In
Brief: Billboard Country Charts (Chart issue week of April 21, 2018)
Country Album
Chart ** No.1 (9 non-consecutive weeks) ** SELF-TITLED
(Deluxe) Kane Brown
Hot Country
Songs ** No.1 (20 weeks) ** “Meant To Be” Bebe
Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line
Country Airplay
*** No.1 (1 week) *** “Singles You Up” Jordan Davis
Country Digital
Songs ** No.1 (18 non-consecutive weeks) ** “Meant To Be” Bebe Rexha feat. Florida
Georgia Line
Billboard Top 200 / Country
Album Chart News (Chart issue week of
April 21, 2018)
The
Billboard 200 chart measures multi-metric album consumption, which includes
traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent
albums (SEA).
Cardi B's
'Invasion of Privacy' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart
“Invasion”
launched with second-largest week of 2018, and the biggest streaming week ever
for an album by a woman.
Cardi
B blasted in at No.1 on the Billboard
Top 200 Album Chart (BB200) with
her debut studio album, INVASION OF
PRIVACY.
The
set, which was released on April 6 through The KSR Group/Atlantic Records,
earned 255,000 equivalent album
units (102,810 in pure sales) in the week
ending April 12, according to Nielsen Music. That’s the second-biggest week of
2018, trailing only the arrival of Justin Timberlake’s Man of the Woods, which
bowed with 293,000 units on the Feb. 17-dated chart.
--
Cardi B becomes the fifth female rapper to top the Billboard 200 albums chart.
She follows Nicki Minaj (with Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded in 2012 and Pink
Friday in 2011), Eve (Let There Be Eve… Ruff Ryders' First Lady, 1999), Foxy
Brown (Chyna Doll in 1999 and the collaborative album The Firm in 1997, with
Nas, AZ and Nature) and Lauryn Hill (The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, 1998).
Billboard Top Country
Albums (Chart issue week of
April 21, 2018)
Top
Country Albums now ranks the most popular country albums of the week, as
compiled by Nielsen Music, based on multi-metric consumption (blending traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA)).
10 digital track sales from an
album = 1 track equivalent album (TEA)
“sale”
1,500 on demand song streams from
an album to one streaming equivalent album (SEA) “sale”.
Nielsen
Music compiles the sales and streaming data. Billboard continues to publish pure album sales charts (subscription to
billboard biz ), exclusively comprising
Nielsen’s sales data.
Kane Brown with his SELF-TITLED pushed 2-1 (#19-27 Billboard 200) selling 4,731 copies (71-week total 364,200) and topped the chart for a 9th
non-consecutive week
In
her second week at retail previous weeks’ No1 from Kacey Musgraves with GOLDEN HOUR (MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group Nasville) slipped 1-2 (#4-29 Billboard 200) selling 10,077
copies (down 74%; 2-week total 48,887).
Country-rock
band Blackberry Smoke with FIND A LIGHT (3 Legged Records/Thirty Tigers) made a debut at No.3
on Top Country Albums with 16,000
equivalent album units (15,347 were traditional sales). On Americana/Folk Albums, it opened at
No. 2.
The
set marked the group's fourth Top Country Albums top 10:
LIKE AN ARROW (3 Legged Records) released Oct
14, 2016 made a debut at No.12 Billboard 200 (#1 Country; #1 Americana/Folk
Albums) selling 18,225
copies (chart
dated Nov 5, 2016)
HOLDING ALL THE ROSES (Rounder Records) released Feb
10, 2015, made a debut at No.29 Billboard 200 (#1 Country) selling 19,049 copies (chart dated Feb 28,
2015).
THE WHIPPOORWILL (Southern Ground, Earache
Records) released Aug 14, 2012, made a debut at No.40 on Billboard 200 ( #8
Country) selling 9,363
copies (chart
date Sept 1, 2012).
Critical
reception for Blackberry Smoke’s Find a Light:
Allmusic (Rating: 4 STARS) Now that they're closing in on their 20th
anniversary, Blackberry Smoke sound like veterans in the best possible sense.
As a band, they carry their chops and muscle with casual authority, letting the
leathery rhythms speak as loudly as the songs themselves. And Charlie Starr's
songs are sturdy things, crafted with care and evoking the past without being
beholden to it. The result is a splendid little record that simultaneously
feels brand new and like a lost gem.
Uncut (Ratling: 60/100): Their dogged adherence to the Southern rock
template remains at once a strength and an intermittently frustrating weakness.
On the upside, the Atlanta group do what they do with devoted attention to
detail, and the correct balance of sincerity and swagger.
