HITS 2/24: Imagine Dragons 194K, Drake 186K, 50 Shades 162K

[Verisimilitude]

Smoke + Mirrors has just hit retail and will compete with Drake for #1 next Tuesday. Our very early read has the album hitting the 150-175k range. The band’s first album debuted 83k on 9/4/12 en route to an eventual 2.4m in straight album sales and 4.14m TEA.

hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=294697

[DJ General]

That's great for Imagine Dragons considering how their last album started and it's a rock album. However, I did think it would trend a smidge closer to 200k. Either way, they have some decent appearances on Ellen and The Tonight Show this week, so it could tick up. It's a great album.

But very impressive for Drake in the next week as well!

[areyoureadytojump]

Imagine Dragons can't open with 200k? UGH

[Deleted]

Oh shit :(
Only 175k for Imagine Dragons???

[swim]

I don't know. I don't think it's that horrible or that surprising. It would have been nice if they had cleared 200k but I think their fan base is closer to a pop act rather than a band with an actual following. The timing of their lead single was odd--released originally last year then just recently sent to radio? The promo for this album seemed meh at best (save for the Target commercial at the Grammys). If I didn't follow music as close as I do I don't think I would even know they released a new album this week. They're popular, but not flashy.

[funkpunkandroll]

Considering their debut opened at 83k, that's great. It could go to 200k since this is early reads. I'm looking forward to Wednesday and Thursday if their predictions grow from above 175k. I'm just happy that in 2015, we're seeing big releases in comparison to the duller 2014 releases (minus a few exceptions like "x", etc.).

[Enigma.]

Yes this winter and spring have been pretty busy. Those numbers for ID seem ok to me, especially if they can trend towards 200k.. I'm more disappointed in their opening sales in the UK (30k-ish). Their debut album went platinum there too.

[Glove Slap]

That's a good opening for Imagine Dragons. I think they had the potential to top 200k and maybe even approach 250k, but they've opted for a very steady promotional schedule rather than a blitz. It's not an unwise strategy. Their debut produced 3 hits that each took a long time to take off and die down. This introduces new material gradually and given those numbers, that are without a crossover hit, it's off to a good start.

[Enigma.]

I can see them becoming the "new Nickelback" in terms of slow burning hits

[Wave.]

They're just not annoying as NB :kii:

[SHOOTER]

YOUR NEW RELEASES: RELEASE THE DRAGONS

Rockers Have an Edge on the #1 Spot Next Week, and That's No Smoke

Imagine Dragons get a slight edge for #1 sales next week as Drake and Fifty Shades of Grey nip at their heels. Here are this week’s key debuts:

Imagine Dragons (KidinaKorner/Interscope) 145-155k sales, 160-170k SPS
Aaron Watson (BIG Label) 21-23k sales, 22-24k SPS

In case you're wondering about this Aaron Watson, the Texas country artist's The Underdog has been lurking in the iTunes Top 10 for some time.

[kanimal]

Disappointing, but not unexpected. They don't feel nearly as big now as they did during the Radioactive & Demons periods - or as big as Meghan Trainor and Fall Out Boy were for their 200K releases.

Actually reminds me a lot of where Kings of Leon was for Come Around Sundown. They too were coming off a mainstream breakthrough, and they too couldn't recapture the crossover magic on the follow-up. The result was a fairly modest opening week when you consider how big the preceding album became.

[YourFaveIsAFlop]

That's a pretty big drop for Drake still, considering it was only on sale 3 days last week and there were no preorders padding that number. He's looking at a 75% drop in his first full week.

[Love Plastic Love]

That number isn't bad, but I wouldn't say it is great considering their first album went on to sell 2.4-2.5 million (in the range of albums like Teenage Dream, Born This Way, etc). I would guess that if the lead single had taken off they would have easily breezed past 200K.

[Peaches. [Ch, r. is]]

Feb 18, 2015 16:33:46 GMT -5 Love Plastic Love said:

That number isn't bad, but I wouldn't say it is great considering their first album went on to sell 2.4-2.5 million (in the range of albums like Teenage Dream, Born This Way, etc). I would guess that if the lead single had taken off they would have easily breezed past 200K.

But it's not like it was their star power or undeniable name recognition that sold that amount, it was the fact that they had about 6-7 songs playing on radio (albeit only 5 of them were official singles) and many of those songs had great longevity, 3 of them crossing over.

