Country Billboard Chart
News March 13, 2014
RIAA Certifications
Platinum = Sales of over
1-million units
Gold = Sales of over 500,000
units
Jason Aldean's "Dirt
Road Anthem" topped the 4 million mark (4X Platinum) digital sales this
week. It's the best-selling song in digital history by a country male solo
artist. The rest of the top five are:
Hunter Hayes's
"Wanted" (3,454,000), Luke Bryan's "Country Girl (Shake It For
Me)" (2,976,000), Bryan's "Drunk On You" (2,768,000) and Darius
Rucker's "Wagon Wheel" (2,678,000).
In Brief: Billboard Country Charts
Country Album Chart ** No. 1
(1 week) “10,000
Towns” Eli Young Band
Hot Country Songs ** No.1 (2 weeks) ** “Bottoms Up” Brantley Gilbert
Country Airplay ** No. 1 (1 week) *** "Compass” Lady Antebellum
Country Digital Songs **
No.1 (6 non-consecutive weeks) ** “Bottoms Up” Brantley Gilbert (67,000 sales)
Billboard Top
200 / Country Album Chart News
Rick Ross's "Mastermind" debuts at #1 (178,880
sales) on the Billboard top 20 Albums Chart (BB200). It's his sixth top 10
album.
Eli Young Band landed their first Billboard Country Album No.1 and best career sales week, as its
fifth album, 10,000 TOWNS (Republic
Nashville/Big Machine Label Group), opened with 35,947 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The band set
its previous best rank and sum with its fourth set, LIFE AT BEST, which debuted
and peaked at No. 3 on the Sept. 3, 2011, chart with 34,957 copies sold. EYB's
"10,000 Towns" debut at No.5
on the BB200 marked their second top 10 album.
As part of their
promotion EYB appeared on The Today Show (NBC) on March 4th.
Critical
reception for “10,000 Towns”
11 Tracks/ Time:
40:01
Roughstock (Rating: 4.5 STARS) The
title track has a rhythmic radio-ready story to the lyrics and melody as the
band sings about the common everyday things that happen in small-town America
and you know what, it also makes sense for a road dog band like Eli Young
Band...There are quite a few (more) radio ready songs like the sing-a-long
ready “Let’s Do Something Tonight,” “A Lot Like Love” and “Just Add
Moonlight”...... Meanwhile, “Moonlight” (co-written by Hoge with Jon Randall)
finds the band singing about making something better by adding moonlight to any
romantic situation to make it more romantic....Everything about 10,000 Towns
suggests that Eli Young Band has found the right formula for their sound.
They’ve once-again co-produced the album with Frank Liddell and Justin Niebank
and the team allows for the movement and freedom within the songs to have sound
that is all their own, a blend of Country, Texas Country, Rock, Soul and Blues.
It wouldn’t work for all bands but for Eli Young Band and 10,000 Towns, it’s
just right.
The EYB hails from Denton, Texas, but
their stories could be from any town. That keeps their populist country and
heartland rock from setting down roots, but lets these songs resonate
everywhere. -- Brian
Mansfield (USA Today; Rating: 3 STARS)
Allmusic (Rating: 3 STARS) The Eli Young Band hail from Texas but if their fourth album, 10,000
Towns, is any indication, their heart lies in Nashville. Not quite country bros
but also a far cry from the weathered country-rockers working the Texas
circuit, the Eli Young Band are a decade into their career and playing like
seasoned professionals -- pros savvy enough to know when to cop a turn or two
from such hot properties as Florida Georgia Line without outright mimicking......their
strength lies in the sweeter stuff, how they can make crossover country-pop
that seems amiable but never cloying.
David Nail with I’M A FIRE (MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville) debuted
at No.13 on the BB200 (#3 Country)
selling 23,434 copies, marking his
highest rank and fattest sales week to date, surpassing his No.50 BB200 (#8
Country) arrival with The Sound of a Million Dreams (Dec. 3, 2011; 13,376
copies)
Critical
reception for “I’m a Fire”
Roughstock (Rating: 4.5 STARS) The lead
single from I’m A Fire, “Whatever She’s Got,” hit #1 roughly a month before the
album hit stores and is close to becoming his first Platinum single (his other
Top 5 hits “Red Light” and “Let It Rain” are both Gold). The song is also
perhaps the first ‘happy’ or ‘upbeat’ song he’s released to radio and
throughout I’m A Fire David Nail has clearly tried to record more ‘happy’ songs
as his life is pretty dang good with a loving wife and a career that was nearly
over .....There are still ballads on I’m A Fire but they’re just more mid-tempo
based like the brilliant “Burnin’ Bed,” with its strong lyrics about a couple
who don’t know how to say goodbye to each other so they continue to have
passionate moments together. The melody is as interesting as the lyrics and the
song was written by Bob DiPiero, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. .....The
album features Little Big Town on “When They’re Gone (Lyle County)” and Lee Ann
Womack on a cover of Glen Campbell’s “Galveston” to close out the
album...Nail’s I’m A Fire definitely is more ‘upbeat’ and less ‘down tempo’
than his previous albums and it really does feel like his true breakthrough
album.