Mojo (Ratling: 60/100): Find A Light breaks down the distance
between dexterous Southern rock and country brilliantly on songs like Best Seat
In The House and Run Away From It All. If they have a weakness this time
around, it's occasional lapses in quality control.
Arriving
at No. 4 is RESTORATION: Reimagining the Songs of Elton John and
Bernie Taupin (HST Global/MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville)
made a debut at No.4 with 15,000 units (#36 Billboard 200; 12,740 copies were pure sales).
The
13-track compilation sports an assortment of country artists interpreting John-
and Taupin-written songs over their 50-year-plus partnership, including Little Big Town ("Rocket
Man"), Maren Morris ("Mona
Lisas and Mad Hatters") and Willie
Nelson ("Border Town").
Chris Stapleton with TRAVELLER (MERCURY/
UMGN) fell 3-5
(32-47 BB200) selling 5,456 copies
(154-week total 2,268,500) as his set From A Room: Volume 1 (Mercury/Universal Music Group Nashville)
fell 8-11 (#55-71 BB200) selling 5,523 copies
(49-week total 764,800) and From A Room: Volume 2 dropped 14-16 (106-130 BB200) selling 4,615 copies
(19-week total 365,000).
Former
No.1 Thomas Rhett with LIFE
CHANGES (Valory/Big Machine Label Group) fell 4-6 (#37-52 Billboard 200) selling 2,107 copies (31-week total 257,500).
Former No.1 Luke Combs with THIS ONE’S FOR YOU (River House/
Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville) fell 5-7 (#45-56 Billboard 200) selling 2,093
copies (45-week total 208,300).
Former No.1 Luke Bryan with WHAT MAKES YOU COUNTRY (Capitol
Nashville | UMGN) fell 6-8 (#47-65 Billboard 200) selling 4,443 copies
(18-week total 268,100).
The
second tribute album of the week, Various Artists with Johnny Cash: Forever Words (Columbia Nashville/Legacy) entered Top
Country Albums at No.9 (#66
Billboard 200) and Americana/Folk Albums at No.4 (9,000 units; 8,328 copies were pure sales).
With artists ranging from daughter Rosanne
Cash to Elvis Costello, the set
features the late Man in Black's poetry, letters, and lyrics set to music. It
was produced by John Carter Cash, the son of Johnny and June Carter Cash.
Critical reception for Various Artists - Johnny Cash: Forever
Words:
American Songwriter (Rating: 3.5 / 5 STARS) There’s plenty to both enjoy and mull over
as Cash’s thoughtful, often poetic lyrics spill out in a variety of settings.
It makes this collection worthy of the man’s iconic status, which is saying
plenty.
Brett Young with self- titled BRETT YOUNG (BMLG) held at No.10 (#60-67 Billboard 200) selling 1,567 copies (61-week total 199,400).
Outside the
Top 10
Former No.1 Scotty McCreery, with SEASONS
CHANGE (Triple Tigers/RED) fell 9-13
(59-102 BB200) selling 3,938 copies
(down 35%) 4-week total 53,216.
Elvis Presley with
the 18-track THE SEARCHER (The
Original Soundtrack | RCA/Legacy | Amazon UK) made a debut at No.17 selling 3,889 copies.
The musical companion to the two-part documentary
directed by Emmy® and Grammy® award winner Thom Zimny, Elvis Presley: is available
in digital and physical configurations including an 18-track definitive
soundtrack, a 2LP gatefold 12″ vinyl edition and a 3CD collectible deluxe box
set.
It includes the 18 essential Elvis Presley hits, powerful
performances, and rare alternative versions of songs at the musical core of the
groundbreaking three-hour two-part film which focuses on the development of
Elvis’ spellbinding artistry, from his early blues and country roots and
influences through his seismic contributions to popular culture to his 1976
recording sessions at the Jungle Room in Graceland. The two-part documentary
film, which premiered in the United States on HBO on April 14, 2018, uses rare
footage lensed throughout Elvis’ life and career as a means of exploring Elvis’
singular musical vision in all its complexity.
The 3CD deluxe box set features 37 additional Elvis cuts
plus a special disc featuring selections from Mike McCready’s (Pearl Jam)
original score for “Elvis Presley: The Searcher”; Tom Petty and the
Heartbreakers performing “Wooden Heart”; and the music that inspired Elvis
(including R&B and country classics and “Home Sweet Home” sung by his
mother, Gladys Presley). The Elvis Presley: The Searcher (The Original
Soundtrack) deluxe 3CD set includes a 40-page hardcover book featuring rare
photography, liner notes by Warren Zanes, and a director’s note by Thom Zimny.
