If you bought a new album in the past week and it wasn’t a Disney soundtrack, you’re likely in the minority. Disney Music Group, the music production arm of Disney, made its mark on the first Billboard Album Sales Chart of 2015 with three soundtracks making the top ten. Guardians of the Galaxy came in second with 70,000 units sold, Into the Woods made it at number three with 51,000 units sold, and the Grammy-nomiated triple Platinum Frozen soundtrack made made the list at number 10 with 29,000 units sold. The last time such a feat was accomplished by one company was in 1978 when RSO’s Saturday Night Fever, Grease, and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band all made the chart.
To date, the Guardians of the Galaxy film has earned over $773 million worldwide, and $333 in North America alone. The most notable thing about the soundtrack that comes from it is that it’s not even comprised of original songs, but instead all popular music from the ’70s and ’80s. Disney leveraged the fact that the lead character Star-Lord played the soundtrack on a cassette tape in the film by releasing their own special edition of the “Awesome Mix Vol. 1” on cassette tape late last year. As well, the popular soundtrack was also released on as a “Deluxe” version on vinyl.
Following that closely was the Into The Woods soundtrack. Featuring re-vamped songs from Stephen Sondheim’s original Into the Woods Broadway show performed by the cast consisting of Chris Pine, Meryl Streep, and Anna Kendrick, the film itself posted the fourth largest Christmas weekend opening ever, and the largest opening weekend ever for a Broadway musical adaptation.
And, of course, Frozen is still Frozen. Currently the fifth highest grossing film of all time with more than $1.27 billion earned globally, the 2013 animated hit spawned the highest selling album of 2014. This included 33 weeks in the top five on the Billboard 200 charts, and 13 weeks holding down the top spot. The music video for the song that parents will never be able to pry from their cold, dead brains, “Let it Go,” has been viewed more than 400 million times on YouTube alone.
Beating out Disney’s trio of powerhouses was Taylor Swift’s 1989, which topped the weekly chart for the eight time in a row.
Last Updated on November 28, 2018.
