Wednesday, 13 April 2016

Country Billboard Chart News April 4, 2016


Country Billboard Chart News April 4, 2016

In Brief: Billboard Country Charts (Chart issue week of April 16, 2016)

Country Album Chart ** No.1 (16 non-consecutive weeks) TRAVELLER Chris Stapleton
Hot Country Songs ** No.1 (4 weeks) ** “You Should Be Here” Cole Swindell
Country Airplay ** No.1 (2 weeks) ** “You Should Be Here” Cole Swindell
Country Digital Songs ** No.1 (2 weeks) ** “Humble and Kind” Tim McGraw

Billboard Top 200 / Country Album Chart News (Chart issue week of April 16, 2016)

The Billboard 200 chart measures multi-metric album consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

Zayn is the only male U.K. solo artist to debut at No. 1 with their first album.
Zayn made a debut straight in at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart (Billboard 200; BB200) with his debut solo effort, MIND OF MINE. The set, released on March 25 through RCA Records, earned 157,000 equivalent album units in the week ending March 31 in the U.S. Of that sum, it sold 112,247 in pure album sales.
Zayn, born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England -- is the first male U.K. solo artist to debut at No. 1 with their first album.
Further, Zayn is the first male U.K. artist to reach No. 1 with their first album since George Michael climbed to the top of the list in 1988 with Faith. (Faith didn’t debut at No. 1 -- it started at No. 41, and rose to the top in its ninth week on the chart.) Zayn is also the first U.K. act (solo or otherwise) to debut at No. 1 with their first album since his former group, One Direction, launched atop the list in 2012 with Up All Night (on the March 31, 2012-dated chart). One Direction scored three further leaders with Zayn as part of its lineup: Take Me Home, Midnight Memories and Four.
Coming in at No. 2 on the new Billboard 200 chart is K. Michelle with More Issues Than Vogue (59,000 units; 54,000 in pure album sales). The start matches her high-water mark on the list, first achieved with her debut effort, Rebellious Soul, when it opened at No. 2 on the Aug. 31, 2013 list.
Chris Stapleton with TRAVELLER dipped 6-8 with 31,000 units (down 6%).
  
Billboard Top Country Albums (Chart issue week of April 16, 2016)

Chris Stapleton with TRAVELLER moved back to No.1 on the Billboard Top Country Album Chart (based on pure sales) with a 2-1 hop. It was the 6th biggest selling album in America shifting another 23,746 copies for a 48-week total of 1,099,600.

Joey + Rory with HYMNS (Farmhouse/Gaither/Capitol CMG) slipped 10-18 on the Billboard 200 (21,683 units) and 1-2 Country selling 21,485 copies (#9 Billboard Top Albums; 7-week haul of 275,200). The set continued to reign on both Top Christian Albums and Music Video Chart for a seventh week. It was the 9th biggest selling album on the all genres Top Albums.

Sam Hunt with MONTEVALLO climbed 7-3 (6,648 sales; 75-week total 1,091,300), Thomas Rhett’s TANGLED UP was up 9-4 (5,464 sales; 27-week total 341,600), Loretta Lynn with FULL CIRCLE rose 8-5 (4,864 sales; 4-week total 39,600) and Carrie Underwood’s STORYTELLER lifted 10-6 (4,801 sales; 23-week total 544,400)

SECOND WEEK BLUES: In his second week breakout artist Kane Brown with his 5 track EP CHAPTER 1 (Zone 4/RCA Nashville | SMN) fell 9-111 on BB200 and 3-13 Country selling 3,500 copies (down 84% on debut week 21,941) for a 2-week total of 26,800.
Other second week sales saw the Dave Cobb produced SOUTHERN FAMILY (Various Artists) fall 5-20 Country, William Michael Morgan’s EP held at #28 (1,500 sales; 2-week total 3,300), Bobby Bones And The Raging Idiots with The Critics Give It 5 Stars slumped 4-38 (1,300 sales; down 89%; 2-week total 12,700) and Wade Bowen with Then Sings My Soul: Songs For My Mother dropped 18-38.

