Country
Billboard Chart News April 3, 2017
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
Josh Turner Earns RIAA Gold
Album Certification For 'Haywire'
MCA
NASHVILLE artist Josh Turner was the only
Country artist to earn an RIAA GOLD or PLATINUM certification in the month of
March 2017.
GOLD Album honour:
Josh Turner for HAYWIRE (release date February 9, 2010; 0.5 Million)
In
Brief: Billboard Country Charts (Chart issue week of April 15, 2017)
Country Album
Chart ** No.1 (1 week) WILDHORSE RaeLynn
Hot Country
Songs ** No.1 (8 weeks) ** “Body Like A Back
Road” Sam Hunt
Country Airplay
** No.1 (1 week) ** "Fast” Luke Bryan
Country Digital
Songs ** No.1 (9 weeks) ** “Body Like A Back
Road” Sam Hunt
The
Billboard 200 chart measures multi-metric album consumption, which includes
traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent
albums (SEA).
Drake with MORE LIFE ruled the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart (BB200)
for a second week, as the set earned 225,000
equivalent album units in the week ending March 30, according to Nielsen
Music. It declined 55% compared to its blockbuster debut frame of 505,000
units.
More
Life continues to be a streaming powerhouse in its second week, as traditional
album sales equalled 43,327 (the week’s 4th best seller) while it collected another 169,000
SEA units (the second largest streaming week ever for an album, behind only
More Life’s debut). The rest of the title’s units came from TEA (13,000).
Billboard Top Country
Albums (Chart issue week
of April 15, 2017)
Top
Country Albums now ranks the most popular country albums of the week, as
compiled by Nielsen Music, based on multi-metric consumption (blending traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA)).
10 digital track sales from an
album = 1 track equivalent album (TEA)
“sale”
1,500 on demand song streams from
an album to one streaming equivalent album (SEA) “sale”.
Nielsen
Music compiles the sales and streaming data. Billboard continues to publish pure album sales charts (subscription to
billboard biz ), exclusively comprising
Nielsen’s sales data.
RaeLynn with her debut LP WILDHORSE (Warner Bros./Warner Music
Nashville), arrived at No.1 on Billboard Top Country Albums (No.20 Billboard
200), earning 20,000 equivalent album units (16,447 in pure sales) in its opening week that ended March 30. The set
marked the first full-length by a rookie to start at No. 1 since Maren Morris’
debut major label LP, Hero (June 9, 2016).
Fans
first became familiar with RaeLynn when she reached the quarterfinals on the
second season of NBC’s The Voice in
2012, competing on Blake Shelton’s team.
Wildhorse’s
current single, “Love Triangle,” trotted 29-27
(7.8 million, up 9%) on Country Airplay and 36-27 on Hot Country Songs.
This
came after “the country Katy Perry” (Newsday) made spectacular peaks at #1 on
the iTunes Country Albums chart and #3 All Genre Albums chart upon release.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for
me,” she said backstage after her recent ACM Party for a Cause performance.
“Having a single that’s in the Top 30 and
a #1 debut record is a dream come true. I feel overwhelmingly grateful and
honored to be included in the company of the handful of other women who have
debuted at #1 with their first record. The fans who I’ve met over the past five
years really showed up for this record. So I share this #1 with all of them and
my team and country radio. It’s for all of us. Real music that connects is
always gonna win!”
In
the spirit of always paying it forward, RaeLynn made an appearance on her album
release day at Texas Children’s Hospital, making the first donation from The
Raelynn Diabetes Fund. Diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 12, the
rising star credits Texas Children’s Hospital with saving her life. She was
also honored by Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, who proclaimed March 24, 2017,
as “RAELYNN DAY.”
RaeLynn
also celebrated release day performing the powerful first single from the album
“Love Triangle” on ELLEN – a heart-wrenching divorce
ballad told from the point of view of a little girl.
"I've
been watching ELLEN my whole life; I think she's one of the funnies
people," said RAELYNN. "I've always thought it [would] be so cool to
be on that show, and now I AM! It's a dream come true. I pray she dances with
me."
She
shared: That's the beauty of "WildHorse," the fact that this
record really has every stage of where I've been in the last four years. Some
of these songs I wrote towards the end of last year, and then some songs I
wrote when I was 17 years old. Like, "Praying For Rain" I wrote when
I was 17. "Young" I wrote when I was 17. "Lonely Call" I
wrote when I was 19. Every song takes you through the journey of where I've
been. That's why I knew it needed a name, because I didn't want it to just be
"RaeLynn" the self-titled record. It really just shows you my crazy
wild life and everything that I've been through. It's really cool to see how
all of these songs have so much time between them, but they all fit!