All Music (Rating: 3 STARS) Always on the verge of
a breakthrough success, David Nail swings for the fences on 2014's I'm a Fire,
his third full-length album. Nail's gifts suggest he's a blue-collar patriot, a
working man happy to churn out anthems for the unsung, but he's a bit more
subtle than that, identifying exceptional songwriters and never succumbing to
the good-time bro-country that is a golden ticket to the top of the charts....
he seems to measure every word -- but he nevertheless prefers to undersell his
material, which makes I'm a Fire insinuating, not insistent. It may not deliver
a knockout punch but it's not intended to be powerful; it's a grower, sounding
better with repeated exposure, repeated listens revealing the craft in the
songs and the subtlety in Nail's execution.
Kevin Fowler’s HOW
COUNTRY ARE YA? (Kevin Fowler/Thirty Tigers) marked his highest rank,
opening at No.66 BB200 (#9 Country) with
5,000 sold (his third-biggest sales week). He previously ranked as high as
No.14 with Bring It On seven years ago.
Critical
reception for How Country Are Ya?:
15 Tracks/ Time: 44:42 CD - MP3 - UK iTunes (single) Amazon.com
Allmusic (Rating 4 STARS) It's COUNTRY that's rockin'. The kinda music makes you wanna crack a
cold one...and put a good dip in." Those words are spoken on the
"Intro" for How
Saving Country Music (Rating: 1.1/2 out of 2) But here he is doing himself no favors, and lending all sorts of fuel
to the bonfires of his detractors by putting out an album with a wild-ass,
caricaturist cover, a caricaturist title track, complete with an intro by Earl
Dibbles Jr. doing his “crack a cold one” bit, and right off the bat you feel
like you’re beholding the Disney version of Texas country.
kevin-fowler-how-country-are-yaWhen I first surveyed this album, you have no
idea how much I was licking my chops to use it as the sacrificial lamb in my
want to expound on how Texas country can many times be just as bad as Music
Row, and in
fact seems to be trending more in that
direction every year. But I’ll be damned if Kevin Fowler didn’t instill enough
redeeming songs and redeeming qualities to this album to where I’d feel like a
bully doing anything but saying the good probably outweighs the bad.
Sundy Best with BRING UP THE SUN moved 5,000 albums in its first week at retail to
make a No.70 bow on the BB200 (#11
Country), without the benefit of major airplay.
Sundy Best, made
up of Nick Jamerson and Kris Bentley, might be a brand-new duo, but they are
already making plenty of waves in the music community. The Kentucky natives
wrote the album entirely by themselves. They played a series of shows in support of their new album, including three shows in their home state of
Kentucky, followed by stops in Ohio, Alabama and Florida later this month.
http://www.roughstock.com/reviews/album-review-sundy-best-bring-up-the-sun#YpoTqs1gLFtrY7hM.99
Critical
reception for “Bring Up The Sun”
Roughstock (Rating; 4.5 STARS) In this
world of copycat artists and me-too sensibility from record labels, it’s
refreshing to hear a band with a sound unique to what is currently out there
for fans to discover. Sundy Best is one such band...This is an album that's
best left to be discovered than dissected. Just believe us when we say if you like
real, honest music, you should buy a copy of Bring Up The Sun by Sundy Best.
Eric Church’s now 4-week old album THE OUTSIDERS moved 7-9 on the BB200 and held at #2 Country
selling another 30,000 copies (some 30% down on previous week) He’s moved 435,000
albums in that month time frame and the album is already eligible for Gold
certification, based on units shipped to retail with more than 70k copies housed
in brick and mortar stores.
Dierks Bentley in his second week at retail with RISER fell 6-18 on the BB200 (1-4
Country). Sales of 18,000 were around 71% down on his debut week.
George Strait’s LOVE
IS EVERYTHING re-entered the chart this chart week with a 60% sales
increase over the previous week.
Outside the top
BB200 and Top 25 Country albums saw Dallas Smith’s USA debut, the TIPPIN’ POINT EP arrive at No.31 on the Billboard Country chart
shifting some 2,000 copies.
Rascal Flatts released an EP REWIND (Big Machine | BMLG ) exclusively through Walmart on March
4, which included their new single, ‘Rewind,’ as well as the previously
released songs ‘Why Wait,’ ‘Come Wake Me Up’ and ‘Dancing on My Grave.’ It made
an entry at No.40 on the Billboard Country chart.
