For the third time in as many weeks, a high-profile country album will win the album sales race.
For the third time in as many weeks, that album’s sales count will fall dramatically below expectations.
Originally pegged to sell between 250-300,000 copies, Florida Georgia Line’s “Anything Goes” is no longer a lock to even cross the 200,000 threshold in its first week.
According to Hits Daily Double, the superstar country duo’s sophomore release is on pace for a weekly total in the 180-200,000 range. That forecast suggests FGL’s album will narrowly outsell Miranda Lambert’s “Platinum” but fall short of 2014 releases by Eric Church, Jason Aldean and Brantley Gilbert.
This past week, Jason Aldean’s “Old Boots, New Dirt” fell similarly short of estimates. Eyed for a bow in the 350-450,000 range, it ultimately landed in the vicinity of 281,000.
Two weeks ago, Blake Shelton’s “Bringing Back the Sunshine” sold just 101,000 first week copies, which marked an album-to-album decline of 50%. Lady Antebellum’s “747,” which came out that week, was good for only 74,000.
— Other notable releases this week: Bob Seger’s “Ride Out” (Hits forecasts 50-60,000), You+Me’s “rose ave.” (~40-50,000), Hoodie Allen’s “People Keep Talking” (~35-45,000), U2’s “Songs of Innocence” (~25-30,000), Jessie J’s “Sweet Talker” (20-25,000), Nico & Vinz’s “Black Star Elephant” (~10-15,000).