YOUR NEW RELEASES:Now 50 looks to have a commanding lead over the Frozen soundtrack for #1 on next week's album chart. Based on one-day sales, the 50th iteration in the Now series will have the best opening since Now 41 topped 140k in February of 2012. Here are this week's key debuts:
Now (NOW) 125-140k Hunter Hayes (Atlantic) 70-75k Sarah McLachlan (Verve) 35-40k Tech N9ne (Strange Music) 25-30k Lily Allen (Parlophone) 18-22k Atmosphere (Rhymesayers) 18-22k Nashville Cast (Big Machine) 15-18k Santana (RCA) 14-17k
Needless to say, Now appears on the NOW label, a joint venture between UMG and Sony that is also part of the UMe universe. But you knew that. (5/7a)