JINGLE BUBLE ALL THE WAY
Crooners Appears the Big Winner for Black Friday, as Nickelback, Rihanna, Daughtry, Mary J. Blige, BTR, Taylor Swift Debut
November 23, 2011
This holiday season, it appears Michael Buble’s Christmas album is the gift that keeps on giving.
Based on one-day sales, the Reprise recording artist’s year-end collection looks to be the big winner coming out of Black Friday, with an estimate of 250-275k, which would be enough to turn back all the Mega Monday debuts.
Still, given the big shopping weekend, please expect a greater than usual margin of error from our crack (head) retail department’s flow of misinformation.
Roadrunner’s Nickelback win the battle of the newcomers, with its seventh studio album, Here and Now, which is looking to be in the 210-225k range. Its last album, 2008’s Dark Horse, debuted with 327k on its way to a 3.1 million total.
Last week’s chartopper, YM/CM/Universal Republic’s Drake, drops to #3 with an estimated 190-215k, bringing its two-week total to around 860k.
Def Jam/IDJ pop diva Rihanna’s Talk That Talk should enter at #4, with between 180-200k, which compares favorably to the 207k she debuted with for last year’s Loud.
Geffen’s Mary J. Blige, with My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act 1), the sequel to her 1994 album, should debut at #5 with 130-140k.
XL/Columbia perennial Adele’s 21 just continues its 100k+ per week pace with another 120-130k, which will take her over the 4.6 million mark. She’ll easily top 5 million before the end of the year.
Rounding out the Top 10, Nickelodeon/Columbia teenpop act Big Time Rush will enter with 90-100k, followed by Island/IDJ’s Justin Bieber sporting the same amount and the debut of Big Machine’s Taylor Swift live CD/DVD, Speak Now World Tour Live, with 85-95k
Other New Releases hitting the Top 50 include Epic’s Michael Jackson Immortal Cirque de Soleil soundtrack (50-60k), Capitol/EMI’s Bob Seger Ultimate Hits compilation (45-55k), Ghet-O-Vision/Shady/Interscope’s Yelawolf (40-50k), Columbia’s America’s Got Talent winner Landau Eugene Murphy, Jr. (30-40k), Wind-up Idol rocker James Durbin’s debut (20-25k) and Universal Republic’s Rolling Stones Some Girls reissue (20-25k).
Did you ever think you’d see the day James Durbin would match the Stones in album sales? Neither did we.
Albums sales were up 9% vs. last week, down 13% vs. same week last year and up 3% year to date.
Track Sales were down 4% vs. last week, down 3% vs. same week last year and up 10% year to date.
TEA (Track Equivalent Album) sales were up 6% vs. last week, down 11% vs. same week last year and up 5% year to date.
You may now return to your tryptophan-induced coma.
http://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/...i?news08781m01
Michael Buble's 'Christmas' Album Heading to No. 1; Nickelback, Rihanna Aiming for Top Five
November 23, 2011
By Keith Caulfield, Los Angeles
It seems Rihanna will yet again be denied her first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart. Industry sources suggest that her newest release, "Talk That Talk," released on Nov. 21, may sell around 200,000 copies by the end of the tracking week on Nov. 27 -- but that won't be enough to score the No. 1 album next week.
So who will be No. 1 next week? Perhaps surprisingly, it could be Michael Buble, with his "Christmas" album. Sources say that it will not only easily sell more than Rihanna's "Talk That Talk," but that it could also trump the debut of Nickelback's latest set, "Here and Now."
"Christmas" is on course to sell between 250,000 and 270,000 copies, while Nickelback's "Here and Now" might move between 225,000 and 250,000. Rihanna's " Talk That Talk," on the other hand, may shift 200,000 to 210,000 copies.
"Christmas" will mark Buble's third No. 1 album, following "Call Me Irresponsible" (2007) and "Crazy Love" (2009). "Christmas" could end up being the top selling album every week through the Christmas holiday, much like how Josh Groban's "Noel" took over the charts in late 2007. In its seventh week on the chart, "Noel" jumped to No. 1 and then held the top slot for four more weeks. By the end of the year, "Noel" had sold 3.7 million in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and became the top selling album of the year.
Rather amazingly, Rihanna has yet to score a No. 1 album in her prolific -- yet still young -- career. How prolific? "Talk That Talk" is her sixth studio set in a little more than six years. Despite her staggering success with singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart (11 No. 1s and counting), she's never gone higher than No. 2 on the Billboard 200 (with 2007's "Good Girl Gone Bad"). Her best sales week for an album was for 2010's "Loud," which shifted 207,000 copies in its premiere frame at No. 3.
This week's No. 1 album, Drake's "Take Care," will likely fall to around No. 3 or 4, but it's too early to tell what it may sell.
As for the other new releases heading for a top 10 debut next week, there's Mary J. Blige's "My Life II: The Journey Continues, Act I," Daughtry's "Break the Spell," Taylor Swift's "Speak Now World Tour Live" and maybe Big Time Rush's second album, "Elevate." Blige may sell around 130,000, while Daughtry could start with 120,000. Swift is set to sell between 70,000 and 90,000 copies.
Big Time Rush's "Elevate" is perhaps the surprise of the week, as the made-for-Nick TV band will notch its best sales week yet, with around 95,000 sold. That will surpass the group's previous high, when its "BTR" soundtrack opened with 67,000 at No. 3 in October of 2010.
Come back to Billboard.biz on Nov. 30 when we'll reveal the Billboard 200's official top 10 albums, along with their SoundScan-reported sales numbers.
http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/indus...05564202.story
This will NOT end well. We don't need a repeat of yesterday.
Get that top3 Rih 