Billboard
Taylor Swift’s ‘1989’ May Sell 400,000 in Second Week
By Keith Caulfield | November 07, 2014 10:07 PM EST
 
She’ll likely beat the No. 2 album by more than 300,000.
Taylor Swift‘s monster 1989 album is so big, it seems that the music business decided to mostly avoid releasing any albums that would have to compete with its second week on sale. Why? Industry sources suggest 1989 may sell 400,000 copies in its sophomore frame (ending Nov. 9) — and easily give it a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. (That would also give the album the second-largest sales week of the year, behind only its own debut with 1.287 million, according to Nielsen SoundScan.)
1989‘s second-week total will be more than 300,000 copies ahead of the likely No. 2 album, which could be the Now 52 compilation, with maybe 60,000 to 70,000 sold in its own second week. It debuted at No. 2 with 103,000.
The new Billboard 200’s top 10 will be revealed on Nov. 12.
The highest new entry on next week’s chart will likely be Calvin Harris‘ Motion, which might sell around 30,000 to 35,000. It could be one of only two debuts in the top 10 of the chart, joined by Bette Midler‘s tribute to girl groups, It’s the Girls, with perhaps 20,000 to 25,000.
The top of the chart should liven up in two weeks, when albums on the Nov. 10 release schedule impact the Billboard 200. Those include Foo Fighters‘ Sonic Highways, Pink Floyd‘s The Endless River, Nick Jonas‘ self-titled album andGarth Brooks‘ Man Against Machine.
On SoundScan’s Building chart (below), Swift and the Now 52 album are Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. The Building tally is a precursor to the final Billboard 200 ranking — reflecting the first four days (Monday through Thursday) of SoundScan’s tracking week as reported by six major merchants.
As for the rest of the Building chart’s top 10, Harris is No. 3, followed by Jason Aldean‘s Old Boots, New Dirt at No. 4, Midler at No. 5 and Sam Hunt‘sMontevallo at No. 6. Florida Georgia Line‘s Anything Goes is No. 7, while Barbra Streisand‘s Partners is No. 8, Sam Smith‘s In the Lonely Hour is No. 9 andTeyana Taylor‘s new VII is No. 10.
| NIELSEN SOUNDSCAN BUILDING CHART | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | LW BB 200 |
Artist | Title |
| 1 | 1 | Taylor Swift | 1989 |
| 2 | 2 | Various Artists | Now 52 |
| 3 | NEW | Calvin Harris | Motion |
| 4 | 5 | Jason Aldean | Old Boots, New Dirt |
| 5 | NEW | Bette Midler | It’s the Girls |
| 6 | 3 | Sam Hunt | Montevallo |
| 7 | 6 | Florida Georgia Line | Anything Goes |
| 8 | 11 | Barbra Streisand | Partners |
| 9 | 14 | Sam Smith | In the Lonely Hour |
| 10 | NEW | Teyana Taylor | VII |
| The Building Chart reflects the first four days (Monday through Thursday) of SoundScan’s tracking week (which ends Sunday) as reported by six major merchants: iTunes, Trans World Entertainment, Best Buy, Starbucks, Target and Anderson Merchandisers. Billboard estimates that they make up about 85% of all U.S. album sales. | |||
I’m surprised amazon.com is not part of the 85% of all sales, as mentioned in the article. I would have expected that amazon would be a huge sales force in online purchasing.
In any event, Bette is #1 on amazon’s list for Pop Vocals, and Broadway, and the #2 CD for all categories (behind the huge success of Taylor Swift’s 1989).
Also, Bette has the #1 easy listening CD on amazon’s chart with her debut album “The Divine Miss M”, #5 with “Experience the Divine” and #10 with the “Rosemary Clooney Songbook”.
It looks like the attention given to “It’s the Girls” is also creating interest and crossover purchases in her other CD’s as well. This is great news, as after an 8-year hiatus, it’s nice to know people are intrigued by “It’s the Girls” and checking out her back catalog, in addition. Go, Bette!
(I hate to put it this way, but multiple CD’s in the Top 10 by the same artist, usually only happens after an artist passes away–so glad that Bette is alive, well, and on the road, and still having huge successes. So incredibly divine!)
LOL….Yes I thought Amazon would be a huge force in purchasing too. xx
This is all too cool…:-)