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Adele's 25 is going to set another record with its second-week sales

Adele's 25 is going to set another record with its second-week sales

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No one's ever sold over a million copies in the US in two separate weeks

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Adele's been smashing sales records left and right with the success of her new LP 25. In just its first weekend on sale, 2.3 million copies flew from physical and digital shelves; by the time its first week was through, it had crushed *NSYNC's American record and Hikaru Utada's international benchmark for single-week sales with a final total of 3.38 million copies sold. The album's second week of availability is almost finished, but 25 is still moving units at a record pace. Billboard is reporting the album will sell at least 1 million copies in its second week of release, making it the first album to sell that many American copies in two separate weeks in the SoundScan era.

25's second-week total is impressive, but it also makes sense given the context surrounding the album. Last week's Black Friday release date was one of the slowest of the year, meaning it lacked any albums that could pose a serious threat to Adele's chart reign. (That's changing this week with the release of Coldplay's new album A Head Full of Dreams, which is being held off Spotify just like 25.) The album's record-smashing initial performance also likely gave its second-week momentum a boost — if everyone around you has bought the Adele record, you're more likely to pick it up so you can engage in the conversation surrounding it.

With all of that said, 25's success is still mind-blowing given the size of the industry in 2015 and the sales of its competitors. If you're hungry for another stat illustrating Adele's dominance, consider this: only 20 albums have ever sold more than a million copies in a single week, according to Billboard. Adele's now done it twice in a row with the same album. The final word on her second-week sales will be released on December 6th.