Upcoming Match-ups

Predicting the Top Selling Albums of 2015 (UPDATED)

John Benson

by John Benson in Entertainment

Updated Jan 17, 2018 · 9:39 AM PST

Back in February, we set out to predict which albums would be the biggest sellers in 2015, which looked to be another exciting year for music lovers across the board. I guess we didn’t know how lucky we had it in 2014, though. Despite some of those albums being over a year old (which is ancient in internet years) familiar names like; Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, and Ed Sheeran are all at or near the top album sales. Clearly pop-music is timeless.

There are also a few newcomers (Meghan Trainor, we’re looking at you!) making their marks on the charts, especially in the hip-hop department: Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and even Dr. Dre, thanks to the recent news that he’ll be releasing a “Straight Outta Compton”-inspired album that includes new tunes from both N.W.A. as well as Lamar and Eminem.

That said, just past the halfway mark of the year, it’s time to look ahead to what could be the top grossing albums of 2015.

Odds on the Top-Grossing Albums for 2015

Pop:
Taylor Swift, 1989: 3/2
Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour: 3/1
Ed Sheeran, X: 5/1
Meghan Trainor, Title: 9/1
Sia, 1000 Forms of Fear: 15/1
Field: 20/1

Alternative:
Mumford & Sons, Wilder Mind: 2/1
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, Chasing Yesterday: 2/1
Florence and The Machine, How Big How Blue How Beautiful: 5/1
Imagine Dragons, Smoke & Mirrors: 9/1
Field: 9/1

EDM:
Calvin Harris, Motion: 5/3
Skrillex & Diplo, Skrillex And Diplo Present Jack U: 3/1
ODESZA, In Return: 5/1
Field: 4/1

Country:
Sam Hunt, Montevallo: 3/2
Eric Church, Outsiders: 5/2
Jason Aldean: Old Boots, New Dirt: 4/1
Field: 6/1

Hip-hop:
Drake, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late: 1/1
Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly: 3/1
Dr. Dre, Compton: 5/1
Future, DS2: 15/1
Field: 9/1

Rock:
Fall Out Boy, American Beauty/American Psycho: 2/1
Royal Blood, Royal Blood: 7/3
Muse, Drones: 3/1
Field: 7/1

Folk:
Hozier, Hozier: 4/3
James Bay, Chaos And The Calm: 3/2
Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free: 7/1
Field: 11/1
(Photo credit: David Shankbone (Shankbone) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)

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