Alec Barbra [NBC]
Update 2: Billboard has made the news official: Barbra Streisand’s “Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway” debuts at #1 on the Top Album Sales and Billboard 200 charts.
It tops the former with what Billboard reports as 148K pure first-week US sales. The inclusion of TEA (track sales/10) and SEA (track streams/1500) yields a first-week consumption tally of 149K.
“Encore” is Streisand’s eleventh #1 on the Billboard 200.
Florida Georgia Line’s new “Dig Your Roots” takes #2 on both charts with 126K in pure sales and 145K in total units. With pure sales and total consumption tallies of 88K and 111K, respectively, Britney Spears’ “Glory” takes #3 on both charts.
Drake’s “Views” (72K units) and Frank Ocean’s “Blonde” (68K units) respectively claim #4 and #5 on the Billboard 200.
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Update: According to Hits Daily Double, Barbra Streisand’s “Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway” sold approximately 149,934 pure US copies during the August 26-September 1 tracking week.
Substantially stronger than expected, the count ranks as the week’s best pure sales total. “Encore” will accordingly debut at #1 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart.
Florida Georgia Line’s “Dig Your Roots” (~128,727 US sales) and Britney Spears’ “Glory” (~91,903 US sales) will respectively debut at #2 and #3.
Billboard’s final, more authoritative data will differ slightly from that reported by Hits, but the discrepancy will not be enough to affect the Top Album Sales hierarchy.
It conceivably could, however, be enough to impact placement on the Billboard 200.
With Track Equivalent Albums (track sales/10) and Streaming Equivalent Albums (track streams/1500) added to the pure sales total, “Encore” generated what Hits reports as ~151,116 in weekly US consumption units. “Dig Your Roots” generated ~148,175 units.
Because a 2,941 lead could fall within the “margin of error” between the Hits and Billboard data, it is too early to confidently declare “Encore” the winner.
The Hits nonetheless suggests “Encore” has a strong chance of being named #1 on the Billboard 200.
— Credited with ~115,922 units, Spears’ “Glory” is poised for a #3 bow on the BB200.
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Thanks to a stronger-than-anticipated late-week performance and a bigger-than-expected bump from concert ticket/album bundles, Barbra Streisand’s “Encore: Movie Partners Sing Broadway” has apparently won the US album sales race.
As of Tuesday, Hits Daily Double was projecting an opening week US sales total of 127-132,000. The publication is now reporting that “Encore” actually sold about 150,000 pure US copies. The count gives “Encore” the clear edge over Florida Georgia Line’s “Dig Your Roots,” which was considered the frontrunner to win the weekly sales race.
Whether “Encore” also topped “Dig Your Roots” in the total consumption race, which determines #1 on the Billboard 200, remains to be seen. “Dig Your Roots” received a bigger total lift from TEA (track sales/10) and SEA (track streams/1500), but with data still being tabulated, it is unclear whether the additional TEA and SEA units will be enough to close the pure sales gap.
Hits Daily Double will update its numbers Friday evening, but insofar as there is often a slight discrepancy between Hits’ final data and Billboard’s final data, it is probably wise to wait until the latter officially declares a winner.
— Britney Spears’ “Glory,” the week’s other high-profile new release, will take #3 on both Top Album Sales and the Billboard 200. Hits says that it generated about 91,000 in pure US sales and 115,000 in total consumption units.