Country
Billboard Chart News May 22, 2017
In
Brief: Billboard Country Charts (Chart issue week of June 3, 2017)
Country Album
Chart ** No.1 (1 week) WELCOME HOME Zac
Brown Band
Hot Country
Songs ** No.1 (15 weeks) ** “Body Like A Back
Road” Sam Hunt
Country Airplay
** No.1 (2 weeks) ** "Hurricane” Luke Combs
Country Digital
Songs ** No.1 (16 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).
Harry Styles bowed at No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart (BB200) with
his self-titled debut effort, launching with 230,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending May 18,
according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 193,364 were in traditional album sales.
With
Styles’ start of 193,000 he earns the biggest debut sales week for a U.K.
male artist’s first full-length album since Nielsen Music began tracking
sales in 1991. He surpassed the previous record holder, Sam Smith, who saw his
In the Lonely Hour album launch with 166,000 copies sold at No. 2 back in 2014.
In
addition, Styles is just the second U.K. male artist to bow at No.1 with a
debut album in the 61-year history of the Billboard 200. He follows his former
One Direction bandmate, Zayn, who entered at No.1 with Mind of Mine on the
chart dated April 16, 2016 (with 157,000 units and 112,000 in traditional album
sales).
At No.2, Zac Brown Band debuted with its latest
effort, WELCOME HOME.
It entered with
146,000 units, of which 138,780 were in traditional album
sales. The group’s last studio effort, 2015’s Jekyll + Hyde, bowed at No. 1
with 228,000 units and 214,000 copies sold. In total, Zac Brown Band has
achieved five top 10 albums: Welcome Home, JEKYLL + HYDE, UNCAGED (No. 1 in
2012), YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE (No. 1 in 2010) and THE FOUNDATION (No. 9, 2010).
Chris Stapleton with From A Room: Volume 1 dipped from No.2 to No. 4 in its second week
with 75,000 units (down 66%).
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.
Zac Brown Band 'Welcome
Home' Is #1 Country Album: Fourth Consecutive #1 Country Album
Zac Brown Band with WELCOME HOME (Southern Ground/Elektra/Atlantic Group), their fifth
full-length album, made a bow at No.1
on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart
(dated June 3), marking the group’s fourth leader on the list.
It started with
146,000 equivalent album units, with 138,780 in pure sales, in its opening week (ending May 18), according to
Nielsen Music, down 35% on their last release.
CHART HISTORY: All four of ZBB’s Top
Country Albums No.1s have launched at the summit. The group’s last studio
effort, JEKYLL + HYDE, bowed at No.
1 with 228,000 units (214,224 in pure sales) on the chart dated May 16, 2015.
UNCAGED arrived atop the July 28,
2012-dated list with 234,289 sold, and YOU GET WHAT YOU
GIVE opened at No.1 on Oct. 9, 2010, with 153,706 sold.
The
group’s breakthrough album, THE
FOUNDATION, started at No.3 on the Top Country Albums chart dated Dec. 6,
2008, with 43,531
sold. It rose
to its No.2 peak on the March 28, 2009-dated survey.
The
10-song Welcome Home, produced by Dave Cobb, marked a sonic return to the
band’s more organic, acoustic-based sound established on The Foundation. The
new set’s lead single, “My Old Man” (written by Brown, Niko
Moon and Ben Simonetti), rose 22-17 on Hot Country Songs, marking its first
week in the top 20 since it ranked at its No.10 high on Feb. 25 following its
first week of activity. The song bulleted at its No.18 peak on Country Airplay,
up 2% to 15.8 million in audience.
On
May 12, ZBB kicked off its 2017 Welcome Home Tour in Atlanta, where the band is
based.
Three-time
GRAMMY Award–winning multiplatinum artists Zac Brown Band return with new album
WELCOME HOME, on
“We
decided to write the most personal record we’d ever written, about the things
that matter the most to us, the struggles and the celebrations of life and our
relationships with our families. That’s where this began,” Zac Brown told USA Today.
Promoting
the album ZBB visited NBC-TV's
"TODAY" show (May 16) as part of the show's CITI Concert Series.
ZBB performed their current single, "My Old Man," after Brown briefly
chatted with show hosts Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie, and HODA KOTB, the last
of whom was decked out in her ZBB merch shirt.
Additionally,
ZBB performed their previous hit, "Homegrown,"
as well as "Roots" from
their recently-released "Welcome Home" album. See the
"Homegrown" and "Roots" performances here and here respectively.
Critical
reception for Zac Brown Band’s Welcome Home:
Pop Matters (Rating: 7/10) Welcome Home is a beautiful record, full of
imagery and experiences, and a worthy return to the style that made Zac Brown
Band’s debut as successful as it was. It’s also a strong step forward to
continuing the band’s success and ability to make personal connections to
listeners.