Americana-country singer-songwriter Margo Price with her debut LP, MIDWEST FARMER’S DAUGHTER (Third Man), made a historic debut on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart, arriving at No.10 with 4,002 copies sold in its opening week, according to Nielsen Music. It also landed at #189 on the Billboard 200 (4,294 units) and #70 on Top Selling Albums

The launch marked the first time in the history of the chart, which dates to Jan.8, 1964, that a solo female has debuted in the top 10 with her first charted title without the benefit of any history on the Hot Country Songs ranking

Coming the closest is American Idol season 10 contestant Lauren Alaina, whose self-titled album debuted on Top Country Albums at No. 9 the same week (June 11, 2011) that her first Hot Country Songs hit, “Like My Mother Does,” bowed on that list at No. 49.
Among male artists, examples of top 10 Top Country Albums entrance’s without Hot Country Songs backup are more plentiful; country comedian Wheeler Walker Jr.’s Redneck Shit (Thirty Tigers) started at No. 9 on March 5, for instance, while, among acts of more than one member, Bobby Bones & The Raging Idiots’ The Critics Give It 5 Stars (Black River) entered the April 9 survey at No. 4. While neither act boasted any Hot Country Songs history, the latter’s initial single, “Fishin’ With My Dad,” began at No. 60 on Country Airplay the same week. Price, 32, made her start powered in part by critical acclaim and media buzz; she was slated to be the musical guest on NBC’s Saturday Night Live on April 9th.

Critical reception for Margo Price’s Midwest Farmer's Daughter:
11 Tracks/ Time: 43:29 Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com

Rolling Stone (Rating; 4 STARS) Jack White's Nashville-based label finally drops a country LP, and it's a doozy…. Truth lies in the details – and that goes double for tradition-minded country music, a point Margo Price's debut makes fiercely. In "About to Find Out," a Loretta Lynn-styled can of whoopass, it's the image of a selfie-snapping jackass fast-forwarding the song into the present. In the honky-tonk hangover "Hurtin' (On The Bottle)," it's the unsaved gospel vocal explosion of "Lord Lord Lord!" near the end. In "Tennessee Song" it's the burly, Bonham-esque drum intro. And in "Weekender," a Southern working class Orange Is The New Black narrative so real you can taste the meal-tray mystery meat, it's the way Price makes "crack cocaine" sound as country as Evan Williams whiskey (which gets its own name-check).
Midwest Farmer's Daughter is the first full-on country release on Third Man, the Nashville based label run by suspect carpetbagger Jack White, and dude was smart to wait ‘til he had an act this undeniable. Price is a thirty-something East Nashvillian originally from Illinois; the vocal style is restrained yet mighty, her songcraft amazingly vivid, and the arranging instinct spot on, with a taste for retro styling that never tilts into Gramma's attic dress-up..

Allmusic (Rating: 4.1/2 STARS) Midwest Farmer's Daughter isn't merely an autobiographical title for the retro country singer/songwriter Margo Price, it's a nice tip of the hat to one of her primary inspirations, Loretta Lynn. ..., Price nevertheless writes with the studied precision of
a modern Americana songwriter; even when she gets explicitly autobiographical, as she does on the opening "Hands of Time," it doesn't play as confession ripped from the soul, it plays as poetry. Similarly, when she tightens the screws so her song turns into something sleek, it doesn't play as Music City precision, it feels savvy and personal....Her band, though, provides her songs with a genuine honky tonk kick, but even when the album drifts toward the traditional -- as it does on "Hurtin' (On the Bottle)" or "Four Years of Chances" -- Price's sensibility is modern, turning these old-fashioned tales of heartbreak, love, loss, and perseverance into something fresh and affecting.

Pop Matters (Rating 9/10) …A dead baby, a lost farm, time in jail, alcoholism, divorce, sexual exploitation; the topics of Margo Price’s self-penned, somewhat autobiographical ten songs may sound like downers, but the opposite is true. Price rebels against fate and proclaims her existence with a loud yawp. She curses “the double-crossing back stabbing thief “of her better angel and promises to put her boot in the face of a gal who “wouldn’t know class if it bit you in the ass”. Sure, she’s having fun. Revenge is sweet. And I wouldn’t want to get her mad....Her voice can be powerful and restrained at the same time to great effect....“Let’s go back to Tennessee,” Price begins the appropriately named “Tennessee Song”. Nashville, Memphis, and everywhere in between are her home. She’s no Midwestern girl. Like the Beach Boys once observed, she’s one of the Southern girls who will knock you out. That’s a real good thing.

