Friday, 23 August 2013

Country Billboard Chart News August 21, 2013

Country Billboard Chart News August 21, 2013

In Brief:  Billboard Country Charts

Country Album Chart ** No. 1 (1  week) ** CRASH MY PARTY   Luke Bryan
Hot Country Songs ** No. 1 (1 week) **  “That’s My Kind of Night” Luke Bryan
Country Airplay ** No. 1 (2 weeks) ** "Don’t Ya”  Brett Eldridge
Country Digital Songs ** No. 1 ** (1 week)  “That’s My Kind of Night” Luke Bryan

Billboard Top 200 / Country Album Chart News

Luke Bryan's fourth studio album CRASH MY PARTY débuted at No.1 on Billboard 200 (BB200) and Top Country Albums selling 527,783 copies in the week ending Sunday, Aug.18.
That means it sold more copies this week than Luke’s SPRING BREAK…HERE TO PARTY (up 13-9 Country, #62-#38 BB200) has sold has in its entire 24-week run (490K). Bryan’s 2011 album TAILGATES & TANLINES (up from 33-16 on the BB200 this week) took 18 weeks to sell as many copies.
CRASH MY PARTY is the biggest bow by a male country singer in nearly nine years and 2013's third highest overall behind the debuts of Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience" (968,000) and Jay Z's "Magna Carta… Holy Grail" (slightly over 528,000).
It's Bryan's second 2013 No. 1, following "Spring Break… Here to Party," which also opened atop the list for the chart week of March 23, 2013 selling 149,515 copies, which was a compilation of songs from Bryan's first four spring break-themed EPs, plus two new songs, "Buzzkill" and "Just a Sip. On a related note, for only the second time in history, an album and a digital song both simultaneously sell more than a half-million copies in a single week. As Crash My Party debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Katy Perry’s “Roar” bowed at No. 1 with 557,000 downloads on the overall Digital Songs chart.

Luke’s rise to chart fame!
  • The last set by a country gent to post a bigger frame was Tim McGraw's "Live Like You Were Dying," which sold 766,000 in its first week (Nov. 2004).
  • Further, since 2008, only two country artists have sold more than a half-million copies of an album in a single week: Bryan and Taylor Swift. The latter has seen half-million (or more) bows with each of her last three studio albums. "Red" started with 1.21 million last year, while 2010's "Speak Now" bowed with 1.05 million and 2008's "Fearless" launched with 592,000.
  • Bryan is the first country artist to put two albums at #1 in a calendar year since Kenny Chesney scored in 2005. Just two other country artists have achieved this feat since 1991, when Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for Billboard: Garth Brooks (1992 and 1998) and LeAnn Rimes (1997).
  • Luke's GOLD certified debut album I'LL STAY ME (Capitol Records Nashville) was released on August 14, 2007 it peaked at #24 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on Billboard Country Albums selling 24,993 copies on its opening chart week of Sept 1, 2007.
  • His second album DOIN' MY THING , released Oct 6, 2009 opened with sales of 57,503 (Chart Week ending Oct 24, 2009) to peak at #6 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on Billboard Country Albums.
  • Bryan's 3rd album TAILGATES & TANLINES, released on August 9, 2011 opened with sales of 145,295 (Chart Week Aug 27, 2011) to peak at #2 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on Billboard Country Albums. It has never ranked lower than #65 on the BB200. (That’s why, even though it’s more than two years old, it’s still considered a current album and isn’t listed on Top Catalog Albums) Though it peaked at #2, Tailgates has outsold most #1 albums of recent years. Its current sales tally to date is 2,101,000 (2x Platinum).
  • "Crash My Party" displaced Florida Georgia Line’s eight-week rule at No.1 with HERE’S TO THE GOOD TIMES. This is Bryan’s third country album #1 in a row. Tailgates & Tanlines (had four weeks on top) and Spring Break…Here To Party (two weeks on top). All 3 of these albums have party-themed titles. The Leesburg, Georgia dude likes to party and some!
  • Bryan is yet to win a CMA Award. He was nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year for the first time in 2012 (losing out to “three-peater” Blake Shelton).
  • Luke won the award for Entertainer Of The Year at the 2013 Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on April 7, 2013
 The new album's title track spent three weeks atop the Country Airplay chart in July. The set's latest single, "That's My Kind of Night," (Audio) rose 20-16 on Country Airplay this week.
With a heavy promotion schedule for "Crash My Party" last week Luke performed for iHeartRadio Live in New York City on Wednesday, August 14 then headed over to People Magazine’s private album release celebration, where he was guest of honour. On August 15th, Luke performed a special album release show for fans at Irving Plaza. Bryan appeared on E!'s "Chelsea Lately" and performed on ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" (both on the set's release date, Aug. 13). He also appeared on NBC's "Today" twice, on Aug. 15 with Kathie Lee and Hoda and a “Summer Concert Series” performance Friday Aug. 16 >> Watch

