Lady Gaga”s “Artpop” will top the Billboard 200 next week, but at a much lower sales figure than earlier predicted.
Only three weeks ago, Hits Daily Double”s prognosticators had “Artpop” bowing with first week sales of up to 450,000. Now it looks like the tally will be a respectable, but not barn-burning, 260,000. https://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/rumormill.cgi.
Her last studio album, 2011″s “Born This Way,” sold 1.1 million in its first week, but those numbers were greatly inflated after Amazon offered album downloads for 99 cents (Billboard subsequently set a minimum price for an album sale to be counted by Nielsen SoundScan).
The 260,000 tally is still enough to keep Lady Gaga in the top stop, unless Eminem”s “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” surges. The title, which sold more than 750,000 this week to debut at No. 1, will likely sell up to 220,000 next week to slide to No. 2.
In addition to Lady Gaga, other debuts in the Top 10 are “Now That”s What I Call Music 48,” which comes in at No. 3 with sales of up to 105,000, The Beatles” “On Air Live at the BBC Volume 2” at No. 7 (40,000) and singer/songwriter Jhene Aiko at No. 10 (35,000).
Duck Dynasty clan, The Robertsons, are at No. 4 with their holiday album, “Duck The Halls” (65,000), while Katy Perry”s “Roar” will be at No. 5 (50,000) and Kelly Clarkson”s holiday offering, “Wrapped In Red” at No. 6 (45,000).
Drake”s “Nothing Was the Same,” which has already surpassed the 1 million in sales mark, and Lorde”s “Pure Heroine” are in a dead heat for No. 8, which both projected to sell 30,000-35,000.