Country Billboard Chart
News February 20, 2014
In Brief: Billboard Country Charts
Country Album Chart ** No. 1
(1 week) "The Outsiders" Eric Church (287,668
sales)
Hot Country Songs ** No.1 (1 week) ** “Chillin' It” Cole Swindell
Country Airplay ** No. 1 (1 week) *** "When She Says Baby” Jason Aldean
Country Digital Songs **
No.1 (3 non-consecutive weeks) ** “Bottoms Up” Brantley Gilbert (62,000 sales)
Billboard Top
200 / Country Album Chart News
Eric Church with THE OUTSIDERS easily debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200
Album Chart (BB200), selling 287,668
copies its first week (ending Feb. 16), according to Nielsen SoundScan.
It's the largest
sales week of 2014, and the biggest since Beyonce's self-titled album sold
310,000 in its second week of release (last December). It's also by far Church's
best frame ever.
"The Outsiders" is
Church's fourth studio album and
second No. 1 set, following his last studio effort, 2011's CHIEF. The latter
bowed with 144,990 copies—his
previous best sales week. (In between "Chief" and "The
Outsiders," Church released the live album "Caught in the Act:
Live," which debuted and peaked at No.5. on the Billboard 200/ #3 Country;
selling 61,439 copies.
"The
Outsiders" also logged the biggest week for a country album since Luke
Bryan's "Crash My
Party" debuted at No. 1 on the BB200 with 527,783 copies on the chart dated Aug. 31, 2013. Church is just
the third country male solo artist to top the big chart twice in the
2010s. He follows Bryan and Kenny Chesney.
Eric celebrated
the release of The Outsiders with six free shows (most acoustic) Thursday
(2/13) and Friday (2/14). Cities on the promo run included: Indianapolis;
Rootstown, OH; Chicago (full band); Greenville, SC; Charlotte and Atlanta - Press Release.
He kicked off a busy release week for his
critically-acclaimed fourth studio album for EMI Records Nashville making rare
appearances on national television which started at CBS Sunday Morning (Feb. 9)
and a late-night appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live (Feb.10)
Critical
Reception for The Outsiders:
Jody Rosen of Vulture calls The Outsiders “[Church’s]
best yet,” noting that “Church’s records
are the most sonically distinctive in commercial country, balancing rootsy
earthiness and digital snap, with a muscled-up rhythm section that is more rock
than country—and more classic heavy-blues-rock than the eighties arena-rock
that’s the current Nashville norm.”
SPIN magazine featured Church on its cover this week,
saying “He's the most exciting, sonically
fearless singer in Nashville. The guy who can win the CMA Album of the Year
(for 2011 breakthrough Chief, his third, anchored by a monster low-power ballad
called "Springsteen") and play Coachella, Austin City Limits, and Metallica's
Orion Fest.”
NPR added, "The
greatest thing about The Outsiders is its range, both in sound and in the
stories [Eric Church] tells. People call Church an outlaw, but that's too tight
a frame for someone who can craft nostalgic Top 40 ear candy like 'Give Me Back
My Hometown,' with its immortal line about wooing and losing his girl at the
Pizza Hut, next to novelty numbers like the boy-loses-beer lament 'Cold One'
and nearly psychedelic jams like 'Devil, Devil (Prelude: Princess of Darkness).'"
Entertainment Weekly (Rating: A) raved that “The Outsiders — the still-rising star's most
brazen, brilliant disc yet, and the first great album of this year — challenges
country's chart-dominating pickup polishers, drawing on riff-wagging rock and
early Beastie Boys-style beats.”
Allmusic (Rating: 3.5 STARS) ....Just in case the title of The Outsiders
doesn't give away the game, Eric Church takes pains to strike a defiant stance
throughout his fourth album, underscoring his status as a genuine Nashville
Rebel. ....is a real shift for Church, who has otherwise specialized in songs
that are a little simpler. That directness played a big role in making Chief a
hit and it's sometimes missed on The Outsiders, as the XXL-sized songs don't
always stick but the ambition is admirable. Church has made the conscious
decision to try a little bit of everything in his quest to be a savior to both
rock and country, and if he doesn't quite knock it out of the park when he
swings for the fences, he nevertheless scores.
