Initial sales projections have become less accurate since the switch to a Friday-Thursday tracking week, and the impact of Black Friday only complicates this week’s forecasting.
It does, however, appear safe to say that The Weeknd’s “Starboy” will get off to a hot start.
Based on very early data, Hits Daily Double projects “Starboy” to debut with 225-275,000 opening week pure US sales. The inclusion of TEA (track sales/10) and SEA (track streams/1500) should yield a first-week consumption total of 350-400,000 units.
It is presently unclear how Black Friday promotions and the start of the holiday season will affect popular holdover and Christmas releases, but “Starboy” should end up with the #1 spots on the Billboard Top Album Sales (pure sales) and Billboard 200 (consumption) charts.
