Weakend Chart Preview

Five new entries in next week's Top 10 (and six in the Top 15) will help keep music retail from setting a new #1 low for the third consecutive week. A strong showing from The Decemberists will top the chart with debuts from Kidz Bop Kids, The Script and Social Distortion holding the top four slots. The rest of the Top 15 seems to have leveled off, at least for this week. This time last year, Hope For Haiti topped the chart with 171k. Here's how it looks headed into the weekend:

*The Decemberists (Capitol/EMI) 70-75k
*Kidz Bop Kids (Razor & Tie) 55-60k
*The Script (Epic) 40-45k
*Social Distortion (Epitaph) 37-42k
Bruno Mars (New Elektra) 33-37k
Taylor Swift (Big Machine) 32-36k
*Gregg Allman (Rounder) 28-32k
Rihanna (Def Jam/IDJ) 25-28k
Mumford & Sons (Glassnote) 24-27k
Nicki Minaj (Young Money/Cash Money/Universal Motown) 24-27k
Jason Aldean (Broken Bow) 23-26k
*James Blunt (Atlantic) 20-23k
Country Strong (Sony Music Nashville) 20-23k
Katy Perry (Capitol/EMI) 20-23k
Kanye West (Roc-A-Fella/IDJ) 20-23k
*Debuts (1/20p)