American Songwriter (Rating: 4 STARS) Apart
from one or two fleeting missteps, The Outsiders is a beautiful, quintessentially inclusive pop record
dressed up as insurgent anti-pop. The tremendous genre-colliding album tracks
(“Cold One,” “Roller Coaster Ride) and the infectious future chart-toppers
(“Talladega,” “Give Me Back My Hometown”) forcefully outweigh a few moments of
above-average filler (“Broken Record,” “That’s Damn Rock and Roll). Tracks such
as “Like A Wrecking Ball,” a lustful soul ballad that shows up, unannounced,
halfway through the record, prove repeatedly that Church is as much of a Jack
of All Traders genre-hopper as he is a narrowly defined Country Music
Rebel.............The Outsiders is at its best when it lets the songs market
themselves.
Eric Church Not Bothered by Lack of
Airplay for "The Outsiders" : The title track and lead single proved too aggressive for
country radio playlists. In the long run, Eric thinks that song will have a long life in his set list just like "These Boots," an album cut
from 2006's Sinners Like Me that's been a live staple ever since it came out. Eric
said, "I look at
"Outsiders" that way. I think 10 years from now, when people go, they
name five or six songs [of mine], they're gonna name that song. Regardless of
what it did commercially, it's just one of those songs." While Eric is
no stranger to number one hits on the country chart, he admits that's not his
main concern when it comes to picking singles."I always think about, 'How is this going to play when we play it
to our fans. What does this mean to their lives,'" Eric explained.
"And I think that's how we've gotten
here in our career."
Eric Church’s
previous 4 albums were bundled into one Walmart
exclusive 4 Album Collection (Chief/ Caught In The Act/ Carolina/ Sinner Like
Me) which landed at No.71 on the BB200 (#12
Country) selling around 6,000 copies.
He'll kick off a
European tour February 24 in Dublin, Ireland.
Warner’s Frankie Ballard made a bow at No.35 on the BB200 (#5 Country) with his second album titled SUNSHINE & WHISKEY selling around 11,000 copies.
On Tuesday night (Feb 18th),
Ballard performed full band for the first time at the historic Ryman Auditorium
in Nashville, TN. He treated the crowd to fan-favorites from Sunshine & Whiskey including “Young
& Crazy,” “It Don’t Take Much” and “Drinky Drink.”
Ballard told Fox411: A lot has changed since the first record. I have a new
producer. I just wanted to make this music differently. I wanted to get my
hands dirty so to speak. I wanted to take more time and let these things kind
of grow organically, especially the arrangements of the tunes. So Marshall
Altman is the producer on this new project and he really invested a lot of time
in me, let me come over late at night and just hang out and experiment… started
building these tracks from scratch, from the ground up and they just blossomed
into whatever. I would take them out on the road and see how fans were reacting
to them and come back and report back to Marshall and say, “this is not really
working or we should try this” or whatever so it was really cool and
artistically freeing. I had all the freedom I could ever ask for we really
experimented.
Critical
Reception for Frankie Ballard self-titled:
“A predominantly mature set
of songs from a guy who deserves to be heard.” - Country Weekly
“He’s got an appealing rock
delivery, and the songs get more thoughtful as he goes along…” - USA Today
Roughstock
(Rating: 4 STARS)...Ballard instead takes
a little bit of Jason Aldean, a little Gary Allan, some Keith Urban and Dierks
Bentley, and a dash of Jason Aldean (whose producer, Michael Knox, also
produced this album) to forge a sound all his own. In fact, "A Buncha
Girls" is about as close to Chesney as he gets. Yet another song from the
Peach Pickers (Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, Ben Hayslip), it's overstuffed
with typical summertime imagery: hot girls, cold drinks, beaches and the
obligatory margaritas/señoritas rhyme.......Of course, the fine and severely
underrated "Tell Me You Get Lonely" is perhaps the best song on the
disc. Here, the brokenhearted narrator wants so much to know that she's hurting
over their breakup....Frankie Ballard may benefit from its smaller track list;
with only eight tracks to work from, there's no room for "filler" songs.
