After securing the No.1 spot on Billboard 200 with the album "Ghost Stories," Coldplay is looking for a longer stay at the top spot after 2014's biggest sales week.
Coldplay's latest album, "Ghost Stories", has arrived at No. 1 on Billboard 200, selling 383,000 copies in its first week ending May 25. The band is looking to hold on to the top spot for yet another week, but that depends on how sales go in the second week of its release, ending June1, 2014.
The band's biggest competitors will be Mariah Carey's "Me. I Am Mariah ... The Elusive Chanteuse" and Austin Mahone's "The Secret." Both albums are expected to do well and head into the top 10. According to Nielsen SoundScan predictions, Carey's album will perhaps sell around 60,000 to 65,000 in the week ending June 1. Mahone might do 45,000 to 50,000.
It's typical for albums with large opening frames to tumble significantly in their second week. For example, the last Coldplay album, "Mylo Xyloto," was released in 2011 and sold 447,000 in its debut week. It then fell by 77 percent in week number two, selling 104,000. However, even if history repeats itself, Coldplay may still be on the top of the list. If the album sales erode by 77 percent, it would fall to around 88,000. If it drops by 80 percent, it would sell 76,000. These numbers are still higher than what Carey and Mahone's albums are predicted to sell.
Next on Billboard 200, Brantley Gilbert's "Just As I Am" got 211,000 sales. The country singer's third studio album beats its predecessor, 2011's "Halfway to Heaven", which peaked at No. 4 with 51,000.
At No. 3, Michael Jackson's "Xscape" slips from last week's No. 2 with 67,000, while the "Frozen (2013)" soundtrack album manages to keep its position steady at No. 4 with 65,000. The Black Keys' "Turn Blue", which last week ruled the chart, plunges to No. 5 after selling additional 54,000.
Last week's sales were the biggest for this year, easily surpassing Eric Church's "The Outsiders" that opened with 288,000 back in early February. This is also the largest sales week for any album since Beyonce Knowles' self-titled set "Beyonce" debuted at No. 1 with 617,000 last December.
