Country Billboard Chart News March 12, 2018

In Brief: Billboard Country Charts (Chart issue week of March 17, 2018)

Country Album Chart ** No.1 (7 non-consecutive weeks) ** SELF-TITLED (Deluxe) Kane Brown

Hot Country Songs ** No.1 (15 weeks) ** “Meant To Be” Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line

Country Airplay *** No.1 (2 weeks) ** “Marry Me” Thomas Rhett

Country Digital Songs ** No.1 (13 non-consecutive weeks) ** “Meant To Be” Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line

Billboard Top 200 / Country Album Chart News (Chart issue week of March 17, 2018)

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

'Black Panther: The Album' Earns Third Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart

The set logged the most weeks at No.1 for a soundtrack since “Frozen” in 2014.

Black Panther: The Album collected a third week at No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart (BB200), as the set climbed 2-1 on the list dated March 17. The album earned 76,000 equivalent album units in the week ending March 8 (down 23 percent), according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 15,478 were in traditional album sales.

Billboard Top Country Albums (Chart issue week of March 17, 2018)

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.

Kane Brown with his SELF-TITLED held at No.1 (#27-22 Billboard 200) for a 7th non-consecutive week selling another 4,121 copies (66-week total 340,000).

Chris Stapleton with TRAVELLER (MERCURY/ UMGN) non-mover at No.2 (26-28 BB200) selling 7,086 copies (149-week total 2,240,200) whilst his sets From A Room: Volume 1 (Mercury/Universal Music Group Nashville) rose 5-4 (40-41 BB200) selling 7,482 copies (44-week total 734,400) and From A Room: Volume 2 held at No.7 (57-60 BB200) selling 7,306 copies (14-week total 338,100).

Former No.1 Thomas Rhett with LIFE CHANGES (Valory/Big Machine Label Group) rose 4-3 (#39-36 Billboard 200) selling 2,589 copies (26-week total 246,100).

Former No.1 Luke Bryan with WHAT MAKES YOU COUNTRY (Capitol Nashville | UMGN) fell 3-5 (#30-46 Billboard 200) selling 6,094 copies (13-week total 238,700).

Former No.1 Luke Combs with THIS ONE’S FOR YOU (River House/ Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville) held at No.6 (#54-49 Billboard 200) selling 2,203 copies (40-week total 198,400).

Brett Young with self- titled BRETT YOUNG (BMLG) held at No.8 (73-65 Billboard 200) selling 1,434 copies (56-week total 191,300)

Jon Pardi with CALIFORNIA SUNRISE (Capitol Nashville | UMGN) held at No.9 (99-87 Billboard 200) selling 1,421 copies (90-week total 222,900)

Outside the Top 10

Old Dominion with HAPPY ENDINGS (RCA Nashville | SMN) held at No.12 (#116 BB200) selling 1,366 copies (28-week total 77,100).

Former No.1 Chris Young with LOSING SLEEP (RCA Nashville | SMN) climbed 15-13 (#156-133 BB200) selling 2,698 copies (20-week total 87,500).

Former No.1 Blake Shelton with TEXOMA SHORE (Warner Bros./Warner Music Nashville) rose 19-18 (175-161 BB200) selling another 2,034 copies (18-week total 205,000).

LANCO with HALLELUJAH NIGHTS (Arista Nashville | SMN) fell 13-20 (146-163 BB200) selling 1,346 copies (7-week total 26,200).

Kid Rock with SWEET SOUTHERN SUGAR rounded out the top 25 falling 16-25 selling 3,580 copies (16-week total 136,000)

FALLING SHORT of Top 50:

On the Country Album Sales list (pure sales; old methodology)

Big Smo with his 12-track album SPECIAL RESERVE (2018 Edge Music Nashville | Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com  made a debut at No.35 with sales of around 700 copies.

Year-To-Date Albums

2,818,000 (Physical sales 2,013,000 (down -22.0%) + Digital sales 804,000 (down -33.2%) which is 25.6% down at the same point in 2017 (3,787,000 sales) 

Year-To-Date Digital Tracks

9,552,000 down 30.6% at the same point in 2017 (13,754,000)

Billboard Hot Country Songs (Chart issue week of March 17, 2018)

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:

Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s pop/country crossover hit “Meant to Be” (Warner Bros./Big Machine Label Group) led Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, for a 15th week (on the chart dated March 17), extending its record for the most time at No. 1 for song with lead female vocals in the chart's 59-year history.

On the all-genre Billboard Hot 100, the song entered the top five, rising 7-5, as its benefitted from multi-format support at both pop and country radio, where it's being dually promoted. It also ranked at No. 6 on the all-genre Digital Song Sales chart (34,000 sold) and No. 9 on Streaming Songs (20.9 million U.S. streams).

At country, where the majority of program directors lean on research, record labels sometimes need a proven story to win programmers over, especially when a song involves a pop artist.

