Friday 20 May 2016

Country Billboard Chart News May 2, 2016

Country Billboard Chart News May 2, 2016

RIAA Certifications

Multi-Platinum = 2,000,000 plus units
Platinum = 1-million units
Gold = 500,000 units
Note: For ALBUM certifications the RIAA base their figures on the number of units SHIPPED together with, track sales and on demand audio/ video stream units and NOT based purely on traditional retail sales.
1,500 on-demand audio and/or video song streams = 10 track sales = 1 album sale.
150 on-demand streams = 1 track download

Florida Georgia Line, Chris Young and Carrie Underwood were among the many recipients of RIAA Gold And Platinum Honours in April 2016.
Florida Georgia Line’s single "Cruise" (Multi-Platinum)
Chris Young earned recognition for "Aw Naw" (Platinum), "You" (Platinum),"Gettin' You Home" (Platinum),"Who I Am With You" (Platinum) and single "Neon" (Gold).
Canaan Smith’s single "Love You Like That" (Platinum)
Carrie Underwood’s singles "Heartbeat" (Gold) and "Smoke Break" (Gold)
Jana Kramer’s single "Whiskey" (Gold)
Kelsea Ballerini’s single "Dibs" (Gold)
Maren Morris’ single "My Church" (Gold)

In Brief: Billboard Country Charts (Chart issue week of May 14, 2016)

Country Album Chart ** No.1 (19 non-consecutive weeks) TRAVELLER Chris Stapleton
Hot Country Songs ** No.1 (3 weeks) ** Somewhere On A Beach” Dierks Bentley
Country Airplay ** No.1 (1 week) ** "Think Of You” Chris Young duet with Cassadee Pope
Country Digital Songs ** No.1 (5 non-consecutive weeks) ** “Humble and Kind” Tim McGraw

Billboard Top 200 / Country Album Chart News (Chart issue week of May 14, 2016)

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

Beyonce with her LEMONADE album charged in at No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart (BB200), giving the superstar her sixth chart-topper. The set earned 653,000 equivalent album units in the week ending April 28, according to Nielsen Music. Pure album sales comprised 485,094 of that sum.
Lemonade was introduced on April 23 through its same-titled film, which was soundtracked by the album’s songs, and premiered on HBO. The 12-song visual album was released by Parkwood/Columbia Records following the film’s debut, initially exclusively through Tidal. By Monday, April 25, the album -- which is bundled with the film -- went on sale through other digital retailers, but Tidal remains the only service with streaming rights to the set. A physical version of the album was set to be released on May 6.
Lemonade scored the biggest week of any album in 2016, both in terms of overall units and in sales.
All six of Beyonce’s studio albums have debuted at No.1 on the Billboard 200 chart. Lemonade followed her self-titled album in 2013, 4 (2011), I Am… Sasha Fierce (2008), B’Day (2006) and Dangerously In Love (2003). Beyonce is the only act to reach No. 1 with their first six studio efforts (and the only act to debut atop the list with their first six).

Elsewhere in the top 10 of the new BB200 chart, Prince ruled with five titles, all in the top seven of the list -- following the first full week of chart activity following his death on April 21.
His The Very Best of Prince greatest hits collection is pushed down one spot to No. 2 with 391,000 units (though it gains by 118 percent) and 216,472 copies sold (up 116%).
The Purple Rain soundtrack is also forced backwards, despite a gain, as it moves 2-3 with 150,000 units (up 117%, 133,171 copies sold; up 113%). Two more of Prince’s greatest hits albums rank in the top 10: The Hits/The B-Sides, hits a new peak, as it climbed 6-4 with 106,000 units (up 159%; 56,399 in sales; up 134%), while Ultimate also zoomed to a new peak, 61-6, with 40,000 units (up 319%; 37,400 in sales; up 317%). With Ultimate’s rise into the top 10 for the first time, it marks Prince’s 19th top 10 album.
One more Prince album featured in the latest top 10: his fifth studio effort, 1999. It climbs 31-7, a new chart high, with 36,000 units (up 154%; 32,732 in sales; up 149%). 1999 previously peaked at No. 9 in 1983. In total 23 Prince albums charted on the Top 200.

