Country Billboard Chart
News September 25, 2014
In Brief: Billboard Country Charts
Country Album Chart ** No. 1
(1 week) "Sundown Heaven Town” Tim McGraw
Hot Country Songs ** No.1 (9 weeks) ** “Burnin’ It Down” Jason Aldean
Country Airplay ** No.1 (1 week) ** "American Kids" Kenny Chesney
Country Digital Songs **
No.1 ** (9 weeks) ** “Burnin’ It Down” Jason
Aldean
Billboard Top
200 / Country Album Chart News
Barbra Streisand earned her 10th No. 1 album on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart (BB200)
with the debut of PARTNERS. The all-star collaborations set sold 195,723 copies in the week ending Sept.
21, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
With the arrival
at No.1, Streisand became the only act with No.1 albums in each of the last
six decades.
The new Columbia Records album was released on
Sept. 16 and features duets with the likes of Josh Groban, Blake
Shelton, Michael Buble
and Billy Joel. She last hit the top with 2009's LOVE IS THE ANSWER.
Partners' opening
sum was the largest sales week for a female artist in 2014, and Streisand's
biggest sales frame since Christmas week of 1997. Her last album to sell more
in a week was HIGHER GROUND, which shifted 402,000 in the frame ending Dec. 28,
1997. The larger-than-expected sales launch for “Partners” can be owed to
publicity Streisand generated during the week, an attractive $7.99 price for
the set at iTunes and Amazon MP3, and the album's all-star guest list.
Tim McGraw fortified his No.2 standing on the list
of artists with the most Nielsen SoundScan-era No.1s on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart as he collected his 15th leader with his 13th studio album SUNDOWN HEAVEN TOWN (McGraw/Big
Machine/Big Machine Label Group).
The set arrived at No.3 on the BB200 (#1
Country) with 71,253 copies sold (60%
Physical), according to SoundScan. McGraw is now one chart-topper away from
tying George Strait’s record 16 No.1s since the chart adopted SoundScan data in
May 1991. It’s McGraw’s 16th top 10 Billboard 200 album.
McGraw's last
studio effort, 2013's TWO LANES OF
FREEDOM, produced by Byron
Gallimore, entered at No.2 on the Billboard 200 marking the country
star's first album for Big Machine Records selling 106,604 copies (chart week
Feb 23, 2013) to bag his 15th Top 10 and 14th leader on the Country Albums
chart.
Co-produced by
McGraw and his longtime collaborator Byron Gallimore, “Sundown Heaven Town“ album
features both a 13-track standard and 18-track deluxe version. Special guest
include Faith Hill ("Meanwhile Back At Mama's") and Catherine Dunn
("Diamond Rings And Old Barstools"). Tim promoted the album with a
performance on ABC's Good Morning America Tuesday, followed by an appearance on
ABC's The View the following day. He followed that up with another performance
on NBC's Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. In fact, Tim doesn't want fans to
think of him or his famous wife much at all as they're listening to his new
album, Sundown Heaven Town. Instead, he hopes his listeners find pieces of their own stories in his new
collection of songs.
Critical
reception for Tim McGraw’s “Sundown Heaven Town”:
18
Tracks (Deluxe Edition) Time: 1:09:54 CD - MP3 - UK iTunes - Smart Choice Music - Amazon.com
Allmusic
(Rating: 3.5 STARS).. His renaissance
continues with 2014's Sundown Heaven Town, his second album for Big Machine and
a record that often plays like a direct sequel to its predecessor in that it's
designed to show off everything McGraw and his longtime collaborator/producer
Byron Gallimore can do....Sundown Heaven Town is distinguished by its smooth
touch but within that gloss.... McGraw knows when to shift away from the
spacious
Billboard (Rating: 88/100; Track-by-Track review by by Chuck Dauphin)...the singer stretches a little more than
usual -- and takes a few musical chances. ..Diamond Rings and Old Barstools” -
This might be the crowning moment of the disc. It’s high on emotional drama,
high on steel, and high on some outstanding harmony from McGraw’s cousin
Catherine Dunn -- who proves there’s more talent in the family genetic pool.
