Country Billboard Chart News March 27, 2014

Country Billboard Chart News March 27, 2014

In Brief:  Billboard Country Charts

Country Album Chart ** No. 1 (3 non consecutive weeks) " The Outsiders” Eric Church

Hot Country Songs ** No.1 (2 weeks) **  “This Is How Me Roll” Florida Georgia Line feat Luke Bryan

Country Airplay ** No. 1 (1 week) **  "I Hold On" Dierks Bentley

Country Digital Songs ** No.1 (2 weeks) ** “This Is How Me Roll” Florida Georgia Line feat Luke Bryan

Billboard Top 200 / Country Album Chart News

Thanks to the March 18 release of "Frozen" on DVD and Blu-ray, its soundtrack has scored its best sales week yet. The album spends a seventh week at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart (BB200), selling 201,966 copies (1,633,246 sold in 17 weeks) in the week ending March 23 (up 104 percent), according to Nielsen SoundScan. That easily trumped its previous high-water mark, when it shifted 165,000 in the week ending Jan. 5. A week ago, it was No. 1 with 99,000 copies sold. The "Frozen" album's sales are red hot, owed to buzz generated by the fast-selling home video version of the film. Disney said that 3.2 million units of the DVD and Blu-ray were sold during its first day of release. It's unusual for an album to log its best sales week so far into its chart life. "Frozen," which was released Nov. 26, 2013, is currently in its 17th week on the chart. The last album that was as old as "Frozen" to sell more than 200,000 in a week was Adele's "21," a little over two years ago.

Eric Church with THE OUTSIDERS dropped from #10 to #14 on the BB200. 

It returned to #1 on Top Billboard Country Albums. This is its third week atop the country summit. "The Outsiders" has sold 476,000 copies, making it the best-selling album released so far released in 2014. ("Frozen" and Beyonce's "Beyonce" have sold more copies in 2014, but they were released in 2013.) Church beat last weeks #1 from Luke Bryan by just over 300 albums.

In his second week Luke Bryan's "Spring Break 6...Like We Ain't Ever" Digital EP fell from #2 to #15 on the BB200( #1 - #2 Country).

Sara Evans with her second week at retail with her set SLOW ME sold another 11,000 copies (some 58% down on her debut week) and fell #9 to #34 (#2 - #7 country)

The Academy of Country Music released the Official 2014 ACM Awards Zinepak again this year exclusively through Walmart on March 18. It entered the BB200 at No.28 (#5 Country) with 12,632 copies sold

This is the fourth partnership between the ACM and ZinePak. The previous three compilations (2011, 2012, and 2013) all debuted in the Top 20 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart, despite being released in limited quantities and at only one retailer.

This year’s collection includes two compilation CDs (31 songs), with songs from Luke Bryan, Miranda Lambert, Blake Shelton, George Strait and Taylor Swift. A 120-page magazine, six collectible guitar picks, and an ACM Awards nominee ballot. It also comes with access to exclusive videos, behind-the-scene photos, and interviews from more than 30 artists, including all the Entertainer of the Year nominees:

Read the Full Press Release PDF

>> Watch the Promo video  > 

>> Check out the bundle package Watch Unboxing the Zinepak

Available from Walmart.com see Product Detail

Have you downloaded the ZinePak All Access app? It's free in the iTunes App store and Google Play and unlocks exclusive mobile content from your favourite artists!

ZinePak co-founders Brittany Hodak and Kim Kaupe discuss the company's new interactive strategy and partnership with the Academy of Country Music.

The 49th Annual ACM Awards broadcast live from Las Vegas Sunday, April 6.

Jo Dee Messina with her first album outside of Curb Records, ME (Dreambound/ Entertainment One), sold 2,600 copies in its first week to land at No.156 on the BB200  (#19 Country)

It’s the fifth full-length studio album from the 43-year former CMA Horizon Award country singer who launched her career in 1995 with Curb Records. The album was released on Messina's own Dreambound Records and distributed by Entertainment One on March 18, 2014. 