Huffington Post Luke Bryan Laughs Off Country Music Stereotypes, Talks Growing Popularity of Genre
To heighten the excitement, Bryan kicked off the release with a party, hosted by iHeartRadio, in New York City. HuffPost Celebrity caught up with the Georgia native to get his take on why country music is more popular than ever:
There has definitely been somewhat of a cultural shift in recent years. Why do you believe country music has "crossed over," or become so mainstream?
Luke: I think it's always dictated by the fans, and kind of the fans drive, or what they’re loving. I think there’s been somewhat of a change with our generation. You know, nobody grew up more countrier than me, but I mean, I had Beastie Boys playing on little boomboxes and Run–D.M.C. and all forms of music, so through the years, I just think it's all constantly blending together.
So, some of today's country music songs are actually "pop" songs too?
Luke: There’s always room for your hard-core country songs and that will always shine through and I'll always have those on my albums. And then I'll have fun stuff that gets people up and dancing that some people may want to say, "Well that sounds real pop-y!" but I don’t really think it does, I just think it's what's going on.
Do you think Taylor Swift is still a country artist?
Luke: I wouldn’t necessarily say she is a country artist. I mean, obviously Taylor Swift started in country, but she morphed into somewhat of a cultural icon, so, who am I to judge what she is?
What stereotypes about country music frustrate you the most?
Luke: I mean, I think it's not all checkerboard bandanas. A lot of people still call it "country and western," and I always think that’s funny. I'm not knockin' country or western, but people look at me and they’re like, “Oh you're a country western singer?” and I'm like, ”Well, I would say I'm not much western here.” I don't know, I think every genre has stereotypes. You assume a rock artist is a drug addict, you assume a country artist is rolled out from under the trailer. Those are just natural stereotypes. I think what's so great about music is that people are really giving all genres now a fair start. Maybe the  stereotypes are getting less and less prominent.

Related post: ABC News  Luke Bryan has revealed how MC Hammer helped him become a Country Superstar. Described as the "the hottest thing going in country music these days" some of
the credit for that runaway success has to go to his steamy, onstage dance moves. A new viral video compiles all of Luke's signature gyrations, set to the ip-hop hit "Don't Drop That Thun Thun," by Finatticz.

Critical reception for Luke Bryan’s Crash My Party

GAC On his fourth studio album, reigning ACM Entertainer of the Year Luke Bryan spends ample time describing his perfect date....headlights, dancing and beer are at the top of the list as Luke delivers a carefree set with arena crowds in mind....Though the hick-hop influenced opener, “That’s My Kind of Night,” comes equipped with a club-ready beat, 35-inch truck tires also appear to come stock as the song sets up under the stars and keeps things decidedly country with lines referencing a little catfish dinner. This might be Luke’s most overt detour into hip-hop territory, but the secluded dirt road themes continue through a large part of the project....Crash My Party showcases Luke’s evolution as a performer. Arena-ready hooks and big distorted power chords are around every corner....Luke pairs country themes with arena riffs to lead fans on a fun-loving tour of his dirt road roots.

Roughstock (rating: 4 STARS) ....artists are bringing in their more wide-ranging influences and while Crash My Party clearly features melodies and ideas that come from outside of Country's traditions, nobody would mistake the album for anything but a Country Music album, a strong, well-made modern one which makes times to nod to tradition while still looking forward.

Allmusic (Rating 2.5 STARS) ...Luke Bryan doesn't seem like he ever once bothered with the backwood. With its sly Auto-Tune, diluted hip-hop rhythms, nods to T.I., and rivers of beer, Crash My Party surely doesn't feel as if it belongs to country......he does seem savvy, somebody who embraces what real redneck living is about in 2013. Everything here, from the sound to the songs, is about improving the brand of "Luke Bryan: Party Bro" and if he never seems to inhabit that role, he's nevertheless able to sell it.