USA Today (Rating; 3 out of 4 stars)..."We're going down if we don't change
some," McGraw warns in Overrated, one of many wise nuggets on the vet's
solid outing. Fortunately, he and harmonizing wife Faith Hill find shelter on
Meanwhile Back at Mama's. — Jerry Shriver Download: Overrated, Portland
Maine, Meanwhile Back at Mama's
For The Country Record ....But
he hits a golden spot when he cuts the country and rock influences straight
down the middle. ‘Shotgun Rider’, in addition to ‘City Lights’, ‘Sick of Me’
and ‘Overrated’, all incorporate an undeniably neotraditional approach to the
actual writing of the melody and chord progressions, meanwhile placing more up-to-date
rock
George Strait made his bow below McGraw at No.4 on the
BB200 (#2 Country) as THE COWBOY RIDES AWAY: LIVE FROM AT&T
STADIUM (MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville) with 51,318 copies sold. It's only the
fourth live album to reach the BB200 top 10 in 2014.
Strait's recorded
farewell concert on June 7 is his 19th top 10 Billboard 200 album, which is more than
any other artist (from any genre) has amassed since 1991, when Nielsen
SoundScan began tracking music sales. It’s also more than any other country
artist in chart history.
This is Strait’s
third live album. It follows “For The Last Time: Live From The Astrodome” (#7
in 2003) and “Live At Texas Stadium” (a collabo with Alan Jackson and Jimmy
Buffett, #11 in 2007). All three albums were recorded in Texas venues, which is
appropriate for the proud Texan. Strait’s album is nearly as star-studded as
Streisand’s collection. It features Vince Gill, Jason Aldean, Eric Church,
Sheryl Crow, Martina McBride, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Miranda Lambert, Kenny
Chesney and Ray Benson.
George’s last
studio set LOVE IS EVERYTHING debuted at No.2 on the BB200 and No.1 Country selling 119,598 units in its first
week (87,527 Physical Albums + 32,071 Digital albums). The album contained the
hit single “Give It All We Got Tonight,” which launched a rather manipulated
and rigged campaign to score his 60th No.1 single on the Mediabase chart to
coincide with his 60th birthday.
Rollingstone.com (Review) George
Strait The Cowboy Rides Away: Live From AT&T Stadium .....The 20-track CD
offers a taste of what the last show of Strait's final tour was like. The
all-star lineup includes Jason Aldean, Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Martina
McBride and more. When George Strait retired from the road with a Texas-sized,
star-studded farewell show at AT&T Stadium earlier this summer, an
attendance-record-setting 104,793 country fans left the home of the Dallas
Cowboys wishing the long goodbye would never end. Now it doesn't have to. A
live album, greatest hits album and duets album all in one, The Cowboy Rides
Away: Live From AT&T Stadium — in addition to giving a certain
telecommunications corporation one helluva return on a naming-rights deal —
captures and canonizes 20 of the best performances from King George's last
stand, including Strait-up classics from "Amarillo by orning" to
"All My Ex's Live in Texas," with a guest list of duet partners the
likes of Alan Jackson, Vince Gill, Sheryl Crow, Eric Church, Kenny Chesney,
Miranda Lambert and Faith Hill.
Of Note:
The Earls of Leicester, The Earls of Leicester (Rounder/Concord
Music Group) arrived at No.159 on the BB200. The tribute album from the
six-man band celebrates the music of Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs, and it also
made a debut at No.1 on Bluegrass Albums
with 2,000 sold.