Point is, it's their music that sells them not their hype. I think their numbers are great if you consider that, the performance of their new single and the fact that the album will likely have long, sexy, legs.

[maine]

Feb 17, 2015 23:13:58 GMT -5 swim said:

I don't know. I don't think it's that horrible or that surprising. It would have been nice if they had cleared 200k but I think their fan base is closer to a pop act rather than a band with an actual following. The timing of their lead single was odd--released originally last year then just recently sent to radio? The promo for this album seemed meh at best (save for the Target commercial at the Grammys). If I didn't follow music as close as I do I don't think I would even know they released a new album this week. They're popular, but not flashy.

No. It was sent to Rock radio back when it was released (October right?), and just recently sent to Pop radio.

[Verisimilitude]

YOUR TOP 15Imagine Dragons Rule Album Chart, Battle Drake for SPS Supremacy
Imagine Dragons will dominate the Album Sales Chart next week, but will battle Drake for #1 on the SPS (Sales Plus Streaming) Chart. In both scenarios, Republic will claim three of the Top Four titles. We’re also seeing a continued Grammy Effect for Sam Smith, Ed Sheeran, the Nominees comp and Hozier, among others. Here's what it looks like headed into the weekend:

Albums:

*Imagine Dragons (KidinaKorner/Interscope) 150-160k
Drake (YMCMB/Republic) 125-135k
Fifty Shades of Grey (Republic) 110-120k
Taylor Swift (Big Machine) 55-60k
Sam Smith (Capitol) 45-50k
Ed Sheeran (Atlantic) 40-45k
Now 53 (NOW/Legacy) 40-45k
2015 Grammy Nominees (RCA) 23-26k
Meghan Trainor (Epic) 21-24k
*Aaron Watson (BIG Label) 21-24k
Hozier (Columbia) 19-21k
J. Cole (Roc Nation/Columbia) 17-19k
Fall Out Boy (DCD2/Island) 16-18k
Nicki Minaj (YMCMB/Republic) 15-17k
Sam Hunt (MCA Nashville) 14-16k

SPS:

*Imagine Dragons (KidinaKorner/Interscope) 170-180k

Drake (YMCMB/Republic) 170-180k

Fifty Shades of Grey (Republic) 150-160k

Taylor Swift (Big Machine) 80-85k

Ed Sheeran (Atlantic) 80-85k

Sam Smith (Capitol) 70-75k

Nicki Minaj (YMCMB/Republic) 40-45k

Meghan Trainor (Epic) 40-45k

Maroon 5 (222/Interscope) 40-45k

Now 53 (NOW/Legacy) 40-45k

Hozier (Columbia) 35-40k

Mark Ronson (RCA) 35-40k

Fall Out Boy (DCD2/Island) 30-35k

J. Cole (Roc Nation/Columbia) 24-27k

2015 Grammy Nominees (RCA) 23-26k



*Debut

hitsdailydouble.com/news&id=294749

[swim]

Nice to see 3 songs above 100k, especially since two of them are in their second week.

[Linnethia Monique]

Jermaine Lamarr Cole better get his first platinum album! Big Sean better get his sales because the new rap generation is leaving him behind

[Glove Slap]

I've always found Ed Sheeran's streaming success to be interesting. So many actually purchase it, only a handful of acts have sold more, but then so so many more come from streaming. It's made up nearly half of his values since the new method began.

J. Cole's hold has been extremely impressive.

[Verisimilitude]

Feb 19, 2015 22:48:56 GMT -5 Glove Slap said:

I've always found Ed Sheeran's streaming success to be interesting. So many actually purchase it, only a handful of acts have sold more, but then so so many more come from streaming. It's made up nearly half of his values since the new method began.

J. Cole's hold has been extremely impressive.

The success of "Thinking Out Loud" alone gives him 30K in TEAs while the rest is made up from streaming.

[Verisimilitude]

Imagine Dragons vs. Drake for No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart Next Week
NEWS
By Keith Caulfield | February 19, 2015 6:50 PM EST

After a week where Drake's surprise album blocked the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack from a presumed No. 1 debut, it appears the rapper could stop another album from a chart-topping bow: Imagine Dragons' Smoke + Mirrors.

