Country Billboard Chart News January 16, 2017

Country Billboard Chart News January 16, 2017

In Brief: Billboard Country Charts (Chart issue week of January 28, 2017)

Country Album Chart ** No.1 (26 non-consecutive weeks) TRAVELLER Chris Stapleton

Hot Country Songs ** No.1 (11 weeks) ** “Blue Ain’t Your Color” Keith Urban

Country Airplay ** No.1 (1 week) ** “A Guy With a Girl” Blake Shelton

Country Digital Songs ** No.1 (11 weeks) ** “Blue Ain’t Your Color” Keith Urban

Billboard Top 200 / Country Album Chart News 
(Chart issue week of January 28, 2017)

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

'La La Land' Soundtrack Dances to No. 2 on Billboard 200 Chart, Weeknd Spends Third Week at No. 1

The Weeknd’s STARBOY stayed steady at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart (BB200), collecting a third non-consecutive week atop on the Billboard 200 chart. Meanwhile, following La La Land’s big night at the Golden Globe Awards, the film’s soundtrack flew from No.15 to No. 2. Starboy earned 63,000 equivalent album units (down 10%) in the week ending Jan. 12, according to Nielsen Music, while La La Land jumped to the runner-up slot with 42,000 units (up 83%) of that total 29,893 were pure sales.

Of Starboy’s units earned for the week, traditional album sales comprised just 13,624 of that sum. Streams generated the bulk of the set’s units -- as streaming equivalent units totalled 38,000 of its total.

This chart week highlighted how people are moving away from buying their music in physical form and opting instead to go with streaming. The SOUNDTRACK to the film La La Land was the top seller with 29,893 copies (CD and digital download sales) from an American population of 320 million!

Closing out the top 10 was Chris Stapleton with his surging TRAVELLER album, which vaulted from No. 22 to No.10 with 22,000 units (up 21%). The former No. 1 set gain in album sales (12,000 sold; up 11%), track equivalent album units (5,000; up 63%) and streaming equivalent album units (5,000; up 15%). One of the album’s songs, Stapleton’s cover of “Tennessee Whiskey,” re-entered the Digital Song Sales chart at No. 24 with 26,000 downloads sold (up 208%).

The rise of both the album and the song followed the success of a viral video on Facebook, where a father sings along to Stapleton’s version of “Tennessee Whiskey” in his car, while his daughter records the performance (and sweetly reacts to her dad’s singing). The original Facebook video was uploaded on Jan. 1 and collected more than 20 million views. It’s likely that interest in the viral video encouraged fans to buy Stapleton’s version of the song, as well as his Traveller album. Fort Worth musician Kris Jones poured his heart out in his very own “Carpool Karaoke” version of the track. He and his daughter Dayla were later invited onto Ellen TV on Jan 19th.

Billboard Top Country Albums (Chart issue week of January 28, 2017)

Chris Stapleton with TRAVELLER (MERCURY/ UMGN) has now spent a total of six months atop Billboard’s Top Country Albums Chart. The LP climbed 22-10 on the Billboard 200 and increased 11% to 11,712 pure sales in the week ending Jan. 12 and lead the list for a 26th (non-consecutive) week. To date, Traveller has sold 1.8 million copies since its release.

The TRAVELLER set from Stapleton, Billboard’s Top Country Artist of 2016, marked the longest rule since Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now dominated for 31 weeks in 2010-11. Among solo males, Traveller logged the longest run at No. 1 since 1994, when Tim McGraw’s NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON dominated for 29 frames. Among all artists, Shania Twain boasts the longest command of Top Country Albums (dating to the chart’s January 1964 launch), as her COME ON OVER spent 50 weeks at No. 1, starting with its Nov. 22, 1997, debut. Traveller arrived at No.2 on May 23, 2015, but didn’t hit No.1 for sixth months (on the Nov. 21 chart). Its first week on top was fueled by Stapleton’s Nov. 4, 2015, spotlight at the 49th Annual Country Music Association Awards when he won for Male vocalist, New Artist and Album of the Year (for Traveller), and Justin Timberlake joined him for a rousing performance of the Traveller title cut, “Tennessee Whiskey,” and Timberlake’s “Drink You Away.”

Keith Urban with RIPCORD (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville) climbed 3-2 (33-32 BB200) selling 6,156 (down 20%; 36-week total 426,000)

Miranda Lambert with WEIGHT OF THESE WINGS (Vanner/RCA Nashville) slipped 2-3 (55-69 BB200) in its 8th chart frame selling 5,280 copies (down 33%; 8-week total 253,800).