Country Weekly (Rating: B-) .....All the imagery his fans have come to demand is there: tanned legs swinging over tailgates, starry Southern nights, red Georgia clay and an endless supply of cold cans. Two songs, in fact, have “beer” in their titles, and both are intoxicating..... Conversely, the weakest track is its opener, “That’s My Kind of Night,” a mishmash of hip-hop tropes (make it rain), country clichés (diamond-plate tailgate) and inane couplets that sound like something Guy Fieri would riff on in Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (Catch us up a little catfish dinner / Gonna sound like a winner).... In the future, it’d be nice to see Luke, grow out of the fields he’s so clearly comfortable in. But for now, if the soil is still bearing fruit, you can’t blame him for continuing to plow ahead.

American Songwriter (Rating: 3/5) Crash My Party, is fraught with catchy hooks and strong melodies, but it’s often sidetracked by reductive and forgettable lyrics ...While you’d have to hunt high and low for any real substance here (“Blood Brothers”), that shouldn’t matter since Bryan’s fourth proper album is exactly the sort of good time romp for which the Georgia native has become famous; country booty shakers (“That’s My Kind of Night” and “Out Like That”) balanced with emotive balladeering
(“Goodbye Girl” and “Play It Again”). However, listeners should be forewarned, this album is predictably programmed for obstreperous fist-pumping, beer chugging followers of feel good country pop who don’t want to waste a lot of time contemplating the deeper meaning of life. Ultimately, Crash My Party is melodiously rewarding despite its sporadic lyrical missteps.

“Crash My Party” is available on Amazon UK CD - Amazon.com
Target Stores in America (Deluxe Edition / 4 additional tracks)

Luke Bryan’s previous releases DOIN' MY THING moved 121-73 on the Billboard 200 (101 weeks) and there was a ReEntry at No.137 for I'LL STAY ME (9 weeks on BB200)     

Florida Georgia Line’s HERE’S TO THE GOOD TIMES at No.2 Country , moving 10-8 on the BB200, has now scanned Platinum as its 31,000 sales this week took it over the 1-million mark (1.002 million total in 37 weeks).

The CMA Music Festival broadcast on ABC helped give a lift to several country albums. Carrie Underwood with BLOWN AWAY had a notable lift with a 27 slot jump on the BB200 (71-44) and up to #11 Country with a 50% sales increase. Meanwhile her brand new The Blown Away Tour - Live [DVD] [2013] made a No.1 bow on the Billboard Music Video chart.

Glen Campbell with SEE YOU THERE (Surfdog) made a debut at No.89 (BB200) and No.22 on the Country chart with 6,000 copies sold. 
Largely recorded in 2010, “See You There” finds Glen revisiting many old favourites in new stripped-down versions.
In the UK it débuted at No.35 of the Official Album Chart (2,682 sales). The “See You There” sessions were resurrected following the favourable critical reaction to previous outing GHOST ON THE CANVAS.

Last weeks #2 Country album Brett Eldredge’s BRING YOU BACK fell back to #7 (11-29  BB200) sales of 11,000 were down some 48% in its second week

Critical reception for “See You There”

Rollingstone (Rating; 3.5 STARS) What could be a late-game throwaway instead has near-definitive versions of "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston" and "Gentle on My Mind," conjuring the originals with a patina of age and minus the arrangement lard. Campbell's voice sounds great, and his phrasing has only improved .. Best is "Rhinestone Cowboy," just electric guitar and the weary voice of a footlight hustler taking his last laps.

The Guardian (Rating: 3 STARS) Here, he remains in fine, yet undeniably altered, voice; the power of his interpretations is undimmed even as intimacy overtakes their former lushness.
The Telegraph (Rating: 5 Stars) The result is a deeply moving record – a warm, valedictory squeeze of the listener’s hand from the cowboy hunk.

