It was supposed to be a pop war for the record books. Insiders on Monday predicted Katy Perry and Lady Gaga's new singles could break a digital songs record this week, each surpassing 400,000 by Sunday. But as of Thursday morning, the expectations have changed dramatically.

According to Billboard, Perry's "Roar" is clearly overpowering Lady Gaga's "Applause," with the former expected to easily reach 450,000 downloads by the end of the tracking week on Sunday. To be fair, Gaga's overhyped little ditty arrived a day after Perry's, but "Applause" is still only tracking toward a a bow of 200,000 to 225,000. That's hardly the kind of difference a day makes.

UPDATE: As of Sunday (Aug. 18), industry insiders now project "Roar" could rack up 525,000 to 550,000 copies by the end of the day (also the end of the tracking period). Meanwhile, predictions for Gaga's "Applause" remain unchanged: 200,000-plus.

Gaga is clearly feeling the pinch, urging fans via Twitter to take it up a notch and even purchase multiple copies of her single, using the chance to meet the singer at the upcoming iTunes Festival as motivation. To make matters worse, she's encouraging her legion of followers to take and share selfies in order to drive up downloads: "The 2 fans w the most purchase/gift screenshots, radio requests, 'Applause' selfies/video, will fly international to meet me+watch the show!"

By comparison, Gaga's 2011 single "Born This Way" preceded her album of the same name with 448,000 downloads in only three days. On the other hand, Perry's new single may give her a career best. 2012's "Part of Me" debuted with 411,000 in its first week. Industry sources believe she will easily top that this week.

Although Gaga's name has frequently been synonymous with unsual antics, Canada.com has reported that some of singer's fans are actually turning to prostitution in exchange for proof of "Applause" purchases.

Suddenly Perry's golden semi-truck seems modest, doesn't it?