Morgan Wallen’s new album “I’m The Problem” was No. 1 for a third consecutive week. Its moved 246,000 units over the week, a 14% drop. Still, it’s the best performance for an album in its third week since Taylor Swift’s album “The Tortured Poets Department” reached 282,000 units in May 2024. Wallen’s album remained at No. 1 on the Top Streaming Albums chart for a third week as well, while dropping to No. 3 on the Top Album Sales chart. Here’s a detailed breakdown of how it did:

SEVENTEEN debuted at No. 2 with “HAPPY BURSTDAY.” This marks the group’s seventh Top 10 album and third No. 2. The album moved 48,000 units, with 46,000 of those from album sales. It hit No. 1 on Top Album Sales as a result. “HAPPY BURSTDAY” clocked in at roughly 3.3 million streams, or 2,500 units.

Miley Cyrus debuted at No. 4 with “Something Beautiful”. This is her 15th album in the Top 10. The album moved 44,000 units over the week. Album sales contributed 27,000 units, placing it at No. 2 on the Top Album Sales chart. Streams reached roughly 22 million, which translates to 17,000 units.

Elsewhere in the Top 10, SZA’s “SOS” was No. 3 with 46,000 units. Swift’s 2017 album “reputation” jumped from No. 78 to No. 5 on the back of 42,000 units. The boost came from news of Swift buying the masters of her early albums back. No. 6 through No. 10 all belong to former No. 1 albums. At No. 6 is Morgan Wallen’s “One Thing At A Time”, Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX” is No. 7, Sabrina Carpenter’s “Short n’ Sweet” is No. 8, PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake’s “$ome $exy $ongs 4 U” is No. 9, and Bad Bunny’s “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” rounds the list out at No. 10.

Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” was No. 1 for the second week in a row. The song’s been doing progressively better over time and it’s still getting better. Streams increased by 3% to 21.5 million this week, climbing on the chart from No. 4 to No. 3. Airplay also jumped by 11%, bumping the song from No. 5 to No. 4 on the Radio Songs chart. Digital sales remained steady at 7,000 downloads, keeping “Ordinary” at No. 1 on the relevant chart for a sixth consecutive week.

What’s giving this song such influence, and why is it likely to continue? First, there’s streaming. “Ordinary” is competing with tracks off Morgan Wallen’s new album. The Top 3 on the Streaming Songs chart the previous week were Wallen’s songs “What I Want,” “Just In Case,” and “I’m The Problem.” As the album enters its third week, streams for each track are gradually declining. Meanwhile, “Ordinary” continues to rise, overtaking “I’m The Problem” to hit No. 3 this past week. Wallen’s new songs have yet to see significant airplay, giving them mixed success as far as streaming and on the radio. Looking at the Radio Songs chart, “I’m The Problem” was No. 18, “Just In Case” was No. 37, and “What I Want” fell off the chart entirely. Wallen may hold Nos. 2, 3, and 5 on the Hot 100, but it’ll take time before he poses a true challenge for the crown.

So what’s happening in the upper echelons of the Radio Songs chart? At No. 1 was Doechii’s single “Anxiety,” which has held the spot for four weeks. But the song isn’t in the top 50 on the Streaming Songs chart and consequently took No. 11 overall on the Hot 100. The rest of Radio Songs includes Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s duet “luther,” Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ duet “Die With a Smile,” and “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey, all of which have been on the radio chart for at least six months and over a year in some cases. “Ordinary,” meanwhile, continued to climb in airplay, overtaking “Bar Song” to jump another spot. It’s already on par with “Die With a Smile.” If “Ordinary” can come up with radio potential comparable to “luther,” it could still see figures 20% higher than now. And if it rivals “Anxiety,” that would mean 35% more.

It’s no surprise when Taylor Swift’s name shows up on the charts, but underlying the return of her eight-year-old album “reputation” to No. 5 on the most recent “Billboard” 200 is a unique story covering her entire 20-year career.

Back in 2005, a 15-year-old Taylor Swift signed with then-new label Big Machine Records. During her 13 years under contract, she released six albums spanning her debut eponymous LP to “reputation” as she grew to become one of the biggest stars in the world. Under the terms of the contract, Big Machine held the rights to the recordings as they invested in their production. The rights to those recordings, or masters, are distinguished from the songwriting copyright. In 2018, Swift signed on with Republic Records under Universal Music Group instead. This time, she retained ownership rights to her own masters.

