Country Billboard Chart News March 25, 2019

Country Billboard Chart News March 25, 2019

In Brief: Billboard Country Charts (Chart issue week of March 30, 2019)

Country Album Chart ** No.1 (29 non-consecutive weeks) ** THIS ONE’S FOR YOU Luke Combs

Hot Country Songs ** No.1 (5 weeks) ** “Beautiful Crazy” Luke Combs

Country Airplay ** No.1 (5 weeks) ** “Beautiful Crazy” Luke Combs

Country Digital Songs ** No.1 (6 non-consecutive weeks) ** “Beautiful Crazy” Luke Combs

Billboard Top 200 / Country Album Chart News (Chart issue week of March 30, 2019)

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

Juice WRLD’s DEATH RACE FOR LOVE spent a second straight week at No.1 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart (BB200), as the set earned 74,000 equivalent album units in the week ending March 21, according to Nielsen Music. That’s down 55 percent compared to its chart-topping opening frame of 165,000 units.

Billboard Top Country Albums (Chart issue week of March 30, 2019)

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.

Luke Combs made history as the first artist to simultaneously lead all five of Billboard’s country charts for multiple weeks: Hot Country Songs, Country Airplay, Country Streaming Songs, Country Digital Song Sales and Top Country Albums (all dated March 30). He first staged the quintuple chart achievement on the lists dated March 9.

One other artist previously led all five charts at the same time for one week: Kane Brown, on Oct. 28, 2017.

Combs, who co-penned “Beautiful Crazy” (River House/Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville) with Wyatt Durrette and Robert Williford, tops all four country song charts — and makes for a personal best for himself on Country Airplay. The ballad leads that chart for a fifth frame, down 3 percent to 39.4 million audience impressions in the week ending March 24, according to Nielsen Music. Combs surpassed his prior longest stay atop the tally, when “She Got the Best of Me” reigned for four weeks starting in October 2018.

“Crazy” initially topped the Country Airplay chart dated March 2, becoming C o m b s’ unprecedented fifth consecutive career-opening entry on the survey to hit No. 1. Before “Crazy” and “Best,” his debut hit, “Hurricane,” led for two weeks beginning May 27, 2017, followed by “When It Rains It Pours,” which also dominated for two frames, beginning Nov. 4, 2017, and “One Number Away” (June 9, 2018).

Combs’ hit is the longest-ruling Country Airplay No. 1 by any act since Thomas Rhett’s “Die a Happy Man,” which crowned the chart for six weeks starting Jan. 2, 2016.

 “Crazy” likewise paced Hot Country Songs chart for a fifth week, as well as Country Streaming Songs for a fifth frame, essentially even week over week with 12.1 million U.S. streams in the week ending March 21. On Country Digital Song Sales, it rebounds 2-1 for a sixth total week at the summit (12,000 sold, up 15 percent in the week ending March 21). Meanwhile, Combs’ debut LP, THIS ONE’S FOR YOU, returned to the Top Country Albums attic (17-12 Billboard 200) for a 29th cumulative week, up less than 1 percent to 24,000 equivalent album units.

Previous week No.1 Maren Morris with GIRL (Columbia Nashville/ Sony Music Nashville [SMN]) slipped 1-2 (#4-18 Billboard 200) in her second week.

Dan + Shay with their self-titled album (Warner Bros./Warner Music Nashville) moved 4-3 (#47-31 BB200) in their 39th week.

Chris Stapleton with the 203-week TRAVELLER (MERCURY/ UMGN) climbed 6-4 (#53-47 BB200) as his set From A Room: Volume 1 (Mercury/Universal Music Group Nashville) fell 18-21 (#190-194 BB200; 98 weeks) and From A Room: Volume 2 rose 19-18 (#194-176 BB200) in its 68th week.

Florida Georgia Line with CAN’T SAY I AIN’T COUNTRY (Big Machine Label Group) slipped 3-5 (#43-48 Billboard 200) in their fifth frame.

Former No.1 Kacey Musgraves with GOLDEN HOUR (MCA Nashville) slipped 5-6 (#51-50 BB200) in her 46th week.

Former No.1 Kane Brown with sophomore album, entitled EXPERIMENT fell 8-9 (#86-88 BB200 frames) in its 19th frame as his self-titled album held at No.7 (#76-78 BB200) in its 120th chart week.

Former 6-week non-consecutive week No.1 Jason Aldean with REARVIEW TOWN (Macon/Broken Bow Records) rose 9-8 (#93-79 BB200) in his 49th chart week.

Outside the Top 10

Thomas Rhett with LIFE CHANGES (Valory) fell 10-11 (#113-131 BB200) in his 80th frame.

Morgan Wallen with IF I KNOW ME (Big Loud Digital EX) moved 14-13 (#144-133 BB200; 42 Top Country Chart weeks).

Jordan Davis with HOME STATE (MCA Nashville) retreated 17-19 (#174-177 BB200) in his 40th chart frame.

Former No1 Cody Johnson with AIN’T NOTHIN’ TO IT (Cojo/Warner Music Nashville) rose 23-20 (#193 re-entry BB200) in his 9th week.

