HITS estimates: 'Play On' #1

After weeks of dry spells, the heaviest hitter of all Idol alums saw her latest disc debut on HITS Daily Double's Top 50 building album sales chart ahead of a busy holiday release schedule.

Carrie Underwood's third studio album, Play On, easily bested all other new entries to land at #1 in its first week of release. The album pulled in an estimated 312.9k, which is within HDD's original prediction of 300-350k but slightly below its revised predictions of 320-340k. These numbers are also below my cautiously optimistic prediction of 365k.

Although these numbers may appear a little disappointing compared to Carrie's two previous releases (they are her lowest debut sales to date), the current CD sales climate is a major factor compared to a few years ago when her music first hit the scene. The fact that she was able to have her album debut at the pinnacle of the chart is good enough news.

Regardless of its debut figures, expect big things from Play On heading into the holiday season.

Finalized sales figures courtesy of Billboard should be out by the end of the week. Hopefully its numbers are a little bit on the higher side.