American Songwriter (Rating: 3.5/5 stars) This “might be final” album — Campbell’s well publicized Alzheimer’s diagnosis pretty much guarantees that — consists of new renditions of the singer/guitarist’s hits spliced with recently recorded vocals without much input from it star. On the surface, it seems like a studio concocted, cash grabbing, wince-inducing creep fest. Surprisingly the results are pretty great and even if they won’t make you forget the often charmingly dated originals, it’s cool to hear these songs stripped down without the syrupy orchestrations and bloated slick pop arrangements that made them such beloved radio mainstays over the years... Campbell is in fine voice throughout, a little deeper and rough around the edges but that only helps some of the sadder ballads such as “Galveston” and “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” resonate with additional gravitas.  

Glen Campbell’s “See You There” is available on Amazon UK CD - MP3 See Tray inlay

Outside the Top 25 country albums saw LIFE Unheard from Johnny Cash landed at No.32 (#200 BB200)  which was released on August 13th.
It is a joint collaboration between LIFE and Sony Music Entertainment. The CD offers solo acoustic songs recorded at his House of Cash’s home studio in Hendersonville, Tenn., as well as live songs from the White House (“What Is Truth” and “Daddy Sang Bass”) and Newport Folk Festival (“I Walk The Line”). The 12-song album also features a previously unreleased studio version of Ben Dewberry’s ‘Final Run,’ and ‘Movin’ Up,’ both recorded for Cash’s 1981 made-for-TV movie, ‘The Pride of Jesse Hallam.’

A separately sold book offers illustrated 192-page biography features many rare and never-before seen photos. Take a look at the Kindle version on Amazon UK or Amazon.com.

Critical reception for “LIFE Unheard” - 12 Tracks/ Time: 33:11

Allmusic (Rating: 3 Stars) The cover art for Time/Life's 2013 compilation Life Unheard is pretty clever -- it's designed to look like an old Life magazine from the '60s, which is when much of the music on this Johnny Cash rarities compilation was recorded, but the "Unheard" suggests that this 12-track collection contains nothing but newly unearthed tracks, which is not strictly true. All but two of the 12 songs have appeared somewhere on Legacy's ongoing Cash Bootleg series....,a demo called "Restless Kid"; and three excavations from the vault, "Life's Railway to Heaven," "It Takes One to Know Me," and "Truth" -- are all easily available, many on Vol. 3 of the Bootleg series, so collectors may wind up being slightly disappointed in this disc, but those who haven't dug into the Bootleg series will find this to be an appealing mishmash of concert cuts and solid studio leftovers from throughout Cash's entire run at Columbia.

Listen to (Ghost) Riders In The Sky on Soundcloud
Johnny Cash’s LIFE Unheard is available on:

(Issue dated Chart week of August 31, 2013)

(Country Album positions #1 - #25)


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
































Billboard Catalog Album Charts


* Billboard magazine ranks the best selling catalog titles, regardless of genre and defines a catalog title as one that is more than 18-months old and that has fallen below position 100 on the Billboard 200. Albums which meet this criteria are removed from the Billboard Current Albums rankings and begin new chart runs on Top Pop Catalog Albums. 

The Civil Wars' "Barton Hollow" drops from the top spot down to #14.
Luke Bryan is at #3 with 2011's "Doin' My Thing".
Jason Aldean's "My Kinda Party", reaches a new peak position of #7 and also reaches its highest position yet on the Billboard 200 as a Catalog album (#103).
* Three country albums enter the chart with the top new entry making their transitions to Catalog status this week:
a) Luke Bryan's I'LL STAY ME at #18. This was his first album, released in 2007, and reached #24 on the Billboard 200 in a short run. It's charted previously for eight weeks on the 25-position Country Catalog chart. It becomes Bryan's second Catalog album, joining "Doin' My Thing".
b) Jake Owen's BAREFOOT BLUE JEAN NIGHT is the Florida singer's third studio album, and first to reach the Catalog chart, coming in at #20.
c) Brantley Gilbert's HALFWAY TO HEAVEN finally moves to Catalog status and enters the Catalog chart at #21. The album debuted on the Billboard 200 in 2010, dropped off after a week, returned for three more weeks in 2011, then re-entered the chart at #4 on October 1, 2011 following the release of a deluxe edition. This occurred while "Country Must Be Country Wide" was scaling the charts to become his first country #1 single.