"I told our staff from day one, if there is a station that doesn't want to play it, don't get into a debate," Big Machine Label Group executive VP and BMLG Records president Jimmy Harnen told Billboard of "Meant." "Just show them the sales, streams and audience impressions. Sometimes you have to listen with your eyes."

Hot County Songs

** No.1 (15 weeks)/ Airplay Gainer ** “Meant To Be” Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line

** Digital/ Streaming Gainer ** No.25 “I Was Jack (You Were Diane) Jake Owen

** Hot Shot Debut ** No.50 “Wild West” Runaway June

Billboard Country Airplay (Chart issue week of March 17, 2018)

Thomas Rhett held at No.1 with “Marry Me” (Valory), up 2 percent to 41.605 million impressions.

Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s pop/country crossover smash "Meant to Be" (Warner Bros./Big Machine Label Group) marks a new milestone, as it reaches the top 10 of Billboard's Country Airplay chart, rising 11-9 on the list dated March 17. 

The song surged by 24 percent to 26.4 million audience impressions in the week ending March 8, according to Nielsen Music, earning Most Increased Audience honors.

FGL – Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley – notched its 14th Country Airplay top 10 and pop singer-songwriter Rexha earns her first (in her first visit to the chart).

Country Airplay

*** No.1 (2 weeks) *** “Marry Me” Thomas Rhett 41.605 million audience (+0.904 million) / 7,912 radio plays (+89)

** Most Increased Audience ** No.9 “Meant To Be” Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line

** Most Added ** No.27 “I Was Jack (You Were Diane) Jake Owen

** Hot Shot Debut ** No.59 “Young Forever” Eric Paslay

Billboard Country Digital Singles Chart 

(Chart issue week of March 17, 2018)

Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line with “Meant To Be” (Warner Bros. | BMLG) remained at No.1 for in its 15th chart frame (13 non-consecutive weeks). It held at No.6 on the all genre Digital Songs Chart five places behind Drakes’ "God's Plan," which rebounded 2-1 for a fifth week at No.1 on the Digital Song Sales chart, despite decreasing by 14 percent to 57,000 downloads sold in the week ending March 8. On the Radio Songs chart, "Plan" pushed 5-3, up 8 percent to 95 million in all-format airplay audience in the week ending March 11.

Jason Aldean with “You Make It Easy” (Macon/Broken Bow | BBMG) held at No.2 (#9-10 Digital Songs; 27,000 sales; 6 week total 209,000).

Kane Brown with “Heaven” (Zone 4 | RCA Nashville) rose 4-3 (#22 non-mover Digital Songs; 18,000 sales; 16 week total 256,000) in his 16th frame.

Thomas Rhett with “Marry Me” (Valory) pushed 5-4 (#24-25 Digital Songs; 16,000 sales; 21-week 326,000) in his 21st frame.

Luke Bryan with “Most People Are Good” (Capitol Nashville) climbed 6-5 (#29-32 Digital Songs; 14,000 sales; 9-week total 120,000) in his 9th frame.

Chris Stapleton with “Broken Halos” (Mercury | UMGN) rose 7-6 (#32-37 Digital Songs; 13,000 sales; 28-week total 431,000).

Scotty McCreery with “Five More Minutes” (Triple Tigers) climbed 8-7 (#33-42 Digital Songs; 11,000 sales; 19-week total 271,000).

Jordan Davis with “Singles You Up” lifted 13-8 (10,000 sales; 8-week total 136,000).

Old Dominion with “Written In The Sand” (RCA Nashville | SMN) rose 10-9 (8,000 sales; 18-week total 227,000).

Morgan Wallen feat. Florida Georgia Line with “Up Down” advanced 16-10 (8,000 sales; 12-week total 111,000).

Outside the Top 10

David Lee Murphy & Kenny Chesney with “Everything’s Gonna Be Alright” moved 14-11 (8,000 sales; 5-week total 72,000)

Luke Combs with “One Number Away” climbed 18-12 (8,000 sales; 7-week total 84,000)

Jake Owen with “I Was Jack (You Were Diane)” made a debut at No.13 (7,000 sales; total 11,000).

Blake Shelton with “I Lived It” made a debut at No.19 (6,000 sales; total 26,000).

High Valley with “She's With Me” made a debut at No.25 (4,000 sales; total 93,000)

Cole Swindell with newly released “Break Up In The End” (Warner Bros. | WMN) plummeted 3-21 (5,000 sales; total 27,000)

Falling Off the top 25

Kacey Musgraves 2 new pre-grat tracks “Space Cowboy” (MCA Nashville) and “Butterflies” (MCA Nashville) sold just 3,000 and 2,000 copies (11K & 10K totals) respectively in their second week.

Ashley Monroe with her preview track “Hands On You” (Warner Bros. | WMN) sold less than 2K copies (7K total).

