A THREE-WAY BATTLE FOR
ALL THE MARBLES
The three-way battle for #1 on the HITS Album Sales Chart the week after next is beginning to sort itself out.
At this point, industry forecasters are predicting a debut for Interscope’s Lana Del Rey in the 175-200k range, with Capitol’s Sam Smith in the 125-150k range and Warner Bros.’ Linkin Park around 100k.
Sam currently leads in preorders with about 50k; Lana has about 30 or 40k. Sam, however, benefits from a longer preorder window, having been available for 14 weeks, compared to Lana’s two weeks. Linkin continues to trail the other two, in the vicinity of 20k.
Following up her platinum 2012 album (which debuted with 77k and has moved 1.04m RTD), Lana is currently #8 at iTunes with new set Ultraviolence. She leads without radio but has a rabid fan base, a substantial social-media presence and comes off her biggest U.S. tour to date.
Sam, however, is coming on strong after being featured on multiple hits. His album, In the Lonely Hour, has been #1 in the U.K. for two weeks running and is is Top 15 at iTunes. "Stay With Me" is #4 at iTunes with 700k+ sold; it’s Top 15 at Pop radio, #12 Hot AC and #5 at Shazam. He has a brace of TV appearances coming up, including Letterman and The View.
Linkin, meanwhile, has fallen behind, despite two successful rock singles and a big summer tour; the band looks set to bow in the #3 spot in any event. The band’s prior release streeted with 223k and has sold 675k RTD.
Stay tuned, as the Lana-Sam contest could tighten up over the next week—as some who drank the Sam punch believe.