Further details at elvisthemusic.com
Jordan Davis with HOME STATE (MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville), dropped
16-19 (#122-155 Billboard 200) estimated
sales 1,000 copies in his third week (3-week
total 8,600)
Outside the Top 25
David Lee Murphy with No Zip Code (2018 Reviver Records | Amazon
UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com) made
a debut at No.35 (#15 Country Sales)
selling 2,013 copies.
The new album contains songs that reconnect us with an
artist who was a pioneer of the edgy, rocking style that now dominates modern
country music.
“I think this record feels like a party mix tape with a
variety of sounds,” said Murphy. “I hope people crank it up until the little
yellow light starts blinking that tells you your speakers are about to blow.”
Murphy co-wrote all 11 tracks, including the lead hit
single, “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright,” a duet with superstar Kenny
Chesney that is nearing the Top-10 on the country radio charts.
“I was happy living as a songwriter,” says David Lee.
“But, when Kenny called me and said, ‘Man, I’ve been listening to these songs
you’ve been sending me, and you need to be making a record. I could produce it
with Buddy Cannon, and I think people would love it.’ It was the perfect
scenario for me.”
Chesney reflected, “David Lee Murphy has been such a big
part of my life. The first song I recorded of his that was a single was a song
called ‘Living in Fast Forward.’ Since that moment, David Lee Murphy and his
creative spirit have been a constant in my life.”
In her second week Ashley McBryde with GIRL GOING NOWHERE (Atlantic | WMN) fell
7-50 selling 1767 copies (down 80%;
2-week total 10,724).
FALLING
SHORT of Top 50:
On the Country Album Sales list (pure sales;
old methodology)
Sarah Shook & the
Disarmers with 10 track album YEARS (2018 Bloodshot Records) made a debut at #21 selling 1,431 copies (the 179th best-selling album this chart
frame)
Critical reception for Sarah Shook & the Disarmers’
Years:
Saving Country Music (Rating: Two Guns Up) But
what Years has that so many albums that boast some or all of the aforementioned
attributes lack is what all true listeners
ultimately come to music for—a trump
card that supersedes all other concerns, benchmarks, and gradients. It’s the
part of music you can never learn, never practice up, never teach or toil to
capture. Either you have it, or you don’t. And Sarah Shook has it. She has it
in spades, while so many others fail to grasp even the mere notion of
it....Sarah Shook is the badass woman we’ve been waiting years for. She can
play the guys off the stage and drink them under the table, all on a half
night’s sleep and her eyelids at half mast. Years is the exact type of country
music album you crash little music websites and Spotify playlists searching
for—that album that immediately sucks you in, and promises years of enjoyment
and recurring listens, even in the world of endless audio variety...The Years
may have been hard on Sarah Shook, but they’re kind to us from the results that
bear out in her music, and hopefully they finally pay off for all the sweat and
toil she’s captured in this record..
Year-To-Date Albums
4,328,000 (Physical sales 3,081,000
(down -19.8%) + Digital sales 1,247,000 (down -31.7%) which is 23.7% down at the same point in 2017 (5,669,000 sales)
Year-To-Date Digital Tracks
14,268,000 down 31.7% at the same point in 2017 (20,880,000)
Billboard Hot Country Songs
(Chart issue week of
April 21, 2018)
On Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart - which
blends:
a) All-format airplay, as monitored by BDS
b) Sales, as tracked by Nielsen SoundScan and
c) Streaming, (tracked by
Nielsen BDS from such services as Spotify, Muve, Slacker, Rhapsody, Rdio and
Xbox Music, among others) according to BDS it results in:
Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line with
"Meant to Be" (Warner Bros./Big Machine Label Group) extended
its reign to 20 weeks at No.1.
The
collaboration is now alone in third place among the longest-leading hits
in the tally's 59-year history, passing Leroy Van Dyke's "Walk On By"
(19 weeks at No. 1 in 1961 and 1962). Florida Georgia Line boasts two of the
three longest-ruling No.1s: Sam Hunt's "Body Like a Back Road" holds
the record with 34 weeks at No.1 in 2017, while FGL's debut "Cruise"
ranks second with 24 weeks on top in 2012 and 2013.
Helping
"Meant" rent another week in the Hot Country Songs penthouse, it
increases 4 percent to 40.2 million and pushed 3-2 on Country Airplay. It tops
the all-genre Radio Songs chart (136 million impressions, up 4 percent) for a
second week and hits No. 1 on the Adult Pop Songs airplay survey.