Kane Brown with his self- titled debut KANE BROWN (Zone 4/RCA Nashville) rose 7-4 (106-113 BB200) selling 3,753 copies (down 20%; 6-week total 89,500)

Jason Aldean with THEY DON'T KNOW (Macon/Broken Bow) was a non-mover at #5 (60-74 BB200) selling 3,596 copies (down 42%; 18-week total 315,200)

Florida Georgia Line with DIG YOUR ROOTS (BMLG) made a 9-6 hop (52-49 BB200) selling 3,097 copies (down 21%; 20-week total 331,800)

Garth Brooks with GUNSLINGER (Pearl) was up 11-7 selling 2,522 copies of the single album version (down 29%; 7-week total 75,700).

Thomas Rhett with TANGLED UP (Valory) rose 12-8 (50-46 BB200) selling 2,394 copies (down 27%; 68-week total 529,100)

Kenny Chesney with COSMIC HALLEUJAH (Blue Chair/Columbia Nashville) climbed 13-9 (144-166 BB200) selling 2,287 copies (down 28%; 11-week total 181,300)

Maren Morris with HERO (Columbia Nashville) fell 6-10 (67-115 BB200) selling 2,240 copies (down 56%; 32-week total 164,100).

Blake Shelton with IF I'M HONEST (Warner Bros.) retreated 4-11 (42-99 BB200) selling 2,025 copies (down 73%; 34-week total 549,200)

Jon Pardi with CALIFORNIA SUNRISE (Capitol Nashville) rose 15-12 (100-93 BB200) selling 1,960 copies (down 22%; 30-week total 102,000)

Carrie Underwood with STORYTELLER (19/Arista Nashville) fell 10-13 (85-110 BB200) selling 1,936 copies (down 47%; 64-week total 727,200).

Eric Church with MR. MISUNDERSTOOD (EMI Nashville) rose 16-14 (128-139 BB200) selling 1,724 copies (down 27%; 62-week total 491,500)

Year-To-Date Albums

663,000 (Physical sales 438,000 (down 6%) + Digital sales 225,000 (down -19.4%)) which is 10.9% down at the same point in 2016 (744,000 sales) 

Year-To-Date Digital Tracks

2,818,000 down 25.4% at the same point in 2016 (3,777,000)

Billboard Hot Country Songs (Chart issue week of January 28, 2017)

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:

Keith Urban with “Blue Ain’t Your Color” (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville) led the Hot Country Songs for an 11th week in his 23rd chart frame.

The CMAs sparked Chris Stapleton’s first Hot Country Songs No.1, and “Tennessee Whiskey” again enjoyed a resurgence with a re-entry on the current Hot Country Songs chart (dated Jan. 28), at No.9. It blew up 21-2 on Country Digital Song Sales (up 208% to 26,000 downloads sold) and lifted 5-3 on Country Streaming Songs (up 41% to 3.4 million U.S. streams).

Hot County Songs

** No.1 (11 weeks) ** “Blue Ain’t Your Color” Keith Urban

** Airplay Gainer ** No.2 “Better Man” Little Big Town

** Streaming Gainer ** No.8 “Dirt On My Boots” Jon Pardi

** Hot Shot Debut ** No.16 “Drinkin' Too Much” - Sam Hunt

** Digital Gainer ** No.22 “Fast” Luke Bryan
Debut No.29 “Yours If You Want It” Rascal Flatts

Debut No.39 “Bar At The End Of The World” Kenny Chesney

Debut No.47 “Tried To Tell Ya” Brantley Gilbert

Billboard Country Airplay (Chart issue week of January 28, 2017)

Blake Shelton rolled up his 23rd No.1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Jan. 28), as “A Guy With a Girl” (Warner Bros./Warner Music Nashville) jumped 3-1, increasing 7% to 45.5 million audience impressions in the week ending Jan. 15, according to Nielsen Music.

“Guy,” written by Ashley Gorley and Bryan Simpson, is the third single from Shelton’s IF I’M HONEST LP, following the Country Airplay No. 1 “Came Here to Forget” (June 11, 2016) and the No. 7-peaking “She’s Got a Way With Words” (Sept. 10). The latter stopped Shelton’s run of 17 consecutive No.1s (counting only officially promoted, non-seasonal singles), which began with 2010’s “Hillbilly Bone” (featuring Trace Adkins), although it stands as the longest streak of leaders in the chart’s 27-year history.

Shelton ranks in fifth place among acts with the most Country Airplay No.1s, following Tim McGraw (29), Kenny Chesney (27) and Alan Jackson and George Strait (26 each).

Chris Young’s “Sober Saturday Night,” featuring Vince Gill (RCA Nashville), ascended to the Country Airplay top 10 (12-10), gaining 5% to 27.3 million audience impressions (5,255 spins).

With “Sober,” which Young wrote with Brett and Brad Warren, Young banked his 12th top 10 and seventh straight, since “I Can Take It From There,” which peaked at No. 4 in April 2013. Gill earned his milestone 25th Country Airplay top 10 and first since Brooks & Dunn’s “Burning Bridges,” featuring Sheryl Crow and Gill (No.4, 2006). Gill last reached the upper tier as a lead artist with “Feels Like Love” (No.6, 2000).