 Country Aircheck MEDIABASE Chart

March 12, 2018

Thomas Rhett Holds At #1 With 'Marry Me' For Second Week

It’s last week all over again. Congrats to Thomas Rhett, Chris Palmer, Ashley Sidoti and the Valory promotion team for again securing the No.1 spot with “Marry Me.” Writers are Shane McAnally, Ashley Gorley, Jesse Frasure and Rhett.

“Marry Me” (Valory) logged 8,694 radio spins (+158) and 59.931 million audience impressions (+1.525 million) with 23440 Total Points (+580) from 157 tracking stations for the tracking week March 4 to March 10, 2018 and published chart March 12th 2018.

Jake Owen Is Most-Added Again With 'I Was Jack (You Were Diane)'

Repeat kudos to Stacy Blythe and the Big Loud reps on landing 68 MEDIABASE adds for Jake Owen’s “I Was Jack (You Were Diane). The song topped the "Most Added" board once again this chart frame.

Big Loud promo team celebrate second Most Added week for Jake Owen

Mediabase Adds (Selective)

Artist/Title (Label) TW Total Historic Adds

JAKE OWEN/I Was Jack (You Were Diane) (Big Loud) 68 128

KELSEA BALLERINI/I Hate Love Songs (Black River) 47 55

ERIC PASLAY/Young Forever (EMI Nashville) 16 42

CHRIS YOUNG/Hangin' On (RCA) 15 68

BRANDON LAY/Speakers, Bleachers And Preachers (EMI Nashville) 12 107

RUSSELL DICKERSON/Blue Tacoma (Triple Tigers) 12 63

CARLY PEARCE/Hide The Wine (Big Machine) 11 127

COLE SWINDELL/Break Up In The End (Warner Bros./WMN) 11 117

LANCO/Born To Love You (Arista) 9 80

BRETT YOUNG/Mercy (BMLGR) 7 104

JIMMIE ALLEN/Best Shot (Stoney Creek) 6 74

DIERKS BENTLEY/Woman, Amen (Capitol) 5 153

MAREN MORRIS/Rich (Columbia) 5 80

DANIELLE BRADBERY/Worth It (BMLGR) 4 32

JERROD NIEMANN/I Got This (Curb) 4 77

ASHLEY MCBRYDE/A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega (Atlantic/WAR) 3 92

KACEY MUSGRAVES/Butterflies (MCA) 3 4

KID ROCK/American Rock'n'Roll (BBR/BMG/Red Bow) 3 53

RUNAWAY JUNE/Wild West (Wheelhouse) 3 110

DENNY STRICKLAND/California Dreamin' (Red Star) 2 6

MORGAN EVANS/Kiss Somebody (Warner Bros./WEA) 2 125

OLD DOMINION/Hotel Key (RCA) 2 2

JILLIAN JACQUELINE/Reasons (Big Loud) 1 46

MITCHELL TENPENNY/Drunk Me (Riser House/Columbia) 1 2

SIR ROSEVELT/Something 'Bout You (Elektra/WAR) 1 20

TRAVIS DENNING/David Ashley Parker From... (Mercury) 1 1

For a detailed report check out Country Aircheck Weekly Issue 592 - March 12, 2018 | Magazine View

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: #16

Event Venue City/State: Blake Shelton, Trace Adkins, Brett Eldredge, Carly Pearce Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, N.C.

Dates: March 10, 2018 Gross Sales: $1,096,380 Attend: 15,436/ 15,436

Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT **Prices: $125, $25

Promoters: Messina Touring Group

Rank Artist: #17

Event Venue City/State: Blake Shelton, Trace Adkins, Brett Eldredge, Carly Pearce Bon Secours Wellness Arena Greenville, S.C.

Dates: March 9, 2018 Gross Sales: $928,038 Attend: 11,869/ 11,869

Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $124, $54

Promoters: Messina Touring Group

Rank Artist: #49

Event Venue City/State: Luke Combs, Ashley McBryde Salem Civic Center Salem, Va.

Dates: March 1, 2018 Gross Sales: $146,995 Attend: 5,651/ 5,651

Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $30, $25

Promoters: FPC Live

Rank Artist: #76

Event Venue City/State: Chase Rice Stage AE Pittsburgh, Pa.

Dates: Feb. 3, 2018 Gross Sales: $59,157 Attend: 2,065/  2,300

Shows/ Sellouts: 1/0 (235 unsold tickets) Prices: $30, $28.50

Promoters: PromoWest Productions

Rank Artist: #94

Event Venue City/State: Lee Brice, Madison County Orpheum Theatre Los Angeles, Calif.

Dates: March 2, 2018 Gross Sales: $46,387 Attend: 1,297/ 2,100

Shows/ Sellouts: 1/0 ** SOLD OUT ** (803 unsold tickets) Prices: $50, $30

Promoters: FPC Live

Latest Billboard Boxscore Chart