Country Billboard Chart News August 15, 2013

Country Billboard Chart News August 15, 2013

** Updated Aug 20, 2013 **

RIAA Certifications

Platinum = Sales of over 1-million units

Gold =  Sales of over 500,000 units

# combined 500K units of sales and streaming

Taylor Swift - Single: “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” (4x PLATINUM) certification date July 29, 2013

Carrie Underwood - Single: "See You Again" (Gold)  # 

Carrie Underwood – Single: "Don't Forget to Remember Me" (Gold)  #

George Jones - Album: 16 Biggest Hits (Platinum)

Florida Georgia Line - Album: Here's To The Good Times (Platinum)

Jason Aldean - Album: My Kinda Party (3x Platinum)

In Brief:  Billboard Country Charts

Country Album Chart ** No. 1 (8  weeks) ** “Here’s To The Good Times” Florida Georgia Line 

Hot Country Songs ** No. 1 (24 weeks) ** “Cruise”  Florida Georgia Line

Country Airplay ** No. 1 (1 week) ** "Don’t Ya”  Brett Eldridge

Country Digital Songs ** No. 1 ** (25 weeks) “Cruise”  Florida Georgia Line

Billboard Top 200 / Country Album Chart News

The Alt/Rock/Country duo The Civil Wars (Joy Williams and John Paul White), who may be on a touring hiatus (citing "internal discord and irreconcilable differences of ambition"), debuted at No.1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart (BB200) with their eponymous second album. It tops the Billboard Top Rock and Folks Albums but not Country despite their former CMA Nominations.

Their new Self Titled album sold 115,877 copies (35,689 Physical + 80,188 Digital) which is nearly five times as many as its debut album, BARTON HOLLOW, sold in its first week (25K) in February 2011. It also smashed the best sales week for the pair who previously saw a one-week high after the Grammy Awards in 2012, when "Barton Hollow," shifted 36,000. Its sales that week were buoyed by the duo's performance on the Awards, which shot the album from No. 41 to its peak of No.10 on the chart. The Civil Wars won two awards on the show: Best Folk Album and Best Country Duo/Group Performance for the title track.

While the act is not performing shows to promote the new album, Joy Williams gave interviews to the press. White, however, has been keeping a low profile and has not spoken to the media.

A 69% chunk of "The Civil Wars'" first week sales came from digital retailers as its 80,188  downloads easily place it at No. 1 on the Digital Albums chart as well.

The Civil Wars are the second duo to reach #1 this year, following Daft Punk. The duo can give much of the credit for its success to two of the two hottest women in music, Adele and Taylor Swift. Adele sent out a helpful tweet last week: “Please go and get the new Civil Wars album. They're my absolute favourite and the new record is beautiful! X.” Swift teamed with the duo to write and record last year’s hit “Safe & Sound,” which gave the duo its only Hot 100 single to date.

“Barton Hollow” rebounded from #111 to #60 in its 101st week on The Billboard 200 and also hopped to #1 on Top Catalog Albums (5,424 sales), displacing The Essential Billy Joel. “Hollow” has sold a healthy 623,000 copies to date but has spent only five weeks in the Top 40 of the BB200.

Critical reception for The Civil Wars - 11 Tracks / Time: 42:58

Slant Magazine (Rating: 4 STARS) ...The Civil Wars is heavier and less spare than the group's debut, Barton Hollow, but Williams and White nonetheless avoid hiding the obvious tension in the songs behind over-instrumentation or flashy production. On opener "The One That Got Away," the first of a whole string of foot-stompers, Williams sings about a soured relationship over rumbling drum and bass and Dan Dugmore's serrated pedal steel...Intimate yet divided, the album alternates between mournful ballads and bluesy rockers, with some country-pop thrown in for good measure. When Williams and White aren't snarling at each other, they manage to share fragile harmonies, usually tinged with enough defiance or fatigue to avoid coming off as saccharine, as on "Dust to Dust.".

Islington Gazette (Rating: 3 STARS) ..rising from the apparent ashes of this duo’s working relationship, this sophomore album nevertheless retains some of the electric emotion of the their debut.... The clues are there – a brooding dust cloud gracing the cover and PR material referencing a ‘gruelling touring schedule’ and ‘growing disconnect from their families’ as informing this eponymous follow-up. The intensity between Joy Williams and John Paul White that enriched the debut Barton Hollow still flickers here and there – see the pained regret oozing from The One That Got Away, wishing for the time “you only held me in my mind” – but a few too many songs lack the same crackle.

