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Miley Cyrus' 'Bass Persuades' falls from No. 1 to No. 157 on Billboard 200 in week two

Miley Cyrus' album Bass Persuades fell from No. 1 to No. 157 on the Billboard 200 in its second week, which Variety calls the biggest such drop for an album in the week after a No. 1 debut. The Daily Mail describes it as the biggest fall from No. 1 for a female artist.

2 outlets · 1L · 0C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: Daily Mail
Image: Variety

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Miley Cyrus' album Bass Persuades fell to No. 157 on the Billboard 200 in its second week, after debuting at No. 1 the previous week. Mixed · 2Variety says the album set the record for the most precipitous fall from a No. 1 debut week to week two. The Daily Mail calls it the biggest fall from No. 1 for a female artist in Billboard history. Right · 1The Daily Mail says the previous female-artist record was held by Madonna's Madame X, which fell from No. 1 to No. 77 in 2019, and was then broken by Celine Dion's Courage, which fell to No. 111.

Left · 1Variety says some news outlets wrongly reported Cyrus' album as second-biggest, citing Bon Jovi's This House Is Not for Sale, which fell from No. 1 to No. 169. Variety argues that comparison doesn't hold because that album was two years old and had returned to No. 1 through ticket bundling, a tactic Billboard and Luminate have since banned. Left · 1Variety also discounts Travis Scott's Days Before Rodeo, which went from No. 1 to off the chart after a one-time vinyl shipment, and Elvis Presley's Christmas album, from the 1950s when the chart had only 25 entries. Right · 1Bass Persuades is Cyrus' first album for Atlantic Records after leaving Columbia Records earlier this year. The Daily Mail reports it was projected to debut outside the top five until the label cut the digital price and issued 16 vinyl variants, nine CD versions, six download variants and a cassette.

Right · 1According to the Daily Mail, the album beat Ella Langley's Dandelion for No. 1 by roughly 70 units. This week Taylor Swift's The Life of a Showgirl returned to No. 1, boosted by a deluxe 'Encore' edition, Olivia Rodrigo's You Seem Pretty Sad For a Girl So In Love is No. 2, and Dandelion is No. 3. Left · 1Variety suggests the weak hold may partly reflect the lack of a hit single: the title track peaked at No. 35 on the Hot 100, and reviews said it didn't represent the rest of the album. Cyrus has just released a video for a follow-up track, 'Different Religion'. Mixed · 2Cyrus has two Hollywood Bowl shows booked for Oct. 16 and 18. Variety says both sold out within 10 minutes, and the Daily Mail reports 1.5 million fans queued for 18,000 tickets. The Daily Mail says it has asked Atlantic Records for comment.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
Treats it as a chart-history explainer, setting the drop against past big falls and correcting reports that ranked it second.
Emphasis
Historical context (Bon Jovi, Travis Scott, Elvis Presley), the lack of a hit single, and the sold-out Hollywood Bowl shows.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention Atlantic's multi-format sales push or the roughly 70-unit margin over Ella Langley.
Charged language
“chart nowheresville”“laughing all the way to the Bowl”
For example
“Some news outlets erroneously reported that Cyrus’ album was in second place for the biggest fall from No. 1 in an album’s second week out” — Variety
“Miley is likely to be laughing all the way to the Bowl.” — Variety

Centre0 outlets

No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Right1 outlet

Framing
Presents the drop as a humiliating 'career blow' after a label-engineered No. 1, contrasting Cyrus with rivals doing well.
Emphasis
Atlantic's sales tactics, Cyrus' earlier celebratory Instagram post, rivals' chart success, Cyrus' past commercial struggles and the Hollywood Bowl remarks.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not mention comparisons with Bon Jovi or Travis Scott, or the lack of a hit single.
Charged language
“devastating career blow”“cataclysmic drop”“not in a good way”
For example
“Miley Cyrus hit with devastating career blow as new album Bass Persuades suffers biggest chart fall in Billboard history” — Daily Mail
“This cataclysmic drop makes it the biggest fall from No. 1 for a female artist in Billboard history.” — Daily Mail