Hot County
Songs
** No.1 (20 weeks)/
Airplay Gainer ** “Meant To Be” Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line
** Digital
Gainer/ Streaming Gainer ** No.11 “Get Along” Kenny Chesney
** Hot Shot Debut ** No.20 “Cry Pretty” Carrie Underwood
Debut
No.32 “I'll Wait For You” Jason Aldean
Debut
No.43 “Made For You” Jake Owen
Debut
No.48 “Dammit” Jana Kramer
Billboard Country Airplay (Chart issue week of
April 21, 2018)
Louisiana-born singer-songwriter Jordan Davis with debut hit "Singles You Up" (MCA Nashville) climbed 2-1 in its 43rd
week on Billboard's Country Airplay chart (dated April 21),
increasing 6 percent to 42.4 million audience impressions in the week
ending April 15, according to Nielsen Music.
Penned by Davis with Steven Dale and Justin Ebach, "Singles" is
from Davis' first full-length, HOME STATE, which debuted at No. 6 on the Top
Country Albums chart dated April 7 with 11,000 equivalent units.
"This past year has been crazy and beyond my wildest dreams,"
Davis told Billboard. "I'm so grateful to the fans, country radio and
everyone who helped make this happen."
"Every No. 1 single is special," says MCA Nashville VP of
promotion Katie Dean. "However, a debut single by a new artist doesn't get
there unless all the stars align. Right out of the gate, we saw early metrics
on 'Singles' showing hit potential. Also, Jordan is such a hard worker and he's
genuinely such a great guy that everyone roots for to succeed."
"Singles" is the first career-opening Country Airplay
No.1 since Russell Dickerson's "Yours" (Jan. 27).
“‘Jordan will
join Chris Janson on Jake Owen’s Life’s Whatcha Make It Tour, which kicks off
May 18th in Chattanooga, Tennessee and is currently scheduled to wrap September
22nd in Ogden, Utah.
Singles You Up’
was written with two buddies of mine back in Nashville,” explained Jordan. “One
of ‘em had just gotten engaged, and when he came in we were congratulating him
on it, and the saying ‘You’re smart enough not to single her up’ was thrown up,
and I think we all kind of knew that we needed to write that. We actually wrote
it really, really quick, I mean right when we got done, we knew we had
something special. So, we have a blast playing it, and I can’t be happier that
it’s my debut single. It’s a song that means a lot to me.”
PRETTY' GOOD
START: Carrie
Underwood charted her 40th song on
Country Airplay, and her first on Capitol Nashville, as "Cry
Pretty," released April 11, flew in at No.20 (10.7 million impressions).
The launch marked
Underwood's highest since the spiritual-leaning "Something in the
Water" (No. 17, Oct. 18, 2014; it went on to hit No. 3).
Underwood, who
performed "Pretty" on the 53rd Annual Academy of Country Music
Awards, broadcast live on CBS (April 15), is slated to release a new album this
fall. She has collected 15 Country Airplay No.1s, among 26 top 10s.
Dierks Bentley banked his 23rd Country Airplay top 10 as his co-penned “Women, Amen” rose 11-10, increasing 7 percent to 22.9 million
impressions. .
Country
Airplay
***
No.1 (1 week) *** “Singles You Up” Jordan
Davis 42.402 million audience (+2.212 million) / 8,215 radio plays (+293)
**
Most Increased Audience/ Hot Shot Debut/ Most Added ** No.20 “Cry Pretty” Carrie Underwood 10.733 million
audience gain with 1,619 plays thanks to 87
fresh radio commitments.
Debut
No.51 “Burn Out” Midland
Debut
No.54 “See You Try” Craig Campbell
Debut
No.59 “Life Changes” Thomas Rhett
Billboard Country Digital
Singles Chart (Chart issue week of
April 21, 2018)
Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line's
"Meant to Be" (Warner Bros. |
BMLG) held at No.1 in its 20th
chart frame (18 non-consecutive weeks) and slipped 3-4 on Digital Song Sales.
It was three
places short Drake whose domination atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart continued,
but with a different song this week, as new single "Nice for What" debuted
at No. 1, stopping the command of his own "God's Plan" after 11 weeks
on top.
First-week
totals: "Nice," which arrived late on April 6, soared in at No. 1 on
the Streaming Songs chart with 60.4 million U.S. streams in the week ending
April 12, according to Nielsen Music. It also opened at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales with 88,000 downloads sold in the week ending April 12.
Kenny Chesney with positive-message single “Get
Along” arrived at No.2 (#8
Digital Songs) selling 26,000 downloads and
marked his 11th
top 10 on the survey. The track flew 37-11 on Hot Country Songs.