Of note: American
rock band Drive-By Truckers the Alt Country/Southern
rock based Athens, Georgia outfit made a debut at No.16 on the BB200 selling 18,014
copies of ENGLISH OCEANS (ATO Records) their tenth studio album released March 4, 2014.
2014 Country Album sales Year-To
Date:
5,705,000 (Physical sales 3,739,000 (down 9%) + Digital
sales 1,966,000 (down 11.1%)) which is 16.5% down at the same point in 2013 (6,836,000
sales)
Billboard Top 200 / Country Album
Placings
(Issue dated Chart week of March 22, 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
22, 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:
- Brantley Gilbert’s
“Bottoms Up” (Valory) crowned
Hot Country Songs for a second straight week, bulleting with gains in all
three components (streaming, sales and airplay) that fuel the hybrid
chart. The track tops Country Streaming Songs for a third week (1.3
million, up 3%) and rules Country Digital Songs for a fifth consecutive
(and sixth cumulative) week. On Country Airplay Gilbert’s single reaches a
new peak (18-14) in its 12th chart week.
- Florida Georgia Line’s “This Is How We Roll” (featuring Luke Bryan) rocketed 13-2, adding Streaming, Digital
and Airplay Gainer honors. Due in part to the track’s March 8 video
premiere, combined YouTube plays account for 46% of its 641,000 total U.S
streams (up 40%), according to Nielsen BDS. “Roll” roars 22-11 on Country
Streaming Songs.
Top 25 Hot Country Songs:
Brantley Gilbert with “Bottoms Up” stays TOP of the Chart! #1
Florida Georgia Line with “This Is How Me
Roll” leaps
up, #13 - #2 p
Blake Shelton with “Doin’ What She Likes” is up three, #6 - #3 p
Jason Aldean with “When She Says Baby” is down two, #2 - #4 q
Dierks Bentley with “Hold On” is down two, #3 - #5 q
Keith Urban with “Cop Car” climbs two, #8 - #6 p
Lady Antebellum with “Compass” stays at #7
Eric Church with “Give
Me Back My Hometown” is up one, #9 - #8 p
Jerrod Niemann with “Drink To That All Night” is up two, #11 - #9 p
Scotty McCreery with “See You Tonight” stays at #10
Luke Bryan with former No.1 “Drink A Beer” falls six, #5 - #11 q
Frankie Ballard with “Helluva Life” stays at #12
Thomas Rhett with “Get Me
Some Of That” is up three, #16 - #13 p
Rascal Flatts with “Rewind” holds at #14
Dan + Shay with “19 You + Me” stays at #15
Randy Houser with “Goodnight Kiss” is up one, #17 -
#16 p
Thompson Square with “Everything I Shouldn’t Be Thinking About” is
up, #18 - #17 p
Brett Eldredge with “Beat Of The Music” is up two, #20 - #18 p
Florida Georgia Line with former No.1 “Stay” holds at #19
Miranda Lambert with “Automatic” is up two, #22 - #20 p
Justin Moore with “Lettin’ The Night Roll” is up two, #23 - #21 p
Hunter Hayes with “Invisible” is up three, #25 - #22 p
Sara Evans with “Slow Me Down” is up five, #28 - #23 p
Brad Paisley with “The Mona Lisa” is up three, #27 -
#24 p
Luke Bryan with “Play It Again” jumps
up nine, #34 - #25 p
Hot County
Songs
** No.1 (2 weeks)
** “Bottoms Up“
Brantley Gilbert
** Digital / Streaming
/ Airplay Gainer ** “This Is How We Roll” Florida Georgia Line feat Luke Bryan
** Hot Shot Debut ** No.39 “What
You Do To Me” Dan + Shay
Debut No.50 “Want Me Too” Charlie Worsham
Billboard
Country Airplay Chart Week of March 22, 2014
Lady Antebellum scored the trio’s first No.1 in nearly a
year, and its eighth overall, on Billboard’s Nielsen BDS-based Country Airplay
chart, as “Compass” (Capitol Nashville) reigned in its 23rd chart week moving
2-1.
It was first released on October 14, 2013 and notably, pop tandem
Stargate, aka Erik Hermansen and Mikkel Storleer Eriksen (Rihanna, Ne-Yo,
Mariah Carey) co-wrote “Compass,” which has sold 450,000 downloads.
Dating to Lady
A’s first No.1 on the July 25, 2009, with “I Run to You,” Zac Brown Band is the
only group that’s topped the chart more often, with nine No.1s in that span.
