Drake latest album, Views, is projected to sell 800,000 copies in its first week. And, that’s just in North America. Some are projecting that Drake could pull in over one million copies globally, in the first week. Astonishingly, he sold 630,000 copies on iTunes in one day. The Toronto emcee initially made the announcement during his album release party at La Vie nightclub and it was later confirmed by the record label. Republic Records says that this will a career-best first week for Drake. Comparing Drake’s project to the highly anticipated album Lemonade, it took Beyonce one week to sell close to the same amount. Lemonade sold 653,000 total units, 485,000 of which were pure album sales (iTunes). Beyonce’s latest project secured her the no. 1 spot on Billboard’s 200 chart. This is her sixth consecutive no. 1 studio album. The difference maker in this battle of the sexes is the album roll-out. Drake’s album was released on Apple. In 2014, Apple boasted 800 million iTunes account holders. Jay Z’s Tidal streaming service reached 1 million subscribers in September 2015. The 700 million differential proved to be part of what hindered Beyonce in album sales. The exclusivity of dropping Lemonade on Tidal – a full three days before releasing it on iTunes and other outlets – also caused a decrease in downloads and in-store purchases. Beyonce still landed at no. 1 but – from a sales standpoint – she fell short to the 6God. IF BEYONCE’S ALBUM WAS RELEASED ON TIDAL, ITUNES, ETC ALL AT THE SAME TIME, WOULD HER FIRST WEEK ALBUM SALES BE HIGHER?
