More than 50 years into her recording career, Barbra Streisand has broken her own record.

At 72, the superstar is the first artist to reach No. 1 on Billboard’s chart of best-selling albums in six consecutive decades. “Partners,” a collection of duets pairing her with noted male singers, sold 196,000 copies in its first week, according to Nielsen SoundScan ― also giving Streisand the best sales week of any female artist this year.

In addition to being the latest in the icon’s long string of accomplishments, Streisand’s victory highlights a recent sales trend: Older artists, or artists who attract older audiences, are often beating out younger counterparts to top the album chart.

In part, that’s because it takes fewer sales to catapult an artist to No. 1 these days.

“There have been 14 weeks in 2014 when the No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart sold less than 100,000,” says Keith Caulfield, Billboard’s associate editor of charts and sales. By comparison, between March 1994 and January 2004, no No. 1 album sold fewer than 100,000 copies.

In such a market, says Rolling Stone contributing editor Anthony DeCurtis, “You can make any kind of mark and be in the running.”

Older artists also are more likely to have fans inclined to buy albums, in both physical and digital form.

While Billboard and Soundscan don’t keep demographic data of buyers’ ages, “you can make an educated guess looking at the artists who chart well and who their likely fans are,” Caulfield says. He cites Tom Petty, 63, who topped the chart in August with “Hypnotic Eye,” Petty’s first No. 1 album since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991.

And Caulfield says “Cheek to Cheek,” a new collection of oldies pairing Tony Bennett, 88, with the 60-years-younger Lady Gaga, is likely to take the No. 2 spot next week. Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, 80, might crack the top 20 as well, with his “Popular Problems.”

“The older audience still likes the feel of buying an album and playing it through,” says Ian Drew, entertainment director at Us Weekly. Younger fans “are streaming songs more ― it’s more about the song than the album.”

But Caulfield is quick to note that “it’s not just veterans who are selling a lot of albums.” He points to the success of upstarts such as Ariana Grande and Five Seconds of Summer, and both he and Drew mention the millennial uber-diva Adele, who “has reached all sorts of demographics.” 

By Elysa Gardner

(USA Today)

(MCT)