Critical
reception for Earls of Leicester - The Earls of Leicester:
Americana/
Bluegrass / Folk 13 Tracks/ Time: 37:10 CD - MP3 - Amazon.com
Allmusic (Rating; 3 STARS) ....Bill Monroe is often cited as the man who
gave birth to bluegrass, and his contribution to the genre simply can't be
overestimated, but one can reasonably argue that Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs
had nearly as much to do with the growth of the music as Monroe ....Jerry
Douglas, widely acknowledged to be the finest dobro player in the game, is a
serious Flatt & Scruggs fan, and he's created a remarkable fan's gesture by
bringing together a handful of superb pickers to pay homage to his heroes....
It's certainly a pleasure to hear six players this strong playing music they
clearly love, and everyone on board has a superb touch and a sincere
appreciation of the material, especially Douglas, Cushman, and Camp...... but
there is one real problem with this album: the players, great as they are, only
bring so much of their personality to these songs, and while these performances
are excellent, the Flatt & Scruggs originals were also excellent as well as
being of massive historical importance. Which is to say that you might do just
as well to get a good collection of classic Flatt & Scruggs sides as listen
to this....but as far as having a mind and a character of its own, these
sessions leave a certain amount to be desired.
2014 Country Album sales Year-To
Date:
21,270,000 (Physical sales 14,128,000 (down 9%) + Digital
sales 7,142,000 (down -15.8%)) which is 22.7% down at the same point in 2013 (27,501,000
sales)
Billboard Top 200 / Country Album
Placings
(Issue dated Chart week of October 4, 2014)
(Country Album positions #1 - #25)
(TW) This Week, (LW) Last Week, Co (Country Album Chart placing / Movement)
(TW) This Week, (LW) Last Week, Co (Country Album Chart placing / Movement)
Billboard Catalog Albums Chart (week of October 4, 2014)
Pos. Last Week/
Weeks on Chart/ Title / Artist/ Label
#1 Re-Entry 58
The Ultimate Hits - Garth Brooks (Pearl/RCA Nashville | Legacy)
#2 5 108 The Legend Of Johnny Cash - Johnny Cash (Legacy/Columbia
Nashville/American/Island | Ume)
# 3 8 60 Red River Blue - Blake Shelton (Warner Bros.
Nashville | WMN)
Garth Brooks had not appeared on the Catalog chart
since 2010 but made a return with the re-issued
"The Ultimate Hits"
(9,000 copies sold), which spent 38 weeks on the chart in 2010. It re-enters
the Billboard 200 at No.27 and now becomes Brooks' second Catalog #1, joining
1994's "The Hits", which was #1 on the Billboard 200 and also topped
the Catalog chart for 12 weeks in 1998. Country artists swept the Top 3 places as
Johnny Cash's "The Legend Of Johnny Cash" moved (5-2, No.82 BB200)
and Blake Shelton's "Red River Blue" (8-3, No.87 BB200).
Kacey Musgraves
Grammy Award winning album SAME TRAILER DIFFERENT PARK first release March 19,
2013, no longer appears on the Billboard Top 50 country albums. It does not yet
appear on the Catalog Top 50 albums list but as the title was more than
18-months old and had fallen below position 100 on the Billboard 200 it
does meet the criteria and has been removed from the Billboard Country Current
Albums rankings and may begin a new chart runs on Top Pop Catalog Albums. As of
July 30, 2014 it had sold 448,000 units. The last few weeks it has been selling
less than 2,000 copies without charting
on the BB200.
Top 25 Hot Country Songs (week of October
4, 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 logged
a ninth straight week atop Hot Country Songs with “Burnin’ It Down” (Broken Bow). The track also leads Country
Digital Songs for an ninth straight week (78,000 sold) and tops Country
Streaming Songs for a seventh consecutive frame at No.1 (2.7 million total
U.S. streams, down 6%). “Burnin’ dropped 20-21 on the Billboard Hot 100
with Taylor Swift’s 5 week old pop single “Shake It Off” at No.2.