Chris Stapleton with TRAVELLER fell 7-9 with 33,000 units (down 13%)

Billboard Top Country Albums (Chart issue week of May 14, 2016)

Chris Stapleton with TRAVELLER (Mercury Nashville | UMGN) returned to No.1 on Billboard Top Country Albums 2-1 selling another 25,232 copies in his 52nd week (Total sales 1,253,000).

The previous week’s No.1 Sturgill Simpson with SAILOR’S GUIDE TO EARTH (Atlantic/Atlantic Group) fell 3-31 Billboard 200 (#1-2 Country) selling 13,366 copies (down 75% on first week 52,464; 2-week total 65,800)

Joey + Rory with HYMNS (Farmhouse/Gaither | Capitol CMG) in its 10th frame fell 38-47 BB200 but held at #3 Country (#2-3 Country; 11,381 sales; down 12%; 11-week total 339,500)
Sam Hunt with MONTEVALLO (MCA Nashville | UMGN) fell 34-26 BB200 (#5-4 Country; 7,865 sales; 79-week total 1,118,100).
Luke Bryan with KILL THE LIGHTS (Capitol Nashville) rose 44-33 BB200 (#7-5 Country; 7,400 sales; 38-week total 951,700).
Eric Church with MR. MISUNDERSTOOD (EMI Nashville | UMGN) rose 79-64 BB200 (#9-6 country; 5,707 sales; 26-week total 363,100)
Thomas Rhett with TANGLED UP (Valory | BMLG) fell 25-29 BB200 (#4-7 Country; 5,452 sales; 31-week total 366,000)

Wheeler Walker Jnr (stand-up comic Ben Hoffman) with REDNECK SHIT (Pepper Hill/ Thirty Tigers) rose 14-11 Country in his 5th frame (3,700 sales; total 17,800) and will be delighted to see he was one place ahead of Florida Georgia Line with ANYTHING GOES 20-12 Country (3,700 sales; 81-week total 849,800) who blocked his Twitter account

Outside Top 25 Country Album

Marie Osmond with MUSIC IS MEDICINE (Oliveme) fell 10-31 Country (1,500 sales; Total 5,400) in her second week

Josh Kelley with eighth studio set, NEW LANE ROAD (Sugar Hill/Concord), opened at No.29 on Top Country Albums (1,600 sales). It’s his first entry since 2011’s No.16-peaking Georgia Clay.
Kelley is currently touring with his brother, Lady Antebellum’s Charles Kelley, on the latter’s solo The Driver Tour.

In a press release the album was described as: His most honest work to date, Josh achieves an organic warmth guided by the influences of Otis Redding, Al Green, Jackson Browne, Tom Petty and Joe Cocker. His new album contains such effortlessly catchy, lyrically engaging new tunes as 'Take It On Back,' 'You're My Angel,' 'Life's Too Short,' 'It's Your Move' and 'One Foot in the Grave'. These new songs demonstrate a remarkable balance of emotional insight and melodic craft. On this album, for the first time however, the listener gets a true snapshot into his life. Josh and wife Katherine Heigl raise two children in the hills of Utah. New Lane Road gives us an intimate glimpse of home.
New Lane Road, Kelley's first new album in five years, brings with it his wife's directorial debut. Katherine Heigl (of Grey's Anatomy and Knocked Up fame, among several other blockbuster films) was both behind and in front of the camera for the video accompanying the LP's first single, "It's Your Move."

Critical reception for Josh Kelley’s New Lane Road:
12 Tracks/ Time: 44:43 Singer-Songwriter, Country, Rock Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com

AllMusic (Rating; 3.5 STARS) After scoring with the John Mayer-esque pop of "Amazing" and the upbeat country of "Georgia Clay," Josh Kelley has decided it's time he bared his soul to us all. For his eighth album (and first for Sugar Hill), 2016's New Lane Road, Kelley has taken a detour into singer/songwriter territory. The album delivers a dozen personal songs about love and family with a feel that's half-Nashville and half-Laurel Canyon...Many of the songs on New Lane Road cover familiar lyrical tropes, but Kelley brings a warmth and sincerity to this music that's honest and effective. And Kelley certainly sounds more comfortable singing about the glories of married life than he did trying to fit into the boundaries of mainstream country. New Lane Road is a few steps short of a triumph for Josh Kelley. But it's strong and well-crafted enough to sound like he's found a direction that works for him, and this ranks with the singer and songwriter's best work.

