Daft Punk’s ‘Random Access Memories’ Heading for Big Sales

Daft Punk’s new album, Random Access Memories, is heading for a big sales week and the act’s first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Industry sources suggest the album, due out on May 21, may sell between 250,000 and 300,000 copies in its first week. That whopping figure is more than twice the total sales of its last studio album, 2005’s Human After All, to date (125,000 according to Nielsen SoundScan).

Pre-orders for the album have been strong, sources say, with volume picking up noticeably after the iTunes Store began streaming the album on Monday, May 13.

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Random should easily earn the best sales week for a dance/electronic album in more than a year. The last dance set to move more than 250,000 in a week was Madonna‘s MDNA, when it sold 359,000 in its first week of release in March of 2012.

A start of at least 250,000 for Random would be three times larger than Daft Punk’s previous best sales week. Presently, the duo’s highest one-week sum was logged in December 2010, when its TRON: Legacy soundtrack debuted with 71,000 at No. 10.

TRON marked the first top 10 for Daft Punk, ultimately peaking at No. 4 in January of 2011. It has so far sold 585,000.

The veteran dance/electronic act’s highest-selling album is 2001’s Discovery, with 792,000 sold.

The new Random album is Daft Punk’s first for Columbia Records, and was led by the single “Get Lucky,” featuring Pharrell Williams. The song is Daft Punk’s biggest hit ever on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, so-far peaking at No. 14 earlier this month.

“Get Lucky” has sold 350,000 downloads to date, and is still growing in airplay. This week it roses 58-46 on Radio Songs (aka Hot 100 Airplay on billboard.biz). In the week ending Tuesday, May 14, its Hot 100 radio audience grew to 31 million (up 30% according to Nielsen BDS).