Frank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’ Set for No. 1 Debut on Billboard 200

Frank Ocean’s new album ‘Blonde’ is set to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart next week — even with its Apple Music exclusivity.
via Billboard:

Sources suggest the album could debut at No. 1 with upward of 225,000 to 250,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 25.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based onmulti-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The top 10 of the new Sept. 10-dated Billboard 200 chart — where Blonde could debut at No. 1 — is scheduled to be revealed on Billboard’s websites on Sunday, Aug. 28. (Nielsen Music’s tracking week for sales and streams runs Friday through Thursday.)

Ocean’s last album, Channel Orange, sold 131,000 copies in its first week. The set was released on July 10, 2012, exclusively through iTunes — and a week before its advertised street date of July 17. The bulk of its first-week sales were digital, though there were some on physical CD, as brick-and-mortar retailers began selling the title mid-week — following iTunes’ exclusive launch. Channel Orange debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 behind Zac Brown Band’s also-arrivingUncaged (234,000 sold).

Good for him.