Adele’s ’25’ Sales Up to 2.8 Million in U.S., Headed for 3 Million Debut Week
Adele's "25" album sales continue to grow ever larger, according to Nielsen Music. After processing initial sales reports through Nov. 24, the set has sold at least 2.8 million copies in the U.S.
Adele’s 25 album sales continue to grow ever larger, according to Nielsen Music. After processing initial sales reports through Nov. 24, the set has sold at least 2.8 million copies in the U.S.
Further, of that figure, 1.45 million are digital albums — by far a record haul for a digital set.
25 has already surpassed the single-week album sales record (since Nielsen began tracking sales in 1991), previously held by *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached, when it debuted with 2,416,000 in the week ending March 26, 2000.
And yet, the tracking week still isn’t over!
There are slightly more than two days left in the sales tracking week to be tabulated (as it ends at the close of business on Thursday, Nov. 26). Currently, industry forecasters suggest the album could finish the week with 3 million sold. Billboard is scheduled to report 25‘s debut week sales on Sunday, Nov. 29, once Nielsen has finished processing its weekly data.
25 was released on Nov. 20 through XL/Columbia Records. It is Adele’s third studio album, and follows her blockbuster 21 set, which spent 24 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and has sold 11.2 million copies in the U.S. (It is presumed that 25 will debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated Dec. 12, with its top 10 scheduled to be announced on Nov. 29. In related news, 25 mania is pumping a big gain for 21, which may jump back into the Billboard 200’s top 10 for the first time in two-and-a-half years.)
25’s download haul is already more than the former single-week download record-holder: Lady Gaga’s Born This Way, which sold 662,000 digital copies in its first week (ending May 29, 2011). (Billboard earlier reported that industry sources said 25 sold 900,000 downloads through the iTunes Store alone on its first day.)
Nielsen Music began tracking point-of-sale music purchases in 1991. Prior to 1991, there was no authoritative music sales tracking service in the U.S, thus it was mostly unknown how many copies of an album or song/single were sold in a single week.
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