Grammys 2015 may have seen a dip in ratings despite an all-star line up(down to 25 million this year compared to last year’s 28 million), but – as per usual – the star’s who got to perform at the ceremony saw respectable sales boosts of their respective projects.
From Ed Sheeran to Rihanna and Sam Smith, those 25 million seem to have been quite impressed with the performances that lined the 57th annual showing, as evidenced by their collective 87% sales gains. This, just in time to accompany news that Grammy-nominated rapstress Nicki Minaj‘s latest release, ‘The Pinkprint,’ has passed the “Gold” mark for sales in excess of 500,000 in just two months.
Songs
In the two weeks ending Feb. 15, the 26 songs performed on the Grammy Awards sold 2.04 million downloads — that’s up 78 percent compared to the two previous weeks (1.14 million in the two weeks ending Feb. 1).
…the top selling song performed on the show was Ed Sheeran‘s “Thinking Out Loud,” which moved 584,000 downloads in that span — 29 percent of the overall total of all the performed songs (2.04 million). Incredibly, 75 percent of the total sales generated by the 26 performed songs were earned by just four titles: “Thinking Out Loud,” Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney‘s “FourFiveSeconds” (442,000), Hozier’s “Take Me To Church” (305,000) and Smith’s “Stay With Me” (199,000). Katy Perry‘s “By the Grace of God” (up 3,102 percent to 26,000, from 1,000)…
Albums
In total, those 31 titles [of artists who performed] sold a combined 729,000 in the two weeks ending Feb. 15 (up 116 percent compared to the two previous weeks: 337,000). [Sam] Smith – who won four Grammy Awards during the show – collects the largest unit album unit gain for the two weeks ending Feb. 15 with In the Lonely Hour. It album sold 181,000 in those two weeks, gaining by 114,000 (up 168 percent).
Beck’s surprise win for album of the year with Morning Phase collected the second-largest unit gain, as it was up by 73,000. It sold 75,000 copies in the two weeks ending Feb. 15 — up from just 2,000 in the two weeks prior. Smith and Beck are followed by Sheeran’s X (up 70,000 to 142,000; rising from 72,000 in the two earlier weeks)…Beck’s Morning Phase rose by a whopping 3,344 percent sales increase for the two weeks ending Feb. 15.
*****
In other news:
Nicki Minaj, The Pinkprint – No. 12 — With another 22,000 copies sold in the week ending Feb. 15, according to Nielsen Music, the album’s total sales drive past 500,000 (509,000 to be more precise). It’s Minaj’s third album (of three) to sell a half-million, following Pink Friday (1.93 million) and Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded (905,000).