Idolator (Rating: 4/5) ..the duo’s most accomplished, nuanced and mature work yet, a searing country rock album that replaces the saccharine swathes of Barton Hollow with quaking, biblical levels of emotional turmoil. 

That raw honesty is front and center from the album’s opening moments with the dark, smoky eruption of “The One That Got Away,” a cavernous thrasher that doesn’t have a hint of reconciliation, turning the breakup song trope into a defiantly selfish emotional reckoning.....the power ballad duet “Same Old, Same Old” symbolizes the smoldering rubble of the duo’s partnership.... The Civil Wars have left fans with what is undoubtedly the best album of their career, a lacerating, country-fried stomping exploration of emotional and creative collapse that never pulls its emotional punches. Best Listened To: Drinking whiskey at 3:00 p.m. in a dive bar with your car packed up outside after a crushing breakup.

NME (Rating: 3/10) .. 12 songs that wear their beaten but still-beating hearts on their sleeves. Sometimes those heightened emotions work well – as on the brooding country-folk of ‘The One That Got Away’ and the dusty gospel blues of ‘Devil’s Backbone’ – but too often their over-earnest delivery is unbearable. That’s true most of all on ‘Disarm’, a cringe worthy cover of the Smashing Pumpkins classic. Tailor-made for a post-Mumfords world, the duo’s overwrought vocals zap the song of all passion, rendering it limp, lifeless and insincere.

Billboard The Civil Wars Track-By-Track Review: Joy Williams Breaks Down New Album

Listen to "From This Valley" 

The Civil Wars Self titled album is available at:

Amazon UK CD - Amazon UK MP3 - Vinyl Boxset - UK iTunes

Florida Georgia Line with HERE’S TO THE GOOD TIMES sold 26,000 copies to hold at #10 on the BB200 and retains the #1 on Billboard Top Country Albums for the eighth week. This extends its record for most weeks at #1 for an album by an ongoing duo. Here’s To The Good Times is the first debut album to log eight or more weeks at #1 on the country chart since Taylor Swift’s Taylor Swift amassed 24 weeks on top in 2007-2008.

Brett Eldredge’s debut album, BRING YOU BACK (Warner Music Nashville), debuts at No.11 on the BB200 and No.2 on the Country chart with sales of 21,119 copies (11,209 Physical + 9,910 Digital).

The country artist has a crossover hit, “Don’t Ya,” which is currently in the top 40 on the Hot 100 and the weeks No.1 on Billboard Country Airplay. Eldredge’s cousin is Terry Eldredge of the Grascals. That country band’s highest-charting album, Country Classics With A Bluegrass Spin, reached #99 in 2011.

The album houses 12 solid tracks, 11 of which Brett co-wrote, and includes hit singles “Raymond” (released 2010) and gold certified “Don’t Ya.”

Eldredge’s set marked the best opening-week rank and sum for a rookie male since Dustin Lynch’s self-titled album opened at No. 1 (#13 BB200 selling 23,077 copies) on Sept. 8, 2012. The only other new male act to open in the top five this year is second-season 2012 “X Factor” winner Tate Stevens, who arrived at No. 4 (#18 BB200 selling 16,830 copies) with a self-titled album (Syco/RCA Nashville/Sony Music Nashville) in May. The best first-week appearance showing by a newcomer this year is Kacey Musgraves’ with Same Trailer Different Park (Mercury/Universal Music Group Nashville), which opened with 43,496 copies to land at #1 on the Billboard Country Album’s (#2 BB200).

Critical reception for “Bring You Back” - 12 Tracks / Time: 41:08

Allmusic (Rating: 3.5 STARS) Brett Eldredge isn't necessarily Nashville royalty, but as a cousin of Grascal bassist Terry Eldredge, he has a passing familiarity with the Music City. More importantly, when he arrived in Nashville eager to pursue a professional career, he was ready to play the game, receptive to advice, and ready to take his time to assemble a winning debut album. He released his debut single "Raymond" in the fall of 2010, and while it wound up reaching 23 on the Billboard Country charts, it took him almost two full years to deliver Bring You Back, his full-length debut. Such a long delay suggests how seriously Atlantic Nashville took Eldredge's prospects as a star ....the resulting Bring You Back is crisp, chipper, and eager to please, an album that cheerfully checks off every box on contemporary country radio. Many of those boxes reside somewhere within the Kenny Chesney universe....but he has an easy charm that recalls Blake Shelton before he became a television star.....everything on Bring You Back is shiny, happy country-pop -- even the ballads feel bright...everybody involved worked hard to deliver a piece of gleaming modern country product, and it's hard to resist all that impeccable craft.

