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Can upcoming releases like Beyonce, Lady Antebellum, Lil Wayne, Jackie Evancho and the elusive Dr. Dre help sustain the momentum when the biz goes up against last year’s first weeks from Drake and Eminem?

GAGA FLIRTS WITH A MILLION

Huge Digital Blow-Out, Non-Trad Retail Leads to First-Week Sales of 900-950k
She was “Born” to sell downloads. With a massive rollout orchestrated by Interscope’s Steve Berman and manager Troy Carter, Lady Gaga’s Born This Way will debut at #1 next week with the year’s biggest sales total, between 900-950k. That would be the largest debut since Taylor Swift’s Speak Now scored 1.04 million last October.

In a watershed moment for the business, as much as 500k of that total will be digital, thanks in large part to Amazon’s price-busting 99 cent sale on Monday. Estimates are that Gaga’s album broke Coldplay’s previous one-week digital record of 288k on the first day, with an estimated 400k being sold across all digital formats in the first 24 hours. It’s clear the strategy of saturating non-traditional retail worked wonders.

Arista Nashville superstar Brad Paisley’s This Is Country Music, his 10th studio album since bursting onto the scene in 1999, is on target for an opening week of 145-155k.

Columbia’s Glee Cast Volume 6 will debut with between 80-85k, while Maybach/ Warner Bros.’ Maybach Music Group Presents: Self Made, Vol. 1, the Rick Ross-founded label previously with Def Jam, will do in the 50-55k range.

Columbia/Jive/Legacy’s NKOTBSB, the joining of New Kids and Backstreet Boys, should do 35-40k on the heels of their blockbuster tour.

Finally, Startime Intl./Columbia’s Foster the People, SoCal’s answer to MGMT, debut with Torches, which is in the 25-30k range, fueled by the alternative hit, “Pumped Up Kicks.”

The market was down 5% vs. last week, up 2% vs. same week last year and still down 1% year to date, with Gaga ensuring the business will climb into the black for the first time in memory. Can upcoming releases like Beyonce, Lady Antebellum, Lil Wayne, Jackie Evancho and the elusive Dr. Dre help sustain the momentum when the biz goes up against last year’s first weeks from Drake and Eminem?

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