Lady Antebellum most recently reached the summit last spring with “Downtown,”
which also marked the trio’s fastest No.1 climb (12 weeks) when it peaked on
the April 27, 2013 chart for the first of two weeks at No.1.
“Compass” logged
43.215 million audience impressions
(+1.713 million) and received 6,983
radio plays (+240). Top local audience contributors during the Nielsen BDS
tracking week: KKGO Los Angeles (1.3
million impressions) and WUSN
Chicago(1.2 million) and WNSH New
York (903,000) . “When we got the news
that ‘Compass’ was No. one, we were ironically enough, on a 500 mile detour on
the bus in Canada trying to avoid an avalanche,” laughed Lady A’s Hillary
Scott. “The timing was actually really
funny and fortunately we’re going to make it in plenty of time to see all our
fans in Vancouver tonight.
“
Rascal Flatts defends its crown as the group with the
most top 10 achievements on Country Airplay, as “Rewind” (Big Machine) leapt (13-10) to become the trio’s 29th top
10.
Jerrod Niemann claimed his third Country Airplay top 10
and his first in almost three years, as “Drink
to That All Night” (Sea Gayle/Arista Nashville) improved 11-9 in its 24th week. He’d most
recently reached the top 10 with “What Do You Want,” which peaked at No.5 on
the May 7, 2011 tally. He celebrated his first top 10 four years ago with his
second single, “Lover, Lover,” which became his lone No.1 (Aug.14, 2010).
Niemann’s new song previews his third album, High Noon, due March 25.
Most Increased Audience stripes went to Florida Georgia Line featuring
Luke Bryan with "This Is How We Roll" at No.17 which logged 19.216 million audience
impressions, a gain of 4.873 million
and received 3,145 radio plays (+664)
The Swon Brothers with “Later On” (Arista Nashville) snagged the “Most
Added” cup thanks to 25
fresh radio commitments (ADDS) for the song
Women of Country 2014 Watch:
Miranda Lambert at No.18 ("Automatic"), Sara
Evans at No.24 (“Slow Me
Down”) and Sheryl Crow No.30 (“Callin’ Me When I’m Lonely”) were
the only 3 solo female artists in the Top 30 Country Airplay songs. Leah
Turner #39, Lindsay Ell #53, Lucy Hale #54, Maggie Rose #58, Jennifer Nettles
#59 and Kelleigh Bannen at #60, were an additional six females in the remaining
31-60 slots, to make it 15.0% of the top 60 chart.
Country
Airplay
*** No. 1 (1
week) *** "Compass" Lady Antebellum
** Airpower/
Most Increased Audience ** No. 17 "This Is How We Roll" Florida
Georgia Line Featuring Luke Bryan
** Most Added **
“Later On” The Swon Brothers
** Hot Shot Debut
No.57 "Hope You Get Lonely Tonight" Cole Swindell
Debut No. 60
"Famous" Kelleigh Bannen
Billboard
Country Digital Singles Chart Week of March 22, 2014
Brantley Gilbert’s “Bottoms Up” (Valory) ruled Country Digital Songs for a fifth
consecutive (and sixth cumulative) week. It sold 67,000 downloads, the biggest
weekly sum since the track debuted atop the Jan. 4 tally.
Cole Swindell’s breakout #1 and “Chillin’ It” fell 4-8 but is a now Platinum single reaching 1-million
units.
Women Of Country Watch
Only 1 solo female artists is on
the Top 30 placings:
Miranda Lambert with her new single "Automatic" in its fourth week at
retail sold 14K and fell 22-26
Dropping off the Top 30:
24 - Off the chart Hayden Panettiere “Don’t Put Dirt
On My Grave Just Yet”
27 - Off the chart Keith Whitley “Don’t Close Your
Eyes”
30-31 Blake Shelton “Boys ‘Round Here”
29-35 Eric Paslay “Friday Night”
Top 30 Digital Singles in Country Music
(published March 12, 2014)
(LW) Last Week
(TW) This Week
*Numbers are
rounded to nearest 1000th
Country
Aircheck/ Mediabase chart
Lady Antebellum with “Compass”
(Capitol) moved 2-1 to top the Country Aircheck/
Mediabase chart for the tracking week March 2
- March 8th 2014. The song logged 7,269 radio
spins (+430) and 57.329 million
audience impressions (+2.507 million) reported by 148 stations.
So its Congratulations
to UMG Nashville SVP/Promotion Royce Risser, Capitol Nashville VP/Promotion
Steve Hodges and his entire promo team for scoring the week’s #1 single on the
MEDIABASE Country singles charts with “Compass.”
This is the
second #1 from the group’s GOLDEN album, following the debut single,
“Downtown,” which topped the charts in April 2013.
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