Country Billboard Chart News December 11, 2014

Country Billboard Chart News December 11, 2014

RIAA Certifications

Platinum = Sales of over 1-million units

Gold = Sales of over 500,000 units

Dec 8: Broken Bow Records superstar Jason Aldean joined only Sam Smith and Taylor Swift as artists who scored Platinum RIAA Certifications for albums released in 2014.

The superstar’s latest OLD BOOTS NEW DIRT opened with 278,096 copies scanned (chart week ending Oct. 12) and now has enough copies in stores to garner the certification from the RIAA (Units shipped, which tracks album sales to retail and digital retailers and not just to retail consumers who buy physical and digital media) and also earned a Gold certification from the RIAA in the December RIAA newsletter. Ironically the album has sold a combined 616,000 copies (Physical and Digital) at retail to date some 384,000 short of actually selling 1-million!

In Brief:  Billboard Country Charts

Country Album Chart ** No. 1 (4 weeks) “Man Against Machine” Garth Brooks

Hot Country Songs ** No.1 (2 weeks) ** “Shotgun Rider” Tim McGraw

Country Airplay ** No.1 (1 week) ** “Girl in a Country Song” Maddie & Tae

Country Digital Songs ** No.1 ** (1 week) ** “God Made Girls” RaeLynn

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 December 20, 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

The Billboard 200 chart now includes on-demand streaming and digital track sales data. The new chart in its second week was compiled using a new multi-metric consumption methodology, adding together pure album sales with track equivalent album sales (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Taylor Swift's 1989 held steady at No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart (BB200) for a fifth non-consecutive week (out of six weeks in release). Swift has now spent a cumulative total of 29 weeks at No. 1 with her four chart-topping albums.

Among women, only Whitney Houston (with 46 weeks at No. 1) and Mariah Carey (30) have more weeks atop the tally. It’s the first album to spend five of its first six weeks at #1 since Eminem's Recovery in 2010.

On the latest Billboard 200, 81.4 percent of Taylor’s total album equivalent units (adding up the weekly unit totals of Nos. 1 through 200) are pure album sales. The rest of its units were track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Swift's 1989 moved 274,000 units in the week ending Dec. 7. That's down 19% from its 339,000 sum a week earlier. It's not unusual for albums to dip a bit on the chart in the week following the always-busy Thanksgiving shopping frame (which was reflected on last week's chart).

 “1989” is the first album to spend five of its first six weeks at #1 since Eminem's Recovery in 2010. That album did indeed mark a commercial and creative recovery for Eminem. It spent seven weeks on top, becoming his longest-running #1 album in 10 years. By contrast, Swift has yet to dip, even a little. 1989 is her fourth consecutive studio album to spend five or more weeks at #1. 1989 moved 274K units this week, which included 230,238 in pure album sales. (The rest is a reflection of on-demand streaming and digital track sales.)

Taylor Swift Data:

This Weeks Sales: 274,000

% Change: -19%

Last Weeks Sales: 339,276

Album Sales: 230,238 (Last week: 281,212)

Song Sales: 435,000

Stream Sales: 26,600

The numbers for "Song Sales" & "Stream Sales" are the pure sales/streams so you have to divide them by the factor 10 (for sales) or 1500 (for streams).

435,000/10 = 43.500

26,600/1500 = 17.333

Therefore Taylor’s 1989 Total Album Equivalent for the chart week: 230,238 Album Sales + 43,500 + 17.3 = 273,755 (274K)

Garth Brooks' MAN AGAINST MACHINE rose 11-8 on the Billboard 200 (BB200) in its fourth week (57,000 sales; down 10% 2%) and held on to #1 on Top Billboard Country Albums for a fourth second week. It’s the first album to top the country chart for four consecutive weeks since Brooks’s last album, Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences was #1 for five weeks running in late 2013. Regarding the BB200 the album received 0 song sales points and 0 stream sales points so his chart placing is driven entirely by pure album sales (It was sold digitally on GhostTunes which SoundScan does not monitor and is unavailable on streaming services) 

Kentucky duo Sundy Best who comprise Nick Jamerson and Kris Bentley made a debut at #22 Country with their new set SALVATION CITY. 

Produced by RS Field (Shaver's Tramp on Your Street, Steve Earle's upcoming Terraplane), Salvation City is a sonic ride, 10 songs that range from down-home hootenannies ("Fishin'") to soulful ballads ("Piece of Work)." Opening track "Shotgun Lady" is a staccato sing-along, kicking off with an electric riff that announces something new this way comes.

