Carrie Underwood - Cry Pretty Cover (photo by Randee St. Nicholas, courtesy of Capitol Nashville)
Update: Billboard just made the news official — Carrie Underwood’s “Cry Pretty” is #1 on this week’s Billboard Top Album Sales and Billboard 200 charts.
“Cry Pretty tops the former with what Billboard reports as 251K pure sales. The inclusion of units from track sales and streams yields a consumption tally of 266K, which results in the #1 Billboard 200 bow.
Hits Daily Double and BuzzAngle had reported those numbers as 246K and 260K, respectively.
“Cry Pretty” is the fourth Carrie Underwood album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200. Underwood is actually the first female artist to ever top the Billboard 200 with four separate country albums.
====
Carrie Underwood’s “Cry Pretty” unsurprisingly won this week’s US album sales and consumption races.
According to Hits Daily Double and BuzzAngle, “Cry Pretty” sold about 246K pure US copies during its inaugural tracking period.
With TEA (track sales/10) and SEA (track streams/1250 for paid services + track streams/3750 for free services) included, it generated about 260K in first-week consumption.
In addition to topping industry projections (which called for 220-230K US sales, 230-240K US units), the numbers markedly top those of Underwood’s previous album. “Storyteller,” that album, debuted with 164K pure sales and 177K total units.
Due Sunday, Billboard’s more authoritative data will differ slightly from that reported by Hits. The differences will not, however, be enough to affect the overall outcome. “Cry Pretty” will be a dominant #1 on the Top Album Sales (pure sales) and Billboard 200 (consumption) charts.
Its closest competition on both fronts will likely be Eminem’s “Kamikaze,” which reportedly generated about 41K in pure sales and 94K in consumption.
“Cry Pretty” will become Underwood’s fourth #1 on the Billboard 200.
— In addition to the enthusiasm one would expect for a new Carrie Underwood release, “Cry Pretty” benefited from a concert ticket-album bundle (albums redeemed as part of the bundle count as sales).