Country Billboard Chart
News October 9, 2014
In Brief: Billboard Country Charts
Country Album Chart ** No. 1
(1 week) “Bringing Back The Sunshine” Blake
Shelton
Hot Country Songs ** No.1 (11 weeks) ** “Burnin’ It Down” Jason Aldean
Country Airplay ** No.1 (1 week) ** “Roller Coaster” Luke Bryan
Country Digital Songs **
No.1 ** (1 week) ** "Something In the
Water" Carrie Underwood
In this easy-to-use format
discover where your favourite acts songs and album are charting across the four
Billboard Country charts. It is prioritized by the first column showing the Hot
Country Songs chart frame standings for the week of October 18, 2014.
There are also separate rows
highlighting Women of Country music.
Scroll down for further
details on each of the individual charts.
Billboard Top
200 / Country Album Chart News
Blake Shelton earned his second No.1 album on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart (BB200) as
his new release, BRINGING BACK THE
SUNSHINE made its debut atop the
list. Released by Warner Bros. Nashville Records on Sept. 30, it sold 100,544 copies in the week ending Oct.
5, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Billboard reported that it Shelton’s fourth Billboard Top Country Albums leader.
He previously
tallied a No.1 with 2011's RED RIVER BLUE, which opened with 116,402. His best
sales week ever came in 2013, when his last album, BASED ON A TRUE STORY, bowed
at No.3 with 199,086.
His new album's
current single, "Neon Light," rose 8-7 to become his 21st top 10 on
the Country Airplay chart, a new peak (10% audience gain)
Bringing Back
the Sunshine is only the third country album to hit No. 1 on the
Billboard 200 in 2014, following Eric Church's The Outsiders (on the chart
dated March 1) and Shelton's wife, Miranda Lambert, with her PLATINUM set (June
21).
Two other
married couples have each had #1 albums in the same calendar year. Beyonce and
Jay Z have achieved the feat twice: in 2011 (with 4 and Watch The Throne,
respectively) and again in 2013 (with Beyonce and Magna Carta Holy Grail,
respectively). Faith Hill and Tim McGraw did it once, in 1999 (with Breathe and
A Place In The Sun, respectively).
Lady Antebellum, arrived in the No.2 slot on the
Billboard 200 with their fifth studio release, 747. It sold 73,944 copies
in its first week, which is less than half of what their last album,
2013's GOLDEN, bowed with 167,314 copies. “747” is the group's sixth top 10
album. With Shelton and Lady A at Nos. 1 and 2, this is the first time the top
two albums are country efforts in nearly four years. Country music last
controlled the top two rungs on the Nov. 20, 2010-dated chart, when
Taylor Swift's Speak Now and Jason Aldean's My Kinda Party were Nos. 1 and 2,
respectively.
Barbra
Streisand's duets album Partners held at No.3 on the BB200 with 72,870 (down 43%)
and last week's No.1, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga's Cheek to Cheek, fell to
No.4 with 59,000 (down 55%).
Despite the
disappointing sales tally, there was a ray of “Sunshine” for Shelton as he
logged his second #1 album on The Billboard 200. The bad news: Both Shelton and
Lady A posted disappointing sales tallies. “Sunshine” also sold much less than
the latest by Maroon 5 (164K debut sales), the group headed by Adam Levine,
Shelton’s frequent foil on The Voice! It’s also far less than first week tally
of the current album by wifey, Miranda whose PLATINUM (which had a massive
promotional roll out) sold 179,646 copies in its first week (June 21, 2014)
then 62,303 (241,949 in the first 2 weeks). But even that is now shifting 5,000
copies after 18 weeks at retail.
What’s happening?
There’s a glut of albums right now by top country acts. Too many than hard
pressed country fans have time or money to pursue perhaps?. We recently had Tim
McGraw with SUNDOWN
HEAVEN TOWN (#2-5
Country; sales down 43%) closely followed by a new album from Kenny
Chesney with THE BIG REVIVAL (#1-3 Country, sales
down 70% in his 2nd frame).
Jason Aldean's OLD BOOTS, NEW DIRT is out this week
followed by Florida Georgia Line's ANYTHING GOES (Oct. 14), Little
Big Town's PAIN KILLER (Oct.
21) and Garth Brooks's MAN AGAINST MACHINE (Nov. 11). All these artists are looking for fourth
quarter sales spikes to capitalize on the pre Thanks Giving Holiday period and
the exposure of the annual Country Music Awards telecast (set for Nov. 5) the
biggest platform of the year for the genre.
Is it that the
quality of the music has diminished and that Shelton & Lady A’s were rushed
out? Blake said - “We've taken years to
make an album before and I think this one we made in just, I don't know, maybe six
months or something," he said on Thursday's Live with Kelly and Michael.
"It was just like man, let's make the record and keep doing the show. I'm
having fun. God, who wouldn't love to do this?"
Prior to the
launch of TV show The Voice in April 2011, on which Shelton has gained
popularity as a coach and judge for 4 seasons, he had never sold more than 77K
copies of an album in one week.
- His self titled BLAKE SHELTON released July 31, 2001 made a #45 Billboard 200
debut (#3 Country) but went on to be certified PLATINUM by Feb 6, 2014 nearly 13 years later.
- BARN
AND GRILL released Oct 26, 2004
landed at #20 on the BB200 (#3 Country) and was certified GOLD by May 31,
2005.
