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Summary Red, Swift's fourth studio album safely took the No. 1 position after selling 344,000 copies.
Country-pop star Taylor Swift held onto the top spot on the Billboard 200 album chart on Wednesday as her latest album Red kept rapper Meek Mill from the top spot.Red, Swifts fourth studio album safely took the No. 1 position after selling 344,000 copies according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan.Last week, Red scored the highest first week U.S. sales in a decade after selling 1.2 million copies. The album has outsold One Directions Up All Night to become the second-biggest album of 2012, behind Adeles juggernaut record 21, which has sold more than 4 million copies this year.Rapper Meek Mill entered the chart at No. 2 with his debut studio album Dreams & Nightmares, selling 164,000 copies. The rapper collaborated with fellow Maybach Music artists for his debut, including Trey Songz, Wale, Rick Ross and Mary J. Blige.Ahead of the holiday season, two festive albums debuted on the chart, with veteran crooner Rod Stewarts Merry Christmas Baby at No. 3 and Trans-Siberian Orchestras extended play record Dreams of Fireflies (On a Christmas Night) at No. 9.Country singer Toby Keith landed at No. 6 with his latest album Hope on the Rocks, following his appearance and best music video win at the County Music Association (CMA) awards last week.Country group Little Big Town also saw a boost from their CMA vocal group of the year win as their album Tornado climbed the chart to No. 10.Canadian singer Neil Young and his band Crazy Horse scored their second top ten album this year with Psychedelic Pill at No. 8, following their Americana album in June.Over on the Digital Songs chart, Korean rapper Psy held the top spot with his infectious dance-pop single Gangnam Style, while Bruno Mars Locked Out of Heaven remained at No. 2 and Ke$has Die Young was a non-mover at No. 3.