The album was "crowd-funded" with the help from Messina's fan base with a successful Kickstarter campaign in spring of 2013. 1,017 backers pledged $121,743 of a $100,000 goal of which 301 backers at $50 received an early copy of the CD with a T-SHIRT.

The lead single, "Peace Sign" (written by Amy Dalley / Tyler Hayes / Scott Leger) was issued to radio on August 23, 2013 followed by a self penned second single >> "A Woman's Rant", which impacted radio on February 24, 2014. The album’s title cut was written by Kathie Baillie (part of prominent late 80s/ early 90s duo Baillie & the Boys), Canadian singer-songwriter Patricia Conroy along with Messina.

Critical reception for “'Me”:

12 Tracks/ Time: 42:25 CD - Smart Choice Music - US iTunes - Amazon.com 

Associated Press (by Michael McCall) ...Jo Dee Messina opens her new album, "Me," with a song title that declares she's "Not Dead Yet." The veteran country singer proved just that when fans rallied behind her Kickstarter campaign, helping her raise more than $100,000 for the recording of this 12-song collection. Messina's declaration that she's still alive and well comes across clearly on this playfully vibrant album. "Me" repeatedly speaks of second stages in life — and, by proxy, in careers, too. Messina, 43, continually addresses the value of experience in her songs, as well as in co-writing seven songs and in co-producing the album with Julian King.......The album's ballads slow things down — not just in tempo, but in quality, too. However, whenever the beat kicks in, so does Messina's entertaining style. "Me" proves that Messina's fans are right to think she still has plenty to offer.

Allmusic (Rating: 3.5 STARS) .. Messina's own newly founded label Dreambound Records, so it's her baby all the way, affording her the kind of creative freedom Curb is hardly known for giving its artists.... what has she come up with? Well, Me is pretty much made up of what

she's always done, a smooth mix of contemporary Nashville country and pure adult pop that rises a notch or two above the mere formulaic because of Messina's feisty attitude and powerful voice. True, there are more rock touches to some of the songs, and there are plenty of snarling, big-sounding electric guitars on these tracks, and a couple of songs like the funk pop "Take It" or the pure pop "He's Messed Up" have no country elements at all, but then none of these would sound too much out of place on a 21st century contemporary country station, either. Arguably two of the best songs, "Love on a Maybe" and "Breakin' It Down," are in the emotional and confessional mode of Taylor Swift, say, but with a little bit more rough edge and grit....In a way, Messina is a bridge between traditional country female artists like Dolly Parton or Tammy Wynette and younger contemporary stars like Taylor Swift, retaining the stubborn, don't-mess-with-me country girl image of the former while engaging in the more urban, uptown country girl pop of the latter. It's really what Messina has always done, though, and with the freedom granted Me after her release from Curb, she hasn't changed much, which will comfort her many fans.

Nashville Gab (Rating: A-) They say it's difficult to catch lightning in a bottle twice, right? Wrong. Jo Dee Messina defies the odds with her just-released set ME. Blasting on all cylinders, the red-headed powerhouse returns to her charming roots on the 12-track collection, but with a new found maturity, grace and poise. Whether it is the empowering opener "Not Dead Yet," perhaps a nod to her splashy rebound, or the intensely emotional closer "Say Goodbye to Superman" (the best song she's ever recorded), Messina is back in full form...

Albums due next week: Johnny Cash's "Out Among The Stars" with industry predicted sales of 30K - 35K and Jerrod Niemann's "High Noon" (12K).