- Pure
BS released May 1, 2007 made a
debut the chart week of chart week May 19, 2007 selling 48,494 copies #8 BB200 (#2 Country) then 20,801 the following week (69,391
after 2 weeks) and was certified GOLD by March 5, 2009.
- RED
RIVER BLUE (Warner Bros.
Nashville | WMN) released July 12, 2011 made a debut the chart week of July
30, 2011 selling 116,402 copies then 46,975 (163,452
in first 2 weeks). By Dec 28, 2011 it had gone GOLD at retail selling 25,478 units to
reach 499,000 and hold #56 on the BB200. After 25 weeks (chart week Jan
14, 2012) it sold 8,306 (down 67% after Christmas, 25-week tally 507,653)
.For the Chart week of August 10, 2013 as a Catalog Album at #29 it sold 2,099
and went PLATINUM scanning over 1-million at retail (1,002,514 total)
as of Sept 10, 2014 it had shifted 1,354,000 copies. Last week it was # 3 on
the Catalog chart.
- BASED
ON A TRUE STORY...released March
26, 2013 made a debut the chart week of April 13, 2013 selling 199,086 copies. By the chart frame of June 1, 2013 it held at No.4 on the
Country chart (9-10 BB200) selling 28,033 albums, down 26%, for an 8 week
tally of 521,683 and thus scanned GOLD at retail passing the ½-million mark. By the chart
week of Oct 12, 2013 it had gone PLATINUM (1,000,000 units shipped to retail, 907,000 copies actually sold at retail) .It had sold 1,109,000 copies at retail in 40 weeks.
Critical
reception for Blake Shelton’s “Bringing Back the Sunshine”:
12 Tracks/ CD - MP3 - UK iTunes - Smart Choice Music - Amazon.com
Allmusic (Rating: 3.5 STARS)....Bringing Back the Sunshine, relies on
sweetness, not swagger. Underneath the gloss, there are remnants of redneck
rhetoric -- drinks mixed in Sonic cups, a reliance on a corny backwoods growl
on "Buzzin'" -- but they're just the accent, not the foundation. At
its core, Bringing Back the Sunshine is a middlebrow makeout record that can
double as a fine morning tonic. Nothing here rocks (although the closing
"Just Gettin' Started" tries to work up a full head of steam),
nothing is gritty, even the ode to a "Good Country Song," which isn't
a slice of hardcore honky tonk but rather a slow-burner in
Pop Matters (Rating: 4/10) ...Based on a True Story was refreshing because
Shelton knew exactly what he was doing and never pretended to be singing
anything but that certain flavor of country that is very much in vogue right
now. It was the sound of someone thoroughly comfortable tapping into that
pop/rock and roll crossover brew that informs much of modern country artists’
output. This knowing quality isn’t lacking on Bringing Back the Sunshine, but
on the second time around, it isn’t enough to save the album. Almost every song
here comes off like a pale imitation of something he’s done before. Here we
have “Good Country Song”, which has a vibe phoned in straight from “Country on
the Radio”. That track was a catchy, defiant kiss-off to detractors who
complain about how country music lyrics are over-stuffed with beer, cutoff
jeans, trucks and “hey girl” machismo. The follow-up comes off like a pale
imitation of the same thing. And
speaking of “hey girl” machismo, Shelton channels Nickelback-level butt-rock
sexism on the borderline creepy “Gonna”. It’s a track that hardly sounds like
the same man who sang the wistful, lovelorn “Sure Be Cool If You Did”. It is
missing the warmth that Shelton brings to most of his music, making this track
feel a bit out of place....With “Buzzin”, Shelton rolls out a de facto sequel
to “Boys ‘round Here”, and while it’s pleasant and catchy in all the right
places for maximum effect, it comes off sounding far too calculated. If someone
ever said there’s a reason why country music is maligned at times for its
(supposedly) limited subject matter, retreads like “Buzzin” would provide a
prime example for anyone trying to make that argument. What saves the album
from being a complete loss are languid, relaxed tunes like “Sangria”. Even if
it does play a bit like “Blake Shelton trying on his Kenny Chesney hat”, it’s
still one of the bright spots on this album.....Bottom line, Bringing Back the
Sunshine is competent, but its sheer lack of variety, and over-reliance on
trying to recapture the vibe of his previous effort sinks the album in a hurry.
Best to label this one for die-hards only.
Taste Of Country... Shelton’s unique mix of country and R&B returns for
this project — don’t fix what ain’t broke, right? But the best moments are his
revealing ballads. ‘I Need My Girl’ is powerful, similar to ‘She Wouldn’t Be
Gone’ from 2008. ‘Sangria’ is sexy and simple, and ‘A Girl’ is 100 percent
adorable. Key Tracks: ‘Neon Light,’ ‘A Girl,’ ‘Good Country Song’
Billboard Track-by-Track Review by Chuck Dauphin (Rating: 3.5 stars)....On Bringing Back The Sunshine, the eighth
studio disc from Blake Shelton, there are plenty of songs that will go hand in
hand with weekend parties and celebrations, but if you look a little deeper
into the album, you will see another side of the four-time CMA Male Vocalist of
the Year. The uptempo songs are entertaining, but it's the ballad performances
that set this disc apart. "Bringing Back The Sunshine" – An energetic
way to get the album started with some nifty guitar licks, this is four minutes
of pure adrenaline rush. "Lonely Tonight" – This track is reminiscent
of Shelton's work on albums such as Startin' Fires or Pure B.S. ear candy --
which still stands as some of his best work. "Sangria"– The steel
work from Russ Pahl gives this song a deep and moody feel that is both romantic
and dramatic, and also crosses the line into fantastic. "Buzzin'" –
Infectious guitar sounds make the song work. Though it doesn't plow a lot of
new musical ground, the "B-B-B-Buzzin" reference of the chorus make
this song memorable.....
