Report: Tracks From Ed Sheeran's Acclaimed "X" Album Ignite Top 50

Immediately after the release of Ed Sheeran's sophomore studio album, X, in Australia and New Zealand on June 20th, a slew of countdown singles began rapidly rising on the building chart for the chart dated June 26th. As the tracking week was already almost over by the time of the album's release in those markets, only a handful of them were actually able to chart (none made the official Hot
50).

Leading the pack was "Don't", which blasted in at #51 when the results for the chart (which tracked through the end of June 20th in America) dated June 26th came through this past weekend. "The Man", "Afire Love" and "Bloodstream" fell directly behind it, entering at #54, 57 and 60 respectively. The album's lead single, "Sing", would have likely finished within the top 60, but was barred from entering because it had already departed the Hot 50 before. Since positions #51-60 aren't awarded any points and they also don't appear on the finalized list, they're deemed the "Bubbling Under" positions of my chart. Previous Hot 50 entries can't reappear on the "Bubbling Under Chart", because they've already broken its boundary. In reality, Sheeran controlled 40% of this past week's "Bubbling Under Chart", claiming #1, 4, 7 and 10 (equivalent to #51, 54, 57 and 60 as mentioned before).

As we enter the midway stage of this week's building chart (that will be the issue dated July 3rd), "Don't" again leads the pack with a strong 28 points so far. It's headed for a final weekly total of approximately 65 plays, which should help it officially debut around #29. "The Man", "Afire Love" and "Bloodstream" are likely to clock in with 54, 52 and 49 points (respectively) by the end of the week. That should translate into noteworthy debuts at or around #36, 39 and 40 respectively.

Falling right behind is "Sing" (previously charted), which could re-enter as high as #45 (though its currently trending downwards as of the latest update.

"Thinking Out Loud", "Photograph", "One" and "I See Fire" are likely to clock in with 41, 39, 37 and 35 points respectively. That should translate to a #47 debut for "Thinking Out Loud" and a #50 opening for "Photograph". "One" and "I See Fire" will likely barely miss the Hot 50 this week (by one to two points overall), though "One" (which is trending upwards) might manage to wrangle into one of the final slots. If even 5 of these songs manage to debut, Ed Sheeran will become the artist with the most Hot 50 entries in a single week. That would be the cherry on top for the singer, who was recently "honored" with the most acclaimed album since the start of  the CDS Music Chart album reviews era. It (X) currently holds a 94/100 rating. Christina Perri's 2014 album, Head or Heart, was the previous record holder with a strong 92/100. Beyonce's 2013 self titled set is 3rd with a 91/100, while Lady Gaga's record churning ARTPOP ties for 4th with Robyn & Röyksopp's Do It Again (EP); they both scored a 90/100. Lana Del Rey's Ultraviolence ranks 6th with an 89/100.

See how each song stands through the end of Monday, and where the tracks should stand after 4 more days of tracking.

Song	Spins So Far	Projected Spins Through Week’s End	Spins Per Day Average	Estimated New Rank	Last Week	Position Change	Trend
Don’t	28	65	9	29	51*	+22	b
The Man	23	54	8	36	54*	+18	b
Afire Love	22	52	7	39	57*	+18	a
Bloodstream	21	49	7	40	60*	+20	a
Sing	19	44	6	45	-**	Re-Entry	c
Thinking Out Loud	17	41	6	47	-	Debut	b
Photograph	16	39	6	50	-	Debut	c
One	16	37	5	-	-	Debut	b
I See Fire	15	35	5	-	-	Debut	c

*Positions past #50 aren't official. In this case, these tracks made the Bubbling Under Chart (which is a ten position extender to the actual Hot 50).
**Barred from Bubbling Under Chart (though it ranked higher than some on this list) because it previously reached the Hot 50.

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