The surprise release of Beyoncé’s eponymous album on Thursday sold more than 430,000 copies in a little more than a day, underscoring its chances at becoming the biggest debuting album by a female artist this year.
Beyoncé, a 14-track “visual” album available only on iTunes, is predicted to sell more than 600,000 copies before the end of the sales-tracking period on Tuesday, Billboard projects.
At 430,000 copies as of Saturday, Beyoncé is projected to be the biggest debuting album by a female artist since Taylor Swift’s Red, which sold 1.2 million copies in 2012.
In comparison, Katy Perry’s Prism sold 286,000 copies in an entire week of its debut in October, while Lady Gaga’s much anticipated ARTPOP moved 258,000 units. Miley Cyrus’ Bangerz sold 270,000 in its debut week.
If the 600,000 mark is met, Beyoncé will notch her best debut week and best sales-week period of her career.