Originally posted by Klaxon

See. Your point was very valid until that last part.

It's very well established that album sales work in 2 ways.
1) The "fanbase" rush which gives the first weeks high debuts
2) Any sales after that are sustained by single (success) and relentless touring

If you don't think thats true - how do you explain bands with openings of over 100-150k, who barely make it over 500k total?

Multipliers for album sales are based on singles success.

"True fans" buy the album in the first few weeks. Not 20 weeks later.