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
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%).
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:
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)
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
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
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.
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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