2014 Country Album sales Year-To Date:

6,869,000 (Physical sales 4,490,000 (down 9%) + Digital sales 2,379,000 (down 8.2%)) which is 15.5% down at the same point in 2013 (8,133,000 sales)

Billboard Top 200 / Country Album Placings

(Issue dated Chart week of April 5, 2014)

(Country Album positions #1 - #25)

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

Billboard History

Top country hits during the last week of March during the 1990s:

1990: Hard Rock Bottom Of Your Heart (Warner Bros.) - Randy Travis 

1991: Loving Blind (RCA) - Clint Black

1992: Is There Life Out There (MCA) - Reba McEntire

1993: When My Ship Comes In (RCA) - Clint Black

1994: My Love (Warner Bros.) - Little Texas

1995: Thinkin' About You (MCA) -Trisha Yearwood

1996: You Can Feel Bad (Epic) - Patty Loveless

1997: How Was I To Know (MCA) - Reba McEntire

1998: Nothin' But The Taillights (RCA) - Clint Black

1999: How Forever Feels (BNA) - Kenny Chesney

Top 25 Hot Country Songs (week of April 5, 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:

• Florida Georgia Line with “This Is How We Roll” (Republic Nashville) >> official video release, featuring Luke Bryan, stayed Top of the chart for a second week. On the Hot 100 "This Is How We Roll" jumped from #29 to #26 in its seventh week. The song is already in the top 10 on Hot Digital Songs, where it jumps to #10 (78K). In the 70-year history of the Hot Country Songs chart, this is only the second collaboration between a duo and a solo artist to reach #1. The first, in June 1998, was "If You See Him/If You See Her" by Reba McEntire & Brooks & Dunn (In one other case, a duo collaborated with a group and landed a #1 hit. That was in December 1986, when "Too Much Is Not Enough" by the Bellamy Brothers with the Forester Sisters hit #1.)
• Luke Bryan and Randy Houser freshened up the Hot Country Songs top 10, as Bryan’s current radio single “Play It Again” (Capitol Nashville) flew 18-9. Bryan’s track, his 15th top 10 on the sales/streaming/airplay hybrid chart, earneds the Digital Gainer nod (48,000 downloads sold, up 52 percent, according to Nielsen SoundScan) and draws Airplay Gainer applause (“Play” soared 28-18 with 15.6 million audience impressions, up 82% on Country Airplay Chart). On the Hot 100 all genre chart Bryan has a second hit as "Play" leapt from #81 to #53 in its second week. It's vying to become the fourth top 40 hit from his former #1 album, "Crash My Party.
• Randy Houser’s “Goodnight Kiss” (Stoney Creek) made a 12-10 hop. It his fourth Top 10, following “Boots On” (No. 2, 2009) and last year’s “How Country Feels” (No. 6) and “Runnin’ Outta Moonlight” (No. 3).
• Dan + Shay earned the Hot Shot Debut (No.38) following the digital release of “Show You Off” the third preview track from the duo’s debut album, Where It All Began (Warner Bros./Warner Music Nashville), due April 1.

Nothing Is Changing: Big Machine's CEO Scott Borchetta told NPR in Dec 2013 concedes that Nashville may have a problem. "Everybody in Nashville must be drinking 24-7," Borchetta said with a laugh. "We're a bunch of drunks down here. "There's too much, to be honest with you," he adds. "We can't keep talking about Fireball [whiskey] and Coors Light and having the tailgate down, etc. So we'll task our writers and artists to dig a little deeper."

Top 25 Hot Country Songs:

Florida Georgia Line feat Luke Bryan with “This Is How Me Roll” stays TOP the Chart #1

Brantley Gilbert with last weeks No1 “Bottoms Up” stays at #2

Blake Shelton with “Doin’ What She Likes” stays at #3

Jerrod Niemann with “Drink To That All Night” is up two, #6 - #4 p

Keith Urban with “Cop Car” drops one, #4 - #5 q

Dierks Bentley with “Hold On” falls one, #5 - #6 q

Eric Church with “Give Me Back My Hometown” stays put at #7

Thomas Rhett with “Get Me Some Of That” clims two, #10 - #8 p

Luke Bryan with “Play It Again” jumps up nine, #18 - #9 p

Randy Houser with “Goodnight Kiss” is up two, #12 - #10 p

Rascal Flatts with “Rewind” stays at #11

Dan + Shay with “19 You + Me” moves up three, #15 - #12 p

Jason Aldean with “When She Says Baby” falls four, #9 - #13 q

Luke Bryan with former No.1 “Drink A Beer” falls one, #13 - #14 q

Thompson Square with “Everything I Shouldn’t Be Thinking About” is up, #16 - #15 p

