Ask Billboard is updated every Friday. As always, submit your questions about Billboard charts, sales and airplay, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S.


BRITNEY SPEARS' CAREER SALES

Hi Gary,

I've been trying to find up-to-date sales figures for Britney Spears' albums and digital and physical singles and you're the only source I could find that might be able to help.

Could you please provide those totals?

Thanks!

Daniel Moreno
Tulsa, Oklahoma


Hi Daniel,

Billboard.com has been Spears Central this week, following the scorching radio debut of "Hold It Against Me." As previously reported, the song is expected to exceed 400,000 in first-week download sales, as well, according to industry sources, and blast in atop next week's Billboard Hot 100.

Britney - Hold It Against Me (SAMPLE) by DJ Teapot

Poll: What Do You Think of Britney's "Hold It Against Me"?

In the meantime, here is a look at Spears' U.S. album sales to-date, according to Nielsen SoundScan:

Sales, Title, Release Year
10,555,000, "...Baby One More Time," 1999
9,199,000, "Oops!...I Did It Again," 2000
4,342,000, "Britney," 2001
2,991,000, "In the Zone," 2003
1,667,000, "Circus," 2008
1,395,000, "Greatest Hits: My Prerogative," 2004
991,000, "Blackout," 2007
172,000, "The Singles Collection," 2009
105,000, "B in the Mix: the Remixes," 2005

With 31.6 million albums sold, Spears ranks as the 16th-best-selling album artist since SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991.

In that span, Spears places fourth among women, trailing only Mariah Carey (53.2 million), Celine Dion (51.1 million) and Shania Twain (34 million).

Spears has sold 2.9 physical singles and 21 million digital tracks.