- Jason Aldean earned
a career-best start on Hot Country Songs with “Gonna Know We Were Here” (Broken Bow) and bagged the Hot Shot
Debut at No.12 (71,000 downloads sold; No.2 Country Digital
Songs). “Here” surpassed last weeks “Sweet Little Somethin’,” which opened
at No.17 on Sept. 20. Both tracks are from Aldean’s OLD BOOTS, NEW DIRT,
due Oct. 7.
- Chase Rice completed
the longest top 10 climb since the chart’s conversion from core country
radio audience impressions to a sales/airplay/streaming hybrid in October
2012, as “Ready Set Roll” (Dack
Janiels/Columbia Nashville) rose 12-10
in its 42nd week. That surpassed Scotty McCreery’s 35-week ascent with
“See You Tonight,” which peaked at No. 10 on the March 1 chart. Rice’s
track sold 21,000 downloads during the tracking week and rose 17-14 in its
42nd frame week on the Country Digital Songs chart, with 784,000 that
ended Sept. 21).
- “Shotgun
Rider,” the second single from Tim McGraw’s new set, entered at No. 25 as lead
track “Meanwhile Back at Mama’s” dipped 14-16 following a No. 7 peak on
the Aug. 23 list.
Top 25 Hot Country Songs:
Jason Aldean with “Burnin’ It Down” stays Top the chart!
Florida Georgia Line with former #1“Dirt” holds at #2
Kenny Chesney with “American Kids” holds at #3
Sam Hunt with “Leave The Night On” is up two, #6 - #4 p
Luke Bryan with “Roller Coaster” is a
non-mover at #5
Dustin Lynch with “Where It’s At” (Yep, Yep) drops two, #4 - #6 q
Cole Swindell with “Hope You Get Lonely Tonight” is up one, #8 - #7
p
Blake Shelton with “Neon Light” is up two slots, #10 - #8 p
Lady Antebellum with “Bartender” falls two #7 - #9 q
Chase Rice with “Ready Set Roll”
climbs two, #12 - #10 p
Miranda Lambert and Carrie Underwood’s former #1 “Somethin’ Bad” , #9 - #11 q
Jason Aldean with “Gonna Know We Were Here” debuts at #12 NEW
Dierks Bentley with “Drunk On A Plane” falls two, #11 - #13 q
Frankie Ballard with “Sunshine & Whiskey” slips one, #13 - #14 q
Maddie & Tae with “Girl In A Country
Song” holds at #15
Tim McGraw feat Faith
Hill with “Meanwhile Back At Mama’s” falls, #14 - #16 q
Brantley Gilbert with “Small Town Throwdown” is down one, #16 - #17 q
Little Big Town with “Day Drinking” is down one, #17 - #18 q
Keith Urban with “Somewhere In My Car” parks at #19
Florida Georgia Line with “Sun Daze” debuts at #20 NEW
Big & Rich with “Look At You” is down one, #20 - #21 q
Parmalee with “Close Your Eyes” is up one, #23 -
#22 p
Jason Aldean with “Sweet Little Somethin' dips one, #22 - #23 q
Scotty McCreery with “Feelin’ it” holds at #24
Tim McGraw with “Shotgun Rider” debuts at #25 NEW
Hot County Songs
** No.1 (9 weeks) ** “Burnin’
It Down” Jason Aldean
** Streaming Gainer ** No.8 “Leave
The Night On” Sam Hunt
** Hot Shot Debut ** No.12 “Gonna
Know We Were Here” Jason Aldean
** Digital Gainer ** No.33
“Drinking Class” Lee Brice
Debut No.20 “Sun Daze”
Florida Georgia Line
Debut No.25 “Shotgun Rider”
Tim McGraw
Debut No.38 “Lonely Tonight”
Blake Shelton featuring Ashley Monroe
Billboard
Country Airplay Chart Week of October 4, 2014
Dustin Lynch dominated Billboard’s Country Airplay
chart for a second week with “Where It’s
At (Yep, Yep)” (Broken Bow), the song posts the biggest weekly audience sum
since the chart’s methodology switched from total plays to audience impressions
in January 2005. It logged 50.282
million audience impressions (+1.227 million) and received 7,706 radio plays
(+159).