#3 Doin' My Thing, Luke Bryan [40 weeks, 101 weeks on BB200, #6 peak BB200, Year 2009]
#7 My Kinda Party, Jason Aldean [38 weeks, 145  weeks on BB200, #2 peak BB200, Year 2010]
#18 I'll Stay Me, Luke Bryan [1 week, 9 weeks on BB200, #24 peak BB200, Year 2007]
#20 Barefoot Blue Jean Night, Jake Owen [1 week, 66 weeks on BB200, #6 peak BB200, Year 2011]
#21 Halfway To Heaven, Brantley Gilbert [1 week, 105 weeks on BB200, #4 peak BB200, Year 2010]


Top 25 Hot Country Songs (week of August 31, 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:

Luke Bryan scored his fifth No. 1 and 12th top 10, as “That’s My Kind of Night” vaults 35-1 in its third chart week. He most recently topped the list when “Drunk on You” led for two weeks in July 2012.
The 34-spot jump for “Night” is the biggest to the summit since the chart converted to an airplay/sales/streaming hybrid last fall. The prior largest leap to No. 1 in the new chart era belonged to Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” (8-1 in April), which abdicates the No. 1 crown (1-2) after a record-breaking streak of 24 cumulative weeks—the last 19 occurring over consecutive frames.
The second single from Bryan’s album CRASH MY PARTY, “Night” earned Hot Country Songs’ “Airplay Gainer” nod this chart week (up 4.5 million impressions) and debuts at No. 1 on Country Digital Songs with 164,000 in its first week of availability.
It was written by Dallas Davidson, Chris DeStefano and Ashley Gorley and released on August 5, 2013 by Capitol Nashville and made a No.40 bow on the Hot Country Songs the week of August 17, 2013.

Critical Reception for “That’s My Kind of Night”  

Taste Of Country (Rating: 2.5/5 STARS)   lyrically, the trio of songwriters have put together a story that relies on every imaginable hip-hop and country cliché. Big tires, a feel-good bottle of booze, corn rows (on a farm, not a human head), superstar name checks, love under the moonlight and bling … there’s hardly an original thought in this song. Most aren’t even original to Bryan’s catalog.
The chorus goes: “All them other boys wanna wind you up and take you downtown / But you look like the kind that likes to take it way out / Out where the corn rows grow, row, row my boat / Floatin’ down the Flint River, catch us up a little catfish dinner / Gonna sound like a winner, winner when I lay you down and love you right / Yeah, that’s my kind of night.
There is something wonderfully charming about Bryan’s performance, however, and despite one ill-advised “uh-uh” early in the intro, the production comes across as corny-cool. Bryan makes a living with corny-cool. “Might sit down on my diamond plate tailgate / Put in my country ride hip-hop mixtape / Little Conway, a little T-Pain, might just make it rain,” he sings in the second verse, before the clothes start coming off.
“You can hang your t-shirt on a limb / Hit that bank and we can ease on in / Soak us up a little moonlight / You know I know what you like, yeah.”   >>  Audio

Meanwhile, the title cut from Bryan’s new album holds at No. 3 and gained “Streaming Gainer” applause following a No. 2 peak in April (1.3 million total streams, up 50%, according to Nielsen BDS).
Bryan is the first male artist to occupy two slots within the top three of the chart since March 2002 when Tim McGraw led the list with “The Cowboy in Me” and appeared with Jo Dee Messina on “Bring On the Rain” at No. 3. “Crash” spent three weeks atop the Nielsen BDS-fuelled Country Airplay chart in July, while “Night,” rose 20-16 on Country Airplay this week.
With the massive appetite for Luke’s new album and digital tracks saw him log no less than 7 tracks on the Top 50.

Keith Urban’sLittle Bit of Everything” (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville) reached a new peak at No. 6 adding “Digital Gainer”  stripes (46,000 sold, up 68%), and sets a new peak at No. 2 on Country Airplay. “Everything” is the lead single from Keith’s new set titled FUSE, due to drop Sept. 10.

