After a whirlwind launch campaign, the first week numbers are finally in for Katy Perry‘s latest album ‘Witness.’
Naturally, given the enormity of her star, eyes would always have been peeled to see her tally.
Yet, with the roller-coaster that preceded its release (see: under-performing singles, controversies, and memes), heightened interest surrounds the amount of support she received at retail.
Well, wonder no more because the answer awaits below…
Per Hits Daily Double‘s final count, ‘Witness’ will top the Billboard 200. It sold the following to do so…
187,338 – Sales Plus Streaming
(169,522 – Pure Sales)
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There are a few ways of dissecting and digesting the digits.
On the one hand, they are not only impressive by today’s scarily low sales standards but they are commendable given the LP’s lack of preceding hit. Logic had many (us included) feeling that folk wouldn’t part with $10.99 for an album if they wouldn’t even spend $1.29 on her single. Or, worse still, even bother streaming it for free.
Yet, Perry has clearly defied the odds on that front.
Still, for an act of her caliber, she should – in theory – be doing numbers double, triple what she managed to deliver.
Indeed, in the four years since preceding album ‘Prism’ (which opened with 266k), she’s been armored with the momentum of huge hits such as ‘Roar’ and seismic exposure platforms like the Super Bowl. Put simply, she’s become bigger, yet her numbers are smaller.
Something isn’t adding up. Why?