Allmusic
(Rating: 3
STARS) It's a statement of comfort from
the ZBB, letting fans who found the genre-bending experiments of the 2015 set
Jekyll + Hyde disquieting know that the group has gotten back to basics.....
While the constant parade of country homilies gets a bit
weary, the sound of
Welcome Home is a warm, comfortable bath. Brown still has a way with a honeyed
melody and his band is just as supple, meaning this album is the very
definition of music as comfort food. Coziness certainly has its appeal -- it
works as a balm and a tonic -- but it's hard to shake the feeling that the Zac
Brown Band overplay their hand somewhat by insisting they've reconnected with
their roots. All those lyrics feel calculated and defensive, undercutting the
grace of the music.
Rolling Stone (Rating: 2.1/2 STARS) ....At
this point, ZBB is best at flexing their muscular country-rock fusion, and the
most affecting songs on Welcome Home follow in the tradition of the band's 2015
hit "Homegrown," a song that walked the line between down-home
humility and delightful radio-pop fodder. High points "Roots" and
"Your Majesty," likewise, are some of the most highly produced, least
rootsy moments on the album.... Zac Brown is laboring strenuously to ensure
everyone that he still drinks cold beer on a Friday night, apologizing for a
musical adventurousness that he'd be better off simply embracing.
Uncut (Rating: 50/100) Unfortunately, this conservative album
wastes his eight-member backing band, who have much more range and power than
these songs would indicate.
Slant Magazine (Raing: 2.1/2 STARS) …Coming from a multi-platinum star whose fans
criticized his band’s last album, Jekyll + Hyde, for straying too far into
crossover pop territory, Zac Brown’s constant reassurances throughout Welcome
Home that he’s still just a regular dude, set to 40 minutes of aggressively
bland Americana, give off the stench of overcompensation. And to lend street
cred to this stylistic regression to their original stripped-down country-pop
style....If the album's greatest sin was simply sonic banality, it would be a
lot more palatable. Far worse is the cynical nature of the album's roosty
overtures.
Chris Stapleton with From A Room: Volume 1 (Mercury/Universal Music Group Nashville) fell
1-2 (2-4 BB200)
selling 65,869 copies
(down 67%; 2-week total 268,023) while Stapleton’s TRAVELLER (MERCURY/ UMGN) fell 2-3 (#22-28 BB200) selling 12,770 copies (down 15%; 107 week total 1,943,300).
Keith Urban with RIPCORD (Hit Red/Capitol Nashville)
fell 3-4 (40-39 BB200) selling 7,716 copies
(up 4%; 54-week total 577,700).
Brett Young with self-titled debut (BMLG) slipped 4-5 (#48 BB200) selling 4,584 copies
(up 4%; 14-week total 73,000).
Florida Georgia Line with DIG YOUR ROOTS (BMLG) fell 5-6
(#55-51 BB200) selling 2,537 copies (up 2%; 38-week total 389,400).
Thomas Rhett with
TANGLED UP (Valory) rose 10-9 (#87-83 BB200) selling 1,777
copies (up 12%; 85-week total 573,400).
Miranda Lambert with THE WEIGHT OF THESE WINGS (Vanner/ RCA Nashville/Sony Music Nashville)
fell 9-10 (83-84 BB200) selling 3,970 copies (26-week total 350,600).
Outside the
Top 10
Willie Nelson with GOD’S PROBLEM CHILD (Legacy) fell 6-11 (#61-86 BB200) selling 7,517 copies (down 23%; 3-week total 51,800).
Kane Brown with
self-titled KANE BROWN (Zone 4/RCA
Nashville) climbed 23-12 (#161-97 BB200) selling
3,347 copies
(24-week total 149,600)
Jason Aldean with THEY DON'T KNOW (Macon/Broken Bow) rose
14-13 (#112-105 BB200) selling 2,647 copies
(36-week total 378,700).
Jon Pardi with CALIFORNIA SUNRISE fell 12-14 (#103-106 BB200) selling 1,900 copies
(48-week 148,100).
Brantley Gilbert with The Devil Dont Sleep (Valory | BMLG)
fell 13-15 selling 2,667 copies
(16-week total 168,400).
Blake Shelton with IF I'M HONEST (Warner Bros. Nashville |
WMN) fell 16-18 (#124-129 BB200)
selling 1,900 copies (52-week total 598,600).
Maren Morris with HERO (Columbia Nashville | SMN)
retreated 11-20 (88-140 BB200)
selling 1,900 copies
(down 40%; 50-week total 223,500).
