Update: The April 14-20 tracking week is officially over, and Kendrick Lamar’s “DAMN.” indeed obliterated early projections.
Data is still being tabulated, but the latest information from BuzzAngle Music suggests the album sold 350,000 pure US copies and generated nearly 600,000 first-week consumption units (sales + track sales/10 + track streams/1500).
They are the best single-week numbers achieved by an album in 2017.
=====
Based on its first day performance, Hits Daily Double projected that Kendrick Lamar’s “DAMN.” would sell 275-300,000 pure US copies and drive 460-485,000 overall US consumption units in its first week.
With the week almost over, Hits is substantially raising those projections.
“DAMN.” is now on track to sell 325,000 pure US copies by the end of the April 14-20 sales week. With TEA (track sales/10) and SEA (track streams/1500) included, total consumption may hit 550,000.
Such a figure would convincingly rank as the best single-week consumption total posted in 2017. Drake’s “More Life,” which currently holds the honor, drove 505,000 first-week units.
While streaming is a huge factor in the overall consumption performance (“DAMN.” is expected to cross 300 million in first-week track streams), “DAMN.” also has a shot at the biggest pure sales figure of 2017.
Ed Sheeran’s “Divide,” the year’s current pure sales leader, sold 322,000 first-week copies in the US.