Country Airplay

*** No. 1 (1 week) *** "A Guy With A Girl” Blake Shelton 45.506 million audience (+2.849 million) / 8,146 radio plays (+590)

** Most Increased Audience/ ** Most Added ** No.27 “Bar At The End Of The World” Kenny Chesney +3.723 million audience gain (#39 ADDS)

** Hot Shot Debut ** No.48 “Flatliner” Cole Swindell

Debut No.51 “God, Your Mama, And Me” Florida Georgia Line featuring Backstreet Boys

Debut No.57 “It Ain’t My Fault” Brothers Osborne

Billboard Country Digital Singles Chart 
(Chart issue week of January 28, 2017)

Keith Urban with “Blue Ain’t Your Color” held onto #1 on Billboard’s Country Song Sales Chart for a 11th frame in 17 chart weeks. It slipped 21-23 on the all genre Digital Songs chart which was led by Ed Sheeran with “Shape Of You”

Chris Stapleton with “Tennessee Whiskey” rocketed up 21-2 (#24 Re-Entry Digital Songs) with 26,000 digital downloads sold (up 208%)

#26 New 1 - Sam Hunt with “Drinkin' Too Much” made a debut at #3 (#26 Digital Songs) with sales around the 25,800 mark.

Little Big Town with “Better Man" (writer Taylor Swift) fell 2-4 (#30-27 Digital Songs) in their 13th frame.

Jon Pardi with “Dirt On My Boots” slipped 3-5 (#35 non-mover Digital Songs) in his 16th frame.

Florida Georgia Line featuring Tim McGraw with “May We All” fell 4-6 (#41-40 Digital Songs) in their 26th frame

Brett Young with “Sleep Without You” was a non-mover at #7 in his 31st week.

Rascal Flatts with “Yours If You Want It” made a debut at #8 selling 13,000 copies

Michael Ray with “Think A Little Less” fell 8-9 in his fourth frame.

Thomas Rhett with “Star Of The Show” lifted 12-10 in this 15th frame

Outside the Top 10 

Blake Shelton with “A Guy With A Girl” retreated 9-11 in his 13th frame

Brantley Gilbert with “The Weekend” rose 17-12 in his 16th week as his album pre-grat track “Tried To Tell Ya” made a debut at #23.

Country Aircheck MEDIABASE Chart

16 January 2017

Congrats to Carrie Underwood, Steve Hodges, Josh Easler and the Arista team on landing the week’s No.1 with “Dirty Laundry.” 

The song is the fourth-consecutive chart-topper from her current album STORYTELLER, following "Church Bells" (july 2016), "Heartbeat" (March 14, 2016) and "Smoke Break" (Nov 23, 2015)

The song logged 8,972 radio spins and 61.506 million audience impressions with 27111 Total Points from 158 tracking stations for the tracking week January 7 to January 14, 2017 and published chart January 16th 2017.

Kudos to Jimmy Rector and the EMI Nashville crew for notching 49 adds on Brothers Osborne’s “It Ain’t My Fault,”. The song topped the week’s "Most Added" board.

For a detailed report check out Country Aircheck Weekly Issue 533 - Jan 17, 2017 [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: #9

Event Venue City/State: Keith Urban, Carrie Underwood, Buchanan Brisbane Entertainment Centre       Brisbane, Australia

Dates: Dec. 16-17, 2016 Gross Sales: $1,881,310  Attend: 18,585/ 18,920

Shows/ Sellouts: 2/0 | 335 tickets unsold  Prices: $117.37, $82.74 Promoters: TEG Live

Rank Artist: #34

Event Venue City/State: Dolly Parton American Bank Center Corpus Christi, Texas

Dates: Dec. 2, 2016 Gross Sales: $350,161 Attend: 4,701/ 8,452

Shows/ Sellouts: 1/0 | 3751 tickets unsold Prices: $132, $42

Promoters: Nederlander/ Paragon Presents

Rank Artist: #40

Event Venue City/State: Cyndi Lauper & Friends Beacon Theatre New York, N.Y.

Dates: Dec. 3, 2016 Gross Sales: $309,041 Attend: 2,621/ 2,772

Shows/ Sellouts: 1/0  151 tickets unsold Prices: $1,994, $494, $144, $34

Promoters: Live Nation

                       

Rank Artist: #67

Event Venue City/State: Tribute to the Music of Linda Ronstadt: Grace Potter, Dawes, Jackson Browne, Maria Muldaur, J.D. Souther, Sara Watkins Theatre at Ace Hotel Los Angeles, Calif.

Dates: Dec. 11, 2016 Gross Sales:  $162,278 Attend: 1,647/ 1,647

Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $250, $49.50

Promoters: Goldenvoice/ AEG Live