Critical
reception for Raelynn’s WildHorse:
People Magazine included WILDHORSE in their
recent People Picks feature, declaring her a “Nashville spitfire” who “sings in
a gravelly but tender drawl about…how she can’t be tamed” with Rolling Stone also pointing out her
“instantly recognizable voice that slides smoothly into a song’s emotional
contours-traits she exploits to the fullest on her superb debut…” Paste Magazine (Rating: Mixed) makes the
impressive observation that “one of RaeLynn’s strongest talents...is an
instinctual love of language. She plays with it in the manner of Loretta Lynn,
delighting in rhyme schemes and meter… it also doubles as an assurance that
whether she shifts into reverse with more traditionalist intentions or jams
down the gas pedal with sights set on futuristic sounds, she’s going to be just
fine …the album is rife with sharp specifics or perfect turns of phrase that
she craftily tosses out.”
Entertainment Tonight praised the songwriter as
being “gifted at injecting her larger-than-life personality into any scenario,”
while Houston Chronicle lauded her
debut as “terrific,” offering “a deft balance of personality and artistry.”
Newsday (Rating: B) But RaeLynn is way better singing about the concerns
of a 22-year-old, rolling out believable details in songs like “Lonely Call.”
The pain she describes as she
ignores her ex’s late-night call feels real, as
she tells herself, “Let it ring, let it ring, let it ring, girl.”...RaeLynn
balances those ballads with up-tempo pop-leaning songs like the old-school
Taylor Swift-ish “Your Heart,” with its tongue-twisting verses stuffed with
syllables mixed with a simple chorus of “You don’t know who you are til
somebody breaks your heart.” And the “WildHorse” title track has pop crossover
potential, as RaeLynn sets herself up as the country Katy Perry.
Allmusic (Rating; 3.1/2 STARS) ..As her co-writers and sound shapers, they
help lend a cozy team vibe to this smartly crafted 12-song set, whose
highlights include the sparkling electro-twang of "Insecure" and the
bittersweet ballad "Diamonds." WildHorse is slick, for sure, and
geared toward bright lights, but there's enough of RaeLynn's grit and
personality shining through to make this a solid debut.
Roughstock (Rating: Positive) ...The melodically moody "Praying For
Rain" closes out a strong opening record from RaeLynn, a record which we
get to know about who she is, that WildHorse girl who is both a bit of grit and
glitter.
NPR (Rating: Positive) Produced
by two of RaeLynn's frequent co-writers, Nicolle Galyon and Jimmy Robbins, the
12-track collection deploys programmed beats and synths in a supple,
atmospheric way. RaeLynn sounds about as acclimated to the rhythmic cadences of
pop and R&B as Maren Morris did on her breakthrough album last year. But
it's there that the two artists' approaches diverge; where Morris swaggers,
RaeLynn exudes spunk....RaeLynn's singing is at its softest when she laces
together moony sighs during "Praying For Rain," a billowy ballad that
depicts a pastoral existence as a portal to self-knowledge. But even then
there's a hint of grit in her timbre, a grainy resiliency, something she shares
with the recordings of a young Tanya Tucker, though RaeLynn deploys it more
coyly.
Keith Urban with RIPCORD (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville) fell
1-2 (#30-25 Billboard 200) selling 9,277 copies
(up 38%; 47-week total 508,500) sailing past the 500K GOLD marker at retail.
Chris Stapleton with TRAVELLER (MERCURY/ UMGN) slipped 2-3 (#38-35 BB200) selling 6,053 copies
(down 0.5%; 100 week total 1,878,000).
Florida Georgia Line with DIG YOUR ROOTS held at #4
(#42-38 BB200) selling 2,912 copies (down 6%; 31-week total 367,600).
Brett Young with self-titled debut (BMLG) held at #5 (#54-41 BB200) selling 4,125 copies
(up 7.5%; 7-week total 43,300).
Jon Pardi with CALIFORNIA SUNRISE rolled up 9-7
(#61-45 BB200) selling 3,850 copies (up 29%; 41-week
total 130,900).
Former 2-week
No1 from Little
Big Town with THE BREAKER (Capitol Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville) fell 3-9 (#40-61 Billboard 200) with 5,447
copies sold (down 25%; 5-week total 82,800).
Brantley Gilbert with THE DEVIL DONT SLEEP (Valory) fell 6-10 (#56-62 BB200) with 4,584 copies
sold (down 11%; 9-week total 143,800).