Roughstock (Rating: 4 STARS) ....Some of Eldredge’s fun spirit can be pinned to the way he phrases his lyrics..... It’s one of the beauties of an artist that helps to write his own songs, in that it staves off the tendency to record generic songs. And the most of these songs are anything but generic....It’ll be interesting to watch how many people Eldredge’s music brings into the country music fold, as his sound comes off as bridge music....Maybe it’s this album’s overall sonic warmth that makes it feel undeniably Country, even without many of the more obvious aural clues.

Nashville Sound (Rating 4/5 STARS) With a vocal style parked somewhere between Marc Broussard and Bruce Springsteen, Eldredge lays down a groove like a country Marvin Gaye. Traditional country this isn't. But if you like your country music flavored with some Delta blues, drenched in Memphis soul, and delivered with powerhouse vocal chops, Eldredge's Bring You Back delivers in a big way....Most of the tracks are themed on love won and love lost and it would have been nice to have had Eldredge tackle a couple more inspirationals or heavier songs like on "Raymond." But as debut albums go, this one is a winner.

Digital Journal (Rating 5 STARS) With “Bring You Back,” Brett Eldredge has released the best country album this year by any artist in the genre, male or female. All 1 songs on here are flawless and they each have their own identities. What I love about this record is that it is not overdone or overproduced. If a baseball analogy were used to describe the excellence of this album, it is safe to say that Brett has hit a grand slam with “Bring You Back.”

“Bring You Back” is available on:

Amazon UK CD - MP3  - Spotify Brett Eldredge Bring You Back

Outside the Top 25 albums at new entry at No.30 ( #167 BB200) was Clint Black with a new Cracker Barrel compilation set release titled  WHEN I SAID I DO which sold 2,455 copies.

Critical reception for “When I Said I Do” – 14 tracks

Billboard - Clint Black has been absent from the record world for a few years, though the singer plans to return to stores in 2014 with his first all-new project in well over five years..... Fans who have missed the laid back fashion that Black has always excelled in will marvel at how the new tracks – “Samantha,” “Only A Woman,” and “She Won’t Let Go” sound like they would fit side by side with such Black staples as “Nothin’ But The Tailights” or “Killin Time.” That’s not saying that the new tracks have a dated sound, but rather how easy they fit in with the style the singer has perfected. Of the three new cuts, he’s at his sensitive best on “Samantha,” the story of the love between a father and daughter, turns romantic on “Only A Woman,” ...a project that should whet fans’ appetites for his new music – and keep them as satisfied as some of that famous hash brown casserole!

Nashville Country Club - Clint Black’s latest album “When I Said I Do” is a collection of re-mastered hits like “When I Said I Do,” “Like The Rain,” “My Imagination,” and “Half The Man.” Along with Black’s classic jams, “When I Said I Do” has three new songs titled “Samantha,” “Only A Woman,” and “She Won’t Let Go.”

When I Said I Do” is available at: crackerbarrel.com - US iTunes

Outside the Top 40 Country albums Rusty Truck made a bow at No. 45 with its second album KICKER TOWN (JKBD) which shifted exactly 1,000 copies and Michael Martin Murphey debutted at No. 74 with RED RIVER DRIFTER, which sold less than 570 copies. 

Rusty Truck is a happy accident. The project came together in 1998 when celebrity photographer Mark Seliger gave songwriting a try just for the sake of doing so. With his countless connections in entertainment, Seliger was encouraged by Jakob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, and the like to make the music thing real. The album was released Aug 6 on iTunes 

Critical reception for “Kicker Town”

American Songwriter (Rating; 3/5) Musicians such as Graham Nash and the Police’s Andy Summers have artistically lauded second careers as photographers, so it’s only natural that concept would work with photographers who long to be in front of the lens rather than behind it. Veteran shutterbug Mark Seliger is one who has been leading his Rusty Truck Americana outfit intermittently since 2003’s debut. It has taken a decade to release this sophomore follow-up but this short yet sweet eleven tune set is a pure country delight. True to his keen visual eye, Seliger the songwriter crafts intimate and descriptive story song portraits of working class people, their dreams and aspirations... The music is standard roots country with some rockabilly and hillbilly influences....Seliger may not exude the star caliber of those he photographs, but this is a sweet, unassuming gem of an album that many of his higher profile subjects would be proud of.

