Katy Perry‘s new album arrived in stores this week and based on first week sales forecasts, she’ll have some reason to ‘Smile’ and some reason to… not.
Find out why below…
According to Hits Daily Double, the ‘Daises’ led LP is set to premiere on the Billboard 200 with the following numbers:
50,000-60,000
[Sales Plus Streaming]
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40,000-45,000
[Pure Sales]
Should the sum hold, it’ll likely be enough to net Perry the week’s top new chart debut.
However, HDD make clear that ‘Smile’ is not in contention for the #1 spot based on how strongly existing releases are selling.
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For the longest, yours truly has tried to remain somewhat optimistic about Ms. Perry’s present-day potential. Especially when she’s recently released criminally-underrated bops such as ‘Harleys In Hawaii‘ and ‘Never Really Over.’
But the numbers paint a concerning picture.
Remember friends, Perry has benefitted from a lengthy preorder window + multiple retail configurations – such as vinyls, cassettes, and an array of last minute new alternate covers.
And yet the end result is still only 50k?
She dropped her last album ‘Witness’ in 2017 and opened with 180,000, which was considered an underperformance then. She’s now selling one third of that now.
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With all signs pointing to a possible Las Vegas residency, we suspect the present global health crisis adversely affected whatever Katy may have been cooking up to ensure album sales amidst a turning tide commercially (see: ticket bundling).
In any case, there’s a clear disconnect that the new mom will have to address sooner rather than later.