As of mid-week, analysts were expecting Travi$ Scott’s “ASTROWORLD” to debut with 175-185,000 in pure US sales and 455-470,000 in total US units.
The album ended up faring markedly better.
According to Hits Daily Double and BuzzAngle, “ASTROWORLD” closed the week with about 270,355 in pure US sales. The inclusion of TEA (track sales/10) and SEA (track streams/1250 for paid services + track streams/3750 for free services) yields an opening week consumption tally of 553,408.
In addition to general enthusiasm over the new release, “ASTROWORLD” benefited from a strong series of merchandise bundles. Those bundles helped produce a far-stronger pure sales total than many initially expected.
Due Sunday, Billboard’s more authoritative data may differ slightly from that reported by Hits. The discrepancies should not, however, affect the overall chart situation. “ASTROWORLD” will debut atop the Billboard Top Album Sales (pure sales) and Billboard 200 (total consumption) charts.
It, moreover, should post the year’s second-best pure sales and consumption totals. Dave Matthews Band’s “Come Tomorrow” (285K sales) and Drake’s “Scorpion” (732K units) hold 2018’s high marks in those columns.