Many aspiring country singers have day jobs, typically along the lines of waiting tables or tending bar. Not Mark Seliger. He has shot famous portraits of public figures — actors, dancers, politicians, rock stars and artists, from Jay Z to the Dalai Lama — for magazines like Time, Rolling Stone, GQ and Vanity Fair. et Mr. Seliger has a lesser-known passion: writing country songs. For the last decade, he has been the lead singer of the Los Angeles band Rusty Truck. “Kicker Town,” is a collection of lonesome songs in the tradition of Merle Haggard, Hank Williams and Willie Nelson...Read more at the NY Times

In 1972, Rolling Stone Magazine called Michael Martin Murphey “one of the best songwriters in America. Red River Drifter (Red River Entertainment) is the thirty-third album by American singer-songwriter Michael Martin Murphey - CD 

Red River Drifter was recorded in 2013 at Bumpin' Heads Studio and Omnisound Studio in Nashville, Tennessee, and Mole End Studio in Franklin, Tennesse.

Michael Martin Murphey has spent much of the past couple of decades focusing primarily on cowboy songs, both with originals and covering classics. On "Red River Drifter," the western feel is still prominent, but Murphey also reveals bluegrass, country, pop and jazz influences on a collection of new compositions.

Last weeks No.4 bow Vince Gill and Paul Franklin’s BAKERSFIELD dropped to No.9 (#25-43 BB200). It sold some 7,000 copies in its second retail week (19K in two weeks) .

Luke Bryan will crash atop the chart next week with industry predictions of massive sales ranging between 495-525K will be sold for his new album CRASH MY PARTY.  Should that happen it would be the third best debut-week album sales of 2013 so far. Only Justin Timberlake (968,000 copies of The 20/20 Experience) and Jay Z (528,000 copies of Magna Carta . . . Holy Grail) have sold more.

It would also mark the biggest sales week for a solo male country artist since November 2005, when Kenny Chesney sold 469,000 copies of “The Road and the Radio” and the most by any artist since Taylor Swift’s RED (Big Machine) arrived with 1.2 million on Nov. 10, 2012.

Due to street-date violations Crash My Party appeared a week early at No. 68 on Top Country Albums. What happened somebody jumped the gun and sold their copies of the album a week before it was officially released for sale on Aug. 13. That's according to Billboard's country chartmeister, Wade Jessen. "[It] happens frequently on big releases," Jessen says. "The sales are legit, so SoundScan counts them."

Let the record show that Bryan sold 586 copies of Crash My Party to gain his No. 68 berth!

Bryan’s 105 chart week and 2-million seller  TAILGATES & TANLINES moved 10-5 on Country Albums (65-33 BB200) this week , sales of 9,000 were up 41%. 

Of note currently charting on the Billboard New Artist chart see’s  Amanda Shires new album DOWN FELL THE DOVES (EMEO) bow with sales of 1,415 copies.

Updated totals:

Released January 29th  Blue Sky Riders’ “Finally Home” has sold now sold 7,987 copies

Released March 26th Maggie Rose’s “Cut To Impress” has so far sold 6,128 units

Released May 7th Lenny Coopers’ MUD DYNASTY (AJE) has sold 11,211 copies

Released May 7th Patty Griffin’s AMERICAN KID has sold 34,196 copies

Released June 4th LeAnn Rimes’ SPITFIRE (797 sold this week) has sold 30,939

Released on June 11  Robin Meade’s COUNT ON ME album has sold 3,586 copies

Released July 16th JJ Lawhorn’s ORIGINAL GOOD OL' BOY  (AVJ) has sold 6,726

Released July 2nd Various Artists MUD DIGGER VOL. 4 has sold 19,886 copies

Year-To-Date Sales

Country Albums: 23,068,000 (down 3.1% on 2012)

Country Digital Tracks: 109,654,000 (up 8.6% on 2012)

Billboard Top 200  Placings / Top 25 Country Albums

(Issue dated Chart week of August 24, 2013)

(Country Album positions #1 - #25)

(TW) This Week, (LW) Last Week, Co (Country Album Chart placing / Movement)

Billboard Catalog Chart

The Civil Wars saw a 40% sales spike for BARTON HOLLOW which moved from 16-1 to top the chart with sales of 5,424 copies and a new tally since its release (Feb 1, 2011) of 622,952 units

Top 25 Hot Country Songs (week of August 24, 2013)

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:

Duo Florida Georgia Line remained atop the chart with “Cruise” making it 24 non-consecutive No.1 weeks, now 3-weeks clear of the pack in the charts entire history.  In their 55th chart week it sold 89,000 copies in the chart tracking week, total sales of 5.4 million, and continues to receive cross-over radio airplay and is the #1 top country streaming song.