"I feel like country music is an essence. You don't have to spend the whole time in a song talking about how country you are or how big your truck is. If that's what you are, people will know," says Jamerson, who settled on the title Salvation City after weathering a nearly nonstop touring schedule with Bentley. Near the end, the two were burned out.

"Salvation City is where you go or what you turn to when you're stretched out and you need a break from everything. We had found the only time we were really getting to enjoy ourselves in the whole rat race was when we were performing and playing music," he says. Jamerson, the quiet brooder to Bentley's happy-go-lucky persona, credits two concerts he caught this summer — one by the Allman Brothers, the other by Tom Petty — with restoring his psyche.

Listen/ Read more at rollingstone.com

In her 5th chart frame LeAnn Rimes finally made the top 25 Country album chart moving 42-20 with holiday set One Christmas: Chapter One after selling just 1,000 copies and a lowly debut at #47 Country on its debut week. It was spurred by a TV appearance for LeAnn on "Christmas In Rockefeller Center" (NBC) on Dec 3, 2014.

Outside the top 25 Country Albums

Country music legend Willie Nelson opened his vault with the launch of a brand-new archival series, titled Willie's Stash. The first release of the series was titled, December Day Willie's Stash Vol.1 (Legacy) which makes its debut at No.26 Country. Central to December Day is the collaboration of Willie and Sister Bobbie. From Willie's earliest years in his native Abbott, Texas, Bobbie, two years his senior, was a part of his musical upbringing; the duo learned to read music and play instruments at an early age under the tutelage of their grandparents.

Corey Smith released his new acoustic album, MAYSVILLE IN THE MEANTIME (UNDERtone) on Dec 2nd. The set (this his 9th release) comprised a 13 song CD and accompanying 45 minute DVD and it made a bow at No.37 Country.

2014 Country Album sales Year-To Date:

28,551 (Physical sales 20,005,000 (down 9%) + Digital sales 9,477,000 (down -8.2%)) which is 17.1% down at the same point in 2013 (35,554,000 sales)

Billboard Top 200 / Country Album Placings

(Issue dated Chart week of December 20, 2014)

(Country Album positions #1 - #25)

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

Actual Album Sales (NOT including Track Sales + Streams which the Billboard 200 compile)

Billboard Country Catalog Albums

#1 2  27  Cheers, It's Christmas  -  Blake Shelton 

#2 3  17  Duck The Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas  -  The Robertsons

#3 4  24  On This Winter's Night  -  Lady Antebellum   

#4 8  7  Merry Christmas... Love, Elvis  -  Elvis Presley 

#5 7  141  Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer  -  Burl Ives 

#6 9  5  The Classic Christmas Album  -  Elvis Presley 

#7 5  169  The Ultimate Hits  -  Garth Brooks 

#8 1  2  Here's To The Good Times  -  Florida Georgia Line 

#9 10  249  The Legend Of Johnny Cash  -  Johnny Cash 

#10 15  138  White Christmas  -  Martina McBride

#11 14  111  Red  -  Taylor Swift 

#12 6  89  Based On A True Story ...  -  Blake Shelton 

#13 19  96  Once Upon A Christmas  -  Kenny Rogers & Dolly Parton

#14  16  64  The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection (EP) - Taylor Swift 

#15  18  12  The Classic Christmas Album  -  Martina McBride 

Top 25 Hot Country Songs (week of December 20, 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:

• Tim McGraw held at No.1 for a second week with “Shotgun Rider” (McGraw/Big Machine).
• RaeLynn the second-season The Voice (NBC) contestant returned to the show on Dec. 2 and performed her current single, “God Made Girls” (Valory). The visit proved valuable, as “Girls” flew 17-7 adding Digital Gainer applause, as the track vaulted 12-1 on Country Digital Songs (34,000 downloads sold, up 116%). The track has sold 250,000 total downloads through the week ending Dec. 7. The Texas native (real name Racheal Lynn Woodward) scored her first Billboard top 10 when “Boyfriend” debuted and peaked at No.10 on Country Digital Songs after she performed the song on the third-season Voice semi-finals in December 2012. Streaming also spiked for “Girls,” which reached a new peak on Country Digital Songs (20-13) with 834,000 U.S. streams, a 19% gain. The song bulleted at No. 21 in its 23rd week on the Billboard Country Airplay tally where it peaked at No. 20 on Nov. 15.
• Speaking of The Voice, current contender Craig Wayne Boyd debuted for the second time in as many weeks on Hot Country Songs and Country Digital Songs, as “Take It Easy” (Republic) started at No.31 on the former list and at No. 5 on the latter (20,000 downloads). Boyd’s cover of the Eagles’ 1972 debut hit (it reached No.12 on the Billboard Hot 100) is the song’s third Hot Country Songs appearance. West Coast country star Billy Mize’s version peaked at No. 66 in 1972 (when the chart ran 75 positions deep) and Travis Tritt’s take for the Common Thread: Songs of the Eagles tribute album peaked at No. 21 in 1994. (The latter’s video includes the band, and helped spurred the Eagles’ reunion as a touring and recording act that year after a 14-year break.)
• Luke Bryan claimed his 17th top 10 on Hot Country Songs with “I See You” (Capitol Nashville). It nabbed the top Airplay Gainer trophy and soared 19-10. On Country Airplay, “See” surges 16-13 (24 million audience impressions, up 19%. It additionally blasts 17-7 on Country Digital Songs (20,000, up 38%).