Brett Eldredge with “Beat Of The Music” is up one, #17 - #16 p

Miranda Lambert with “Automatic” is up two, #19 - #17 p

Lady Antebellum with “Compass” points south, #14 - #18 q

Hunter Hayes with “Invisible” jumps up four, #23 - #19 p

Justin Moore with “Lettin’ The Night Roll” is up one slot, #21 - #20 p

Tim McGraw with “Lookin’ For That Girl” moves up four, #25 - #21 p

Sara Evans with “Slow Me Down” holds at #22

Jake Owen  with “Beachin’” is up one, #24 - #23 p

Tyler Farr with “Whiskey In My Water” is up 2 places, #26 - #24 p

Craig Morgan with “Wake Up Lovin’ You” is up two, #27 - #25 p

Hot County Songs

** No.1 (2 weeks) ** “This Is How We Roll” Florida Georgia Line feat Luke Bryan

** Streaming Gainer ** No.2 “Bottoms Up” Brantley Gilbert

** Digital & Airplay Gainer ** No.9 “Play It Again” Luke Bryan

** Hot Shot Debut ** No.38 “Show You Off”  Dan + Shay

Debut No.46 “Song About A Girl” Eric Paslay

Debut No.47 “The High Life” Colt Ford feat. Chase Rice

Debut No.50 “Look At You” Big & Rich

Billboard Country Airplay Chart Week of April 5, 2014

Dierks Bentley scored his first No.1 in nearly two years, and his 11th overall, on the Country Airplay chart, as "I Hold On" (Capitol Nashville) pushes 3-1 in its 31st chart week. The Arizona native had most recently topped the tally with "5-1-5-0," which led the Aug. 4, 2012, list. He first reigned with his debut entry, "What Was I Thinkin'," in 2003.

“I Hold On” co-written with Brett James and produced by Ross Copperman was first released on August 26, 2013. This chart week it logged 42.843 million audience impressions (+3.624 million) and received  6,957 radio plays (+417)

The Top 3 local audience contributors during the tracking week were: WUSN Chicago (1.1 million impressions), KKBQ Houston (978,000) and KPLX Dallas (915,000) according to Nielsen SoundScan. The track peaked at No.13 on the Billboard Country Digital Songs chart dated March 22nd.

I Hold On #1!

 >> Watch the Thank You message from Dierks

A bit farther down the Country Airplay chart (No.44), Bentley also appears in a featured role on the Cadillac Three’s “The South” (Nobody Buys/ Big Machine), alongside Florida Georgia Line and Mike Eli.

Eric Church claimed his eighth top 10 on Country Airplay with “Give Me Back My Hometown” (EMI Nashville), which spiked 11-7 its 12th week. He last populated the upper tier with “Like Jesus Does,” which peaked at No.7 on the June 15, 2013 chart. Church’s previous single “The Outsiders” debuted and peaked at No.25 on the chart dated Nov. 9, 2013.

Brantley Gilbert with “Bottoms Up” (Valory) bagged the week’s “Most Increased Audience” trophy logging 29.982 million audience impressions, a gain of +7.096 million and received 4,914 radio plays (+964). He crossed the Country Airplay top 10 threshold, with a 15-8 surge and marked his fourth song to reach the chart’s upper region. The single has already logged two weeks at No.1 on the sales/airplay/streaming hybrid Hot Country Songs chart (dated March 15 and March 22).

