Adele’s status of having the best first-week sales in 2011 with 21 (352,000 copies, in early March) remains untouched yet again, as Britney Spears’ Femme Fatale debuts at #1 on the Billboard Top 200 with 276,000 copies moved out of the gate. This gives Brit her sixth chart-topping album out of her seven studio LPs, but it also marks her lowest first-week sales since her 1999 debut, …Baby One More Time (121,000).
The fact that Britney’s album leaked nearly three weeks before its official release date probably didn’t do her first-week sales any favors. Time will tell if the premiere of the video for second single “Till The World Ends” can boost the song’s chart fortunes. (Last week it was #23 on the Hot 100, though the single recently jumped back into the Top 10 on iTunes.)
Elsewhere on the album chart, Wiz Khalifa’s debut Rolling Papers enters at #2 (197,000), while the physical release of Radiohead’s eighth album The King Of Limbs (following its initial digital release in February) has the record going in at #6 (69,000).
That leaves “Boom” rapper Snoop Dogg to debut at #8 with Doggumentary (50,000), just ahead of Mary Mary’s #10 showing with Something Big (42,000).
Next week we’ll see how Hollywood Undead’s American Tragedy and Daft Punk’s remix album TRON: Legacy Reconfigured impact the chart.
The Top 10 of Billboard’s Top 200 chart:
1. Britney Spears, Femme Fatale *new* *1 week*
2. Wiz Khalifa, Rolling Papers *new*
3. Adele, 21
4. Chris Brown, F.A.M.E.
5. Various, Songs For Japan
6. Radiohead, The King Of Limbs *new*
7. Jennifer Hudson, I Remember Me
8. Snoop Dogg, Doggumentary *new*
9. Kirk Franklin, Hello Fear
10. Mary Mary, Something Big *new*
Yes, but moving 352,000 albums in one week nowadays is nothing to sneeze at. Isn’t it the second or third biggest sales week this year so far?
Sorry, 276,000
Second! Chris Brown is now third, with 270,000 of ‘F.A.M.E’ sold last week.
Hit me baby one more time…
Aside from the underwhelming craptacular video for the mediocre first single their was no promo until release week. That has to be one of the stupider marketing strategy’s ever, add in the fact the the promo she actually did do was also extremely mediocre and mostly half-assed, Id say thats the biggest reason for these less than stellar numbers considering Circus also leaked before its release and was able to nab 500k.
These are Blackout numbers, I think it reflects her core audience, who seem to be the only one shes appealing to. I imagine people who aren’t long standing fans aren’t too impressed with the performances and videos.
With FEMME FATALE debuting #1, BRITNEY is the YOUNGEST ARTIST IN THE HISTORY to have:
+ Six #1 albums (only artist to have 6#1 albums under 30). THESE #1 ALBUMS ARE SPECIAL#1 DEBUTS and 4 of them were CONSECUTIVE #1 DEBUTS!
+ Three singles reach #1 and three albums reach #1 in three decades.
+ More than 100,000,000 records worldwide.