The good news? Blake Shelton’s “Bringing Back the Sunshine” has a chance of debuting at #1 on next week’s Billboard 200.
The bad news? Whether it does or does not, it will open on the chart with a very disappointing sales total.
Based on opening day sales, Hits Daily Double forecasts a first-week total of 80-90,000 for the Shelton album.
If the actual number falls within that range, it will represent a decline of more than 50% from the first week sum for predecessor “Based on a True Story…”
That album, which launched in March 2013, moved 199,000 first week copies. Prior to that, Shelton launched 2011’s “Red River Blue” to the tune of 111,000 first week sales.
Despite the album-to-album decline, “Bringing Back the Sunshine” still has a shot at a number one bow. Its primary competition will come from Barbra Streisand’s “Partners,” which slipped to #3 on this week’s Billboard 200 after debuting atop the previous week’s listings.
— Not limited to Blake Shelton’s album, the declining sales bug also bit Lady Antebellum’s “747.” That release’s expected debut sum of 65-70,000 significantly trails the 167,000 mark posted by the act’s 2013 release “Golden.”
