WEEK IN PREVIEW: NOW THAT'S WHAT WE CALL SALES
If you said the Internet, shame on you.
UTV/UME's Now 16 will debut at #1 this week. The only question is, how high will it fly? According to reports from national accounts, the album will likely go over 450k and could even approach 500k. By comparison, Capitol's Now 15 sold around 340k its first week out in March on its way to a total of 1.5 million. The best-selling series, which launched in 1999 in the U.S. with Virgin Records' Now That's What I Call Music Vol. 1, has soared past 90 million in total U.S. sales.
Meanwhile, Ashlee Simpson’s Autobiography (Geffen), which debuted last week with 408k in sales, will be unseated from her #1 spot, but the album fell much less than expected, only about 30%, which should put her past the 250k mark and good for #2. Chicago-based indie Victory Records' Long Island emo standard-bearers Taking Back Sunday appears headed from 150-175k in first-week sales.
Also hitting the street last week were SRC/Universal’s Terror Squad, which appears headed for a first-week total around 80k, as well as VP/Atlantic’s dance-hall star Kevin Lyttle and Mercury Nashville’s Terri Clark, both of whom are poised to sell over 50k for the week.
In addition, look for Pearl Jam's new live album, through its own Ten Club Records, distribbed by J Records, to also approch 50k, thanks to strong fan club sales, which will be counted in its total.
