In the days prior to its release, industry analysts were expecting Adele’s “Hello” to break *NSYNC’s Soundscan-era opening week US album sales record.
With a weekend’s worth of sales data now available, analysts are not only confident it will break said record. They expect it to obliterate the mark.
According to Nielsen Music, “25” sold 2.3 million US copies during its first three days of release. With four days remaining in the tracking week, the notoriously conservative Billboard projects an opening week tally of at least 2.9 million.
Such a total would easily eclipse the 2.416 million generated by *NSYNC’s “No Strings Attached.”
Insofar as 2.3 million sales were banked by Sunday, it is, in fact, all but a given that “25” will break the record on Monday — and still have three days to spare.
Certain to top next week’s Billboard 200, “25” has also spawned a multi-week #1 Hot 100 hit in “Hello.”
