Hits Daily Double will not issue its complete weekly sales report until Tuesday afternoon, but it has already provided a glimpse of the likely outcome.
According to the tease, Madonna’s “Rebel Heart” will win the pure album sales race. The “Empire” soundtrack, however, is expected to claim a greater first week consumption total.
Consumption total — Sales + Track Equivalent Albums (10 single sales = 1 album sale) + Streaming Equivalent Albums (1500 single streams = 1 album sale) — informs the revamped Billboard 200 chart. The FOX series’ soundtrack is therefore expected to top what is widely recognized as the most important albums chart.
Going into the weekend, Hits was projecting pure sales totals of 105-115,000 and 90-95,000 for “Rebel Heart” and “Empire,” respectively. The inclusion of TEA and SEA data was expected to produce consumption totals of 110-120,000 for both albums.
The extent to which the final Hits numbers will deviate is presently unclear, but said deviation will apparently fall in favor of “Empire.”
The extent to which the final Billboard numbers will deviate from the final Hits numbers is also unclear.
Luke Bryan’s “Spring Break…Checkin’ Out” will claim #3 on the weekly Billboard 200.