Fortunately for him, all eight songs are finely written and finely sung,
showcasing his raw, gritty voice. The production is radio-friendly but still
crisp, energetic and rocking, adding a high energy level to even the slower
songs. Even if "A Buncha Girls" somehow fails to be the big-time
summer anthem that it could be, there're still plenty of chances for Frankie to
break through and offer some more new blood.
Read more at
Allmusic (3 STARS) ..The self-titled freshman album by Frankie
Ballard, the winner of Kenny Chesney's Next Big Star regional competition in
Michigan in 2008, is a scant eight tracks, a little over 27 minutes, and the
safest bet Nashville could place on a new artist in an uncertain
Watch >> “Helluva Life”. Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift
and Bob Seger have previously selected him for coveted opening slots
nationwide.
Dylan Scott (Sidewalk Records) released his
five-song Self Titled EP Tuesday
(Feb. 11) on iTunes.
It debuted at No.50
on Billboard Country Albums. Scott’s current single “Makin’ This Boy Go Crazy”
has garnered nearly 50,000 downloads to date, and is getting consistent airplay
on SiriusXM The Highway.
Dylan’s
signature style launched with the debut single which was slated to launch at
country radio in the spring of 2013. Co-penned by Dylan, the track’s melody
rolls through that perfect southern girl relationship that Dylan proclaims
drives his own life. “The song represents
a lot of who I am. When I’m in a relationship, I give my all to it”.
Because of his
rock-bottom baritone, Scott knows some people will put him in the same vocal
category as Josh Turner or Chris Young. But if he has to be compared to anyone
in the business, he says, he hopes it’s for his character. I just want to be a
class act, a good guy, and the man my dad raised, with a great work ethic, a
strong sense of responsibility, and a love of making music that goes right down
to my toes. (Curb
Press) 5 tracks / Time: 15:55 MP3 – UK iTunes - Amazon.com
.jpg)
Although Taylor Swift's nominated RED didn't win at the Grammys or the Country Music Assn. Awards the album accomplishes something this week that makes up for those slights: It tops the 4 million mark in U.S. sales.
All four of Swift's studio albums have reached that threshold. Swift's eponymous debut album has sold 5,419,000 copies since its release in 2006. "Fearless" has sold 6,818,000 copies since its release in 2008. "Speak Now" has sold 4,405,000 since its release in 2010.
Swift is just the third artist to top the 4-million mark with his or her first four studio albums since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking music sales in 1991. She follows Garth Brooks (who did it with his first five non-holiday studio albums) and Eminem.
Swift's achievement is all the more remarkable because the album sales market has been shaky throughout her career. By contrast, it was strong when Brooks released his first album in 1989.
2014 Country Album sales Year-To
Date:
3,852,000 (Physical sales 2,492,000 (down 9%) + Digital sales 1,360,000
(down 13.4%)) which is 19% down at the same point in 2013 (4,754,000 sales)
Billboard Top 200 / Country Album
Placings
(Issue dated Chart week of March 1, 2014)
(Country Album positions #1 - #25)
(TW) This Week, (LW) Last
Week, Co (Country Album Chart placing / Movement)
Top 25 Hot Country Songs (week of March 1, 2014)
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:
- Newcomer Cole Swindell
is the second artist to take a debut single to No.1 on Hot Country Songs since the chart switched from core
country airplay-based rankings to a sales/streaming/airplay hybrid
methodology 16 months ago, as “Chillin’
It” (Warner Bros./Warner Music Nashville) , co-written with Shane
Minor, made a 3-1 hop. Florida
Georgia Line’s “Cruise” is the only other rookie single to reach the
summit during that time frame—it began an unprecedented 24-week run atop
the 70-year-old chart in December 2012.