Industry forecasters say the rock band's second full-length album (which was released on Feb. 17 through KIDinaKORNER/Interscope Records) might move around 175,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Feb. 22.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Billboard 200's top 10 will be revealed on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

However, the sum may not be enough to overtake Drake's If You're Reading This It's Too Late, which blasted in at No. 1 this past week with 535,000 units in the frame ending Feb. 15 (of which 495,000 were traditional album sales), according to Nielsen Music.

Imagine Dragons' first full-length album, Night Visions, debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 upon its release in 2012, selling 83,000 copies in its first week. It has sold 2.4 million copies to date and has never left the Billboard 200 chart since its debut 128 weeks ago.

[grandelf]

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6480182/imagine-dragons-number-1-billboard-200

Imagine Dragons Firing Up for First No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart
By Keith Caulfield | February 20, 2015 9:37 PM EST



While it looked like a race with Drake, 'Smoke + Mirrors' is the likely chart-topper.

Imagine Dragons are on course for their first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart.

The band's second full-length album, Smoke + Mirrors, may shift around 180,000 overall album equivalent units in the week ending Feb. 22, according to industry forecasters. That should be enough to bump Drake's current leader, If You're Reading This It's Too Late, from the top slot. (It could do around 155,000 in total units for the week.)

On Thursday, it appeared there was a bit of a race for the top slot, but sources feel that Imagine Dragons now have the edge over Drake.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Billboard 200's top 10 will be revealed on Wednesday, Feb. 25.

The new Imagine Dragons set was released on Feb. 17 through KIDinaKORNER/Interscope Records. It follows the group's debut full-length effort, Night Visions, which debuted and peaked at No. 2. It has sold 2.4 million copies to date and has never left the Billboard 200 chart since its debut 128 weeks ago.

Imagine Dragons' new album could be the only debut in next week's top 10. The next highest bow could be Aaron Watson's The Underdog, which might start in the top 20.

[Glove Slap]

I'm glad they've trended up, but the size of the gap if the in the latest article is a bit strange.

[Future Captain]

See you guys later when this passed Platinum by the end of the year.

[Enigma.]

Nobody has been denying that possibility though?

People are just saying that coming from 2.4 million selling debut under 200k is not the best possible opening.

'Shots' is pretty good, wonder if it can become a proper hit at some point.

[kanimal]

Feb 21, 2015 3:26:46 GMT -5 Glove Slap said:

I'm glad they've trended up, but the size of the gap if the in the latest article is a bit strange.

Huh?  Hasn't its consumption unit count only increased by 5,000 (from 175K-180K).  That's not large and consistent with the fact that it's bounced back a bit after what were seemingly disappointing first day sales.

If you're referring to its lead over Drake, that comes from the Drake album continuing to fade faster than people expected.  We saw this last week as well.  Hits Daily Double was saying 550K+ pure sales on Saturday (with emphasis on the likelihood that it would challenge the Beyonce mark), while Republic was supposedly throwing around a 700K figure.  Even Billboard, which likes to play it safe (if for no other reason than to write more articles - and get more hits - when it "trends upwards"), was saying it was expected to top 500K.  It didn't.

So it's not that surprising to me that it's continued to trend down over the course of the week.

[areyoureadytojump]