NPR (Rating: Positive) New Lane Road is an act of creative self-sufficiency; the elder Kelley not only wrote or co-wrote every song, but also produced, engineered and played multiple instruments. To record the album, Kelley holed up in his studio in Utah, where he lives with his actress wife Katherine Heigl and their two children, for much of the process. The result, not surprisingly, is an unfussy collection of soft rock, soul, adult pop and country from an artist who's spent years stocking his musical bag of tricks.
Throughout its dozen tracks, Kelley dwells on how accumulating life experience and forging significant attachments can transform slight insights into something more. He trots out thoroughly familiar fixations — feeling your mortality ("One Foot In the Grave"), seizing the day ("Life's Too Short"), being saved from a solitary existence by a steadfast lover ("The Rock Who Found A Rollin' Stone") — with warmth that lends them each new impact...."New Lane Road" stirs together nostalgia, patriotism and responsibility; there's even a recording of his dad talking about being a good steward of the earth that you farm.

Sounds Like Nashville by Chuck Dauphin (Rating: Very Positive)... Perhaps the best bet for radio airplay – if Sugar Hill wants to go in that direction is on the sobering “Only God Can Stop Her Now,” another emotional masterpiece of the disc. That statement is far from a knock, however, as New Lane Road succeeds at being a truly adult album – with lyrics and thoughts that you would have lived a few years to fully recognize. With that said, this album is truly one worth listening to!

Year-To-Date Albums
7,524,000 (Physical sales 4,934,000 (down 9%) + Digital sales 2,590,000 (down -17.6%)) which is 10.2% down at the same point in 2015 (8,380,000 sales)
Year-To-Date Digital Tracks
30,796,000 down 21.2% at the same point in 2015 (39,078,000)

Billboard Hot Country Songs (Chart issue week of May 14, 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:

Dierks Bentley with “Somewhere on a Beach” (Capitol Nashville) led Billboard’s hybrid Hot Country Songs chart, which encompasses airplay, digital sales and streaming, for a third week.
There were two songs which entered the Hot Country Songs top 10. Luke Bryan’s Huntin’, Fishin’ & Lovin’ Every Day” (Capitol Nashville) rose 11-9, led by its 9-8 lift on Country Airplay (31.7 million, up 6%) and 16-9 dash on Country Streaming Songs (2 million, up 8%). The track is Bryan’s 21st Hot Country Songs top 10.

Dustin Lynch reached Hot Country Songs’ top tier, with “Mind Reader” (Broken Bow), up 13-10. His fourth top 10 is driven most heavily by radio, as it climbed 6-4 on Country Airplay (38.5 million, up 6%).

Hillary Scott (Lady Antebellum) entered Hot Country Songs at No.33 with “Thy Will” (billed as by Hillary Scott & The Scott Family) (HST/EMI Nashville). The track bowed almost entirely due to sales, entering Country Digital Songs at No.22 (11,000 sold). It also started at Nos.2 and 6 on Christian Digital Songs and Hot Christian Songs, respectively, and previews the forthcoming faith-based LP Love Remains

Hot County Songs
** No.1 (3 weeks) ** “Somewhere On A Beach” Dierks Bentley
** Airplay Gainer ** No.17 “Wasted Time” Keith Urban
** Streaming Gainer ** No.19 “Church Bells” Carrie Underwood
** Digital ** No.23 “It All Started With A Beer” Frankie Ballard
** Hot Shot Debut ** No.27 “Remember Boys” Cole Swindell
Debut No.33 “Thy Will” Hillary Scott & The Scott Family
Debut No.34Lights” Adam Wakefield
Debut No.39 “H.O.L.Y.” Florida Georgia Line
Debut No.43 “Castaway” Zac Brown Band
Debut No.45 “Sleep Without You” Brett Young
Debut No.47 “Wasn't That Drunk” Josh Abbott Band with Carly Pearce

Billboard Country Airplay (Chart issue week of May 14, 2016)

