Ariana Grande’s new “Christmas & Chill” EP and Monica’s new “Code Red” LP are currently pacing for a similar opening week US sales total.
According to estimates from Hits Daily Double, both are on track to sell 30-35,000 US copies during the December 18-24 tracking week.
The week’s other high-profile new releases include Chris Brown’s “Royalty” (~125-135,000), “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (~90-100,000), Pusha T’s “King Push – Darkest Before Dawn: The Prelude” (~38-43,000), and Cage The Elephant’s “Tell Me I’m Pretty” (20-23,000).
Given the unpredictable impact of last-minute Christmas shopping, the projections come with an atypically large margin of error. Projections, in general, have been less accurate since the switch to a Friday tracking week.