nos. 2-4, 6, 7 and 10 benefit from the Grammy Awards.
The 2013 Grammy Nominees compilation jumps 11-2 with 88,000 (up 136%). It's the highest-charting week ever for the Grammy Nominees series, which launched in 1995. It also earns its best sales week since Grammy Nominees 2007 moved 131,000 the week after the 2007 show. The franchise has logged 12 top 10 sets.
Bruno Mars benefits from his performance on the Grammy Awards as well, as his Unorthodox Jukebox rises 8-3 with 86,000 (up 112%). Mars sang the album's No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Locked Out of Heaven" before segueing into a Bob Marley tribute featuring Sting, Rihanna and Ziggy and Damian Marley. (In turn, Bob Marley & the Wailers' greatest-hits album Legend flies 99-34 with 20,000, up 270%.)
Taylor Swift, who opened the Grammys with "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," rises 12-4 with Red (72,000; up 106%). Swift's set also gains thanks to hefty promotion by Target. The retailer ran a TV commercial during the Grammys, touting its exclusive version of Red. Additionally, the album was featured in Target's weekly circular ad. A whopping 86% of sales for Red last week were physical albums.
Target also showed love for P!nk, resulting in her The Truth About Love almost returning to the top 10: It climbs 23-11 with 47,000 (up 121%). Like Red, the Target version of P!nk's album was advertised during the Grammys. P!nk was also seen in a second commercial during the show, as she starred in a new spot by CoverGirl. Like Swift's Red, the bulk of sales for Truth last week were from physical copies of the album (85% physical vs. 15% digital).
Three more Grammy Awards performers are found in the Billboard 200's top 10. The Lumineers' self-titled album has its best sales week yet, rising 10-6 with 67,000 (up 70%). Fun.'s Some Nights climbs 14-7 (66,000; up 118%). Maroon 5's Overexposed rises 20-10 (48,000; up 119%). Like Swift and Mars, Overexposed was marked down to $6.99 at iTunes last week.
Last week's No. 1 album, Josh Groban's All That Echoes, slips to No. 5 with 72,000 (down 50%). The Now 45 compilation slides 3-8 (63,000; down 27%), and Andrea Bocelli's Passione falls 5-9 (48,000; down just 6%). The latter's slight decline is likely owed to gift purchases made for Valentine's Day.
| http://www.billboard.com/biz/article...urn-to-no-1-on |  |
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