Former No.1 Carrie Underwood with CRY PRETTY dropped 11-22 (#129 to off the BB200) in her 27th chart week.

FALLING SHORT of Top 50:

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

Lauren Jenkins with her 10 track set NO SAINT (Big Machine Label Group, LLC | Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com) made a debut at No.18.

Year-To-Date Albums

2,342,000 (Physical sales 1,610,000 (down -27.2%) + Digital sales 732,000 (down -18.5%) which is 24.2% down at the same point in 2018 (3,090,000 sales) 

Year-To-Date Digital Tracks

7,641,000 down 27.1% at the same point in 2018 (10,476,000)

Billboard Hot Country Songs (Chart issue week of March 30, 2019)

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:

Luke Combs with “Beautiful Crazy’’ (River House/ Columbia Nashville) led both Hot Country Songs for a fifth frame.

Kane Brown netted his fourth Hot Country Songs top 10 as “Good as You” (Zone 4/RCA Nashville) hopped 11-10. It increased by 9 percent to 18.7 million audience impressions and climbed 14-11 on Country Airplay.

Brown boasts two Hot Country Songs No. 1s: “What Ifs,” featuring Lauren Alaina (five weeks, beginning Oct. 21, 2017), and “Lose It” (Nov.24, 2018). His other top 10, “Heaven,” hit No. 2 in March 2018.

Hot County Songs

** No.1 (5 weeks)/ Digital Gainer ** “Beautiful Crazy” Luke Combs  

** Airplay Gainer” No.4 “Millionaire” Chris Stapleton

** Streaming Gainer ** No.33 “Raised On Country” Chris Young  

** Hot Shot Debut ** No.43 “The Weight Of The Badge” George Strait

Debut No.50 “The Ones That Didn't Make It Back Home” Justin Moore

Billboard Country Airplay (Chart issue week of March 30, 2019)

Luke Combs with “Beautiful Crazy” topped the chart for a fifth week with a 3% decrease in audience (-1.205 million).

What makes it such a rare lengthy leader? “It’s a special  song,” said KKBQ Houston PD Johnny Chiang. “It’s pretty amazing to see that in a matter of just a few songs, Luke Combs has become a core artist on most country stations . . . a new artist whose songs are now pretty much must-adds out of the box. It’s really incredible.”

Superstar Reba McEntire extended her record for the most Country Airplay appearances among women as “Freedom” (Rockin’ R/Big Machine) entered as the chart’s top debut at No. 52 with 1.7 million impressions.

It’s her 69th visit to the chart and first since December 2017.

McEntire padded her lead among women over runner-up Martina McBride, with 56 Country Airplay appearances. Among all acts, McEntire, who has notched 11 No. 1s among 36 top 10s, ranks seventh for the most entries.

George Strait leads all artists with 99; his latest, “Every Little Honky Tonk Bar” (MCA Nashville), lifts 22-21 (10.9 million in audience, up 7 percent)

Country Airplay

*** No.1 (5 weeks) *** “Beautiful Crazy” Luke Combs 39.364 million audience (-1.205 million) / 8,083 radio plays (-151).

** Most Increased Audience ** No. “Millionaire” Chris Stapleton +2.569 million audience gain

** Most Added ** No. 40 “Every Little Thing” Russell Dickerson (24 ADDS)

** Hot Shot Debut ** No.52 “Freedom” Reba McEntire

Debut No.60 “Better Off Gone” Logan Mize

Billboard Country Digital Singles Chart 

(Chart issue week of March 30, 2019)

Former No1 Luke Combs with Beautiful Crazy” moved 2-1 (#16-12 Digital Songs) to lead the Country Digital Songs chart for a 6th non-consecutive week.

It was eleven places behind Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper's "Shallow" as the ballad ruled Digital Song Sales for a ninth week (32,000, down 8 percent), extending Gaga's longest command among her six No.1s and marking the chart's longest-running leader since Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito," featuring Justin Bieber, ran up a record 17 weeks at No. 1 in 2017.

Previous No.1 Thomas Rhett with “Look What God Gave Her” rose 4-2 (#27 non-mover Digital Songs).

Dan + Shay (Dan Smyers and Shay Mooney) with Speechless” held at No.3 (#26-28 Digital Songs; 39 chart weeks) as hit single “Tequila” fell 8-9 (#39-37 Digital Songs) in its 61st frame.

 George Strait with “The Weight Of The Badge” made a debut at No.4 (#29 New Entry Digital Songs).

Morgan Wallen with “Whiskey Glasses” rose 6-5 (#34-30 Digital Songs) in his 17th week.

Kelsea Ballerini with “Miss Me More” fell 5-6 (#33-31 Digital Songs) in her 20th week.

Kane Brown with “Good As You” held at No.7 (#35 non-mover Digital Songs) in his 9th frame.

Kacey Musgraves with “Rainbow” pushed 11-8 (#36 Re-Entry Digital Songs) in her 6th week.

Maren Morris with GIRL advanced 12-10 (#40 Re-Entry Digital Songs) in her 9th frame.

Outside the Top 10

Lee Brice with “Rumor” fell 9-11 (#43-42 Digital Songs) in his 14th week.