For The Country Record ...Blake Shelton had
some pretty big claims when it came to ‘Bringing Back The Sunshine’. Even the
title itself is a grandiose announcement, standing above the others and
shouting with arms open wide, “Here I am! It is I – bringing back the sunshine!
Never fear! The darkness is over!” in some kind of cinematic epic.....In fact,
Blake goes even more bro on this record, even more irritating, and takes even
more liberties. This is not only incredibly frustrating given his back
catalogue, but insulting considering the wild claims he was making about the
collection. He’s almost as if he was playing with us, or just
trying to
convince traditionalists that the album really was country. I’m sorry, but just
because you can spew bullshit, that doesn’t mean anyone’s going to actually
believe it (aside from the sheep who follow him – disciples
maybe?)....‘Buzzin’’ is just as bad, possibly even worse. The lyrics are
over-swaggery nonsense, the sonic base is hick-hop, and it might as well be
music for getting high to for those who
don’t like reggae. The inclusion of RaeLynn is both bizarre (the style of song
really doesn’t suit her), pointless (she only has a few blended harmonies
thrown her way), and creepy considering the way Blake sings (raps?) about the
opposite sex on the song. Imagining them performing this together is
uncomfortable because he is nearly twice her age.....‘Sangria’ is another song
which presents a few issues. Couched in a polished alt. rock embrace, the minor
key and lashings of reverb build a moody atmosphere that could easily attribute
itself to complex heartbreak and emotion. Instead, however, we get an
all-too-detailed picture of a drunken, lustful, one night stand. The lyrics are
so graphic at times it makes me cringe.... Perhaps the most ironic and
ludicrous track on this album however is ‘Good Country Song’. Even from the
title it sounds obnoxious and overly self-aware, and more unbelievably it
actually calls upon a neo-traditional country sound! ..This is not a good
album, all things told....Somehow, the album’s closer, ‘Just Gettin’ Started’,
feels like an omen that this won’t be the last time he releases subpar
material. I guess I just shouldn’t have been surprised.
747 is Lady Antebellum’s fifth studio effort (its previous four
opened at No.1) and, when counting the act’s entire catalog, its eighth overall
top five launch. The BB200 debut (73,944 copies sold) at #2 broke a string of three consecutive #1
non-holiday studio albums by the trio.
747 also entered the Billboard Country chart
at #2.
It’s Lady A’s first non-holiday studio album to fall short of #1 on the
country chart. The trio scored its best sales week when NEED YOU NOW arrived
with 481,000 almost five years ago (Feb. 13, 2010 chart).
The rise and
fall of Lady A!:
- Their self titled “Lady Antebellum” (Capitol Nashville) was
released on April 15, 2008 and made a debut the chart week of May 3, 2008
at #4 Billboard 200 (#1 Country) selling 43,384 copies
then 22,168 and 15,774 (81,367 sold first 3 weeks ). After 94 weeks in the
chart frame Feb 13, 2010 (the week in which NOW YOU NEED made its debut) it
was #15 on Billboard 200 selling 31,043 copies and a
total of 1,453,734 sold. By Nov 10, 2010 it was certified 2X Platinum!
- NEED
YOU NOW released on Jan 26,
2010 made a debut at #1 on the BB200 (#1 Country) the chart week of Feb 13, 2010 selling 480,922 copies. Lady A’s sophomore effort became the biggest debut sales
week for a country album since Taylor Swift's "Fearless" opened
at No.1 on the Billboard 200 with 592,000 copies in November 2008. The
eye-popping sum that Lady A's "Need You Now" racked up was also
the biggest opening week for an album released in January since the
Game's "The Documentary" bowed with 587,000 at No. 1 in 2005.
Traditionally, January isn't packed with albums that earn blockbuster
debut weeks, as most of the big guns come out in time for the busy
November-December holiday shopping season. But for the Capitol Nashville
set, all the stars seemingly aligned. In its second week it sold 208,828 then 207,507 then 144,117 to reach 1,041,420 to scan PLATINUM after just 4 weeks then shifted 104,597 and 125,595 in week 6. As of the chart week Oct 27, 2012 at
No.60 on the Country chart it sold 1,431 copies with a total of 3,925,077. It was cerified 4X Platinum.
- OWN
THE NIGHT released September
13, 2011 made a debut at #1 on the BB200 (#1 Country) the chart week Oct
1, 2011 selling 347,479 copies followed by 124,730 then 75,086 (down 40%) in 3 weeks it had sold 547,489 units. It was certified Platinum (?) by Oct 19, 2011. By chart
week June 8, 2013 as a Catalog album it sold 1,316 copies with a a total of 1,837,525. Lady A
remains only the third country group to have notched No.1 sets on the
Billboard 200 following the Dixie Chicks and Rascal Flatts. The Chicks
have three leaders while Rascal has four.
- ON
THIS WINTER'S NIGHT released Oct
22, 2012 made a debut at #8 Bilboard 200 (#2 Country) selling 24,584 copies. As the Christmas holiday trade picked up the week of Nov
28 it sold 51,723 in its 7th week and had its peak week sales of 77,875 and by year end had sold 439,438 copies.
