Sam Fender's debut secured 50,000 pre-adds on Apple Music ahead of release, Music Week has learned.

The Hypersonic Missiles album is on course for a strong start at No.1, according the Midweek sales flashes from the Official Charts Company. 

While physical sales have been running at a high proportion of sales, streaming of around 15% of the total is set to deliver more than 6,000 album-equivalent sales in its first chart week.

The Apple Music pre-adds for Sam Fender in the UK compare to 113,000 for Lewis Capaldi's Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent on Apple Music.

On the day of release (September 13), all 13 tracks from Polydor-signed Fender's album made the Spotify Top 200 in the UK. While primary artists are limited to three tracks in the OCC singles chart, the streaming could well secure Top 100 singles chart positions for the bulk of the LP later today (September 20).

The singer-songwriter won the BRITs Critics' Choice award earlier this year. As well as a No.1 album, current airplay hit Will We Talk? could become Fender's first Top 40 single. 

Globally, pop acts including Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish have racked up vast quantities of pre-adds on Apple Music. Swift's Lover secured around 180,000 pre-adds, compared to 800,000 for Eilish's When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

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