Chart Buzz: Taylor Swift, Jason Aldean, Brandy, Maroon 5

Posted October 24, 2012 by J Matthew Cobb in News

Taylor Swift expected to top 1 million mark in first week of ‘Red’ sales; LP debuts by Jason Aldean and Brandy jump into Top 5

It’s a pretty good day to be the pop-country star Taylor Swift.

Her 2012 effort, Red, which dropped this week, is slated to become one of the year’s top best-sellers. Billboard analysts are predicting record sales on its first week will estimate somewhere over one million units. Speculation on how she obtained this kind of dominance is floating around the Web, but she already has three singles dominating the iTunes’ Top Songs, which include “State of Grace,” “I Knew You Were Trouble” (which makes its debut at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 this week) and the radio hit “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” So far, the “We Are Never…” song became the first song in Swift’s career (so far) to top the Billboard Hot 100. Loads of press and advance raves in the world of album reviews have also created a stunning glow of adulation around the album’s arrival.

In other country-related news, Jason Aldean‘s Night Train claimed the top spot on this week’s Billboard 200 sold 409,000 copies in its first week, becoming the second-biggest debut of the year behind Mumford & Sons’ Babel.

Brandy’s latest disc, Two Eleven, jolted to No. 3, with 65,000 copies sold. This becomes the r&b singer’s first Top Ten entry in over eight years. It also claimed the top spot this week on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Albums’ survey.

In the world of singles, South Korean sensation PSY continues to hold his own on the Digital Songs survey as “Gangnam Style” sits at No. 1 after three weeks of lagging between No. 2 and No. 4. Holding the intenrational smash from the top spot in the US on the Billboard Hot 100 remains Maroon 5‘s “One More Night.” Bruno Mars is the week’s best gainer in points on the Digital Songs’ survey with “Locked Out of Heaven,” which jumped 22-9.