- GOLDEN released May 7, 2013 made a debut at #1 Billboard
200 (#1 Country) the chart week of May 25, 2013 selling 167,314 copies then 55,735 folllowed by 33,968 (3-week total of 257,553). It
was certified GOLD by the RIAA on Nov, 2013. In Canada “Golden”
opened with sales of 14,993 and in the UK it bowed at No.7 on the Official
Album Chart with 11,784 sales. Worldwide sales racked up to 202,000.
By contrast it
looks like Lady A’s new “747” will take a very long time to reach GOLD (500K)
and will be their worst selling album! Teaming with producer Nathan Chapman
this time around, the trio found new inspiration and hits including the
platinum-selling first single "Bartender."
Critical
reception for Lady Antebellum’s “747”:
14
Tracks/ Time: 48:24 CD - MP3 -
UK iTunes - Smart Choice Music - Amazon.com
Allmusic (Rating: 3.5 STARS) ....Lady Antebellum severed ties with their
longtime producer Paul Worley for 2014's 747, choosing instead to work with
Nathan Chapman. His best-known work was for the Band Perry and, especially,
Taylor Swift's Fearless and Speak Now, a good indication that the trio was
looking to capitalize on the soft pop crossover of "Compass,"....
Perhaps some
of this focus is due to the presence of Chapman, who helped Swift craft her
blockbusters, and he performs a similar task here, sculpting a clean, friendly
sound that showcases the trio at its best. Nevertheless, all of the credit
can't be placed at his feet as the band possesses a fair amount of the
songwriting copyrights here and, when combined with contributions by such
Nashville mainstays as Shane McAnally and Gordie Sampson, it adds up to one of
the trio's strongest albums.
Billboard (Rating: 4 STARS)....The
trio's fifth proper album, 747, ditches piano-heavy ballads in favor of fully
fleshed-out productions and a notable boost in confidence. Leadoff track
"Long Stretch of Love," a crisp, pulsating rocker that highlights
Lady Antebellum's knack for memorable song structure, exudes this newfound
self-assurance. Later, co-lead singers Hillary Scott and Charles Kelley perfect
their harmonizing on the fiddle-laced "Down South," an ode to the
band's Nashville roots; "Lie With Me," a bittersweet tale of not
wanting to let go, wouldn't sound out of place in a country version of a John
Hughes movie (don't worry, that's a good thing). Producer Nathan Chapman, who
took over the reins from Dixie Chicks producer Paul Worley, deserves a lot of
credit for leading the aural explorations...But not everything on 747 soars.
Soul-searching ballad "One Great Mystery" lands with a tepid thud
("Maybe there's some other life out there/But as long as you're here with
me, baby, I don't really care"). Requisite barroom stomper
"Freestyle" is filler next to the mischievous fun of lead single
"Bartender," in which a heartbroken Scott declares, "What I'm
really needing now/Is a double shot of Crown." The group's move away from
its comfort zone is a worthy venture. Any band that clings to a formula for
success -- they've won seven Grammys and sold more than 9.7 million albums,
according to Nielsen SoundScan -- runs the risk of boring fans with every new
release. But Lady A has always demonstrated the potential to deliver a little
something more. On 747, we finally get a glimpse of it.
LA Times (Rating: 1.5 out of 4) ...Once
a reliable source of lustrous country-soul ballads such as "Need You
Now" and "Just a Kiss," Lady Antebellum roughed up its sound a
bit for last
radio is about throwing back a cold one,
another elegant weeper like "Need You Now" might've gone further than
the ho-hum "Bartender" to set Lady Antebellum apart from the pack.
For The Country Record .....The
album is helmed by ‘Bartender’, a groove-led pop song about deliberately
getting uncontrollably wasted in order to forget a heartbreak, under the guise
of a “fun” girls’ night out (some of the lyrics do worry me considering their
target market). Of course its commercial crossover appeal secured its place at
#1 recently, leading me to wonder if an album that I personally didn’t feel was
up to scratch will regardless keep them at
Alabama with Angels Among
Us: Hymns And Gospel Favorites rose from #10 to #7 on the country chart as
a deluxe version hit Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores.
Marty Stuart’s SATURDAY
NIGHT & SUNDAY MORNING made a debut at No.162 on the BB200 (#24 Country) selling 2,300 copies of his double album which features traditional
country on disc 1 (Saturday Night) and gospel on disc 2 (Sunday Morning).
Critical
reception for Marty Stuarts’ “Saturday Night & Sunday Morning”:
23
tracks/ Time: 44:43 CD - MP3 - Smart Choice Music - Amazon.com
“tremendously
entertaining...a testament to the indisputable fact that he has one of the best
bands working in any genre today” – Rollingstone
Country Online
“the double-disc
shows this versatile, charismatic songwriter and performer at the top of his
game with sides devoted to both traditional country fare” – American Songwriter
“The first side
is steeped in sin, with 11 hard-charging, good-timing country songs that could
have come straight from a honky-tonk on a particularly rowdy Saturday night.
The second side digs into redemption with a dozen deep gospel songs.” – Wall Street Journal
“Ambitious” – Chicago Tribune
Saving Country Music.com (Rating: 1 3/4 of 2
Guns Up) ........Since Saturday Night is chased by Gospel, Marty and the boys
put the pedal down on the first album and rarely let off. Think of old school
honky tonk country rock. The middle of this album gets just a little bit
sleepy.
