In late 1966, Elektra Records signed a new band called the Doors, and the label had a feeling its debut was special. To prevent the album from getting lost in the crowded fourth-quarter market, Elektra released it at the start of the next year, when it faced scant competition. “The Doors” became a sensation, eventually reaching No. 2 on the Billboard chart.
The strategy of rolling out a hot album in the January doldrums proved lucrative once again this year with “Dangerous: The Double Album” by Morgan Wallen, a country singer-songwriter who rode a lot of buzz to an instant No. 1.
But the charts have rarely been as static as they have been this year, as big stars have largely held off releasing new material. That helped Wallen hold at No. 1 for eight weeks now — even as he came under fire last month for using a racial slur — and also given an advantage to Olivia Rodrigo, an 18-year-old singer and actress, who has now dominated the singles chart for eight weeks with her song “Drivers License.”
“Dangerous,” which has held strong streaming numbers since it was released, had the equivalent of 82,000 sales in the United States last week, including 103 million streams and 6,000 copies sold as a complete package, according to MRC Data, Billboard’s tracking arm. With few major challengers, “Dangerous” may hold at No. 1 for a ninth week, although competition is coming from Justin Bieber and Drake.
“Drivers License,” which had nearly 20 million streams last week, may not hold the top spot much longer, after the long-awaited release of three new Drake songs on “Scary Hours 2.”
The rest of this week’s album chart is dominated by other recent hits, most of which have hovered in the Top 10 for weeks if not months: The Weeknd’s hits compilation “The Highlights” (No. 2), Pop Smoke’s “Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon” (No. 3), Pooh Shiesty’s “Shiesty Season” (No. 4) and Lil Durk’s “The Voice” (No. 5).
The highest-charting new release was Julien Baker’s “Little Oblivions,” at No. 39.
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