Exclaim (Rating: 8/10)… Somehow, Price managed to get the album into the hands of Jack White over at Third Man Records and, ever since, the buzz has been building around her. Frankly, it was getting tough to believe that any upstart could meet the expectations set for Margo Price, and yet, here we are: Midwest Farmer's Daughter will almost certainly stand among the best country records of 2016…A delightful combination of classic sounds and traditional patterns forms the sonic backdrop for Price's tough, clear-eyed lyrics. Figuring into the same territory as suddenly hip Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton and Lindi Ortega, Price operates the way-back machine with one foot firmly planted in the present

Boston Globe (Rating: 8/10) ....For those on the lookout for alternatives to what currently passes for country music, “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter” is the latest reason to cheer. ESSENTIAL “Hands of Time“.

Year-To-Date Albums
5,648,000 (Physical sales 3,714,000 (down 9%) + Digital sales 1,934,000 (down -17.0%)) which is 8.9% down at the same point in 2015 (6,201,000 sales)
Year-To-Date Digital Tracks

22,967,000 down 21.5% at the same point in 2015 (29,251,000)

Billboard Hot Country Songs (Chart issue week of April 16, 2016)

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:

Cole Swindell’s You Should Be Here” (Warner Bros./Warner Music Nashville) was No.1 on Hot Country Songs for a fourth week.
Blake Shelton with “Came Here To Forget” returned to the top 10 with a 11-4 lift (#2 highest peak) it his 4th frame.
Dierks Bentley took home Airplay Gainer stripes with “Somewhere On A Beach” reaching a #3 peak, Moving 6-3 in his eleventh week

Hot County Songs

** No.1 (4 weeks) ** “You Should Be Here” Cole Swindell
** Airplay Gainer ** No.3 “Somewhere On A Beach” Dierks Bentley
** Digital & Streaming Gainer ** No.14 “Noise” Kenny Chesney
** Hot Shot Debut ** No.29 “Wasted Time” Keith Urban
Debut No.43 “Lights Come On” Jason Aldean
Debut No.49 “It Don't Hurt Like It Used To” Billy Currington
Debut No.50 “21 Summer” Brothers Osborne

Billboard Country Airplay (Chart issue week of April 16, 2016)

Cole Swindell with “You Should Be Here” (Warner Bros./Warner Music Nashville) ruled Country Airplay for a second week increasing by 4% to 45.548 million audience impressions from previous week 43.8 million, according to Nielsen Music, and led Hot Country Songs for a fourth week.

URBAN DEVELOPMENT: Keith Urban with “Wasted Time” (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville) took home the week’s Most Increased Audience, Most Added and Hot Shot Debut trophies as he bounded onto Country Airplay at No.20 with 12.5 million first-week audience impressions. Urban scored his second-highest debut on the chart among 39 career entries; only “Once in a Lifetime” began higher (No.17, 2006).
Co-written by Urban, “Time” is the third single from his eighth studio album, Ripcord (May 6), following the No. 2 Country Airplay hit “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16,” and the No. 1 “Break on Me.”
On Hot Country Songs, “Time” starts at No. 29, also bolstered by sales of 9,000. 

Urban took advantage of his judge’s platform on Fox’s American Idol to perform the single live on the show March 31. Now in its 15th and final season, Idol began its three-part finale April 5.
Concurrently on Country Airplay, newly minted Academy of Country Music Awards entertainer of the year Jason Aldean bounded in at No. 29 (9 million) with “Lights Come On” (Broken Bow), the first single from his forthcoming album, expected this summer. Of his 29 total visits, he has made loftier launches only with 2014’s “Burnin’ It Down” and 2012’s “Take a Little Ride,” both at No. 19 (and both eventual No. 1s).

