Lady Gaga's 'ARTPOP' is a No. 1 record, even if it did debut with lackluster sales that came in well under projections.

The album sold 258,000 copies in its first week in stores, reports Billboard. A No. 1 is a No. 1 and while some of her critics are already deeming this 'ARTFLOP,' simma down now. She's just getting started and the album needs some time to either marinate or disappear.

'ARTPOP' predecessor 'Born This Way' also landed in the top slot its first week in stores, selling 1.1 million. Yes, that's a big difference in sales, but it was also aided by a deep discount promotion that saw the album sell for 99 cents for two days on Amazon. Almost half the sales were accounted for with that promotion. Still, it's a massive dip from 'Born This Way,' which was a huge statement record for Gaga.

Gaga fell slightly short of Katy Perry's 286,000 copes of 'Prism' and Miley Cyrus' 270,000 copies of 'Bangerz.' Both albums were No. 1, so Gaga was on par with her peers.

So while Gaga did achieve a No. 1 record, she didn't sell an outrageous amount of records. That said, she has a whole year of promoting to do, and touring, so things could go and grow from there.

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