Slow sales week for Taylor Swift’s number one album

Country singer Taylor Swift has earned the dubious distinction of having one of the lowest-selling records on top of the Billboard music charts.

This past week has been a bad one for the market overall, with the lowest music sales since Nielsen SoundScan first began tracking the data in 1991. Despite making it to number one for the sixth non-consecutive week, Speak Now, Swift’s new album, sold only 52,000 copies.

The previous record low was set by the Dreamgirls soundtrack in January 2007, when it racked up only 60,000 sales despite sitting at the top of the U.S. charts.

Number two on the countdown this week was Pink Friday by Nicki Minaj, which sold only 39,000 copies. Rounding out the top three was Doo-Wops & Hooligans from Bruno Mars, with 38,000 sales.

In the past, Swift’s releases have performed well in sales. Speak Now was released on October 25, 2010, and sold over 1 million copies in its first week – the second-largest sales week for a country album, following Garth Brooks’ Double Live (1998). It was also the biggest sales week for an album from a female recording artist since Britney Spears released Oops! I Did It Again in 2000.