Top 25 Hot Country Songs:

Luke Bryan with “That’s My Kind Of Night” leaps up 34 slots to Top the Chart! #1
Florida Georgia Line with “Cruise” is down one, #1 - #2 q
Luke Bryan with “Crash My Party” stays at #3
Hunter Hayes with “I Want Crazy” is down two,  #2 - #4 q
Brett Eldredge with “Don’t Ya” stays at #5
Keith Urban with “Little Bit Of Everything” is up three, #9 - #6 p
Carrie Underwood with “See You Again” stays at #7
Florida Georgia Line with “Round Here” is down two, #6 - #8 q
Randy Houser with “Runnin’ Outta Moonlight” falls #4 - #9 q
Thomas Rhett with “It Goes Like This” is up two slots, #12 - #10 p
Jason Aldean with “Night Train” stays at #11
Tyler Farr with “Redneck Crazy” drops four, #8 - #12 q
Blake Shelton with “Boys ‘Round Here” falls three, #10 - #13 q
Darius Rucker  with former No.1 “Wagon Wheel” is down,  #13 - #14 q
Easton Corbin with “All Over The Road” is down one, #14 - #15 q
Billy Currington with “Hey Girl” is down one, #15 - #16 q
Tim McGraw & Taylor Swift with “Highway Don’t Care” is up, #22 - #17 p
Kip Moore with “Hey Pretty Girl” drops two, #16 - #18 q
Justin Moore with “Point at You” is down 2 places,  #17 - #19  q
Tim McGraw with “Southern Girl” is down one slot, #19 - #20 q
Blake Shelton with “Mine Would Be You”stays at #21
Lee Brice with “Parking Lot Party” is down four slots, #18 - #22 q
Chris Young  with “Aw Naw” drops three slots,  #20 - #23 q
The Band Perry with “Done” is up one place, #25 - #24 p
Lady Antebellum with “Goodbye Town” drops two, #23 - #25 q

Hot Country Songs
** No.1 (1 week) / Airplay Gainer **  “That’s My Kind Of Night” Luke Bryan
** Streaming Gainer  ** No.3 “Crash My Party” Luke Bryan
** Digital Gainer ** No.6 “Little Bit Of Everything” Keith Urban
** Hot Shot Debut ** No.32 “Dirt Road Diary” Luke Bryan
Debut No.40 “Play It Again” Luke Bryan
Debut No.43 “I See You” Luke Bryan
Debut No.44 “You Hear A Song” Cassadee Pope
Debut No.45 “Beer In The Headlights” Luke Bryan
Debut No.46 “Strong” Will Hoge
Debut No.48 “Roller Coaster” Luke Bryan


 Billboard Country Airplay Chart Week of August 31, 2013

Brett Eldredge with “Don’t Ya” (Atlantic/Warner Music Nashville) enjoyed a second week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay tally.
It marks the longest reign by a rookie No. 1 in the eight months since Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” spent three weeks at the summit last December. The only other first time leader to hold at No. 1 for more than one week last year was Kip Moore’s “Somethin’ ’Bout a Truck,” which spent the first of two weeks atop the chart dated June 2, 2012. The Country Airplay chart saw seven such songs reach No. 1 last year, and five of those occurred before Sept. 1.

Since the Nielsen BDS-driven chart launched in January 1990, the longest chart topping runs by first-timers are as follows:
Six weeks: Carrie Underwood (“Jesus, Take the Wheel”, 2006), Taylor Swift (“Our Song,” 2007-08)
Five Weeks: Billy Ray Cyrus (“Achy Breaky Heart,” 1992), Lee Ann Womack (“I Hope You Dance,” 2000), Blake Shelton (“Austin,” 2001) and Steve Holy (“Good Morning Beautiful,”  2002).   
In its 44th chart week “Don’t Ya” logged 48.270 million audience impressions (0.989 million gain) and received 7,022 radio plays (+272). Top local audience contributors during the Aug. 12-18 tracking week were WUSN Chicago (1.5 million impressions), KKGO Los Angeles (1.2 million), KKBQ Houston (1.1 million), WNSH New York (896,000) and KMNB Minneapolis (885,000).
















Jason Aldean with “Night Train” (Broken Bow), became his 17th song to compete in the Top 10 region of the chart. Moving up 12-10 in its 13th chart week, “Train” makes slightly better time than Aldean’s career average of 16 weeks to reach the top 10. His quickest pace was six weeks with “Take a Little Ride” last fall, and his slowest top 10 climb was 30 weeks with “Laughed Until We Cried” in 2008. Aldean’s Country Airplay chart history includes nine No. 1s. He has charted 19 times since 2005, and only two of those songs missed the top 10—sixth single “Relentless” stopped at No. 15 in 2008, and “1994” peaked at No. 14 in May this year.
Luke Bryan snagged the weeks “Most Increased Audience” trophy advancing 20-16 with “That’s My Kind of Night” (Capitol Nashville). In its third chart week the single drew a 5.108 million audience gain (22.319 million total), receiving 3,279 plays (+708)

Jake Owen at  No. 35 with "Days Of Gold" took home the “Most Added” honours, receiving 693 plays (+355) , thanks to 27 new radio commitments (ADDS)
The Band Perry grabbed the “Hot Shot Debut” cup with a No.51 bow with their latest single “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely” (Republic Nashville) .