Outside the Top 10
Thomas Rhett with
TANGLED UP (Valory) fell 8-11 (#60-64 BB200) selling 2,110
copies (down 9%; 79-week total 557,900).
Jason Aldean with THEY DON'T KNOW (Macon/Broken Bow) rose
16-13 (#93-91 BB200) selling 2,755 copies
(down 6%; 28-week total 357,500)
Maren Morris with HERO (Columbia Nashville | SMN) climbed
17-14 (113-92 BB200) selling 2,967 copies
(up 35%).
Kane Brown with self-titled set Kane Brown rose 25-16 (#141-99 BB200) selling 3,879 copies (up 45%; 17-week total 127,900)
In his third
week, last week’s No.1 from Josh Turner with DEEP SOUTH (MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville) fell 11-18 (#75-111 BB200) selling 3,773
copies (down 35%, 3-week total 27,700).
Reba McEntire with Sing It Now: Songs Of Faith & Hope
(Rockin' R/Nash Icon | BMLG) fell 14-19
(88-112 BB200) selling 5,859 copies (down 15%; 8-week total 135,600) which
was the week’s fourth best country seller.
Alison Krauss with former #1 WINDY CITY (Capitol), fell 13-23
(#83-125 BB200) selling 5,337 copies (down 27%;
6-week total 86,700
Outside the
Top 25
Miranda Lambert with the
ACM Awards 2017 Album of the Year, 2-CD
set- THE WEIGHT OF THESE WINGS (Vanner/RCA
Nashville | SMN) fell 26-35 (#154-192
BB200) selling 2,170
copies sold (down 19%; 19-week total 295,600). Expect to see a sales
bounce next week.
Lindsay Ell with her highly-anticipated
debut EP WORTH THE WAIT made a debut
at #28 selling 4,358 digital only copies and was
the 8th best selling country album of the week. It also landed on all genres
charts at #14 on Digital Albums and #36 on Billboard Top Album Sales.
The
set was released Friday, March 24 via Stoney Creek Records. It was produced by
celebrated GRAMMY-winning musician Kristian Bush (of Sugarland), fans and
critics alike were buzzing over the budding star’s debut project.
The
six-song compilation is stacked with vulnerability and is deliberate in its
sequence, giving listeners a front row seat to a deeply personal narrative.
The
EP’s title track “Worth The Wait” begins to break down walls and sees a
relationship come full-circle with its heartfelt lyrics and sweeping melody.
Ell,
who PerezHilton.com praised as having “all the makings to be a superstar” and
The Calgary Herald lauded as “the complete package” thrives in a lane of her
own as the youngest female lead guitar player in the mainstream Country music
landscape. The Stoney Creek Records artist is currently performing nationally
on superstar and fellow guitar shredder Brad Paisley’s LIFE AMPLIFIED WORLD
TOUR.
Wow...what a crazy week for #worththewait sales!!! Only digital. Not even the full record yet. All because of you guys! #thankyou 🙏🏼 pic.twitter.com/NNuBNvAIu3— Lindsay Ell (@lindsayell) 4 April 2017
Critical
reception for Lindsay Ell’s Worth the Wait:
Sounds Like Nashville (Rating: Positive)...The 28-year-old artist explores matters of
the heart throughout the track list. The title track, “Worth the Wait,” is a
song of vulnerable desperation. Her voice comes through as raw, adding to the
lyrics’ impact.
Ell wraps the project up
with her rendition of Mayer’s “Stop This Train.” Her version has a slower
tempo, but maintains the same sentiment of wishing everything wouldn’t go by so
fast. Worth the Wait shows off Ell’s talent in all capacities, as a guitarist,
vocalist and songwriter. With this release, she now has us on the edge of our
seats waiting for her first full-length album.
Falling Short of Top 50 Top Country albums
On the Country Album Sales list (pure sales;
old methodology) Delta Rae with their A LONG AND HAPPY LIFE EP made a bow at
#39.
Year-To-Date Albums
4,870,000 (Physical sales 3,308,000
(down -10.9%) + Digital sales 1,561,000 (down -19.3%) which is 13.8% down at the same point in 2016 (5,648,000
sales)
Year-To-Date Digital Tracks
18,243,000 down 22.3% at the same point in 2016 (23,489,000)
Billboard Hot Country Songs
(Chart issue week
of April 15, 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:
Sam Hunt with “Body Like a Back Road”
(MCA Nashville), extended its reign on Hot Country Songs to an eighth week.