- Frankie Ballard and Scotty McCreery posted their
first top 10s. Ballard’s “Helluva
Life” (Warner Bros./Warner Atlantic Reprise) rose 11-9, and McCreery’s “See
You Tonight” (19/Interscope/Mercury) improved 12-10. Ballard previously rose as high as No. 27 with “A
Buncha Girls” two years ago, and McCreery’s former best was a No 15 peak
with “I Love You This Big” the same year.
- Miranda Lambert with “Automatic” landed
her highest debut and biggest opening-week sales on Country Digital Songs
(RCA Nashville) to log HCS Digital Gainer honours with a 36-14 stride.
- Brantley Gilbert’s “Bottoms Up” moved 5-4 as it became his first No. 1 on
Country Streaming Songs in its eight chart week (1.1 million U.S. streams,
up 13%, according to Nielsen BDS).
Top 25 Hot Country Songs:
Cole Swindell
with “Chillin’ It” climbs 2 places
to TOP the Chart! #1 p
Luke Bryan with former No.1 “Drink A Beer” drops one slot, #1 -
#2 q
Jason Aldean with “When She Says Baby” is up one, #4 - #3 p
Brantley Gilbert with “Bottoms Up” is up one, #5 - #4 p
Eric Church with “Give
Me Back My Hometown” is up two, #7 - #5 p
David Nail with “Whatever She’s
Got” falls four, #2 - #6 q
Blake Shelton with “Doin’ What She Likes” is up two, #9 - #7 p
Lady Antebellum with “Compass” stays at #8
Frankie Ballard with “Helluva Life” is up two, #11 - #9 p
Scotty McCreery with “See You Tonight” climbs two, #12 - 10 p
Dierks Bentley with “Hold On” is down one, #10 - #11 q
Keith Urban with “Cop Car” climbs four, #16 - #12 p
Jerrod Niemann with “Drink To That All Night” is up one, #14 - #13 p
Miranda Lambert with “Automatic” leaps up 22 places, #36 - #14 p
Rascal Flatts with “Rewind” is up five, #20 - #15 p
Dan + Shay with “19 You + Me” is down one, #15 -
#16 q
Thomas Rhett with “Get Me
Some Of That” is up one slot, #18 - #17 p
Florida Georgia Line with former No.1 “Stay” falls five, #13 - #18 q
Randy Houser with “Goodnight Kiss” is down two,
#17 - #19 q
Thompson Square with “Everything I Shouldn’t Be Thinking About” is
down, #19 - #20 q
Florida Georgia Line with “This Is How Me
Roll” jumps
up four, #25 - #21 p
Danielle Bradbery with “The Heart Of Dixie” is down
one, #21 - #22 q
Brett Eldredge with “Beat Of The Music” is up one, #24 - #23 p
Hunter Hayes with “Invisible” falls 2 slots, #22 -
#24 q
Justin Moore with “Lettin’ The Night Roll” moves up one notch, #26
- #25 p
Hot County
Songs
** No.1 (1 week)
** “Chillin’ It“
Cole Swindell
** Streaming Gainer ** No.5
”Give Me Back My Hometown” Eric Church
** Airplay Gainer ** No13
“Drink To That All Night” Jerrod Niemann
** Digital Gainer ** No.14 “Automatic”
Miranda Lambert
** Hot Shot Debut ** No.41 “Talladega” Eric Church
Debut No.44 “Yeah” Joe
Nichols
Debut No.50 “Callin’ Me When
I’m Lonely” Sheryl Crow
Billboard
Country Airplay Chart Week of March 1, 2014
Jason Aldean collects his 11th No.1 on the Billboard Country Airplay tally with “When She Says Baby” (Broken Bow), the
fifth single and fourth leader from NIGHT TRAIN. First released on November 18,
2013, the song written by Rhett Akins and Ben Hayslip, logged 44.172 million audience impressions
(+1.318 million); receiving 7,015
radio plays (+186) .
Aldean’s album
is the first since Florida Georgia Line’s Here’s to the Good Times to spawn
four No.1 singles, and the first by a solo male artist to do so since Blake
Shelton’s Red River Blue (2011). Previous
chart-toppers
from Aldean’s fifth studio album include “Take a Little Ride” , “The Only Way I
Know” and “Night Train” .
