Since its a very close contest to being #1 i wanted to start a voters drive please get all ur friends aware of the album so they can go out and buy one

Update: Prince, Keith Urban Vie For No. 1


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April 02, 2009 07:58 AM ET

Keith Caulfield, L.A.
New albums from Keith Urban and Prince are on track to debut high on the Billboard 200 chart next week, with each artist's latest release aiming for a start in the neighborhood of 150,000 copies and a shot at No. 1.

Industry prognosticators suggest Urban's "Defying Gravity" (Capitol Nashville) may shift somewhere in the range of 150,000-160,000 in its first week, while Prince's Target-exclusive "LotusFlow3r" (NPG) could sell between 140,000-150,000.

If Urban debuts at No. 1, he'll earn his first chart-topper on the Billboard 200. He's hit No. 3 twice previously with 2004's "Be Here" and 2006's "Love, Pain and the Whole Crazy Thing." If Prince reigns atop the list, it'll be his fifth No. 1.

Prince and Urban respectively lead Nielsen SoundScan's Building Chart, which was released today (April 1). We'll have a better gauge on how next week's official Billboard 200 chart will shake out on April 3, when SoundScan releases its next Building Chart.

Billboard estimates the seven merchants who report to Nielsen SoundScan's Building chart -- Trans World Entertainment, Best Buy, iTunes, Starbucks, Borders, Target and Anderson Merchandisers -- comprise about 60% of all U.S. album sales.

Other albums looking good for a top 10 debut on next week's Billboard 200 chart include UGK's "UGK For Life" (UGK/Jive/JLG), Diana Krall's "Quiet Nights" (Verve) and Flo Rida's "R.O.O.T.S." (Poe Boy/Atlantic).

Nielsen SoundScan's sales tracking week, as reflected in the official Billboard 200 chart, runs from Monday through Sunday of each week. The newest Billboard 200 chart, released today -- where the "Now 30" compilation debuted at No. 1 with 146,000 -- reflected the week that ended on March 29. [/color]
[Edited 4/2/09 7:15am]

asg said:

I knew U was going 2 say that!

asg said:

He should have done a deal with Target / Amazon for international shipping and he would have got number 1 easy...

I bought some more copies today Done my part Who the hell is Keith Urban
[Edited 4/2/09 8:56am]

nurseV said:

married to a lady by the name of nicole kidman

asg said:

And a Country artist.

asg said:

Oh Okay Thanks

purplecam said:

Thanks

asg said:

it's too late, the sales week ended monday. Prince had 2 days in 1 chain for sales to count. Any sales now count for week 2.

GO PRINCE GO!!

F**K KEITH URBAN!!

alandail said:

The sales week ends on sunday nite. So we still have some days

asg said:

I'm pretty sure it ends monday night, that's why releases almost always happen on tuesday.

If it's sunday night, that would be even worse, since it came out sunday. Given the sale figures, with a normal tuesday release, Prince would be a lock for #1.

alandail said:

no releases r on tuesday becoz sunday is a shipping holiday so they get the shipments in on monday to release on tuesday
so for the first week prince will have 8days total same as guns and roses release

alandail said:

A) a Billboard sales week is Monday through Sunday

B) It's been established that Prince's sales on Sunday will be rolled into his first week of sales rather than counted as a single lone day.

C) The fact that Prince is going to have 8 days of sales counted to everyone else's 6 days on new releases is likely the reason why he has a shot at #1. If his set had been released on Tuesday, this would not be the case.

jtfolden said:

D) This would be the case if he allowed Target/Amazon to ship internationally with all sales going through his website to there respective websites...then he would have a number 1 for sure ....a tip for next time Prince..

jtfolden said:

lets not forget that urban's album got a mighty boost from being on sale for a low low price of $4

LondonStyle said:

Very true.

asg said:

KU's even got a boost from Target. I don't 'bout anyone else but at my Target store, he's selling for $9.83 couple of dollars cheaper.
[Edited 4/2/09 17:06pm]
[Edited 4/2/09 17:37pm]

These two albums are just not comparable...It's just a sales effect from the albums released.