Billboard (by Chuck Dauphin)....For
their brand new collection, the band turns in a two-disc set that combines the
best of what this group does – in concert as well as their successful RFD-TV
weekly series. Disc once is titled Saturday Night, and features the band at
its’ hillbilly best. Kicking off with the rollicking “Jailhouse,” the guitars
are crisp and in tune, and Stuart is vocally inspired – showcasing that rockin’
side that would be at home on a Sun Label....The set comes to a close with the
inspiring ‘Cathedral,” which proves that true Church has nothing to do with a
building and the soaring “Heaven,” which is absolutely brilliant and beautiful
– with its’ old school harmony. Just because you might not find it on a radio
dial today doesn’t mean the sounds of our fathers and grandfathers has gone.
It’s still out there. And, seriously, if music this incredible was that easy to find,
would it truly be worth it? It kind of makes it our little secret, and what a
secret it is! Somebody say “Howdee” To Me…..then go buy this one!
Outside the
Top 25 Country Albums
- In their second week at retail the Josh Abbott Band
with Tuesday Night EP fell
12-48 and despite the critical acclaim Lee Ann Womack with The Way I'm Livin' (Sugar Hill | Welk) retreated 18-30.
- Alabama with their
set Alabama & Friends: At The
Ryman (GAC/Eagle / Eagle Rock) made a debut at No.29 Country
- Moonshine Bandits with
their EP REBELS ON THE RUN (Backyard/
Average Joes) which features "Arrest Me" and a new remix of
Demun Jones' "Country Fried" made a debut at No.49 on Country Albums.
Of Note:
Americana singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams
with her 11th studio album DOWN WHERE
THE SPIRIT MEETS THE BONE (Highway 20) made a debut at No.13 on the Billboard 200 selling 19,707 copies
at the age of 61.
Critical
reception for Lucinda Williams’ “Down Where the Spirit Meets the Bone”:
CD - MP3 - UK iTunes - Amazon.com
Allmusic (4 Stars)... and though this doesn't always sound like an album where Williams is
challenging herself musically, for a musician who has long believed in the
power of nuance, this is an album that feels unerringly right for her, full of
sweet and sour blues, acoustic pondering, and simple, bare bones rock &
roll that slips into the groove with Williams' literate
The Independent (Rating: 5 STARS) In
Lucinda Williams’ case, her new double-album may be the best work of her
career, a compelling survey of love and life to challenge the bitter insights
of West and World without Tears. With her long-time trio augmented by
guitarists Bill Frisell and Tony Joe White, along with sundry Wallflowers and
Attractions, her blues-inflected country-soul sound is subtly tempered here to
fit each song’s requirements, from the gritty, dark Americana noir employed to
contemplate the fall from grace in “Something Wicked This Way Comes”, to the
pedal-steel-streaked country lament “This Old Heartache”. Williams’ wracked
vocal tones, meanwhile, have rarely been more effectively employed, perfectly
matching the desperation caused by “a string of bad decisions” in “Burning
Bridges”, and wringing tender compassion for the plight of a relative vainly
searching for their wayward kin in “Wrong Number”. Compassion is the abiding
emotion through most of the 20 songs: it’s the title of the opening track,
Williams’ setting of a poem by her father recommending “compassion for everyone
you meet, even if they don’t want it”. Elsewhere, the minutiae of love are
insightfully addressed in songs like the swampy Southern soul plaint “Stand
Right By Each Other” and especially the country-rocker “Stowaway in Your
Heart”, a beautiful conceit sure to become a standard. All told, it’s a
magnificent, career-defining set, full of hard-won wisdom, assertive
independence – and compassion in abundance.
Total
third-quarter country sales
- Luke Bryan’s
year-old CRASH MY PARTY and Jason Aldean’s
11-week-old “Burnin’ It Down”
each won tight races, topping country’s third-quarter sales totals, though
the two presided over lists with notably slimmer numbers as
customers continue their shift from purchases to streaming.
- Bryan’s album sold 170,000 units between June 30
and Sept. 28, according to Nielsen SoundScan but a very low total for a
title occupying the No.1 position on the genre’s third-quarter list.
- Total third-quarter country album sales were 6.6 million, a 23% drop from the
8.5 million in sales in third-quarter 2013.
- The entire music business also faced a
double-digit drop, though it wasn’t as severe as country’s decline.
- Two-thirds of country’s dip took place among
the genre’s best sellers. Sales were brisk for Bryan’s Crash My Party
last year and Florida Georgia Line’s HERE’S TO THE GOOD TIMES. Together
they moved more units by themselves in third-quarter 2013 than the entire
top 10 in third-quarter 2014.
- Country’s digital tracks suffered double-digit
contraction, though they fared slightly better than the entire industry.
The genre’s 34.1
- Miranda Lambert’s PLATINUM and Brantley
Gilbert’s JUST AS I AM challenged Bryan for the top of the 2014 album
heap. Just 1,600 units separated Platinum from Crash My Party.
- Country’s
fourth quarter should be better?
Well following Brad Paisley (fast on the slide), Tim McGraw and Kenny
Chesney new albums from Lady Antebellum and Blake Shelton have now dropped
with much reduced numbers compared to their last efforts. There is still a
glut of big hitter major names to come: Aldean, FGL, Garth Brooks, Little
Big Town and Carrie Underwood, among others. Taylor Swift’s “1989” album
numbers will be welcomed by POP!