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill with
“Speak
to a Girl” (McGraw/Arista Nashville) flew 33-6 following its first full week of tracking; it was released
March 23. Driving its climb was the duet’s No.2 debut on Country Digital Song
Sales (44,000). McGraw tallied his 55th Country Airplay top 10 and Hill her
24th. “Speak” is their sixth together:
"It's Your Love," six weeks at
No. 1, 1997
"Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me," No. 3, 1998
"Let's Make Love," No. 6, 2000
"I Need You," No. 8, 2007
"Meanwhile Back at Mama's," No. 7, 2014
"Speak to a Girl," No.6 (to date), 2017
"Just to Hear You Say That You Love Me," No. 3, 1998
"Let's Make Love," No. 6, 2000
"I Need You," No. 8, 2007
"Meanwhile Back at Mama's," No. 7, 2014
"Speak to a Girl," No.6 (to date), 2017
Hot County
Songs
** No.1 (8 weeks)
** No.1 “Body Like A Back Road” Sam Hunt
** Airplay
Gainer ** No.3 “In Case You Didn't Know” Brett
Young
** Digital
& Streaming Gainer ** No.6 “Speak To A Girl” Tim McGraw & Faith Hill
** Hot Shot
Debut ** No.46 “Craving You” Thomas
Rhett feat. Maren Morris
Billboard Country Airplay (Chart issue week
of April 15, 2017)
For the first time in the history of Billboard’s Country Airplay chart,
which launched Jan. 20, 1990, an artist has notched six
No.1s from an album.
In its 18th week on the list (dated April 15), Luke Bryan with “Fast” (Capitol Nashville), the sixth
single from his fifth full-length, KILL THE LIGHTS, ascended 2-1. It
increased 4% to 42.3 million audience impressions in the week ending
April 2, according to Nielsen Music.
The coronation followed Bryan’s co-hosting gig with Dierks Bentley at the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards (April 2), broadcast live on CBS from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The coronation followed Bryan’s co-hosting gig with Dierks Bentley at the 52nd annual Academy of Country Music Awards (April 2), broadcast live on CBS from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“Fast,” released November
28, 2016, co-written by Bryan, Rodney Clawson and Luke Laird, followed the
set’s first five Country Airplay No. 1s: “Kick the Dust Up” (Aug. 15, 2015);
“Strip It Down” (two weeks on top, beginning Oct. 31, 2015); “Home Alone
Tonight,” featuring Karen Fairchild of Little Big Town (two, Feb. 13, 2016);
“Huntin’, Fishin’ & Lovin’ Every Day” (July 2, 2016); and “Move” (two, Nov.
12, 2016).
Three albums had previously generated five Country Airplay No.1s each.
Brad Paisley’s aptly titled 5th Gear first yielded five in 2007-08, and Blake
Shelton’s Based On a True Story… followed with five in 2013-14. Bryan then
accomplished the feat with Crash My Party, his LP prior to Kill the Lights, in
2013-15.
“Fast” marked Bryan’s 17th total Country Airplay chart topper. He says to
Billboard about his record-breaking new No. 1, “When you hear accolades and achievements like that, what it took to get
to this point just immediately flashes in front of your eyes. From the point
where I met [Universal Music Group Nashville chairman/CEO] Mike Dungan for the first time, he saw
something in me. It starts with moving to Nashville, but then you meet
[Dungan] and you’ve got to prove to him
that you’re going to be able to pull this career off. We just set out to make
the best music we can and have fun with it.”
Bryan served up a variety of sounds on KILL THE LIGHTS, which was
produced by Jeff Stevens and his son Jody Stevens. “After the last album [Crash
My Party], Luke and I were fishing, and I expressed my opinion that I know him
to be multifaceted and his talents run very, very wide and very deep,” says
Dungan.
“And when you’re limited to the songs you hear on the radio, you get one
or two impressions of an artist. I said, ‘Maybe it’s time to start throwing
some of those curveballs that are in your head; I know they’re in there,
because I’m around you all the time.’ And I think this album is exactly that.”
Kill the Lights, which debuted at No. 1 on both Top Country Albums and
the all-genre Billboard 200 (dated Aug. 29, 2015), has sold 1.1 million copies
to date.
Dierks
Bentley banked his 22nd Country Airplay top 10 as
“Black” (Capitol Nashville) bumped 11-9 (25 million, up 11%)
Country
Airplay
***
No. 1 (1 week) *** "Fast” Luke
Bryan 42.318 million audience (+1.656 million) / 8,081 radio plays (+240)
**
Hot Shot Debut/ Most Increased Audience/ Most Added ** ** No.28 “Craving You” Thomas Rhett feat. Maren Morris 7.374
million audience gain, 1,085 radio plays thanks to 62 fresh radio commitments (ADDS)
Billboard Country Digital
Singles Chart
(Chart issue week
of April 15, 2017)
Sam Hunt with “Body Like a Back Road” (MCA Nashville) held at No.1 on the Billboard Country Song Sales Chart for a ninth week. On the overall Digital Song Sales chart, it held at #3, two
rungs behind the No.1 “Shape Of You” by Ed Sheeran (85,000 downloads sold, down
12%, in the week ending March 30, according to Nielsen Music.
