Or even 400K and I am talking about ALBUMS not 99cent singles.

I believe the highest Rihanna has got is 237K with her latest release and I'm not sure what Katy highest 1st wk sales are on the Billboard 200 chart.

Even after the accident on Grammy's night in 2009, Rihanna despite going on a massive promo spree and performing everywhere and selling her album for 99 cents on Black Friday barely did 200K.

I mean all the 'MAJOR GIRLS' has least had 1huge opening wk before everyone from Taylor, Britney, Gaga, Beyonce, MC, Madonna.... Even Ciara did almost 350K in one wk .... Mary J Blige and Alicia Keys did over 500K 2xx and they are R&B girls!

Why do U think Rihanna and Katy has never had a massive 1st wk sales debut?

Katy is a singles artist. Rihanna on the other hand is coming for 400k with R8

Don't make me bookmark this.

singles artists.

They don't have a large built in fan base (in the U.S) which is where high first week sales come from. But they are able to convince people outside of the base to buy their albums with the singles released afterwards which is why they both can get good overall sales.

Singles artists

i dont care about debut since their total sales is +1kk

It's not where you start, it's where you finish.

Everything Rihanna releases is a slow burner and has really good longevity. I don't know Katy's stats as well but as she's proved with her last two eras, she can get the #s without relying on the first week. It doesn't matter if it's front-loaded or not in the end so as long as they go platinum in today's sales climate they're doing fine.

It means nothing.
I'm guessing it's because they don't have a huge fanbase behind 'em . Usually, those who buy an album the first week are mainly fans. And then if you have hype and stuff, you'll sell a lot.

alright, let's not... Prism debuted higher than any Rihanna album and it also outsold the total sales of Unapologetic

Katy:
One of the Boys (2008) - 5m
Teenage Dream (2010) - 6.5m
Prism (2013) - 3m

Rihanna:
Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) - 7.5m
Rated R (2009) - 3m
Loud (2010) - 6m
Talk That Talk (2011) - 4m
Unapologetic (2012) - 3.5m

Britney:
Blackout (2007) - 3m
Circus (2008) - 4-5m
Femme Fatale (2010) - 1.7m
Britney Jean (2013) - 400k (approx)

Beyonce:
I Am Sasha Fierce (2008) 7-8m
4 (2010) - 3-3.5m
Beyonce (2013) - 3.5-4m

Taylor
Fearless (2008) - 9m
Speak Now (2010) 5.5m
Red (2012) - 6m
1989 (2014) - 2.5m*

*Still selling very well

Katy & Rih might not have first week sales, but they still have huge longevity & can perform similarly/better than the girls who have high first week sales, like Beyonce, for example & Britney who had recent huge first week sales during the Circus era.

Heck... Rihanna and Katy even pull final numbers similar/better to the Red & Speak Now albums (both which debuted with 1m+ first week).

I mean...

"Singles artists" selling on par/better than certain "album artists" is what gets me

They might not have huge FW sales, but they have the longevity to make up for it.

TOO MUCH

Sorry but these got me

Because people will still be interested months later.

Let's be real, Katy did 5x her debut week in the long run with Prism, Rihanna did over 4x her debut with Unapologetic. Why do you care when they do that number multiple times over? Would you be more impressed if they opened with 525k and did an 850k chart run? No.

These numbers

OOTB isn't past 4M.
Prism isn't past 3M.
TTT isn't past 4M.

IASF is at 8M, 4 is at 3.5M and BEYONCÉ is close to 4M.

The only Katy & Rihanna albums to get past 4M required rereleases and exceptionally heavy promotional schedules, especially in Katy's case.

Radio support can only take you so far. Other girls are more fortunate to sell of the quality of their craft.

.

Opening numbers are all about having a big, dedicated fanbase. Neither girl has that, they just have the wavering support of the general public. It's why both girls are forever going to have to follow trends, look pretty, and do what they're told in order to keep selling.

Rihanna's sales are actually impressive, though. Consistently selling for nearly a decade now.

Blackout is at 3 million WW
Circus is certified 5