LYNCH, McGRAW HIT TOP 10:
Dustin Lynch with “Mind Reader” (Broken Bow) pushed 11-9 on Country Airplay (28 million, up 10%), marking his fourth top 10 after two consecutive No.1s: “Where It’s At (Yep, Yep)” (two weeks, 2014) and “Hell of a Night” (one, 2015).
Also moving into the Country Airplay top 10 is Tim McGraw with “Humble and Kind” (McGraw/Big Machine) (14-10; 24.8 million, up 3%). McGraw earns his 55th top 10, second only to George Strait, who leads with 61 dating to the chart’s January 1990 inception. “Humble,” which holds at its No. 4 Hot Country Songs peak, leads Country Digital Songs for a second week (38,000 downloads sold, up 9 percent).
Kenny Chesney with “Noise” (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville), which he co-wrote with Shane McAnally, Ross Copperman and Jon Nite, lifted 21-18 in its second week on Country Airplay (16.1 million, up 23%). On Hot Country Songs, “Noise” surged 33-14, also powered by 33,000 sold, as it enters Country Digital Songs at No. 2. Chesney’s 17th studio set, SOME TOWN SOMEWHERE, will be released July 8. “Once again, Kenny delivers a hit song that fans connect with on a personal level,” Sony Music Nashville executive vp/COO Ken Robold told Billboard. “To launch the single, he spoke directly to them through a Facebook Live event from his tour rehearsals. The strong sales debut speaks volumes to the connection he maintains with his audience.”

Country Airplay
*** No. 1 (2 weeks) *** "You Should Be Here” Cole Swindell 45.548 million audience (+1.706 million) / 8,297 radio plays (+383)
** Most Increased Audience, Most Added, Hot Shot Debut ** No.20 “Wasted Time” Keith Urban 12.532 million audience gain receiving 85 new radio commitments (ADDS)
Debut No.29 “Lights Come On” Jason Aldean
Debut No.50 “Church Bells” Carrie Underwood
Debut No.55 “Castaway” Zac Brown Band
Debut No.60 “Wasn’t That Drunk” Josh Abbot Band with Carly Pearce

Billboard Country Digital Singles Chart (Chart issue week of April 16, 2016)

Tim McGraw with “Humble and Kind” (McGraw/Big Machine/Big Machine Label Group) held at No.1 for a second week on Country Digital Songs selling 38,027 copies (up 9% on previous week 34,779 sales). It logged a #21 place on the the allgenre Digital Songs Chart and has now sold 291,239 units in 11 chart frames.

Kenny Chesney with “Noise” (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville) made a debut at No.2 (#27 Digital Songs) selling 33,431 copies in its first week.

Maren Morris with "My Church" (Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville) was down 2-3 (#25-#29 Digital Songs; 32,981 sales; up 7%; 12-week total 349,902).
Brett Eldredge with “Drunk On Your Love” climbed 9-4 (32,749 sales; up 50%; 39-30 Digital Songs; 17-week total 343,921)
Blake Shelton with “Came Here to Forget” (Warner Bros./ WMN) fell 3-5 (32,653 sales; up 6%; #26-#31 Digital Songs; 4-week total 168,570)

Dierks Bentley with “Somewhere On A Beach" slipped 4-6 (31,457 sales; up 11%; #30-32 Digital Songs; 11-week total 247,086)
Cole Swindell with “You Should Be Here” was down 5-7 (30,192 sales; up 11%; #33-#34 Digital Songs; 16-week total 459,703)
Thomas Rhett with “T-Shirt” retreated 6-8 (27,363 sales; up 16%; #35-#38 Digital Songs; 11-week total 171,619)

Lee Brice with "That Don't Sound Like You" made a big stride moving up 19 slots (28-9) with 25,637 copies sold (up 210%) and a new 29-week tally of 277,200
Kelsea Ballerini with "Dibs" jumped up 47-10 (24,685 sales; up 447%; 36-week total 358,934)
Chris Young duet with Cassadee Pope fell out of the top 7-11 (24,158 sales; up 9%; #37-#45 Digital Songs; 11-week total 212,488).

