The opening week sales forecast for Kelly Clarkson’s “Piece by Piece” has not been elevated from 75-80,000, but its anticipated dominance has been underscored. Barring an unexpected development, “Piece by Piece” will be the week’s best selling album.
Less certain, however, is how it will fare on the consumption-oriented Billboard 200. Its quest to top that chart will face a challenge in the form of the “50 Shades of Grey” soundtrack.
While that album is only expected to move 50-55,000 pure copies this week, it is due to receive a considerably larger boost from Track Equivalent Albums (10 single sales = 1 album sale) and Streaming Equivalent Albums (1500 single streams = 1 album sale). With that data included, Hits Daily Double expects “50 Shades” to claim a weekly consumption total in the 85-95,000 range.
Clarkson’s album is expected to drive the same amount of first-week consumption units.
— As far as new releases go, the only other album in line for a top ten debut is Brandi Carlile’s “The Firewatcher’s Daughter.” The album is on track for opening week sales total of 40-45,000. The boost from TEA and SEA will be minimal.