The debate around Coldplay’s decision to keep new album Mylo Xyloto off streaming services continues, but new data appears to show that the album’s high-profile iTunes promotion has paid off for the band. The Hollywood Reporter claims that Mylo Xyloto sold more than 500,000 downloads globally on iTunes in its first week, setting a new record for Apple’s store.
In the US specifically, the album sold 447,000 units across all formats, but according to Digital Music News, 67.5% of those were digital, based on Nielsen SoundScan’s figures. The overall US total is less than the 721,000 first-week US sales of previous album Viva La Vida Or Death and All His Friends, which in turn was less than the 737,000 for the album before that, X&Y.
What’s important now is to gauge the relative importance the different factors were in the success of Mylo Xyloto: including Coldplay’s profile, the iTunes promotion, and the lack of streaming.