Top 25 Hot Country Songs:

Florida Georgia Line with “Cruise” stays Top The Chart #1

Hunter Hayes with “I Want Crazy” stays at  #2

Luke Bryan with “Crash My Party” is up one, #4 - #3 p

Randy Houser with “Runnin’ Outta Moonlight” is down one slot, #3 - #4 q

Brett Eldredge with “Don’t Ya” stays at #5

Florida Georgia Line with “Round Here” is up one, #7 - #6 p

Carrie Underwood with “See You Again” is up one,  #8 - #7 p

Tyler Farr with “Redneck Crazy” is up one, #9 - #8 p

Keith Urban with “Little Bit Of Everything” is up one, #10 - #9 p

Blake Shelton with “Boys ‘Round Here” falls four, #6 - #10 q

Jason Aldean with “Night Train” jumps up three slots, #14 - #11  p

Thomas Rhett with “It Goes Like This” is up one place, #13 - #12 p

Darius Rucker  with former No.1 “Wagon Wheel” is down,  #11 - #13 q

Easton Corbin with “All Over The Road” is up two, #16 - #14 p

Billy Currington with “Hey Girl” stays at #15

Kip Moore with “Hey Pretty Girl” falls four, #12 - #16 q

Justin Moore with “Point at You” is up one,  #18 - #17  p

Lee Brice with “Parking Lot Party” is down one slot, #17 - #18 q

Tim McGraw with “Southern Girl” is up 2 places, #21 - #19  p

Chris Young  with “Aw Naw” moves up 2 slots,  #22 - #20 p

Blake Shelton with “Mine Would Be You” jumps up 7 slots,  #28 - #21 p

Tim McGraw & Taylor Swift with “Highway Don’t Care” drops, #19 - #22 q

Lady Antebellum with “Goodbye Town” moves up, #24 - #23 p

Florida Georgia Line with “Get Your Shine On” is down, #23 - #24 q

The Band Perry with “Done” falls, #20 - #25 q

Hot Country Songs

** No.1 (24 weeks)  **  “Cruise”  Florida Georgia Line

** Airplay & Digital Gainer ** No.3 “Crash My Party” Luke Bryan

** Streaming Gainer ** No.11 “Night Train” Jason Aldean

** Hot Shot Debut ** No.37 “Days Of Gold” Jake Owen

Billboard Country Airplay Chart Week of August 24, 2013

Brett Eldredge with “Don’t Ya” (Atlantic/Warner Music Nashville) claimed his first leader in three attempts on Billboard’s Country Airplay tally and became the second artist in 2013 to reach the summit for the first time. It represented the third-slowest climb to No. 1 in the Nielsen BDS era (since January 1990), reaching the top in its 43rd chart week, “Don’t Ya” follows Brett’s No. 23 peak with “Raymond” and a No. 46 peak with “It Ain’t Gotta Be Love,” both in 2011.

First released on October 8, 2012  and written by Brett Eldredge, Chris DeStefano and Ashley Gorley its his third single and the second single from his debut album, BRING YOU BACK which was recently released on August 6. “Don't Ya" debuted at No.58 on the chart week October 27, 2012.

The only titles that needed more weeks to reach No. 1 during the 23-year-old BDS era are Chris Young’s twice-released “Voices,” which needed 51 weeks (2011), and David Nail’s “Let It Rain” (featuring Sarah Buxton), which peaked in its 49th chart week (2012). The top five slowest chart-topping ascents during the BDS era also includes Tracy Lawrence’s “Find Out Who Your Friends Are” (41 weeks to peak in 2007) and Justin Moore’s “Til My Last Day” (41 weeks to peak in January).

Eldredge replaced Randy Houser’s “Runnin’ Outta Moonlight” (Stoney Creek) after two weeks at No. 1. Houser was the first artist to reach No.1 for the first time this year when “How Country Feels” crowned the Country Airplay chart dated Feb. 2. By this same time last year, five artists had claimed their first No. 1s, and there were seven such leaders by the end of 2012.