Jake Owen with “Down To The Honkytonk” fell 10-12 (#49-44 Digital Songs) in his 30th frame.

Previous weeks’ No.1 Dustin Lynch with Ridin’ Roads fell 1-17.

Brad Paisley’s new single “My Miracle” honored his wife of 16 years, actress Kimberly Williams-Paisley. It entered Country Digital Song Sales at No.19 (4,000 sold) in its first full week of tracking.

Country Aircheck MEDIABASE Chart

March 25, 2019

Luke Combs Hits #1 For A Third Consecutive Week

Triple congrats to Luke Combs, Steve Hodges, Shane Allen and the Columbia promotion team on landing a third week at No.1 with “Beautiful Crazy.” The song is the fifth chart-topper from his debut album THIS ONE’S FOR YOU. Songwriters are Wyatt Durrette, Robert Williford and Combs.

“Beautiful Crazy” (River House/Columbia) held at No.1 logging 8,491 radio spins (-423), 54.199 million audience impressions (-2.927) with 27821 Total Points (-1138) from 156 tracking stations (156 ADDS) for the tracking week March 17 to March 23, 2019 and published chart dated March 25, 2019.

Dustin Lynch Rides Road To Most Added

Kudos to Lee Adams, Shelley Hargis Gaines and the Broken Bow reps on notching 40 adds for Dustin Lynch’s “Ridin’ Roads”. The song topped the "Most Added" board this chart week.

Mediabase Adds (Selective)

Artist/Title (Label)         TW       Total Historic Adds

DUSTIN LYNCH/Ridin' Roads (Broken Bow)       40         44        

BRAD PAISLEY/My Miracle (Arista)        36         43        

HUNTER HAYES/Heartbreak (Atlantic/WMN)       28         29        

RUSSELL DICKERSON/Every Little Thing (Triple Tigers)  13         123      

LAUREN ALAINA/Ladies In The '90s (19/Mercury)           12         113      

CHRIS JANSON/Good Vibes (Warner Bros./WAR)          10         71        

TIM MCGRAW/Thought About You (Columbia)    10         110      

DIERKS BENTLEY/Living (Capitol)         9          84        

HARDY/Rednecker (Tree Vibez/Big Loud)           8          87        

JASON ALDEAN/Rearview Town (Macon Music/Broken Bow)      8          114      

KING CALAWAY/World For Two (Stoney Creek)  7          42        

LOGAN MIZE/Better Off Gone (Big Yellow Dog) 7          55        

MAREN MORRIS/Girl (Columbia)           7          141      

DAN + SHAY/All To Myself (Warner Bros./WAR) 5          100      

ERIC CHURCH/Some Of It (EMI Nashville)          5          135      

GEORGE STRAIT/Every Little Honky Tonk Bar (MCA)     5          144      

WALKER HAYES/90's Country (Monument/Arista)           5          70        

JENNIFER NETTLES/I Can Do Hard Things (Big Machine)          4          6         

CASSADEE POPE/If My Heart Had A Heart (Awake Music)         3          6         

REBA MCENTIRE/Freedom (Big Machine)          3          3         

CARLY PEARCE/Closer To You (Big Machine)   2          141      

RACHEL WAMMACK/Enough (RCA)      2          2         

RUNAWAY JUNE/Buy My Own Drinks (Wheelhouse)       2          138      

BLAKE SHELTON/God's Country (Warner Bros./WMN)    1          1         

BRANDON RATCLIFF/Rules Of Breaking Up (Monument/Columbia)         1          1         

DANIELLE BRADBERY f/P. MCCOLLUM/Shallow (Big Machine) 1          1         

FLORIDA GEORGIA LINE f/J. ALDEAN/Can't Hide Red (BMLGR)            1          1         

GONE WEST/Gone West (Triple Tigers)  1          1         

KACEY MUSGRAVES/Rainbow (MCA)   1          115      

LANCO/Rival (Arista)     1          1         

RANDALL KING/Takin' Me A Heartbreak (---)       1          1

For a detailed report check out Country Aircheck Weekly March 25, 2019, Issue 645  - 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: #4

Event Venue City/State: Eric Church Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, N.C.

Dates: March 15-16 Gross Sales: $2,972,763 Attend: 31,570/ 31,570

Shows/ Sellouts: 2/2 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $149, $29

Promoters: Messina Touring Group/AEG Presents

Rank Artist: #17

Event Venue City/State: Blake Shelton, Lauren Alaina, Trace Adkins, John Anderson, The Bellamy Brothers Xcel Energy Center Xcel Energy Center St. Paul, Minn.

Dates: Mar-15   Gross Sales: $1,275,949 Attend: 13,785/ 13,785 

Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $129, $29

Promoters: Messina Touring Group/AEG Presents         

Rank Artist: #29

Event Venue City/State: Blake Shelton, Lauren Alaina, Trace Adkins, John Anderson, The Bellamy Brothers Resch Center Green Bay, Wis.

Dates:  Mar-16 Gross Sales: $927,588 Attend: 7,780/ 7,780

Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $129, $49

Promoters: Messina Touring Group/AEG Presents

Latest Billboard Boxscore Chart