On track for the biggest opening week sales total in the group’s history, One Direction’s new “Drag Me Down” reportedly drove nearly 300,000 paid downloads in its first three days of release.
According to a promotional alert from Columbia Records, the song shifted approximately 282,000 copies between July 31 and August 2***.
While its pace is slowing, “Drag Me Down” is still on track to best the 341,000 first-week mark posted by lead “Take Me Home” single “Live While We’re Young”
It has already topped the first week mark for “FOUR” lead single “Steal My Girl.” That track, which was the last lead release to feature Zayn Malik, sold 186,000 in its inaugural frame.
The song will easily debut atop this coming week’s Digital Songs subchart. And insofar as it is also performing well from a radio and streaming standpoint, “Drag Me Down” is expected to debut within the Top 5 of Billboard’s overall Hot 100 chart.
***Editor’s Note: While Columbia’s blast also boasts that “Drag Me Down” topped the iTunes chart in 86 countries, the numeric sales total is believed to be a US-only figure.