Luke Bryan who moved 28-18 with “Play It Again” took home the “Most Added” cup logging 15.626 million audience impressions (+7.024 million) and received 2,388 radio plays thank to 45 fresh radio commitments (ADDS)

Cassadee Pope achieved her highest debut to snag “Hot Shot Debut” honours on Country Airplay with her second official radio single, “I Wish I Could Break Your Heart” (Republic/ Big Machine), which bowed at No.49. Her first single, which went Platinum,  “Wasting All These Tears,” debuted at No.54 on the June 24, 2013 chart, eventually peaking at No.10 (Feb. 2, 2014).

Women of Country 2014 Watch:

Miranda Lambert at No.16 ("Automatic"), Sara Evans at No.22 (“Slow Me Down”) were the only 2 solo female artists in the Top 30 Country Airplay songs. Sheryl Crow #31, Cassadee Pope #49,  Lucy Hale #52, Kacey Musgraves #56, Maggie Rose #57 and Kelleigh Bannen #58 were an additional six females in the remaining 31-60 slots, to make it 13.3% of the top 60 chart.

Country Airplay

*** No. 1 (1 week) *** "I Hold On" Dierks Bentley

** Most Increased Audience”  No. 8 "Bottoms Up" Brantley Gilbert

** Most Added ** No.18 “Play It Again” Luke Bryan 

** Hot Shot Debut ** No. 49 "I Wish I Could Break Your Heart" Cassadee Pope

Debut No. 55 "What I Can't Put Down" Jon Pardi

Debut No. 60 "Where It's At" Dustin Lynch

Billboard Country Digital Singles Chart Week of April 5, 2014

• Florida Georgia Line with “This Is How We Roll” (featuring Luke Bryan) led the Country Digital Songs for a second week. Sales of 78,000 were up 2% down on the previous week.
• Luke Bryan with “Play It Again” received a 52% sales spike to climb 6-3.
• Jerrod Niemann with “Drink To That All Night” moved into the Top five (7-5)
• Thomas Rhett’s Platinum single “It Goes like This” witnessed a 208% sales gain and rejoined the Top 30 at #18

Women Of Country Watch

Only 2 solo female artists is on the Top 30 placings:

Miranda Lambert with her new single "Automatic" in its sixth week at retail sold 14K and moved 25-22

Sara Evans with “Slow Me Down” Held at No.28 in its fifth chart week

 Dropping off the Top 30:

18-9 Luke Bryan “Good Lookin’ Girl”   

26-38 Luke Bryan “She Get Me High”

27 - Off the chart Hunter Hayes “Wild Card”

Top 30 Digital Singles in Country Music (published March 26, 2014)

 (LW) Last Week  (TW) This Week

*Numbers are rounded to nearest 1000^th

Country Aircheck/ Mediabase chart

Dierks Bentley with “I Hold On” (Capitol) moved 3-1 to top the Country Aircheck/ Mediabase chart for the tracking week March 16 - March 22 2014. The song logged 7,176 radio spins (+555) and 57.267 million audience impressions (+4.890 million gain) reported by 148 stations. This makes for Dierks' 11th career #1, and the first #1 off his “Riser” album, which was released on Tuesday, February 25th.

It’s congratulations to UMG NASHVILLE SVP/ Promotion Royce Risser, Capitol Nashville VP/Promotion Steve Hodges and their entire promo team for scoring this week’s #1 single with “I Hold On.”

Congratulations to Warner Music Nashville SVP/Promotion Kevin Herring, VP/Promotion Kristen Williams and their entire promo team for earing 39 MEDIABASE adds for Cole Swindell's "Hope You Get Lonely Tonight." Those adds gave Cole the "Most Added" title for this week. Bagels were due to be delivered to WARNER's office on March 24th to congratulate the staff on their success.

For a detailed report check out Country Aircheck Weekly Issue 389 - March 24, 2014 [PDF File]

For the very latest up to the minute Mediabase Chart (Past 7 Days) go here - www.mediabase.com