Jason Aldean with “You Make It Easy” (Macon/Broken
Bow | BBMG) fell 2-3 (#12-11 Digital Songs) as new pre-track “I'll
Wait For You” made a debut No.7
(#47 Digital Songs)
Carrie Underwood with “Cry Pretty” (Capitol Nashville) made a debut at No.4
(#15 Digital Songs)
Kane Brown with “Heaven” (Zone 4 | RCA Nashville)
fell 3-5 (#13-18 Digital Songs).
Luke Bryan with “Most People Are Good” (Capitol
Nashville) fell 4-6 (#28-35 Digital Songs).
Jordan Davis with “Singles You Up” fell 7-8 (#38-45
Digital Songs).
Thomas
Rhett with “Marry Me” (Valory) fell 5-9 (#29-46 Digital
Songs).
David Lee Murphy & Kenny Chesney with “Everything's Gonna Be Alright” moved
11-10 (#47 New Entry Digital Songs)
Outside
the Top 10
Luke Combs with “One Number Away” fell 8-11 in his 12th week.
Jake
Owen with “Made
For You” made a debut at No.12.
Jana
Kramer with “Dammit”
made a debut at No.17.
Country Aircheck MEDIABASE
Chart
April
16, 2018
Congrats to Jordan Davis,
Royce Risser, Katie Dean, David Friedman and the MCA promotion staff on this week’s No.1 “Singles You Up.” The song
which moved 2-1 is Davis’ first
chart-topper and single from his debut album HOME STATE. Songwriters are Steven
Dale Jones, Justin Ebach and Davis.
“Singles You Up” (MCAl) logged 9,002 radio spins (+465) and 59.423 million audience
impressions (+2.56 million) with 23952 Total Points (+1340)
from 156 tracking stations for the tracking week
April 8 to April 14, 2018 and published chart April 16th 2018.
Kudos to Bobby
Young and the Capitol reps for
landing 121 adds for Carrie Underwood’s “Cry Pretty”. The song topped
the "Most Added" board this chart week.
Mediabase
Adds (Selective)
Artist/Title (Label) TW Total Historic
Adds
CARRIE UNDERWOOD/Cry Pretty (Capitol) 121 121
THOMAS
RHETT/Life Changes (Valory) 83 88
KENNY
CHESNEY/Get Along (Blue Chair/Warner Bros./WEA) 23 153
BROTHERS
OSBORNE/Shoot Me Straight (EMI Nashville) 13 122
OLD
DOMINION/Hotel Key (RCA) 13 75
CRAIG
CAMPBELL/See You Try (Red Bow) 12 58
MIDLAND/Burn
Out (Big Machine) 12 59
KEITH URBAN
f/J. MICHAELS/Coming Home (Capitol) 9 143
KELSEA
BALLERINI/I Hate Love Songs (Black River) 8 96
TYLER RICH/The
Difference (Valory) 7 53
AARON
WATSON/Run Wild Horses (Big Label) 5 52
MAREN
MORRIS/Rich (Columbia) 5 95
TRAVIS
DENNING/David Ashley Parker From... (Mercury) 5 69
DANIELLE
BRADBERY/Worth It (BMLGR) 4 48
MITCHELL
TENPENNY/Drunk Me (Riser House/Columbia) 4 78
CHRIS
STAPLETON/Millionaire (Mercury) 3 4
MIRANDA
LAMBERT/Keeper Of The Flame (RCA) 3 3
KACEY
MUSGRAVES/Butterflies (MCA) 2 13
RYAN
HURD/Diamonds Or Twine (RCA) 1 2
SCOTTY
MCCREERY/This Is It (Triple Tigers) 1 1
SMITHFIELD/Hey
Whiskey (Deluge/In2une) 1 21
WALKER
HAYES/Craig (Monument/Arista) 1 2
For
the very latest up to the minute Mediabase Chart (Past 7 Days) go here - www.mediabase.com
Billboard Boxscores (Selective Country
concerts)
Rank
Artist: #102
Event
Venue City/State: Johnny Reid, Budweiser Gardens London,
Ontario
Dates:
April 8, 2018 Gross Sales: $181,059 Attend: 3,966/ 3,966
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices:
$60.81, $49.08, $33.43
Promoters: Sakamoto Entertainment
Rank
Artist: #127
Event
Venue City/State: Dwight Yoakam, Brandy Clark Rialto
Square Theatre Joliet, Ill.
Dates:
March 29, 2018 Gross Sales: $102,051 Attend: 1,626/ 1,865
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/0 (239 unsold tickets) Prices:
$121.50, $41.50
Promoters: VenuWorks
Latest
Billboard Boxscore Chart