Country Airplay
*** No. 1 (2 weeks) *** "Don’t Ya”  Brett Eldridge
** Most Increased Audience ** No. 16 "That's My Kind Of Night" Luke Bryan
** Most Added ** No. 35 "Days Of Gold"  Jake Owen
** Hot Shot Debut ** No.51 “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely” (Republic Nashville) The Band Perry
Debut No.52 "Cold Beer With Your Name On It” Josh Thompson
Debut No.58 “Sweet Annie” (Atlantic) Zac Brown Band
Debut No.60 “Kiss You There” (Little Will-E/HitShop) Ronnie Dunn



Billboard Country Digital Singles Chart Week of August 31, 2013

With the release of his album Luke Bryan dominated the charts with four songs on the Top 30 Billboard Country Digital Chart and seven on the Top 50 placings.
Luke’s latest radio single “That’s My Kind Of Night” leads the pack landing at No.1 with sales of 164,000 units which he performed live on NBC’s Today Show on Friday (8/16)
Luke’s “Crash My Party” which was at No.2 last week (72,000 sales) does not appear on this Billboard chart *. It does however appear at No.3 on Hot Country Songs and on the overall Hot 100 chart jumped from #27 to #22 in its 19th week.
* NOTE: The song’s sales this week were held back because many fans who had previously purchased the song opted to take advantage of iTunes’ “Complete My Album” feature. Those transactions, when fans “trade up” and buy the digital album, are deducted from the song’s sales for the week.

Other tracks from the CRASH MY PARTY album to land on the chart were at #20 “Dirt Road Diary” (28,000 sales), #22 “Play It Again” (23,000 sales), #35 “I See You” ,  #39 “Beer In The Headlights” and #48 “Drunk On You”.
His break-out hit smash “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” in its 118th chart week moved 38-30 selling 19,000 copies (up 72%, total 2,734,000)

Luke displaced Florida Georgia Line’s 25-week No.1 “Cruise” which moved 1-2 selling another 86,000 copies to reach a 62-week total of 5,638,000 copies. This week, “Cruise” moves up to Nielsen SoundScan’s second place on running list of the best-selling country songs in its history. Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now” is #1 (6,198,000). Taylor Swift’s “Love Story” now dips to third place (5,609,000). “Cruise” also became the fourth song to sell 4 million copies in 2013.

The CMA Music Festival broadcast on ABC helped boost digital sales. Keith Urban’sLittle Bit Of Everything” jumped up 9 places, 15-6, with sales up by 70% (from last weeks 27K to 46K). Darius Rucker’sWagon Wheel” sales gained 19% and moved 11-7 (2.129 million total)
Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift’sHighway Don’t Care” made a 20-12 hop thanks to a 77% sales spike.
Little Big Town’sYour Side Of The Bed” shot up 17 places 36-19 (141% sales increase) and Kacey Musgraves’Blowin Smoke” jumped up 47-28 (100% sales increase)

Cassadee Pope made a bow at No.24 selling 22,000 copies of  “You Hear A Song,” an iTunes exclusive.

Just outside the Top 30 at #31 was Will Hoge’sStrong,” which moved 58-31 a song that featured in Chevy’s 2014 Silverado Truck advertisements.
                                                           
Top 30 Digital Singles in Country Music (published August 21, 2013)

 (LW) Last Week  (TW) This Week  
*Numbers are rounded to nearest 1000th

































Billboard Boxscores (Selective Country concerts)

Rank Artist: #1
Event Venue City/State:
Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Eli Young Band, Kacey Musgraves MetLife Stadium ,
East Rutherford, N.J.
Dates:  Aug. 10, 2013    Gross Sales: $4,849,247   Attend: 53,416/53,416
Capacity Shows: 1 /1     Sellouts Prices: $260, $147, $104, $45
Promoters: The Messina Group/AEG Live

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