Update 2: The first wave of sales data is now available, and it paints a similarly positive picture of Kenny Chesney’s album.
Chesney’s “The Big Revival” is pacing to move 125-135,000 copies in its first week of release. Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s “Cheek to Cheek,” the next-hottest seller, looks good for a bow in the 115-125,000 range.
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Update: After trailing alt-J’s “This is All Yours” and Pentatonix’s “PTX, Volume III” in the early morning hours, Kenny Chesney’s “The Big Revival” climbed to #1 on iTunes as Tuesday progressed.
As of 11AM ET, it had sent the alt-J release to #2 and the Pentatonix EP to #3.
The rise of 5 Seconds of Summer’s “Amnesia” EP to #4 has meanwhile forced Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga’s “Cheek to Cheek” to the #5 position.
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A lot can change over the next few days, but as of 3AM ET on Tuesday, alt-J’s “This is All Yours” is the best-selling album on iTunes.
The band’s latest release, which is represented by a pair of top ten-selling tracks in “Pusher” and “Garden of England,” claims the iTunes lead over high-profile releases from Pentatonix, Kenny Chesney and Tony Bennett/Lady Gaga.
Even if sustained, the iTunes lead might not reflect an overall sales lead in the broader market. But it does reflect the strength of the band’s supportive fanbase.
“PTX, Volume III,” the latest EP release from the aforementioned Pentatonix, claims #2 on the iTunes album sales chart. Kenny Chesney’s “The Big Revival” is at #3, while the Tony Bennett-Lady Gaga collaboration “Cheek to Cheek” is #4. Barbra Streisand’s “Partners,” which will this week be announced as last week’s top-seller, is #5 at the leading digital retailer.
Other top ten iTunes albums include Lenny Kravitz’ “Strut” (#6), Chris Brown’s “X” (#7), Leonard Cohen’s “Popular Problems” (#8), Tweedy’s “Sukierae” (#9) and Lights’ “Little Machines” (#10).