A collective of recognizable pop stars released new albums this week, and while the sales figures are largely nothing at which to sneeze in 2011, some will suffer significant declines from their preceding releases.
According to opening week sales forecasts from Hits Daily Double, which made its projections by extending opening day sales data, Beyonce’s “4” will easily top the Billboard 200 Album Sales chart. But with a forecasted total of only 275-300,000, it will be down fairly sharply from predecessor “I Am…Sasha Fierce.” That album, fueled by hits like “Single Ladies” and “If I Were a Boy,” opened to a total just shy of 500,000.
Among new releases, Big Sean’s “Finally Famous: The Album” will follow in the 90-95,000 territory, while Selena Gomez and The Scene’s “When the Sun Goes Down” will land at 75-80,000. That marks an increase from her “A Year Without Rain,” which started at about 66,000. Gomez clearly has a consistent audience that is growing with her improving profile and consistently-reliable pop albums, but her stock as a singer still needs a legitimate hit single to truly explode.
While Gomez made improvements over her previous effort, David Cook felt the impact of time away from the limelight and limited pop success since his “Idol” victory. A popular “American Idol” contestant who won the seventh season, Cook’s self-titled, major label debut opened to 280,000 copies en route to platinum certification. Follow-up “This Loud Morning,” however, will only muster 45-50,000 sales in time for next week’s chart. One of the more vocally-talented “Idol” alumni, Cook has nonetheless faced difficulty from a branding standpoint. His songwriters and producers have thus far been unable to work with him on a sound that can make a lasting impact with Top 40 fans.
Other forecasts include Taking Back Sunday’s self-titled release (30,000), Scotty McCreery’s Walmart EP (30,000), Curren$y’s “Weekend at Burnie’s” (23-27,000) and Limp Bizkit’s “Gold Cobra” (23-27,000).