Kelsea Ballerini with THE FIRST TIME (Black River) held at #21 (149-153 BB200) selling 1,920 copies
(105-week total 282,000)
Outside the
Top 25
Brad Paisley with LOVE
AND WAR (Arista Nashville/Sony Music Nashville) fell 17-26 (#136-176 BB200) selling 3,561 copies (down 22%, 4-week total 43,800).
Colter Wall with his self-titled COLTER WALL (Young Mary's Record Co.)
made a debut at #50 on Top Country
Albums selling 2,600
copies. It was
the 14th best selling country set and ranked #91 in the US best sellers this chart frame.
Critical
reception for Colter Wall’s Colter Wall:
Colter’s singing is so thick
with originality, yet hauntingly familiar. But music is not a skills
competition, or solely a display of natural virtue, despite this prevalent
misnomer spreading throughout popular culture and reality television. Without
something to say, without that morsel of emotion and connectivity to the human
experience, Colter’s notation is just a noise, inescapably interesting as it
may be...This is music that could be flattered by old cow bones clanging
together, and the 60 cycle hum of amps on the verge if going on the fritz—a
more dirty, gritty approach, with more space and wetness in the signals to
enhance the vibe and imbibe the imagination.... But with Colter Wall, with that
voice, with the wisdom that is hard not to recognize behind his eyes, it’s an
imperative one. Saving Country Music 1 3/4 Guns Up (8/10)
Year-To-Date Albums
7,846,000 (Physical sales 4,908,000
(down -17.5%) + Digital sales 2,396,000 (down -22.7%) which is 13.3% down at the same point in 2016 (9,047,000
sales)
Year-To-Date Digital Tracks
27,856,000 down 23.5% at the same point in 2016 (36,427,000)
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:
Sam Hunt, who
performed his latest single, “Body Like a Back Road” (MCA
Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville), on the live ABC broadcast of the
Billboard Music Awards on May 21, extended the track’s domination on the Hot
Country Songs chart to a 15th week.
The song, from Hunt’s upcoming sophomore full-length
album (whose release date has not yet been announced), increased 9% to 16.7
million U.S. streams and likewise tops Country Streaming Songs for a 15th week.
It ruled Country Digital Song Sales for a 16th frame, declining 2% to 47,000
downloads sold. (It ranked at No.3 on Country Airplay, down 3% to 42.4 million
in audience, after three weeks at No.1.)
“Back Road” is now the sixth-longest-reigning No.1
in the Hot Country Songs chart’s 58-year history. Florida Georgia Line’s
“Cruise” set the record with 24 weeks on top in 2012 and 2013. Hunt’s hit
passed three 14-week No.1s: Jim Reeves’ “He’ll Have to Go” (1960), Hank Locklin’s
“Please Help Me, I’m Falling” (1960) and Jason Aldean’s “Burnin’ It Down”
(2014).
Hot County
Songs
** No.1 (16
weeks) ** “Body Like A Back Road” Sam
Hunt
** Airplay
Gainer ** No.4 “If I Told You” Darius
Rucker
** Hot Shot
Debut ** No.19 “Ghost In This House” Lauren
Duski
** Digital
& Streaming Gainer ** No.28 “It Ain't My Fault” Brothers Osborne
Debut
No.26 “Losing Sleep” Chris Young
Debut
No.41 “The Long Way” Brett Eldredge
Debut
No.45 “They Don't Know” Jason Aldean
Debut
No.49 “Heart Break” Lady Antebellum
Luke
Combs with “Hurricane”
(River House/Columbia Nashville) topped Country Airplay for a second week,
decreasing 4% to 45.8 million in audience. He is the first rookie
release to reign for multiple weeks since Florida Georgia Line’s “Cruise”
(three weeks, beginning on the chart dated Dec. 15, 2012).
The last solo male to lead the list for more than one week with a first
entry? Darius Rucker, whose “Don’t Think I Don’t Think About It” dominated for
two weeks starting Oct. 4, 2008. On Hot Country Songs, “Hurricane” ranks at its
No. 3 peak for a fifth consecutive week.
Rascal
Flatts rolled up its 31st Country Airplay top 10, as “Yours If You Want It” (Big Machine) increased 8% to 24 million
audience impressions and pushed 12-10. Out of groups that contain three
members or more, the trio pads its lead for the most top 10s since the chart
began in 1990; Alabama follows with 24. Among all acts, George Strait leads
with 61 Country Airplay top 10s.