Of Note: On the Billboard Hot 100 Taylor Swift's pop single 'Blank Space' reigned for a fourth week fueled by its fifth nonconsecutive week atop the Digital Songs chart with 254,000 downloads sold (down 26%) in the week ending Dec. 7, according to Nielsen Music. She matched her longest command on Digital Songs, as well, first set by " We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together." Meanwhile Megan Trainor's 'Lips Are Movin' leapt 13-8 … after the pair teamed up to break a record first set by the Beatles 50 years ago.

In the Hot 100's 56-year history, no two acts had teamed up for a longer streak of monopolizing the top two positions. Swift and Trainor beat the Beatles and Lesley Gore, who blocked all other competitors from the region for 13 weeks a little more than 50 years ago. Most of that run was courtesy of the Fab Four: the week that their iconic "I Want to Hold Your Hand" hit No. 1, on Feb. 1, 1964, Gore's "You Don't Own Me" began its three-week peak at No. 2. For the 10 weeks after that, it was all-Beatles, thanks to "Hand," "She Loves You," "Can't Buy Me Love" and "Twist and Shout."

Hot County Songs

** No.1 (2 weeks) ** “Shotgun Rider” Tim McGraw

** Streaming Gainer ** No.6 “Talladega”  Eric Church

** Digital Gainer ** No.7 “God Made Girls” RaeLynn

** Airplay Gainer ** “I See You” Luke Bryan

** Hot Shot Debut ** No.30 “Angels We Have Heard On High” Home Free

Debut No.31 “Take It Easy” Craig Wayne Boyd

Billboard Country Airplay Chart Week of December 20, 2014

After ribbing their chart-topping country brethren, Maddie & Tae showed that they can dominate themselves. Dating to the introduction of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart almost 25

years ago (Jan. 20, 1990), Maddie & Tae’s guy-teasing “Girl in a Country Song” (Dot) is just the second debut single by a female duo to reach No.1. 

The Wreckers first accomplished the feat when “Leave the Pieces” spent the first of two weeks at the summit on Sept. 9, 2006. (“Girl” hits the top in its 23rd chart week, a frame longer than it took “Pieces.”) So many current country hits “have this super-smoking-hot girl. She’s always barefoot on a tailgate dancing in cutoff jeans and a bikini top,” says Maddie Marlow. (Tae Dye completes the pair.) “We thought it would be fun to come at [it] from how we would feel being in those songs. We want to look good for these boys, but that’s not all we have to offer.”

“Girl In A Country Song” moved 2-1 logging 47.955 million audience impressions (+1.957 million) and received 7,648 radio plays (+264) during the tracking week. The song written by Taylor Dye, Maddie Marlow along with Aaron Scherz was first released on July 15, 2014 

Top local audience reach for “Girl” during the Dec. 1-7 Nielsen Music tracking week: WUSN Chicago (1.4 million impressions), WNSH New York (1.3 million), KKBQ Houston, WKLB Boston and KKGO Los Angeles (1.1 million each).

The track has sold 424,000 downloads through the week ending Nov. 30 and peaked at No.6 on the Nov. 1 Country Digital Songs chart. On last week’s sales/airplay/streaming hybrid Hot Country Songs survey (dated Dec. 13), “Girl” reached a new peak of No. 4 in its 20th week. Label sources have confirmed that Maddie & Tae’s second radio single will be “Fly,” a track from the duo’s self-titled, four-song EP, which was released in November and has sold 5,000 copies.