Top-Selling Country Albums, Third-Quarter
2014
1) Luke Bryan — Crash My Party 170,000 (61 weeks on the country chart)
2) Miranda
Lambert — Platinum 169,000 (18 weeks on the country chart)
3) Brantley
Gilbert — Just As I Am 165,000 (20 weeks on the country chart)
4) Kenny Chesney
— The Big Revival 130,000 (2 weeks on the country chart)
5) Florida
Georgia Line — Here’s to the Good Times 119,000 (96
weeks on the country chart)
6) Tim McGraw —
Sundown Heaven Town 94,000 (3 weeks on the country chart)
7) Brad Paisley
— Moonshine in the Trunk 90,000 (6 weeks on the country chart)
8) Blake Shelton
— Based on a True Story… 85,000 (80 weeks on the country chart)
9) Chase Rice —
Ignite the Night 84,000 (7 weeks on the country chart)
10) Various
Artists — Now That’s What I Call Country: Vol. 7 80,000
Top-Selling
Country Albums, Third-Quarter 2013
1) Luke Bryan —
Crash My Party 983,000
Top-Selling Country Digital Songs,
Third-Quarter 2014
1) Jason Aldean
— “Burnin’ It Down” 970,000
2) Florida
Georgia Line — “Dirt” 944,000
3) Kenny Chesney
— “American Kids” 794,000
4) Lady
Antebellum — “Bartender” 595,000
5) Dierks
Bentley — “Drunk on a Plane” 581,000
6) Sam Hunt —
“Leave the Night On” 526,000
7) Miranda
Lambert duet with Carrie Underwood — “Somethin’ Bad” 460,000
8) Lee Brice —
“I Don’t Dance” 445,000
9) Florida
Georgia Line featuring Luke Bryan — “This Is How We Roll” 412,000
10) Luke Bryan —
“Roller Coaster” 349,000
Top-Selling
Country Digital Songs, Third-Quarter
2013
1) Florida
Georgia Line — “Cruise” 1.2 million
Year-Over-Year: Digital
Track sales so far in 2014 is 108.1 million (down 17%) compared to 130.3
million in 2013
2014 Country Album sales Year-To
Date:
22,535,000 (Physical sales 14,987,000 (down 9%) + Digital
sales 7,547,000 (down -14.0%)) which is 21.2% down at the same point in 2013 (28,587,000
sales)
Billboard Top 200 / Country Album
Placings
(Issue dated Chart week of October 18, 2014)
(Country Album positions #1 - #25)
(TW) This Week, (LW) Last
Week, Co (Country Album Chart placing / Movement)
Billboard Catalog Albums Chart (week of October 18, 2014)
Garth Brooks' "The Ultimate Hits",
which was #1 in the last two weeks, slipped to No.2 (sales 6,100).
Willie
Nelson's SUPER
HITS has reached two years (104 weeks) on the Billboard 200 as a Catalog
album, despite spending just two weeks on the chart in its original run.
Luke Bryan's TAILGATES &
TANLINES (Capitol Nashville/ UMGN) slipped off the Billboard 200 for the
first time in 164 weeks, also ending a 45-week run on the chart as a
Catalog album albeit it at #50 falling from #43.
David Allan
Coe's 17
GREATEST HITS was a new entry at #48 (#197 BB200). Coe is an "outlaw
country" performer and ex-con who achieved mainstream popularity in the
early 1980's; his best known song is "Take This Job And Shove It". “17
Greatest Hits" first released in 1985 has reached the Billboard 200 for
the first time this week. The No.197 entry makes it just the second Billboard
200 set for Coe.
Top 25 Hot Country Songs (week of October
18, 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:
- Jason Aldean held
for an 11th week on Hot Country Songs with “Burnin’ It Down” (Broken Bow). He also landed the chart’s Hot Shot
Debut and claimed his second top 10 bow in as many weeks
on as “Just Gettin’ Started”
(Broken Bow) began at No.10. He logged his highest debut on the Oct. 11
chart with “Tonight Looks Good on You” (No. 8). All three tracks are from
his album OLD BOOTS, NEW DIRT, which is set for No.1 Billboard 200 debut but
with less than first predicted sales.
- Carrie Underwood
arrived atop the sales/airplay/streaming hybrid Hot Christian Songs chart with “Something in the Water” (19/Arista Nashville), her first No.1
on the survey. The Christian conversion theme (a new song that will be
included on her Greatest Hits: Decade # 1, due Dec. 9) also flew 48-2 on the similarly multimetric
Hot Country Songs list. It also made a bow atop Country Streaming and
Christian Streaming with 1.4 million U.S. streams and the Country Digital
and Christian Digital scorecards with 125,000 downloads sold. Sony’s
Provident Label Group is working the track at Christian radio. Underwood’s
previous best rank on Hot Christian Songs was No.4 with “Jesus, Take the
Wheel” in 2006 (seven years before the chart adopted a hybrid
methodology).
Top 25 Hot Country Songs:
Jason Aldean with “Burnin’ It Down” stays Top the chart!