Country
Airplay
***
No. 1 (2 weeks) *** "Hurricane” Luke
Combs 45.845 million audience (-1.777 million) / 8,212 radio plays (-217)
** Most
Increased Audience/ Most Added ** No.25 “Every Little Thing” Carly Pearce 6.341 million audience
gain thanks to 27 fresh radio
commitments (ADDS)
**
Hot Shot Debut ** No.52 “Fix A Drink” Chris
Janson
Debut
No.59 “11:59 (central Standard Time)” The
Railers
Billboard Country Digital Singles
Chart
Sam Hunt with “Body Like a Back Road”
(MCA Nashville) held at No.1 on the Billboard
Country Song Sales Chart for
a 16th week selling 47,000 downloads (down 2%; 16-week total 952,000).
On
the overall Digital Song Sales chart, it remained at No.8, seven places behind
the No.1 “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber (115,000
downloads sold, up 10%, in the week ending May 18, according to Nielsen Music).
The NBC’s Voice
season 12 contestant Lauren Duski for her
semi-finals performance (May 15), the Michigan native chose the 1990 No.5 Hot
Country Songs hit “Ghost In This House” by Shenandoah (later covered by Alison
Krauss). Duski’s version launched at No.2
on Country Digital Song Sales (#12 Digital
Songs; 37,000 sold)
and No.19 on Hot Country Songs.
Brett Young with “In Case You Didn’t Know” fell
2-3 (#20-17 Digital Songs; 30,000 sales; 33-week
total 559,000)
Luke Combs with “Hurricane” held at #4 (#25-24 Digital
Songs; 23,000 sales; up 4%; 25-week total 414,000).
Keith Urban with “The Fighter,” featuring Carrie Underwood (Hit Red/Capitol
Nashville), held at #5 (#28-29 Digital Songs; 21,000 sales; 20-week total 536,000).
Darius Rucker with “If I Told You” climbed 7-6 (40-33 Digital
Songs; 20,000 sales; up 5%; 21-week
total 290,000).
Chris Young with “Losing Sleep” made a
debut at #7 (#31 Digital Songs; 19,000 sales)
Thomas Rhett feat. Maren Morris with “Craving
You” held at #8 (#45-50 Digital
Songs; 15,000 sales; 7-week total 132,000).
Florida Georgia
Line feat. Backstreet Boys with
“God,
Your Mama, And Me” was a non-mover at #9 (13,000
sales; 15-week
total 292,000).
Lady Antebellum with “You Look Good” rose 16-10 (11,000 sales;
17-week total 220,000).
Outside the Top 10
Kane Brown feat Lauren Alaina with “What
If’s” made a chart debut at #11 (11,000
sales; Total 85,000)
Brett Eldredge with “Long Way” arrived at #14 selling 11,000 downloads.
Chris Stapleton with “Either Way” fell 3-18 (11,000 sales; down 52%; total 34,000)
Country Aircheck MEDIABASE
Chart
22
May 2017
Luke Combs Is
#1 For Second Consecutive Week With 'Hurricane'
Congratulations
to Columbia Nashville/River House artist Luke Combs for scoring the #1 spot on
the MEDIABASE Country singles chart for the second consecutive week with "Hurricane."
Combs first hit #1 last week (May 15) with the song, which is his debut single
at Country radio. The last time an artist held their debut at the chart
pinnacle for more than a week was December 2012. That song was Florida Georgia
Line’s “Cruise.”
Hurricane logged 8,931 radio
spins (-20) and 59.202 million
audience impressions (-0.761 million) with 26717 Total Points from 159 tracking
stations for the tracking week May 14 to May 20, 2017 and published chart May 22nd
2017.
Warner Bros staff celebrate Chris Janson's Most Added single Fix A Drink |
Chris Janson
Is Most-Added With 'Fix A Drink'
Kudos
to Warner Bros./WAR artist Chris Janson for earning 55 MEDIABASE adds with his single,
"Fix A Drink". The song topped the "Most Added" board this chart week.
Billboard Boxscores (Selective Country concerts)
Rank
Artist: #14
Event
Venue City/State: Eric Church Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, N.C.
Dates:
May 20, 2017 Gross Sales: $1,162,223 Attend: 20,313/ 20,313
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices:
$85, $20
Promoters:
Messina Touring
Group/AEG Presents
Rank
Artist: #42
Event
Venue City/State: Chris Stapleton, Maren Morris KeyArena Seattle, Wash.
Dates:
March 28, 2017 Gross Sales: $631,985 Attend: 12,499/ 16,348
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/0 (3849 unsold tickets) Prices: $65,
$30
Promoters:
Live Nation
Rank
Artist: #66
Event
Venue City/State: Thomas Rhett, Kelsea Ballerini, Russell
Dickerson, Ryan Hurd Ervin J. Nutter Center Dayton, Ohio
Dates:
March 11, 2017 Gross Sales: $443,396 Attend: 10,535/10,908
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/0 (373 unsold tickets) Prices: $54.75,
$25
Promoters:
Live Nation
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