iTunes only represents one portion of the weekly album sales race, but the portion it does represent is falling in favor of the soundtrack to “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”
That soundtrack, which features tracks from Coldplay, Lorde and Imagine Dragons, surged to the top of the iTunes Album Sales chart in conjunction with its release Tuesday.
At press time, the soundtrack’s closest competition comes from “Midnight Memories.” Available only as a pre-order until its formal release on November 25, the new One Direction album is holding off Eminem’s monster holdover “The Marshall Mathers LP 2” for the number two position.
“Baptized,” the latest from Daughtry, is presently situated in number four. Opening week sales for the album, Daughtry’s fourth, are expected to trail the 129K debut figure for 2011’s “Break the Spell,” which trailed the 269K opener for 2009’s “Leave this Town” and the 304K start for 2006’s “Daughtry.”
The standard and deluxe editions of Five Finger Death Punch’s “The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 2” follow in fifth and sixth, respectively, while Yo Gotti’s “I Am” sits in seventh place. Lady Gaga’s “ARTPOP,” Lorde’s “Pure Heroine” and Jhene Aiko’s “Sail Out,” all holdovers, complete the top ten.
Formal sales estimates, which include data from physical and digital retailers, are due Wednesday.