As previously reported, Taylor Swift’s “Red” is trending toward a 1 million-plus sales week and a non-surprising Billboard 200 No. 1 debut, as industry sources seem certain that the album will eclipse the seven-figure sales threshold. Indications are that “Red” will mostly likely race past the first-week sum of Swift’s previous set, “Speak Now” (2010), which began with 1.046 million in 2010, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
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‘Red’ Alert: Taylor Swift To Sell 1 Million In First Week
With two days of sales under its belt through Wednesday (the Big Machine title was released on Oct. 22, bypassing the normal Tuesday-release cycle), “Red” has reportedly shifted more than 600,000 units.
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By the time the sales week is complete (SoundScan will tally totals through Oct. 28), “Red” will most likely have set single-week sales records at digital retailer iTunes Music Store and mass-merchant Target. The former retailer holds the first-week digital exclusive for the title, while the latter has created pop-up Swift stores in its locations and is the sole source for the deluxe edition of “Red,” which contains three bonus track and three additional remixes.
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Swift is casting a large shadow on what is set to be a rather noteworthy bow on the Billboard 200 by relative newcomer Kendrick Lamar, whose major-label debut “Good Kid M.A.A.D. City” (Interscope) looks locked into a No. 2 debut with a sales sum north of 220,000. That would put Lamar in range for the highest sales total by a male rapper this year, an honor currently held by Young Jeezy, who shifted 233,000 with “TM:103: Hustlerz Ambition” in January.
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Other albums on course for top 10 entries next week include Stone Sour’s “House of Gold & Bones Part One,” Tony Bennett’s “Viva Duets” and Gary Clark Jr.s “Blak & Blu.”
The new Billboard 200 chart’s top 10 will be revealed on the morning of Oct. 31.
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