The figure
surpassed Thomas Rhett’s 50.27 million impressions for “It Goes Like This” on
Nov. 29, 2013. Luke Bryan’s 49.7 million impressions for “Play It Again” (June
14) came nearest.
Top local
audience contributors to Lynch’s record-breaking week: KKBQ Houston (1.5 million impressions), WNSH New York (1.4 million), WUSN
Chicago (1.4 million), WUBL
Atlanta (1.1 million) and KKGO Los
Angeles (1.1 million).
- Sam Hunt made the
quickest top 10 ascent by a new act (i.e., excluding known
entities like Darius Rucker or Wynonna, who started in groups before going
solo) with a debut single in nearly two years as “Leave the Night On” (MCA Nashville) rose 11-10 in its 15th
chart week. That’s the quickest rise into the upper region for song by
such a newcomer since Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise” crossed the top 10
threshold in its 14th frame on Nov. 10, 2012. Since the chart launched in
January 1990, the fastest top 10 sprint for a debut track by a rookie with
no prior chart history is seven weeks, with four songs holding the
distinction: Tracy Lawrence’s “Sticks and Stones” (1991), Billy Ray Cyrus’
“Achy Breaky Heart” (1992), LeAnn Rimes’ “Blue” (1996) and Gretchen
Wilson’s “Redneck Woman” (2004).
- Jason Aldean with "Burnin' It Down" moved 7-6
and snagged Most Increased Audience stripes logging 39.885 million audience
impressions, a gain of +4.530 million
and got 6,269 radio plays (+601)
- Tim McGraw nabbed
the Most Added trophy
with with “Shotgun Rider” (Big
Machine), which surged 41-31
and adds Breaker stripes (awarded to songs that show at least one play at
60 percent of the reporting panel for the first time). The song logged 7.356
million audience impressions (+3.491 million) and received 1,169 radio
plays (+487) thanks to 36 fresh
radio commitments (ADDS). The song is the third single from Sundown Heaven
Town, McGraw’s 13th studio album.
- Eric Church drew
the week’s Hot Shot Debut honours as he opened at No.45 with “Talladega”
(EMI Nashville), the fourth single from his album The Outsiders.
(Following a No. 20 peak on the Aug. 20 chart, “Cold One” dips 20-30 in
its 18th week.) The title track and lead single from the album debuted and
peaked at No. 25 (Nov. 9, 2013), followed by “Give Me Back My Hometown,”
which topped the May 17 list.
- Trisha Yearwood with
her first chart entry as a lead artist in six years, returned to Country
Airplay with “PrizeFighter”
(featuring Kelly Clarkson) (Gwendolyn/RCA Nashville), which punched in at No.59. Yearwood had last appeared
with sole top billing with “They Call It Falling for a Reason,” which
peaked at No. 54 in August 2008. Her most recent non-seasonal entry was
“The Call,” with husband Garth Brooks, which debuted and peaked at No. 49
on Dec. 28, 2013. The new song previews Yearwood’s upcoming album, her
first for Sony Music Nashville which will mix new songs and prior hits;
she's tallied 19 top 10s, including five No.1s, on Country Airplay.
Yearwood will promote the release on the all-in-the-family Garth Brooks
World Tour, which began on Sept. 4. "You know my husband doesn't do anything halfway," she
told Billboard in August. "It's
going to be over-the-top and I get to be a part of this. I'm
super-excited."
Women of
Country 2014 Watch:
There were no
solo female artists on the Top 30 Country Airplay songs
Miranda Lamberts’ duet with Carrie Underwood Somethin’ Bad” fell 9-11. “Girl In
A Country Song” by Maddie & Tae rose 19-17
RaeLynn #38,
Jana Kramer #40, Lindsay Ell #52, Lucy Hale #54 and Trisha Yearwood #59 were
the five solo females in the remaining 31-60 slots, to make it just 8.33% of
the entire Top 60 chart.