“Don’t Ya” logged 47.282 million audience impressions (up +3.769 million) and received 6,750 plays (+691) . Top local audience contributors during the tracking week were: WUSN Chicago (1.5 million impressions), KKBQ Houston (1.4 million), KKGO Los Angeles (1.2 million), WNSH New York (971,000) and KMNB Minneapolis (842,000).

Tyler Farr became the third newcomer to reach the Country Airplay top 10 for the first time this year, noted as “Redneck Crazy” (Columbia Nashville) gains 1.5 million impressions and stepped 11-10 in its 25th chart week. It’s the title track from his upcoming album, due Sept. 30. Farr’s first top 10 follows “Hot Mess” and “Hello Goodbye,” which peaked at No. 49 and No. 47, respectively (both 2012). Other top 10 first-timers this year include Eldredge and Kacey Musgraves, who peaked at No. 10 with “Merry Go Round” in March.

Luke Bryan took home the weeks “Most Added” trophy as "That's My Kind Of Night" in its 2nd chart week moved 21-20 reaching a 17.211 million audience (+1.824); receiving 2,571 plays (+823) thanks to 44 new radio commitments (ADDS)

Blake Shelton took home the weeks “Most Increased Audience” honours with “Mine Would Be You” at No.21, which registered a 15.433 million audience with a gain of 4.684 million, receiving 2,224 plays (+566) and was helped by the week’s second best 29 ADDS.

Grabbing the week’s “Hot Shot Debut” was Sugarland lead singer Jennifer Nettles making her first unaccompanied solo appearance at No. 57 on Country Airplay with “That Girl” (Mercury), the lead single from a Rick Rubin-produced solo set.

Nettles has previously charted without Bush only once, as Bon Jovi’s vocal partner on “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” which spent two weeks at No. 1 on Country Airplay in 2006.

Country Airplay

*** No. 1 (1 week) *** "Don’t Ya”  Brett Eldridge

** Most Added ** No. 20 "That's My Kind Of Night" Luke Bryan

** Most Increased Audience ** No.21 “Mine Would Be You” Blake Shelton

** Hot Shot Debut ** No.57 “That Girl” (Mercury Nashville) Jennifer Nettles

Debut No. 60 "I Can't Change The World" Brad Paisley

Billboard Country Digital Singles Chart Week of August 24, 2013

Florida Georgia Line hold onto the No.1 slot with“Cruise” (feat Nelly) . In their 61st chart week sales of 88,979 were down by 17% on last weeks 107,582 units as it past 5.5 million sales (5,552,206 total).

It may face stiff competition next week from Luke Bryan with the release of  his album THAT’S MY KIND OF NIGHT and the single “Crash My Party”, which holds at No.2 with a 16% sales spike (72,251 copies sold).

Thomas Rhett moved up 4 places 7-3 with his hit “It Goes Like This.”

Hunter Hayes who moved 4-3  has the weeks No.1 of the Mediabase/CountryAircheck chart with “I Want Crazy.”

Brett Eldredge who released his album this week jumped up 5 slots 11-6 with “Don’t Ya” (22% sales increase) .

Florida Georgia Line at No.8 with “‘Round Here” sold another 43,000 copies to sail past the 500,000 downloads mark to gain Gold certification eligibility.

Jake Owen’s “Days Of Gold” the title cut to his forthcoming album made its debut at No.22 with first week sales of 22,000 copies.

                                                           

Top 30 Digital Singles in Country Music (published August 14, 2013)

 (LW) Last Week  (TW) This Week 

*Numbers are rounded to nearest 1000^th

Billboard Boxscores (Selective Country concerts)

Rank Artist: #1

Event Venue City/State:

Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Austin Mahone, Casey James Soldier Field Chicago, Ill.

Dates: Aug. 10, 2013   Gross Sales: $4,149,148   Attend: 50,809/50,809

Capacity Shows: 1/1    Sellouts Prices: $99.50, $79.50, $59.50, $39.50

Promoters The Messina Group/AEG Live:

Rank Artist: #5

Event Venue City/State:

Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Florida Georgia Line Sprint Center Kansas City, Mo.

Dates: Aug. 2-3, 2013  Gross Sales: $2,093,172   Attend: 26,412/26,412

Capacity Shows: 2/2  Sellouts Prices: $84.50, $69.50, $29.50

Promoters: The Messina Group/AEG Live