Don”t tell Taylor Swift that album sales are in the doldrums. Her fourth studio album, “Red,” sold a staggering 1.208 million copies in its first week to debut easily at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. That”s the highest one-week tally since Eminem”s “The Eminem Show” sold 1.322 million in 2002. That”s when, although the slide had already started, albums still sold.
The total is also the second highest single sales week by a female artist, only trailing Britney Spears” “Oops… I Did It Again,” which sold 1.319 million in 2000, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Swift”s last album, “Speak Now,” also surpassed the million mark in its opening frame, selling 1.047 million in 2010.
The last album to sell more than a million in its first week was Lady Gaga”s “Born This Way,” although it did so with the help of 99-cent album downloads offered by Amazon for two days during the album”s first week.
Swift”s label, Big Machine, barred Amazon from selling the album in its opening week, giving a one-week digital exclusive to iTunes. The album was also greatly aided by Target”s exclusive offering of a deluxe version, which featured three bonus cuts and three remixes. According to Billboard, the Target exclusive accounted for 396,000 copies sold, while iTunes sold around 465,000 album downloads. Papa John”s Pizza also sold the album for $13.
Hitfix will have a full story on this week’s Billboard 200 on Wednesday.