Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), iTunes, and Beyonce just made history this past weekend. Beyonce’s surprise album release was the fastest selling album ever sold on iTunes. 828,773 albums sold within the first three days. Not surprisingly, Beyonce’s self-titled album broke first week sales records in the United States with 617,213 sold.
Beyonce breaks records
This is Beyonce’s fifth album release as a solo artist. The former Destiny’s Child lead singer made this album exclusive on the iTunes store on Friday December 13th. This album includes 14 tracks and 18 videos. It sells for just $15.99.
The new album breaks last year’s record set by pop-country crooner Taylor Swift. Her album Red sold 465,000 the week of October 28th 2012. Red was first sold exclusively through iTunes before it became available through other digital retail stores.
Making history in the music industry
Beyonce’s iTunes launch also makes history for second largest digital sales week and this includes all retailers. It’s just behind Lady Gaga single “Born This Way”. This sold a total of 662,000 downloads the first week. Billboard’s Keith Caulfield added, “Beyonce” is all but guaranteed a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 chart this week, giving the diva her fifth consecutive No. 1 (her entire output of albums). The new Billboard 200’s No. 1 will be officially announced mid-week. “Beyonce” will also lock in the largest sales week for Beyonce herself, surpassing her previous high, set when second album, “B’Day,” bowed with 541,000 in 2006 (according to Nielsen SoundScan).”
Music fans no longer flock to music stores for the latest singles and albums. Apple iTunes is the main online retailer for most music shoppers today, so it’s no wonder celebrities everywhere flock to this online store. iTunes is where music records are made and broken. It’s also become a kind of testing ground to see how well an album will sell before releasing it to other digital stores.