Chris Young and Cassadee Pope’s duet “Think of You” (RCA Nashville/Republic Nashville) rose 3-1 in its 18th week on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated May 14), increasing by 8% to 46.8 million audience impressions in the week ending May 1, according to Nielsen Music.
The song is Young’s seventh No.1 and Pope’s first. “Think”—from Young’s fifth studio album, I’m Comin Over—follows the title track as his second Country Airplay leader from the LP, which debuted at No.1 on Top Country Albums (Dec. 5, 2015) with 57,000 sold, becoming his first leader on the list. It has sold 193,000 date.
Young co-wrote “Think” with Corey Crowder and Josh Hoge. “Cassadee was always my first pick to sing the duet with me,” Young told Billboard. “It’s a big song, and I knew I needed someone with a powerful voice to match.”
Pope, the 2012 third-season winner of NBC’s The Voice (and the first woman to win the prize) rules Country Airplay in her fourth appearance on the chart.
She previously peaked as high as No.10 in 2014 with “Wasting All These Tears,” her launch country single. “Cassadee was such a standout on The Voice,” said Big Machine Label Group chairman/CEO Scott Borchetta. “Every time she performed a country song, I would ring up Republic president Monte Lipman in New York and say, ‘This girl Cassadee, I think she’s country.’ We didn’t know for sure until the day after she won The Voice that she wanted to pursue her country influences.”
Young is likewise a former TV competition champ, and his latest Country Airplay coronation syncs with the 10th anniversary of his winning Nashville Star (May 2, 2006). The next day, RCA Nashville announced that it had signed him. Meanwhile, the country male/female duet is a classic sound for the genre (e.g., Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty), although not so common at No. 1 since Country Airplay began in 1990. “Think” is only the fifth duet between a solo male and female (with each artist sharing lead credit) to top the chart, following Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert’s “We Were Us” (2013), Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood’s “Remind Me” (2011), Anita Cochran and Steve Wariner’s “What If I Said” (1998) and Reba McEntire and Vince Gill’s “The Heart Won’t Lie” (1993).

The highest debut on Country Airplay belonged to Florida Georgia Line, whose “H.O.L.Y.” (Republic Nashville) launched at No.26 with 10.1 million impressions following its April 29 arrival. The song previews the duo’s third full-length, DIG YOUR ROOTS, due this summer.

Country Airplay
*** No. 1 (1 week) *** "Think Of You” Chris Young duet with Cassadee Pope 46.811 million audience (+3.633 million) / 8,260 radio plays (+484)
** Hot Shot Debut/ Most Increased Audience/ Most Added ** No.26 “H.O.L.Y” Florida Georgia Line (Republic Nashville) +10.066 million audience gain; with 74 new radio commitments (74 ADDS)
Debut No.57 “Parachute” Chris Stapleton
Debut No.59 “Are You With Me” Easton Corbin

Billboard Country Digital Singles Chart (Chart issue week of May 14, 2016)

Tim McGraw with “Humble and Kind” (McGraw/Big Machine/Big Machine Label Group) held at No.1 (#25-46 Digital Songs; 35,334 sales; down 12%; 15-week total 472,619)
Dierks Bentley with “Somewhere On A Beach" held at #2 (#32-60 Digital Songs; 27,762 sales; down 16%; 15-week total 382,113).
Maren Morris with "My Church" (Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville) held at #3 (#39-61 Digital Songs; 27,762 sales; up 7%; 16-week total 461,280).
Thomas Rhett with his latest hit "T-Shirt" held at #4 in his 15th chart frame (#40-66 Digital Songs; 25,166 sales; down 1%; 15-week total 270,400) as his award winning #1 song “Die A Happy Man” rose #9-8 (#52-79 Digital Songs; 21,012 sales; down 3%; 32-week total 1,409,145)
Chris Young duet with Cassadee Pope held at #5 (#41-74 Digital Songs; 22,312 sales; down 11%; 15-week total 324,205)
Luke Bryan with "Huntin' Fishin' & Loving Every Day" climbed #8-6 (#46-75 Digital Songs; 22,205 sales; down 6%; 8-week total 156,459)
Blake Shelton with “Came Here to Forget” (Warner Bros./ WMN) fell 6-7 (#43-77 Digital Songs; 21,606 sales; down 13%; 8-week total 287,680)
Cole Swindell with “You Should Be Here” fell 7-9 (#44-80 Digital Songs; 20,828 sales; down 15%; 20-week total 567,374) also possibly a pre-grat/ pre-order track "Remember Boys" made a debut at #10 (#94 Digital Song; 18,303 sales)

Adam Wakefield (The Voice contestant) with "Lights" who >> performed the Journey classic to make it another week in the competition made a debut at #18 selling 12,000 copies.
Lady Antebellum’s leading lady Hillary Scott made a debut at #22 with "Thy Will" selling 11,000 copies.