Country
Airplay
Country Airplay
*** No. 1 (2
weeks)*** "Where It's At (Yep, Yep)" Dustin Lynch
** Most
Increased Audience ** No. 6 "Burnin' It Down" Jason Aldean
** Most Added **
No.31 “Shotgun Rider” Tim McGraw
** Hot Shot Debut
** No. 45 "Talladega" Eric Church
Debut No. 55
"Sweet Little Somethin' " Jason Aldean
Debut No. 57
"She Does" Jackie Lee
Debut No.59
“PrizeFighter” Trisha Yearwood featuring Kelly Clarkson
Debut No.60
“Keep On Truckin’” Tim McGraw
Billboard
Country Digital Singles Chart Week of October 4, 2014
- Jason Aldean's "Burnin' It Down" (Broken Bow / BBMG) held at No.1 with 78,000
downloads sold in its nineth chart frame. His new preview track “Gonna Know We Were Here” arrived at
No.2 shifting 71,000 downloads and replaced his other preview track “Two
Night Town’” which fell 2-9 in
its second week from his album OLD BOOTS, NEW DIRT, due Oct. 7.
- Florida Georgia Line with new track “Sun Daze” made its debut at No.4.
- Sam Hunt with “Leave The Night On” at No.6 sold another 36,000 downloads to
sail past the GOLD ½ million certification mark.
- Blake Shelton’s
preview track “Lonely Tonight” featuring Ashley Monroe made a bow at
No.13.
- Tim McGraw’s new single “Shotgun Rider” arrived with at debut
at #22 (16,000 sold)
- Lee Brice in his 30th frame with his
nominated CMA Song of the Year “I
Don’t Dance” moved 25-19 and sold enough copies to ease past the PLATINUM
RIAA 1-million certification mark.
Women Of Country Watch
There were no solo female artists on the Top 30 placings. On the
Top 50 the lone female was RaeLynn with “God Made Girls” which fell 39-40
Dropping off the Top 30:
14 - Off the Top 50 chart Kenny Chesney “The Big
Revival”
19 - Off the Top 50 chart Brett Eldredge “Mean To Me”
21 - Off the Top 50 chart Easton Corbin “Baby Be My
Love Song”
30-31 Brantley Gilbert “Bottoms Up”
16-47 Lady Antebellum “I Did With You”
Top 30 Digital Singles in Country Music
(published September 25, 2014)
(LW) Last Week (TW) This Week
*Numbers are
rounded to nearest 1000th
Dustin Lynch moved 2-1 to land the No1 on Mediabase with “Where
It’s At” (Broken Bow). The song logged 8,112
radio spins (+401) and 58.536 million
audience impressions (+2.895 million) from 149 tracking stations for the
tracking week September 14 to September 20, 2014 and published chart September 22nd.
Congratulations
to BBR Music Group EVP Jon Loba, SVP
Carson James, Broken Bow
VP/Promotion Lee Adams and the entire Broken Bow promotion staff for scoring the
week’s #1 single on the MEDIABASE Country singles charts with Dustin
Lynch’s "Where It's At." The single marked
Dustin’s first #1 MEDIABASE song, and also the first release from his WHERE
IT'S AT album, which hit stores on Tues, Sept 9th. Sweet treats were due to be
delivered to the Broken Bow office (Sept 22) to congratulate the staff on their
success.
Congratulations
to UMG Nashville SVP/Promotion Royce
Risser, EMI Nashville VP/Promotion
Jimmy Rector, and the entire EMI Nashville promo team for earning 36 MEDIABASE Country adds on Eric
Church's "Talladega." Those adds give Eric
the "Most Added" title for this week. Donuts were due to be delivered to the
EMI Nashville office (Sept 22) to congratulate the staff on their success.
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