Carrie Underwood with “Something
In The Water” rockets #48 - #2 p
Florida Georgia Line with former #1“Dirt” slips one, #2 - #3 q
Blake Shelton with “Neon Light” is up two slots, #6 - #4 p
Sam Hunt with “Leave The Night On” is down one, #4 - #5 q
Luke Bryan with “Roller Coaster” was
down, #5 - #6 q
Kenny Chesney with “American Kids” falls four, #3 - #7 q
Chase Rice with “Ready Set Roll”
climbs one, #9 - #8 p
Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood’s former #1 “Somethin’ Bad” up #11 - #9 p
Jason Aldean with “Just Getting’ Started” debuts at #10 NEW
Lady Antebellum with “Bartender” is up one, #12 - #11 p
Maddie & Tae with “Girl In A Country
Song” is up two, #14 - #12 p
Frankie Ballard with “Sunshine & Whiskey” holds at #13
Keith Urban with “Somewhere In My Car” climbs one, #15 - #14 p
Florida Georgia Line with “Bumpin’ The Night” debuts at #15 NEW
Dustin Lynch with “Where It’s At” (Yep, Yep) drops six, #10 - #16 q
Brantley Gilbert with “Small Town Throwdown” is down one, #16 - #17 q
Little Big Town with “Day Drinking” stays at #18
Dierks Bentley with “Drunk On A Plane” falls two, #17 - #19 q
Big & Rich with “Look At You” lifts one, #21 - #20 p
Parmalee with “Close Your Eyes” is up two, #23 -
#21 p
Tim McGraw with “Shotgun Rider” fires up three, #25 - #22 p
Scotty McCreery with “Feelin’ it” is down one, #22 - #23 q
Tim McGraw feat Faith
Hill with “Meanwhile Back At Mama’s” falls, #20 - #24 q
Brad Paisley with “Perfect Storm” slips one, #24 - #25 q
Hot County Songs
** No.1 (11 weeks) ** “Burnin’
It Down” Jason Aldean
** Streaming Gainer ** No.4 “Neon Light” Blake Shelton
** Airplay Gainer ** No.5
“Leave The Night On” Sam Hunt
** Hot Shot Debut ** No.10
“Just Getting’ Started” Jason Aldean
** Digital Gainer ** No.26
“Drinking Class” Lee Brice
Debut No.15 “Bumpin’ The
Night” Florida Georgia Line
Debut No.48 “Til It’s Gone”
Kenny Chesney
Billboard
Country Airplay Chart Week of October 18, 2014
Luke Bryan claimed his 10th career leader on
Billboard’s Country Airplay tally and became the only artist to score three
No.1s this year as “Roller Coaster”
(Capitol Nashville) stepped 2-1 in
its 16th chart week. The song logged 49.794
million audience impressions (+0.756 million; up 2%) and received 7,906 radio plays (+159).
The song written
by Michael Carter and Cole Swindell was first released to country radio on July
14, 2014 as the fifth single from his fourth studio album, CRASH MY PARTY.
Bryan’s other
two chart-toppers in 2014 are “Drink a Beer,” which started a two-week reign on
the Feb. 15 list, and “Play It Again,” which wrapped a four-week run on the
June 21 chart. The Georgia native also peaked at No. 2 in a featured role on
Florida Georgia Line’s “This Is How We Roll” (May 24 chart). Three artists have
topped the chart twice in 2014: Dierks Bentley, Lady Antebellum and Blake
Shelton. Dating to his first week at No. 1 (July 24, 2010), Bryan’s No. 1 count
is surpassed only by Shelton’s 11 leaders.
Top local
audience contributors for “Roller Coaster” during the Sept. 29-Oct. 5 tracking
week: KKBQ Houston (1.5 million
impressions), WUSN Chicago (1.3
million), WNSH New York (1.2 million),
KKGO Los Angeles (956,000) and WKLB Boston (953,000).
- Little Big Town on
the heels of last week’s invitation to join the venerated WSM-AM Nashville
Grand Ole Opry nabbed their sixth Country Airplay top 10 with “Day Drinking” (Capitol Nashville),
which amassed 31.9 million audience impressions during the tracking week
and hops 13-10 in its 18th chart week. It’s the harmony quartet’s first
song to reach the upper region since “Tornado” peaked at No. 2 on March
16, 2013. The group’s chart history includes its lone No.1, “Pontoon,”
which spent two weeks at the summit beginning Sept. 15, 2012.
- Carrie Underwood propelled
significantly by coordinated hourly play on Sept. 29 on
iHeartMedia-owned stations, posted a career-high bow with Hot Shot Debut
honours at No.17 on Country Airplay with “Something in the Water” (19/Arista Nashville). The track is a
new song that will be included on her Greatest Hits: Decade #1, due Dec.
9. She posted her previous best start with “So Small,” which roared in at
No.20 on Aug. 18, 2007 and eventually spent three weeks at the summit. She
most recently topped the chart with “Blown Away,” which reigned for two
weeks starting on Oct. 27, 2012. “Water” logged 17.995 million audience
impression, a whole gain of +17.993
million and received 2,413 radio plays (+2,412) thanks to a huge 111 fresh radio commitments (ADDS)
to also snag both Most Increased Audience and Most Added stripes.
- The Band Perry made
a bow at No. 54 on Country Airplay with a cover of John Hartford’s 1967
chestnut “Gentle on My Mind”
(Big Machine/Republic Nashville) from the soundtrack EP to the documentary
Glen Campbell ... I’ll Be Me, which premieres in Nashville and New York on
Oct. 24. Campbell recorded the best-known cover of Hartford’s song,
although it has been covered by more than 300 artists, according to some
estimates.
Women of
Country 2014 Watch:
There was one solo
female artist on the Top 30 Country Airplay songs with Carrie Underwood’s “Something
In The Water”. Her duet with Miranda Lamberts’ “Somethin’ Bad” rose 10-8. “Girl
In A Country Song” by duo Maddie & Tae climbed three 16-13.
