NEW UPDATE
BRACE YOURSELVES: According to our numbers-crunchers,
it now looks like Taylor Swift’s 1989 will hit the 1.3 million mark, easily besting the 1.2m of her last album. It also appears that she’ll score the second-biggest digital sales week ever, moving past Beyoncé’s 618k and behind only Lady Gaga’s 662k. It should be noted, however, that Beyoncé scored the impressive number in only three days with her surprise iTunes exclusive, while Gaga benefited from a 99 cent sale at Amazon Digital. While we're on the subject, check out I.B. Bad's take on the Taylor narrative here. (10/31a)
YOUR TOP 15: At this point it’s highly probable that Taylor Swift’s 1989 will beat the 1.2m opening of her previous album, 2012’s Red. In doing so, her sales will match about one-fifth of all albums sold this week.
*Taylor Swift (Big Machine) 1.2-1.25m
*Now 52 (NOW) 90-95k
*Sam Hunt (MCA Nashville) 60-65k
*Barry Manilow (Verve) 42-47k
Jason Aldean (Broken Bow) 40-45k
Florida Georgia Line (Republic Nashville) 35-40k
*Led Zeppelin “IV” (Rhino) 35-40k
Barbra Streisand (Columbia) 30-35k
*Black Veil Brides (Lava/Republic) 30-35k
*Led Zeppelin “Houses of the Holy” (Rhino) 30-35k
*Chris Tomlin (sixstepsrecords) 28-32k
Neil Diamond (Capitol) 27-30k
Slipknot (Roadrunner) 27-30k
Sam Smith (Capitol) 25-28k
T.I. (Grand Hustle/Columbia) 24-27k
*Debuts (10/30p)
http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/rumormill.cgi
(10/27) HDD removed their 800k-1M statement and replaced it with just 1M.
(10/28) '1989' with a 'comfortable projection' that she will sell 1M+
(10/29) '1989' predicted to sell 1.1-1.2M, with RED's sales possibly in reach.
(10/30) '1989' updated with projection of 1.2-1.25M, reaching RED's debut and going for Britney.
(10/31) '1989' predicted to now reach 1.3M. Real possibility she passes Britney.
Keep in mind the highest-selling album released in 2014 is Coldplay - 'Ghost Stories' with approx. 730K sold.
The second-highest selling album of the year is BEYONCE with 787K. 
**Updates to come. Stay tuned!