Jana Kramer with “I Got The Boy" jumped into the Top 30 with a re-entry at #15 and a 516% sales increase selling 17,309 copies (from previous week 2,808) and a new total of 568,714.
Zac Brown Band's "Chicken Fried" was a re-entry at #21 with sales up 338% and a 4.72 million total

Outside The Top 30
At #38: Kelsea Ballerini's "Love Me Like You Mean It" has scanned 574k to date (up 426%)
At #41: Charlie Daniels Band "Devil Went Down To Georgia" (2.231 million to date)
At #43: Brad Paisley "Whiskey Lullaby" (1.935 million to date)
At #42: Eric Paslay "High Class" (49k to date; up 143%)
At #48: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "Fishin' In The Dark" (up 298% with 1.129 million to date)
At #62: Miranda Lambert "The House That Built Me" (2.267 Million to date)

Country Aircheck MEDIABASE Chart

4 April 2016

Congrats to Cole Swindell, Kevin Herring, Kristen Williams, Katie Bright and the entire WMN promotion staff on earning the week’s No.1 with “You Should Be Here.”
The song logged 8,887 radio spins (+600) and 57.954 million audience impressions (-0.846) with 28130 Total Points from 159 tracking stations for the tracking week March 27 to April 2, 2016 and published chart April 4th 2016.
The song is the first single and title track from his sophomore album, out May 6.
This is Swindell's fifth consecutive chart-topper, following "Let Me See Ya Girl" in Nov 2015, "Ain't Worth The Whiskey" in March 2015, "Hope You Get Lonely Tonight" in Sept 2014 and "Chillin' It" in Feb 2014.















Kudos to Shane Allen and the Capitol team on landing 129 adds for Keith Urban’s Wasted Time,” topping the week’s "Most Added" board.

For a detailed report check out Country Aircheck Weekly Issue 493 - April 4, 2016 [PDF File]
For the very latest up to the minute Mediabase Chart (Past 7 Days) go here - www.mediabase.com

Billboard Boxscores (Selective Country concerts)

Rank Artist: #5
Event Venue City/State: C2C Country To Country: Miranda Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Eric Church, Thomas Rhett, Little Big Town, Chris Stapleton, Dwight Yoakam, Sam Hunt, Kacey Musgraves & others O2 Arena London, U.K.
Dates: March 11-13, 2016 Gross Sales: $3,516,500 
** Attend: 36,152 / 50,832 = 14,680 unsold tickets
Shows/ Sellouts: 3/0 ** Prices: $497.82, $55.47
Promoters: SJM Concerts/in-house

























Of Note: Last year at C2C Country To Country 2015 with Luke Bryan, Lady Antebellum, Florida Georgia Line, Jason Aldean, Lee Ann Womack, Brantley Gilbert, Brandy Clark and Kip Moore playing the O2 Arena main stage (March 7-8, 2015) over the 2 days 27,707 tickets were sold out of a 30,022 allocation (2,315 unsold tickets)

Rank Artist: #31
Event Venue City/State: The X Factor Live, O2 Arena, London, U.K
Dates: March 5, 2016 Gross Sales:  Attend: 17,884 /28,189
Shows/ Sellouts: 2/0 ** Prices: $140.30, $27.64  
Promoters: SJM Concerts

Rank Artist: #33
Event Venue City/State: Carrie Underwood, Easton Corbin, The Swon Brothers Pinnacle Bank Arena      Lincoln, Neb.
Dates:  March 26, 2016 Gross Sales: $904,074  Attend: 14,964 /14,964  
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices:  $76, $46
Promoters: AEG Live

Rank Artist: #34
Event Venue City/State: Carrie Underwood, Easton Corbin, The Swon Brothers Palace of Auburn Hills, Mich.
Dates: March 22, 2016 Gross Sales: $892,996 Attend: 13,771 / 13,771
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $76, $46
Promoters: AEG Live

Rank Artist: #292
Event Venue City/State: LeAnn Rimes, Casino Rama, Rama, Ontario
Dates: March 4, 2016 Gross Sales: $29,495 Attend: 3,144 / 4,974
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/0 ** Prices: $46.30, $25.26
Promoters: C3 Presents

Rank Artist: #279
Event Venue City/State: CMA Songwriter Series: Charles Esten, Lori McKenna, Ashley Monroe, Charlie Worsham, Shane McAnally, indigo at The O2 London, U.K.
Dates: March 10, 2016 Gross Sales: $31,981 Attend: 1,363 / 1,728 = 365 unsold tickets
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/0 Prices: $23.44
Promoters: Anschutz Sports Holdings
                                                           
Rank Artist: #304
Event Venue City/State: Jessie James Decker The Emporium Patchogue, N.Y.
Dates: March 9, 2016 Gross Sales: $26,270 Attend: 947 / 1,250
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/0 ** Prices: $75, $25
Promoters: AEG Live

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