RaeLynn #35,
Jana Kramer #39, Trisha Yearwood #45, Lindsay Ell #52, Lucy Hale #55 and Kelsea
Ballerini #60 were the additional six solo females in the remaining 31-60 slots,
to make it 11.6% of the entire Top 60 chart.
Country
Airplay
*** No. 1 (1
week) *** "Roller Coaster" Luke Bryan
** Hot Shot Debut/
Most Increased Audience/ Most Added ** No.17 "Something In The Water"
Carrie Underwood
Debut No.54
"Gentle On My Mind" The Band Perry
Debut No.58
"Kinda Dig The Feeling" The Railers
Debut No.59
"Say You Do" Dierks Bentley
Debut No.60
"Love Me Like You Mean It" Kelsea Ballerini
Billboard
Country Digital Singles Chart Week of October 18, 2014
Carrie Underwood landed the No.1 and top sales
slot with her powerful ballad "Something
In the Water." She replaced “Tonight Looks Good On You” from Jason Aldean which fell 1-9 (sales down 71%). Aldean, though, has
three singles in the Top 10 and six titles out of the Top 30.
 |
| Click to ENLARGE |
On the overall all genre Digital
Songs chart, UK boy band One Direction and Carrie come crashing in at Nos. 3
and 4, respectively, with their newest singles. Carrie’s new lead of track is
from her first greatest hits set, Greatest Hits: Decade #1, due out Dec. 9.
Her
last album BLOWN AWAY has now sold 1,693,000 copies. "Something In the
Water" clocked Underwood's best debut sales week for a digital song,
and her highest sales frame since 2009 (when "I Told You So,"
featuring Randy Travis, sold 126,000 in the week after the pair performed it on
Fox TV's American Idol).
Jason Aldean's new preview track "Just Gettin'
Started" was the third and final debut in the top 10, bowing at No.9 with
86,000. Taylor
Swift's pop single "Shake It Off" was steady at No. 2 with
188,000 (down 16%).
Aldean's “Burnin' It Down” (2-4) topped the 1 million PLATINUM mark in digital sales after
11 weeks on the chart and Florida Georgia Line's ”Dirt” (3-5) was just
8,000 short short in their 13th frame of achieving the same milestone. “Dirt”
peaked at #11 on the Hot 100. “Burnin' It Down” has climbed as high as #12.
“Dirt” spent two weeks at #1 on Hot Country Songs.
FGL’s new track “Bumpin’ The
Night” arrived at No.3 on Country Digital Songs with 71,000 copies sold.
Women Of Country Watch
Carrie Underwood was the lone solo female artists on
the Top 30 placings with “Something
In The Water”. On the Top 50 the only other solo female was RaeLynn with “God Made Girls” which rose 42-38
Dropping off the Top 30:
9 - Off the Top 50 Chart Blake Shelton “Sangria”
18 - Off the Top 50 Blake Shelton “Buzzin’”
30-31 Luke Bryan “Play It Again”
27-34 Tim McGraw feat. Faith Hill “Meanwhile Back At
Mamas”
Top 30 Digital Singles in Country Music
(published October 9, 2014)
(LW) Last Week (TW) This Week
*Numbers are
rounded to nearest 1000th
Luke Bryan moved 2-1 to land the No1 on Mediabase with “Roller
Coaster” (Capitol). The song logged 8,052
radio spins (+263) and 58.226 million
audience impressions (+1.485 million) from 149 tracking stations for the
tracking week September 28 to October 4, 2014 and published chart October 6th.
Congratulations
to UMG Nashville SVP/Promotion Royce
Risser, Capitol Nashville
VP/Promotion Steve Hodges and the entire Capitol Nashville promo team for
scoring this week’s #1 single on the MEDIABASE Country singles charts, with Luke
Bryan's "Roller Coaster." This is Bryan’s fifth
consecutive chart-topper from his CRASH MY PARTY album, which was released
in Aug 2013 and quickly achieved PLATINUM status.
Congratulations
to Arista Nashville VP/Promotion
Lesly Simon, Dir./National Promotion John Sigler, Dir./National Promotion Jeri
Cooper, Dir./National Promotion Andy Elliott, and the entire Arista Promo team
for earning 87 MEDIABASE Country
adds on Carrie Underwood's "Something In The
Water." Those adds give Carrie the "Most Added" title for the second consecutive
week. Bagels were due to be delivered to the Arista Nashville office (Oct 7) to
congratulate the staff on their success.
Carrie is making
waves and making history with her compelling new single, the first single from
her December 9 album release, Greatest Hits: Decade #1. Released on Monday, September 29, “Something
in the Water” has amassed more than 124,000 digital sales to date, earning the
highest first-week sales tally of Underwood’s career. The sales figure also marks the best
opening-week sales of any female country artist in 2014.
With its
official airplay impact date, “Water” has set the all-time record for a
country single at Mediabase,
achieving a massive 144 total stations on impact date. In all, the single
tallies a whopping 157 first-week stations on board, including Billboard and
Country Aircheck reporting stations.
On the Mediabase
country airplay chart, “Something in the Water” explodes onto the chart at #25,
tying Underwood’s previous personal-best debut (2007’s smash, “So Small”) and
also tying the highest debut of any artist in 2014. - Carrie Underwood Official.com
Billboard Boxscores
(Selective Country concerts, published Chart
Week of Oct 18, 2014)
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