Country Aircheck MEDIABASE Chart

2 May April 2016
Congrats to Chris Young, Cassadee Pope, Keith Gale, Matthew Hargis and the RCA and Republic Nashville promotion departments on scoring this week’s No.1 with “Think Of You.” The song is the second chart-topper from Young’s I’m Comin’ Over album, and Pope’s first No.1.
The song logged 8,820 radio spins (+841) and 61.254 million audience impressions (+5.33) with 28420 Total Points from 158 tracking stations for the tracking week April 24 to April 30, 2016 and published chart May 2nd 2016.













Kudos to Republic Nashville VP/Promotion Matthew Hargis and the entire Republic Nashville promotion team for Republic Nashville duo Florida Georgia Line on bagging 99 adds stations adding, "H.O.L.Y."
Republic Nashville Promo Team 2 May 2016





























For a detailed report check out Country Aircheck Weekly Issue 497 - May 2, 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: #4
Event Venue City/State: Kenny Chesney, Miranda Lambert, Sam Hunt, Old Dominion Jordan-Hare Stadium Auburn, Ala.
Dates: April 23, 2016 Gross Sales: $4,140,740   Attend: 48,423 / 50,430
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/0 ** Prices: $215, $175, $99, $20
Promoters: Messina Touring Group/AEG Live

Rank Artist: #17
Event Venue City/State: iHeartCountry Festival: Florida Georgia Line, Brett Eldredge, Sam Hunt, Thomas Rhett, Cole Swindell, Miranda Lambert, Lee Brice, Chris Young, Keith Urban, Zac Brown Band           Frank Erwin Center Austin, Texas
Dates: April 30, 2016 Gross Sales: $1,329,130 Attend: 13,405 / 13,405
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $375, $25
Promoters: iHeartMedia + Entertainment/in-house

Rank Artist: #35
Event Venue City/State: Bonnie Raitt, The California Honeydrops, Beacon Theatre New York, N.Y.
Dates: April 1-2, 2016 Gross Sales: $426,058 Attend: 5,534 / 5,534
Shows/ Sellouts: 2/2 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $121, $85.50, $55.50, $35.50
Promoters: Live Nation

Rank Artist: #40
Event Venue City/State: Chris Stapleton, Anderson East Hearst Greek Theatre Berkeley, Calif.
Dates: April 23, 2016 Gross Sales: $386,978 Attend: 8,505/ 8,505
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $45
Promoters: Another Planet Entertainment

Rank Artist: #51
Event Venue City/State: Brantley Gilbert, Michael Ray, Canaan Smith Target Center Minneapolis, Minn.
Dates: April 23, 2016 Gross Sales: $277,461 Attend: 7,533 / 8,000
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/0  Prices: $39.75, $25
Promoters: Frank Productions/NS2/CMoore Live

Rank Artist: #97
Event Venue City/State: ABC's Nashville in Concert Fox Theatre            Atlanta, Ga.
Dates: April 27, 2016 Gross Sales: $133,891 Attend: 2,912 / 4,565
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/0 Prices: $71, $36
Promoters: AEG Live
                                     
Rank Artist: #100
Event Venue City/State: Chris Young, Cassadee Pope Tuscaloosa Amphitheater Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Dates: April 15, 2016 Gross Sales: $132,689 Attend: 4,590/ 6,859
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/0 Prices: $45.50, $10
Promoters: Red Mountain Entertainment

Rank Artist: #111
Event Venue City/State: ABC's Nashville in Concert The Theater at the Venetian Las Vegas, Nev.          
Dates: April 15, 2016 Gross Sales: $106,997 Attend: 1,315/ 1,707
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/0 Prices: $129.95, $89.95, $65, $49.95
Promoters: AEG Live/The Venetian Casino Resort


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