The third single
from the album, “1994” peaked at No.14 in May 2013.
With the second-slowest
top 10 ascent in the chart’s 24-year history, Scotty McCreery scores his first top 10 on Country
Airplay with “See You Tonight” (19/Interscope/Mercury),
which hopped 12-10 in its 44th
chart week. The only previous top 10 to take longer is Lee Brice’s “Love
Like Crazy,” which needed 46 weeks to reach the upper tier four years ago.
McCreery’s previous best rank was when lead single “I Love You This Big” peaked
at No.15 on the chart dated Aug. 27,2011.
Jerrod Niemann at No.13 with “Drink To That All Night” bagged the week’s Most
Increased Audience
trophy logging 22.565 million audience impressions, a gain of 3.412 million, receiving 3,668 radio plays (+327)
Miranda Lambert’s “Automatic”
(RCA Nashville) posted an audience decline of 4.3% (8.9 million total
impressions, according to BDS), but held at No.26. She retained the Most
Added honour, with 23 new
airplay commitments (ADDS)
Women of
Country 2014 Watch:
Danielle Bradbery at No.12 (“The Heart Of Dixie”), Miranda
Lambert at No.26 ("Automatic") and Sara
Evans at No.29 (“Slow Me
Down”) were the only 3 solo female artists in the Top 30 Country Airplay
songs. Sheryl Crow #34, Leah Turner #40, Lindsay Ell #49, Jennifer Nettles #50 and
Lucy Hale #57 were an additional five females in the remaining 31-60 slots to
make it 13.3%.
Country
Airplay
*** No. 1 (1
week) *** "When She Says Baby” Jason Aldean
** Most
Increased Audience ** No.13 Drink To That All Night” Jerrod Niemann
** Most Added ** No.26 "Automatic" Miranda Lambert
** Hot Shot Debut
** “Me Without You” Jennifer Nettles
Debut No. 60
"Baby Come On With It” Natalie Stovall And The Drive
Billboard
Country Digital Singles Chart Week of March 1, 2014
Brantley
Gilbert with “Bottoms Up” (Valory Music C), the lead single from his as yet
untitled third album, held at No.1 for third non-consecutive week selling
62,000 copies (24% sales gain) to head
the Billboard Country Digital Chart in its 9th chart week. It made a No.1 debut
on Jan. 4th.
Miranda
Lambert landed her highest debut and
biggest opening-week sales on Country Digital Songs with “Automatic” (RCA Nashville), which opened at No.3 with 51,000 downloads. She logged her previous best debut rank
and sum last fall with “We Were Us” (a duet with Keith Urban), which bowed at
No.8 with 32,000 sold.
Jason
Aldean with “When She Says Baby” which held at No.9 is now a GOLD-eligible
single having passed the ½-millon mark
Carrie
Underwood’s “Look At Me” rose up the
chart with a massive 431% gain. Probably a Valentines Day surge along with a
>> video
that has gone viral (14.5 million views) of bride Arianna who didn't
just walk down the aisle to her groom, Ryan. . .she SANG down the aisle! Her
cover of Carrie’s "Look at Me" brought tears to the eyes of her new
groom! The song subsequently got a strong boost on iTunes!
Dropping off the Top 30:
4 - Off the Top 50, Eric Church “Give Me Back My
Hometown”
27 - Off
the Top 50, Eric Church “A Man Who Was Gonna Die Young”
28 - Off the Top 50, Eric Church “The Outsiders”
26-34 Tim McGraw “Lookin’ For That Girl”
Top 30 Digital Singles in Country Music
(published February 20, 2014)
(LW) Last Week
(TW) This Week
*Numbers are
rounded to nearest 1000th
Country
Aircheck/ Mediabase chart
Luke Bryan with “Drink A Beer” (Capitol) remained at No1 for a
second week on the Country Aircheck/ Mediabase chart
for the tracking week Feb 9 – Feb 15, 2014. The song
logged 7,236 radio spins (-132) and 58.732 million audience impressions (-1.416
million) reported by 148 stations.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.