A sign of changing times? Britney Spears’ Britney Jean is the worst-performing album of her career.
During its first week on store shelves, Britney Jean – billed as her most personal album to date – sold 107,000 copies. That number was under what analysts predicted for the album (120,000).
To make matters worse, there’s this fact: The Duck Dynasty Christmas album Duck the Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas sold 105,000 copies in the same week, even though the reality show’s album has been out since November.
Spears’ last album Femme Fatale sold 276,000 during its first week in 2011. It featured the singles “I Wanna Go,” “Hold It Against Me,” and “Till The World Ends.” Her very first album … Baby One More Time sold 121,000 copies in 1999 in the first week.
There are a couple of reasons why Spears may have had lackluster sales this time around. For starters, Britney Jean has only had one successful single so far: “Work Bitch.” Her most recent single “Perfume” has failed to climb the charts, though this week’s music video may boost it slightly.
Also, Spears has yet to perform a song live on television and has only made a handful of appearances because she’s busy preparing for her two year Las Vegas residency. Her show premieres at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino at the end of this month.
Even fans of the singer have noted Spears’ waning passion for her career, perhaps because she now has two children. In an interview about her upcoming Las Vegas show, Spears, 32, said she doesn’t “know how” she was able to tour around the world earlier in her career.