Status: Building 67.20%

-- 1
IMAGINE DRAGONS
SMOKE + MIRRORS
KIDINAKORNER/INTERSCOPE 114,094
1 2
DRAKE
IF YOU'RE READING THIS, IT'S TOO LATE
YMCMB/REPUBLIC 104,917
2 3
FIFTY SHADES OF GREY
SOUNDTRACK
REPUBLIC 95,530
4 4
TAYLOR SWIFT
1989
BIG MACHINE 44,752
3 5
SAM SMITH
IN THE LONELY HOUR
CAPITOL 33,985
6 6 NOW 53
VARIOUS ARTISTS
NOW/LEGACY 33,910
5 7 ED SHEERAN
X
ATLANTIC 33,754
9 8 MEGHAN TRAINOR
TITLE
EPIC 19,538
7 9 2015 GRAMMY NOMINEES
VARIOUS ARTISTS
RCA 18,320
12 10 HOZIER
HOZIER
COLUMBIA 13,103
13 11 MAROON 5
V
222/INTERSCOPE 12,925
17 12 FALL OUT BOY
AMERICAN BEAUTY/AMERICAN PSYCHO
DCD2/ISLAND 12,652
19 13 J. COLE
2014 FOREST HILLS DRIVE
ROC NATION/COLUMBIA 12,369
24 14 SAM HUNT
MONTEVALLO
MCA NASHVILLE 12,339
21 15 NICKI MINAJ
PINKPRINT
YMCMB/REPUBLIC 12,077
16 16 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: AWESOME MIX, VOL. 1
SOUNDTRACK
HOLLYWOOD 11,915
-- 17 AARON WATSON
UNDERDOG
BIG LABEL 10,708
14 18 KIDZ BOP KIDS
KIDZ BOP 27
RAZOR & TIE 9,103
28 19 JASON ALDEAN
OLD BOOTS, NEW DIRT
BROKEN BOW 7,713
8 20 BECK
MORNING PHASE
CAPITOL 7,394
-- 21 ELLE KING
LOVE STUFF
RCA 7,115
-- 22 IMAGINE DRAGONS
NIGHT VISIONS
KIDINAKORNER/INTERSCOPE 6,519
27 23 NE-YO
NON-FICTION
MOTOWN 6,022
20 24 SIA
1000 FORMS OF FEAR
MONKEY PUZZLE/RCA 5,970
30 25 ARIANA GRANDE
MY EVERYTHING
REPUBLIC 5,968
25 26 AC/DC
ROCK OR BUST
COLUMBIA 5,921
39 27 FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE
ANYTHING GOES
REPUBLIC NASHVILLE 5,676
36 28 FROZEN
VARIOUS ARTISTS
WALT DISNEY 5,605
33 29 CARRIE UNDERWOOD
GREATEST HITS: DECADE #1
19/ARISTA NASHVILLE 5,143
41 30 LUKE BRYAN
CRASH MY PARTY
CAPITOL NASHVILLE 4,801
45 31 ONE DIRECTION
FOUR
SYCO/COLUMBIA 4,686
26 32 ED SHEERAN
+
ATLANTIC 4,391
-- 33 BEYONCE
BEYONCE
COLUMBIA 4,224
-- 34 FLEETWOOD MAC
GREATEST HITS
WARNER BROS. 4,169
-- 35 ERIC CHURCH
THE OUTSIDERS
EMI NASHVILLE 3,997
-- 36 RAHEEM DEVAUGHN
LOVE SEX PASSION
EONE 3,997
35 37 MIRANDA LAMBERT
PLATINUM
RCA NASHVILLE 3,715
-- 38 MAVERICKS
MONO
VALORY 3,650
-- 39 NICKELBACK
NO FIXED ADDRESS
REPUBLIC 3,575
50 40 NOW 52
VARIOUS ARTISTS
NOW 3,351
38 41 ONEREPUBLIC
NATIVE
INTERSCOPE 3,322
10 42 DIANA KRALL
WALLFLOWER
VERVE 3,193
-- 43 GARTH BROOKS
MAN AGAINST MACHINE
PEARL/RCA NASHVILLE 3,110
49 44 BARBRA STREISAND
PARTNERS
COLUMBIA 3,083
22 45 JUAN GABRIEL
LOS DUO
FONOVISA 3,006
31 46 CHARLIE WILSON
FOREVER CHARLIE
RCA 2,989
-- 47 NICK JONAS
NICK JONAS
ISLAND 2,969
15 48 RICKY MARTIN
QUIEN QUIERA ESCUCHAR
SONY MUSIC LATIN 2,904
-- 49 LAST FIVE YEARS
SOUNDTRACK
GHOSTLIGHT 2,808
-- 50 JOURNEY
GREATEST HITS
COLUMBIA 2,790

[areyoureadytojump]

New albums out today:

Target circular:

Kid Rock $9.99
Mat Kearney $9.99

Best Buy.com:

Kid Rock $9.99
Chris Brown/Tyga $9.99 (Deluxe $14.99)
Mat Kearney $11.99
All That Remains $9.99
Red $9.99
Led Zeppelin Remastered $19.99
Rob Zombie $11.99
Falling In Reverse $8.99
The Airborne Toxic Event
Rick Springfield $11.99
JJ Grey & Mofro $8.99
Ultra Dance Vol. 16 $9.99

More at Amazon.com:

www.amazon.com/s/ref=br_nf_2_more?rh=n%3A5174&field-releasedate=0y-6y&ie=UTF8

[HoldTight]

Every alternative act that crossed over to pop in recent years fell off with their follow-up album, so ID continuing that trend wouldn't be a shock.