Olivia Rodrigo’s Albums Manage An Odd Performance On The Charts

It’s been over a year and a half since Olivia Rodrigo released an album. The singer-songwriter has only dropped two projects throughout her incredibly successful career, starting with Sour and, then returning more recently, Guts, which arrived in September 2023. Since their release, both full-lengths have continued to perform incredibly well, consistently appearing on rankings dedicated to both streaming activity and sales.

Due to continued consumption in both areas, the titles also regularly show up on general consumption lists. While there are some stark differences between the Grammy-nominated sets in terms of pure purchases in the United Kingdom, it seems that streaming activity around both Sour and Guts is almost identical, which is an amazing feat considering the two were released more than two years apart.

This week in the U.K., Sour and Guts sit side-by-side on the Official Albums Streaming ranking. That list is dedicated solely to the full-lengths and EPs that accumulate the most plays on Spotify, Apple Music, and other similar platforms.

This frame, the two titles actually swap places. Sour, the older of the two, rises from No. 25 to No. 24. At the same time, Guts dips one spot to No. 25. The fact that both efforts are still living inside the top 40 on the list of the most-streamed albums in the U.K. — one of the largest music markets in the world — is huge for her.

What’s even more notable is that the number of streams these collections are garnering week after week appears to be nearly identical. Last frame, they sat right next to one another on this tally. This time around, that statement still rings true, even as each moves just one spot.

For every release in a musician’s catalog to be generating what must be a massive number of plays on streaming platforms — especially after so much time — and for them to be competing with one another, despite one being significantly older, speaks volumes about Rodrigo’s longevity and continued popularity. Her work constantly displays continued longevity, and neither set is more popular on streaming sites than the other…at least not in any meaningful way at this point in their lifespans.

When it comes to sales, however, the story changes. Guts drops more than 20 spaces on both the Official Albums Sales and Official Physical Albums charts, though it’s still present between Nos. 60 and 65 on those lists. Sour, by comparison, appears at least 10 spots further down — and on the Official Albums Sales list, it comes in 20 positions lower than Guts. That’s not unusual, as older collections typically don’t sell as well as newer ones. It’s quite clear, though, that Rodrigo’s fans are more than happy to continue streaming both releases almost equally.