Paul McCartney - McCartney III cover via @paulmccartney on Twitter
Based on early projections, Paul McCartney’s “McCartney III” will be in contention for one of the top three spots on this week’s US album chart.
According to Hits Daily Double, the album should sell 80-90K first-week copies in the US. With units from track sales and streams included, the album should debut with 85-95K in total first-week units.
The early projection puts “McCartney III” narrowly ahead of Eminem’s deluxe, “Side B” edition of “Music To Be Murdered By.” Said project is tracking for 70-80K units, with 25-30K in sales.
Neither the McCartney nor Eminem album, however, has a clear path to #1. Hits currently pegs Taylor Swift’s “evermore” as the frontrunner to keep this week’s throne. Thanks to continued interest and the introduction of physical versions, “evermore” should post a six-figure tally in week two.
It is, of course, interesting to note that Swift herself urged fans to buy and stream the new McCartney album.