As reported earlier this week, Lady Gaga's "ARTPOP" album seems destined for a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 chart next week, securing the diva her second chart-topping set.
Presently, industry sources forecast the album to sell between 240,000 and 250,000 by the end of the tracking week on Nov. 17. That's down slightly from its 260,000 projection on Wednesday (Nov. 13). As we've noted previously, sales forecasts often change throughout the week, based on many variables.
The new Billboard 200's top 10 will be revealed on Nov. 20.
The new album was released on Monday (Nov. 11), bucking the trend of most albums hitting retail on a Tuesday. Because of Lady Gaga's move to Monday, most other albums that were scheduled for a Tuesday (Nov. 12) release were also moved up one day to Monday.
"ARTPOP" follows Gaga's No. 1-debuting "Born This Way" in 2011, which launched with 1.1 million sold (a number amplified by a temporary 99-cent sale deal by Amazon MP3). Overall, "ARTPOP" will rack up the fifth top 10 set for Gaga, who previously notched top 10s with her first album "The Fame" (No. 2 peak in early 2010), "The Fame Monster" (EP) (No. 5 in 2009), "The Remix" (No. 6 in 2010) and "Born This Way."
Eminem's current chart champ, "The Marshall Mathers LP 2," will likely fall to No. 2 with around 210,000 for the week.
The second-highest new entry will probably be the new "Now 48" compilation, which could start with between 90,000 and 100,000. All 47 of the regular (numbered) "Now" albums have reached the top 10, and all but the first debuted in the top 10. The last "Now" set, "Now 47," debuted at No. 2 with 82,000 sold in August.
Also set for a top 10 debut: the Beatles.
The Fab Four's new "On Air - Live at the BBC, Vol. 2" album should give the act its 31st top 10 set. The album is forecast to sell around 35,000. The group last charted a new top 10 effort in 2006 with the release of "Love," the companion album to the Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas stage production based on the Beatles' music.
If "On Air" debuts in the top 10, the Beatles would remain in fourth place on the all-time list of acts with the most top 10 albums. The Rolling Stones have the most, with 36. They are followed by, currently, Frank Sinatra (33), Barbra Streisand (32) and the Beatles (30, at the present).
On SoundScan's Building chart (below), Eminem is No. 1, while Lady Gaga is No. 2. The Building tally is a precursor to the final Billboard 200 ranking, reflecting the first four days (Monday through Thursday) of SoundScan's tracking week as reported by six major merchants.
Because of how Building Chart is compiled, the rankings can sometimes be misleading in relation to what the final Billboard 200 will look like. The chart was further complicated by this week's off-cycle Monday release schedule.
For example, while Gaga is ranked at No. 2 on the Building chart, she is indeed heading for a No. 1 debut once the official SoundScan sales figures have been tabulated. And though the Beatles are No. 10, it's likely the group will end up slightly higher on the list.
1 Artpop ~ 260k
2 The Marshall Mather LP 2 ~ 210k
UK
Lady Gaga follows in the footsteps of Avril Lavigne and Susan Boyle to become only the third female solo artist in chart history to top the chart with each of her first three studio albums, completing her triptych with ARTPOP, which debuts at number one on sales of 65,608 copies.
Although that tally exceeds the 25,228 copies that her first album The Fame sold when debuting at number three in 2009 - it reached number one 11 weeks later - it is less than a third of the 215,639 copies that follow-up Born This Way sold when reaching number one on its 2011 debut. Racking up only the ninth highest sale for a number one album so far this year, ARTPOP would likely have opened with a lower tally had it not been for the mp3 version of the album being priced at just £4.99 at Amazon and Sainsbury (£8.99 as iTunes), a fact which helped it to sell 30,211 copies on download.
ARTPOP's first single, Applause became Gaga's 10th Top 10 single on release in August but - moving 42-51 (8,049 sales) this week - it remains the smallest seller of the ten, with a 14 week tally of 234,979. Do What U Want (feat. R. Kelly), Venus and Dope were also released in the run-up to ARTPOP but were all instant gratification singles and were thus barred from the chart until now.
Do What U Want now debuts at number nine (29,657 sales), with Venus at number 76 (3,174 sales) and Dope at number 124 (1,666 sales). No other Gaga tracks are in the singles Top 200, although ARTPOP's release sparks a revival in album sales of Born This Way (151-121, 1,234 sales) and The Fame, which re-enters the chart at number 170 (784 sales). Overall sales of The Fame including the expanded Fame Monster edition are 2,881,664, while Born This Way has sold 960,151 copies. Both albums also charted separately in remixed editions. The Remix - which revisited tracks from The Fame - reached number three and has sold 164,293 copies, while Born This Way: The Remix got to number 77 and has sold 16,094 copies.
High profile TV appearances, including an interview on The Jonathan Ross Show and singing on The X Factor Results Show helped raise awareness of Celine Dion's new album Loved Me Back To Life but failed to secure the 45 year old Canadian her sixth number one. Debuting at number three (52,856 sales), Loved Me Back To Life is Dion's highest charting album since 2002 chart-topper A New Day Has Come. Her last new English language album was Taking Chances, which debuted and peaked six years ago this week at number five on sales of 55,592 copies, and has subsequently sold 392,998 copies. The title track of Loved Me Back To Life jumps 75-14 (22,223 sales) to become Celine Dion's highest charting single since the title track of A New Day Has Come got to number seven in 2002.
1 Artpop ~66k
2 Loved me back to life ~53k
Only the large market as;
US: 259,683 #1
Canada: 80,000 (shipment, not sale) #3
UK: 65,000 #1
Brazil: 40,000 (shipment, not sale)
France: 22,852
AUS: 15,685 #2
_________________
