"Watch The Throne" Available on iTunes NOW; Physical Copies Available Friday 8/12

Via Billboard:  "Watch the Throne," which miraculously didn't leak to the Web as so many eagerly-awaited albums have over the years, is exclusive to iTunes until Friday, Aug. 12. That's when all other retailers -- physical and digital -- will start selling "Watch." Of course, most brick-and-mortar retailers could opt to ignore the official street date and begin selling the CD as soon as they receive it, which may be as early as Wednesday. Best Buy has the exclusive deluxe physical CD edition of the set from Aug. 12-22, which sports the same four additional songs as on iTunes' deluxe version.

Predicting "Throne's" first week is tricky because of its unique release rollout. Traditionally, albums drop to all retailers on Tuesdays. However, "Throne" secured a Monday street date, but only through iTunes. So, its first four days of release will consist mostly of sales via Apple (with physical street-date violation sales mixed in), while the remaining three days of its first week will be a blend of physical and digital.

Thus, because of the weird nature of "Throne's" release, stay tuned through the week for further news on its first-week sales pace. Nielsen SoundScan's sales tracking week runs from Monday through Sunday. We'll have "Throne's" official first-week sales figure on Wednesday, Aug. 17.

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--Princess Carter

Source: Billboard