Update: Jason Aldean will indeed win the album sales race, but it will be with a considerably lighter total than first projected. The first wave of sales estimates for the Jason Aldean, Hozier, Weezer, Alex & Sierra, Stevie Nicks and Tinashe albums is here.
Projected to score an opening week sales tally of more than 400,000, Jason Aldean’s “Old Boots, New Dirt” is predictably in a league of its own on the iTunes album sales chart.
While purchases from the leading digital retailer will only a represent a fraction of the album’s commercial footprint, they have thus far been sizable enough to position “Old Boots, New Dirt” at the top of the album sales chart.
And regardless of whether or not the album retains its leadership position on iTunes for the duration of the week, it is a lock to debut at #1 on the overall Billboard 200 chart.
If iTunes is any indication, the upper region of next week’s Billboard 200 will be loaded with debuts. New releases are presently occupying all ten spots of the iTunes sales chart.
Closest behind the Aldean album is Hozier’s “Hozier.” Alex & Sierra’s “It’s About Us” claims third place, while Weezer’s “Everything Will Be Alright in the End” and Childish Gambino’s “Kauai” hold the next two respective spots in the top five.
Tinashe’s new “Aquarius” is in sixth place and thus ahead of Broods’ “Evergreen” (#7) and Yellowcard’s “Lift a Sail” (#8). Stevie Nicks’ “24 Karat Gold” and Sixx:AM’s “Modern Vintage” are ninth and tenth, respectively.