Vinyl sales help the Raconteurs beat Lil Nas X to No. 1

Joe Coscarelli

July 2, 2019 1:50 PM

(The Charts): Lil Nas X may be the current king of streaming thanks to his unstoppable single “Old Town Road,” but old-fashioned live rock ’n’ roll and vinyl sales combined to keep him from a No. 1 album.

Vinyl sales help the Raconteurs beat Lil Nas X to No. 1

“Help Us Stranger,” the new LP by Jack White’s Raconteurs, tops the Billboard album chart this week thanks largely to a bundle that combined the release with tickets to the band’s summer tour, as well as what Billboard said was 25,000 vinyl LPs sold — the largest vinyl sales week of the year so far and the sixth largest since 1991.

“Help Us Stranger,” the group’s first chart-topper, finished its debut week with 88,000 in total units, combining 4 million song streams with 84,000 in traditional sales, physical or digital, according to Nielsen.

“7,” the debut eight-song EP by Lil Nas X following his smash viral single, comes in at No. 2 with 77,000 units, including 90 million streams and just 3,853 in album sales (plus 79,000 in individual track downloads). Still, the remix of “Old Town Road” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus remains atop the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for the 13th consecutive week, marking the longest-ever reign for a hip-hop hit. (The record for the longest-running No. 1 hit is 16 weeks, achieved by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” and, more recently, “Despacito,” by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, featuring Justin Bieber.)

The rest of the Top 5 features familiar names from this summer in music: “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” by Billie Eilish is No. 3 in its 13th week on the charts, tallying another 57 million streams and 13,000 in sales; “Happiness Begins” by the Jonas Brothers is No. 4 with 34 million streams and 12,000 albums sold in its third week out; and “Free Spirit” by Khalid is No. 5 with 40 million streams and 5,000 in sales. Last week’s No. 1 album, “Madame X” by Madonna — another release carried to the top by ticket bundling — fell to No. 77 in its second week out after a 90% decline in sales.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Joe Coscarelli