As of 4PM ET Friday, the top 4 places on the US iTunes album sales chart belong to new releases.
The highest-ranking of the bunch is Kendrick Lamar’s surprise release “untitled unmastered.” The 8-track album is #1 on the listing, successively ahead of 2 Chainz & Lil Wayne’s “ColleGrove” (#2), Granger Smith’s “Remington” (#3), and Ray LaMontagne’s “Ouroboros” (#4).
Positioned at #5, Chris Stapleton’s enduring “Traveller” represents the lone holdover in the Top 5.
Bas’ new “Too High To Riot” (#6), Miike Snow’s new “iii” (#7), Adele’s “25” (#8), Macklemore & Ryan Lewis” “This Unruly Mess I’ve Made” (#9) and Ninja Sex Party’s new “Under The Covers” (#10) form the balance of the chart’s Top 10.
Pivotal, iTunes nonetheless only represents one avenue for purchasing music. Specific sales forecasts accounting for the entire marketplace should emerge in the coming days.