Tim McGraw and Faith Hill with
“Speak
to a Girl” (McGraw/Arista Nashville) made a bow at #2 (No.8 Digital Songs; 44,000 sales).
Brett Young with “In Case You Didn’t Know” was a non-mover at #3 (#29-19 Digital Songs)
Jon Pardi with “Dirt On My Boots”
was a non-mover at #4 (#32-27 Digital
Songs)
Keith Urban with “The Fighter,” featuring Carrie Underwood (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville), fell
2-5 (#27-29 Digital
Songs)
Luke Combs with “Hurricane” held at #6 (#45-41 Digital
Songs)
Little Big Town with “Better Man” fell 5-7 (#39-49 Digital Songs)
Florida Georgia Line feat. Backstreet Boys with
“God, Your Mama, And Me” slipped 7-8.
Keith Urban with “Blue Ain’t Your Color” lifted 10-9
Michael Ray with “Think A Little Less” retreated 8-10.
Outside the Top 10
Zac Brown Band with “My Old Man” jumped 19-11 in their 8th week
Luke Bryan will “Fast” fell 9-12 on his
12th week.
Lady Antebellum with “You Look Good” fell 11-13
in their 10th week
Josh Turner with “Hometown Girl” fell 12-14 in
his sixth frame.
Country Aircheck MEDIABASE
Chart
3
April 2017
Luke Bryan Hits #1 With
'Fast'
On
Feb. 2, 2015, Luke Bryan’s “I See You” became the sixth No. 1 from his Crash My Party, setting a new record for
chart-toppers from a single album. Now, he’s done it again as “Fast”
became the sixth song from KILL THE LIGHTS to reach the chart pinnacle.
Congrats to Luke, Royce Risser, Bobby Young, David Friedman and the extended Capitol, UMG/Nashville and Red Light
team on doubling down on a milestone. Songwriters are Bryan, Rodney Clawson and
Luke Laird.
The
song logged 8,730 radio spins (+420) and 59.393 million
audience impressions (+2.4 million) with 26341 Total Points from 158 tracking
stations for the tracking week March 26 to April 1, 2017 and published chart
April 3rd 2017
Kudos
to George Briner and the Valory reps on posting 97 adds for “Craving You” by Thomas Rhett feat.
Maren Morris. The
song topped the "Most Added" board this chart week.
Pictured
L-R: (front): BMLG President Scott Borchetta, the label's Jayme Austin; Valory
Music Coord./Promotion Lauren Simon; the label's Jessica Myers; (back): All
Access Nashville Editorial Assistant Mallory Allgood; the label's Justin
Newell, Kelsey Hamrick, Rob Peek; All Access Nashville Editor RJ Curtis; and
the label's Dave Kelly
Billboard Boxscores (Selective Country concerts)
Rank
Artist: #16
Event
Venue City/State: Dixie Chicks, Avalanche City Qudos Bank
Arena Sydney, Australia
Dates:
March 29, 2017 Gross Sales: $1,243,770 Attend: 12,383/ 12,508
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/0 (125
unsold tickets)
Prices: $152.34, $76.13
Promoters:
Chugg
Entertainment/Rob Potts Entertainment Edge
Rank
Artist: #43
Event
Venue City/State: Chris Stapleton, Lindi Ortega Rogers Arena Vancouver,
British Columbia
Dates:
March 27, 2017 Gross Sales: $462,271 Attend: 10,514/10,514
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices:
$52.31, $22.42
Promoters:
Live Nation
Rank
Artist: #47
Event
Venue City/State: Chris Stapleton, Lindi Ortega Budweiser Gardens London,
Ontario
Dates:
March 18, 2017 Gross Sales: $446,307 Attend: 8,879/ 8,879
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices:
$52.51, $37.51
Promoters:
Live Nation
Rank
Artist: #56
Event
Venue City/State: Miranda Lambert, Brandy
Clark, Aubrie Sellers INTRUST
Bank Arena Wichita, Kan
Dates:
March 10, 2017 Gross Sales: $346,073 Attend: 6,993/ 10,560
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/0 (3,567
unsold tickets)
** Prices: $54.75, $39.75
Promoters:
Live Nation
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