Pentatonix Edges Demi Lovato for Billboard 200 Chart Top Spot

A Cappella group Pentatonix’s self-titled album debuts at No. 1. (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Texas a cappella group Pentatonix beat former Disney Channel star Demi Lovato to the top spot on the weekly U.S. Billboard 200 album chart on Monday with its self-titled album.

It was the first No. 1 album for the five-person group, who won the NBC television show, “The Sing-Off,” in 2011. “Pentatonix” sold 98,447 units, compared with 98,176 for Lovato’s new release “Confident.”

The Billboard 200 chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).

Last week’s chart-topper, Selena Gomez, slipped to the 7th position with “Unbreakable,” while Canadian rapper The Weeknd held on to the No. 3 position with “Beauty Behind the Madness.”

Other new entries in the Top 10 included rapper Machine Gun Kelly with “General Admission,” which made its debut at No. 4, and rock act Coheed and Cambria with “Color Before the Sun” in 10th place.

On the digital songs charts, rapper Drake’s single “Hotline Bling” held off British boy band One Direction’s new release “Perfect.”

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)