The dynamic Korean pop band, ATEEZ, has finally made it to the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart with their latest release, ‘THE WORLD EP.FIN: WILL,’ which debuted at No. 1 for Billboard 200 for the chart dated December 16. It is significant in their list of acclaims as it’s their first time securing the top spot on the chart.
For those unversed, the Billboard 200 chart is a weekly ranking that gauges the most popular albums in the U.S. It measures multi-metric consumption in equivalent album units, encompassing album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).
According to a report by Luminate, the album accumulated an impressive 152,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. for the week ending on December 7. A significant number of units, totaling 146,000 units, came from traditional album sales, marking a new personal record for the band. However, their rise to the top didn't involve any singles charting on U.S. Billboard airplay or streaming charts like the Billboard Hot 100, Billboard Global 200, or Billboard Global Excl. U.S. Most of these album units were from physical copies of the 12-track release, available in 33 collectible variations (26 on CD and seven on vinyl).
ATEEZ’s album, released on December 1, became the fifth K-pop group album to lead the LP chart in the year, after releases by Tomorrow X Together (1), NewJeans (1) and Stray Kids (2). In each case, physical copies played a pivotal role in their success, but this eight-member boy band notably had lower popularity on music streaming platforms, amassing only 7.6 million clicks, which is the lowest for any No. 1 album this year.
Also this week, Taylor Swift’s '1989 (Taylor’s Version),' which topped last week’s chart, falls to No. 2; Drake’s 'For All the Dogs' is No. 3; Morgan Wallen’s 'One Thing at a Time' is No. 4; and Michael Bublé’s 'Christmas' is in the fifth place.