• Scotty McCreery collected his second Country Airplay top 10 with “Feelin’ It” (Mercury), which shifted 11-10 in its 35th chart week. McCreery notched his first top 10 with “See You Tonight,” which peaked at No. 8 on the March 15 chart. His new song reaches the upper region nine weeks quicker than “Tonight,” which remains the second-steadiest riser to the top 10 in the chart’s history.
• Luke Bryan’s “I See You” (Capitol Nashville) earned Most Increased Audience honours in its fifth chart week, rising 16-13 with 23.853 million audience impressions (up 19%; a gain of +3.738 million).

• Blake Shelton feat. Ashley Monroe with “Lonely Tonight” drew Most Added honours for a second successive week receiving 2,447 radio plays (+546) thanks to another 28 fresh radio commitments (ADDS)

Women of Country 2014 Watch:

There were two solo female artists on the Top 30 Country Airplay songs with Carrie Underwood’s “Something In The Water” (9-7) and RaeLynn’s “God Made Girls” a non mover at No.21.

Jana Kramer #33, Kelsea Ballerini #42, Lucy Hale #58 and Katie Armiger #60 were the additional four solo females in the remaining 31-60 slots, to make it just 10% of the entire Top 60 chart.

Country Airplay

*** No.1 (1 week) *** "Girl In A Country Song" Maddie & Tae

** Most Increased Audience ** No.13 "I See You" Luke Bryan

** Most Added ** “Lonely Tonight” No.22 Blake Shelton feat. Ashley Monroe

** Hot Shot Debut ** No.60 "One Night Between Friends" Katie Armiger

Billboard Country Digital Singles Chart Week of December 20, 2014

Thanks to NBC’s “The Voice, RaeLynn took over the #1 with a massive sales spike (up 116% on previous week tally of 16,000) for “God Made Girls”. The pretty second-season contestant with #TeamBlake returned to the show Dec. 2 and performed her current single written by Nicolle Anne Galyon, Liz Rose, Lori Mckenna and Racheal Woodward

Watch “Girls” on >> YouTube as seen in the UK on the Phil Mack International “Keep It Country” show on Sky & Freesat.

First released on July 27, 2014 the track is available for download on Amazon.UK

Connect with Raelynn on Twitter 

Somebody's gotta wear a pretty skirt,

Somebody's gotta be the one to flirt,

Somebody gotta wanna hold his hand so God made girls

Somebody's gotta make 'em get dressed up,

Somebody's gotta give 'em a reason to wash that truck,

Somebody gotta teach 'em how to dance so God made girls

The Voice 2014 show contestant Craig Wayne Boyd made a debut at #5  with his cover of The Eagles “Take It Easy” following on from his No.1 debut last week with the 42K opening sales for his take of  the Johnny Cash classic “I Walk The Line” (which slid 1-17) 

Women Of Country Watch

RaeLynn (12-1) with “God Made Girls”, Carrie Underwood with “Something In The Water” (2-3), Brenda Lee with the Christmas classic Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree (29-18) and Faith Hill’s ” Where Are You Christmas? (46-30) were the 4 solo female acts on the Top 30

Top 30 Digital Singles in Country Music (published December 11, 2014)

 (LW) Last Week (TW) This Week

*Numbers are rounded to nearest 1000^th

Country Aircheck MEDIABASE Chart

Maddie & Tae moved 2-1 to land No1 on Mediabase with “Girl In A Country Song” (Dot Records). The song logged 7,986 radio spins (+509) and 57.177 million audience impressions from 149 tracking stations for the tracking week November 30 to December 6, 2014 and published chart December 8th.

Congratulations to Dot Records GM Chris Stacey, Dir./National Promotion Kris Lamb, and the entire DOT Promotion team for scoring this week's #1 single on the MEDIABASE Country singles chart with Maddie & Tae's "Girl In A Country Song.

The single is not only the first for the female duo, but the first for the newly-revived Dot Records who signed them as its inaugural act this Summer

Congratulates Warner Music Nashville (WMN) SVP/Promotion Kevin Herring, VP/Promotion Kristen Williams, Dir./National Promotion Katie Bright, and the entire WMN Promo team for earning 28 MEDIABASE Country adds with Blake Shelton's "Lonely Tonight" featuring Ashley Monroe.

Those adds gave Shelton the "Most Added" title this week. Bagels were due to be delivered to WMN's office (Dec 9) to congratulate the staff on their success.

       

For a detailed report check out Country Aircheck Weekly Issue 426 - December 8, 2014 [PDF File]

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