It was no secret that she wanted to acquire the masters for her Big Machine-era albums. But the label was sold off in 2019, and with it went the masters for those first six albums. Swift lost her opportunity to purchase them, leading to her next option: Taylor’s Version. As the writer behind all her songs, Swift still had the right to rerecord them, meaning she would be making new masters in the process. So far, the singer’s released a Taylor’s Version of four out of her six earlier albums. The industry watched closely to see if each Taylor’s Version would replace Big Machine’s originals where consumers are concerned and if they might eventually enable her to finally buy the masters back. And now we know at last.

On May 30, Taylor Swift officially announced she had purchased the masters for her six studio albums from the Big Machine era, along with two live albums from the same period, a wealth of video content, and some unreleased tracks. Shamrock Capital, which sold her the masters, reportedly charged a price similar to the $360 million it had previously paid for them. If you’re experiencing sticker shock, consider this: The six albums generate an estimated $60 million annually, with roughly half of that going to the owner of the masters.

Swift must be over the moon. “To say this is my greatest dream come true is actually being pretty reserved about it,” she said in an official statement. “To my fans … the passionate support you showed [Taylor’s Version] and the success story you turned the ‘Eras Tour’ into is why I was able to [be reunited] with this art that I have dedicated my life to, but have never owned until now.”

And her fans have responded with overwhelming enthusiasm. They made the vision a reality by streaming and purchasing each Taylor’s Version more than the Big Machine originals. Now, fans can listen to and buy the Big Machine versions guilt-free. And the latest “Billboard” chart reflected that.

The week’s chart covered the period from May 30, when Swift made her announcement, to June 5. During that time, her albums collectively moved 54,000 units, more than tripling the prior week’s total. Swift also sold more albums than any other artist within the same timeframe. The top-selling album was “reputation,” with 15,000 units sold—a 12-fold increase from the previous week. Streaming doubled as well, reaching approximately 35 million, or 27,000 units.
“reputation” was No. 4 on Top Album Sales, No. 10 on Top Streaming Albums, and No. 5 on the “Billboard” 200, marking its highest position since January 2018.

But why “reputation”? First off, it’s one of the two albums yet to be rerecorded under the Taylor’s Version project, along with her debut album, “Taylor Swift.” Sales for the latter also saw a surge, returning to the Top Album Sales chart at No. 6. Second, rumors of a Taylor’s Version release for “reputation” have been swirling since early last month. Fans were nearly convinced that Swift would announce it during the American Music Awards held May 26, which explains the album’s rapid climb on the “Billboard” 200 over the past four weeks, from No. 123, to 94, to 78, to No. 5. Third, in her announcement, Swift addressed the two Big Machine albums yet to be rerecorded. She specifically revealed that the Taylor’s Version of “reputation” is less than one-quarter done and doesn’t appear to be on track for release anytime soon.

What about the rest of her albums? Swift’s entire back catalog pulled in 220 million streams over the week, a 32% increase from the previous week. As a result, 11 of her albums are on the latest “Billboard” 200, ranging from “reputation” at No. 5 to “Speak Now (Taylor’s Version)” at No. 185. Four of them weren’t even on the previous chart.

It’s an unprecedented end to a story about artists’ rights. Taylor Swift’s rerecording project has already transformed the industry. More and more artists are either retaining ownership of their masters in recording contracts or licensing recordings to record labels instead. Advances in technology make producing high-quality music simpler, and various platforms are helping to lower legal and commercial hurdles. Sometimes fans pull off unimaginable things for the artists they love.

• SEVENTEEN’s album “HAPPY BURSTDAY” debuts at No. 2 on the “Billboard” 200 and No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart. The group returns to the Artist 100 at No. 4.
• ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ duet “APT.” is in its 33rd week on the Hot 100, landing at No. 24. It’s No. 36 on the Streaming Songs chart. On the Radio Songs chart, it sits at No. 25, and on the Digital Song Sales chart, it’s No. 17. The BLACKPINK member’s album “rosie” is No. 190 on the “Billboard” 200, while the singer herself returns to the Artist 100 at No. 89.
• Jin’s latest EP “Echo” is No. 16 on the Top Album Sales chart.
• BOYNEXTDOOR’s fourth EP, “No Genre,” is No. 21 on the Top Album Sales chart. The group is No. 6 on the Emerging Artists chart.
• Stray Kids’ mixtape “HOP” is No. 23 on the Top Album Sales chart and the group is No. 74 on the Artist 100.
• P1Harmony’s EP “DUH!” is No. 25 on Top Album Sales.
• LISA and Maroon 5’s collab “Priceless” is No. 44 in airplay.
• On the Emerging Artists chart, the Rose is No. 11, KATSEYE is No. 12, BAEKHYUN is No. 19, ZEROBASEONE is No. 28, and MEOVV is No. 32.

Finally, here’s an overall view of where K-pop’s currently at on the Global 200: