Country
Billboard Chart News April 25, 2016
In
Brief: Billboard Country Charts (Chart issue week of May 7, 2016)
Country Album
Chart ** No.1 SAILOR’S GUIDE TO EARTH Sturgill
Simpson
Hot Country
Songs ** No.1 (2 weeks) ** Somewhere On A
Beach” Dierks Bentley
Country Airplay
** No.1 (1 week) ** “Confession” Florida Georgia Line
Country Digital
Songs ** No.1 (4 non-consecutive weeks) ** “Humble
and Kind” Tim McGraw
The
Billboard 200 chart measures multi-metric album consumption, which includes
traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent
albums (SEA).
Prince ruled the Nos.1 and 2 slots
on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart
(BB200) with the greatest hits set THE VERY BEST OF PRINCE and the PURPLE RAIN soundtrack,
as both titles re-enter the chart in the wake of his death on April 21.
The
Very Best of Prince marked the Purple One’s fifth No.1 album on the Billboard
200 chart, and first since 3121 debuted atop the list on April 8, 2006,
spending one week at No.1.
The
Very Best of Prince earned 179,000 equivalent album units in the week ending
April 21 (up 10,872 percent compared to the previous week). Of that sum, 100,174 copies were in traditional
album sales (up 11,232%).
As
for Purple Rain, it shifted 69,000 units (62,544 in pure album sales; up 3,101%).
Prince
died on April 21, the final day of the latest tracking week for the new chart,
meaning that fans rushed to purchase his music in the roughly half-day left in
the tracking week (after the news broke around 10 a.m. PT), enough to send him
to Nos.1 and 2.
Another
Prince set hit the top 10, as his triple album The Hits/The B-Sides re-entered
at No. 6 with 41,000 units (up 8,203 percent), with 24,000 of that sum in album
sales (up 10,351%). The album originally debuted and peaked at No.19 on Oct. 2,
1993.
The
three titles were also the Nos.1, 2 and 7 selling albums of the week, as
reflected on the Top Album Sales chart (which tallies the week’s best selling
albums).
Incredibly,
in the week ending April 21, Prince’s overall catalog of albums sold 256,000
copies -- an increase of 5,298 percent compared to the previous week (5,000).
At
No.3 on the Billboard 200, saw the highest debut of the week from
singer/songwriter Sturgill Simpson, as his new SAILOR’S GUIDE TO EARTH entered with
55,000 units (52,464 in pure album sales). It was the first top 40-charting
album for the singer-songwriter, who previously went as high as No.59 the week
his last album, Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, debuted (May 31, 2014). Metamodern
went on to sell 195,000 copies in the U.S. and garnered a Grammy Award
nomination for best Americana album. His first album, High Top Mountain, was
released in 2013 and reached No. 11 on the Heatseekers Albums chart the
following year (it missed the Billboard 200).
Rock
band Santana scored its 14th top 10
album with the bow of Santana IV at
No. 5 (42,000 units; 40,159 copies in pure album sales). The new album is the
first to feature the group’s early 1970s line-up since the 1971 release Santana
III. The latter set spent five weeks at No. 1.
Chris Stapleton with TRAVELLER dipped 3-7 with 37,000 units (down 22%)
Americana singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson topped the Billboard Top Country Albums survey
for the first time as SAILOR’S GUIDE TO EARTH (Atlantic/Atlantic Group)
bows with 52,464 sales in its opening week. It also started at No.1 on
Top Current Albums, Top Rock Albums and Folk Albums. Simpson’s third appearance
on Top Country Albums followeds his No.31-peaking 2014 debut, High Top Mountain
(released June 11, 2013 and sold 14,000
copies in its first year), and 2014’s conscious-raising breakout album,
Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (Peaks: No.8 Top Country Albums; No.59
Billboard 200) which was released on May 13, 2014 and made a debut at No.59 on
the Billboard and #11 Country with sales of 5,500 outselling much bigger names
and proving that DYI country music was pretty viable in its own right.
Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth was also the largest selling
record of new releases across all genres according to Billboard. For the second
week in a row, following The Lumineers' CLEOPATRA (Dualtone; falling 1-9
Billboard 200) an Americana album has topped the charts and, along with A
Sailor's Guide and Chris Stapleton’s Traveller, marked three Americana albums
now resting firmly in the Billboard Top Ten. “A glance at Billboard’s Top 200 affirms that the popularity of
Americana music is on the rise,” commented Jed Hilly, Executive
Director of the Americana Music Association. “It’s an exciting time for the American Roots Music community.”
Produced by Simpson, A Sailor's Guide To Earth was written-beginning to
end-as a letter to his first child who arrived during the summer of 2014 and
features eight original songs as well as a rendition of Nirvana's "In Bloom."
Recorded primarily at Nashville's The Butcher Shoppe, Simpson was joined
in the studio by Grammy Award-winning engineer David Ferguson (Johnny Cash,
John Prine, "Cowboy" Jack Clement) and assistant engineer Sean Sullivan.
Along with members of his touring band, the album features Dave Roe on bass,
Dan Dugmore on steel guitar, Dougie Wilkinson on bagpipes, Garo Yellin and
Arthur Cook on cello, Jonathan Dinklage and Whitney LaGrange on violin and
special guests The Dap-Kings.
Critical
reception for Sturgill Simpson’s Sailor’s Guide to Earth:
Allmusic (Rating: 4 STARS) ...it's an old-fashioned concept
album, one that tells a story -- it's a letter to his newborn son, telling him
how to become a man -- and is dressed in garish art suited to the side of a
Chevy van. The overarching aesthetics are a throwback to the golden age of
vinyl but Simpson is too smart to succumb to mere revivalism: he seeks to
expand, not retract...., Simpson doesn't limit his prog to merely rock. He's
equally attracted to the symphonic haze of progressive folk and the
boundary-blurring soul of Muscle Shoals, using its thick swathes of horns and
smears of slide guitar as binding agents in songs that occasionally need to be
pulled together. ..He's certainly not indifferent to songs -- strong ones
punctuate the voyage, ones that veer closer to soul than country -- but he
cherishes the voyage, so there are times when A Sailor's Guide to Earth
threatens to float away on a slipstream of strings and melodies that are
heartfelt and hookless. Even at these moments, his ambition remains
ingratiating: he might not quite arrive precisely where he intended, but as he
makes it so clear throughout the album, what matters is the journey itself.
Entertainment
Weekly (Rating: A-) Blending
Memphis soul, New Orleans funk (thanks, in part, to the Dap-Kings, who play on
five songs), and swamp-rock blues, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth is the
Kentucky-native’s most sonically ambitious set yet....Overall, the album is
strikingly intimate. At times, it feels like you’ve somehow found yourself in
the singer’s hallway, listening as he coos lullabies to his child in a nursery.
“It’s all a dream,” he confides on “Breakers Roar” and reiterates on “Oh
Sarah.” The same might be said for the collection itself.
Nick Bollinger (RadioNz) delved into an album
that combines soul horns and grunge anthems with classic country from Sturgill
Simpson.
The
Guardian Observer (Rating: 3 STARS) …. Since the days of the wayfaring bards, the touring life has largely
been coded male. But not all itinerants enjoy artificial irresponsibility.
Breakout country star Sturgill Simpson’s third album is not all about the
conflicts
of a male life
in motion, but much of it deals with the pull of home, long experienced by
sailors, soldiers and musicians. Pushing the boundaries of country even more
than his last, faintly psychedelic album, Simpson has stuffed this involving
song cycle with the sounds of Motown, Memphis soul and an arresting cover of
Nirvana’s In Bloom. Not all of it gels, but as a treatise on male absence,
Sturgill’s Guide is heartfelt.
Rollingstone (Rating: 4
STARS) ....But "country" is a
limiting term for Simpson, who embodies the word in its most inclusive sense.
That's him snarling "Sugar Daddy," the nasty blues-boogie theme song
to HBO's Vinyl, a song that doesn't appear here. His cover of Nirvana's
"In Bloom" does, however, and it's the album's most brilliant WTF
moment: Delivered as a slow-building R&B ballad, it has enough traditional
twang to give Kurt Cobain's gun-lust satire a fresh twist, while tweaking the
elliptical chorus with an echo of the Bee Gees' Southern-soul exercise "To
Love Somebody." Subtle, smart and heart-stabbing, it's one of the best
Cobain readings ever. Sailor's Guide is classic album length – nine songs, 39
minutes – and best heard in one sitting; this is Nashville craft less as pop
science than as rangy headphone storytelling. That's clearest on "Sea Stories,"
a cautionary tale that involves an enlisted man in Southeast Asia who gets
booted from the Navy and ends up back home with a drug habit he regrets, but
not completely. "Flying high beats dying for lies in a politician's
war," he hollers. It's one of many powerfully defiant moments from an
artist who's just getting started.
Pop
Matters (Rating: 9/10) Fast-forward two
years and the once-indie king of country music has signed a major label deal.
After a relentless tour schedule that yielded no new songs, the first whiff of
new music from Simpson was the scuzz-rock “Sugar Daddy”, the theme song for
HBO’s new series Vinyl. Hinting at a new direction, the announcement of third
album A Sailor’s Guide to Earth was accompanied by the hedonistic roadhouse
groove of
first single “Brace For Impact (Live a Little)”. Bearing little
resemblance to the songs and sound that made Simpson a household name, a second
single—a cover of Nirvana’s “In Bloom”, replete with weeping pedal steel,
strings and Motown horns—was issued. Having shed Nashville outsider Dave Cobb
who produced Metamodern Sounds and Simpson’s debut LP, High Top Mountain, the
hungry hordes questioned if their savior has forsaken them.....Allaying any
fears of kowtowing to corporate bosses, Simpson sidesteps any stricture imposed
by moneyed suits and rote song forms with A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, the
conceit of which is a two-sided song cycle to his newborn son. With seagulls
and ship bells ushering in the opening movement of “Welcome to Earth
(Pollywog)”, a ceremonial nocturne in which Simpson intones, “Hello, my son /
Welcome to Earth”, before swelling strings give way to a brass rave up courtesy
of the Dap-Kings in a four-minute span, detailing months on the road and missed
growth milestones....The album’s nautical motif is derived from Simpson’s
teenage stint in the Navy, recounted in the cautionary tale “Sea Stories”, the
album’s most country-inflected moment. Debunking press notes that A Sailor’s
Guide to Earth was written in a Kerouacian flurry from front to back—Nirvana
cover notwithstanding—“Oh Sarah”, with its lilting strings and marital
friction, is a reworked song from Simpson’s days fronting Sunday Valley.
Singing, “Out on the road / Is where I’m going to find my way”, the title
character is the swallow guiding Simpson’s AWOL sailor home...By taking his own
path and not issuing Metamodern Sounds Redux, Simpson has proven a visionary
artist unafraid to risk it all by following his muse. As singer, songwriter,
producer and bandleader, Simpson juggled his own destiny on A Sailor’s Guide to
Earth without dropping the baby. Afforded creative freedom many felt would be
stifled, Simpson’s latest musical offspring is a love letter we can all
cherish. Ahmet Ertegun would be proud.
Listening to the new Sturgill Simpson album one questions as to why
the chart managers deemed it as a country release?
Related post (Feb 2016): Saving Country Music
What is country, and what is not country
is a long-standing argument in country music that will never be resolved, and
has been around since the very beginning of the genre. In the last few years, the question has
become even more heated as acts like Sam Hunt, Kelsea Ballerini, and Chris Lane
release singles without a single signifier of the benchmarks people
traditionally consider as country music.
But this week
the debate took a very strange turn when a band from Texas called Green
River Ordinance was told their new album Fifteen was not country enough for
Billboard‘s Country Albums Chart. For the last couple of years country fans
have been questioning how chart managers for Billboard and other entities could
listen to certain songs or performers and consider them country in the
slightest. Yet here is a band making music that’s more country than it is
anything else, and more country than most of what you hear on country radio,
and Billboard is denying their admittance on the country charts....Billboard‘s
country chart manager who responded, “Right now we have decided to not flag
this project country. That’s a judgement call on our part, but we put a lot of
thought into that process. Also, just an FYI; I was a Country radio PD for many
years. That experience helps me make these decisions.”
Chris Stapleton with TRAVELLER (Mercury Nashville | UMGN) fell 3-7 Billboard 200 (#1-2
Country) selling another 29,274 copies in his 51st week (Total sales
1,227,200).
Joey + Rory with HYMNS (Farmhouse/Gaither | Capitol CMG) in its 10th frame fell
16-38 BB200 (#2-3 Country; 12,877 sales; 10-week total 328,00)
Thomas Rhett with TANGLED UP (Valory | BMLG) slipped 24-25 BB200 (a non-mover #4
Country) sold another 5,600 copies in his 30th frame.
Sam Hunt with MONTEVALLO (MCA Nashville | UMGN) fell 34-27 BB200 (non-mover #5
Country; 5324 sales; 78-week total 1,110,300)
Wheeler Walker (stand-up
comic Ben Hoffman) with his “best country but unplayable album” REDNECK SHIT (Pepper Hill/ Thirty Tigers) made a re-entry at No.108
on the Billboard 200 (#14 Country)
selling another 3,003 copies. The album made its first entry on the chart (dated
March 5, 2016) arriving at No.9 Country with 5,780 copies sold. This re-entry
appears to be a combination of word of mouth, continued reaction against the bland mainstream
and lack of “country” music coming out of the Nashville sausage machine and
internet buzz following his Joe Rogan Experience podcast. This
wave of response also landed on UK
shores where it peaked at #2 on UK Country iTunes Album Chart and reached #115
on all genres and stayed in the Top 10 for several days!
Marie
Osmond achieved her first solo top 10 on the Top Country
Albums chart in more than 41 years as MUSIC IS MEDICINE (Oliveme) entered
at No.189 on the BB200, No.72 Top Albums and No.10 Country Albums
selling 3,888 copies.
She posted her first solo entry since 1989’s No.
68-peaking STEPPIN’ STONE and first top 10 since 1974’s IN MY LITTLE CORNER OF
THE WORLD (No. 10). Osmond tallied one top 10 since with brother Donny: 2011’s DONNY
& MARIE opened and peaked at No. 7 (16,000).
MUSIC IS MEDICINE is a testimony of how Osmond overcame her depression
and her own personal issues with God's help through music. Enlisting the
expertise of veteran Country/Pop/Latin producer Jason Deere, Osmond described
the disc as "more contemporary. I'm
a little bit country, a little bit rock 'n' roll, what can I say," she
said. - That Nashville
Sound
Another song from the album features a duet with Marty Roe, lead singer
of the country group Diamond Rio, on a song that addresses second chances in
finding love, something Osmond says she knows about.
"It says, 'I'd love to be your last.' And it's just, oh my gosh,
it's just a beautiful song," she says. "The songs are beautiful, and
I think they'll touch hearts." "I'd Love to Be Your Last"
(writers Rivers Rutherford, Sam Tate, Annie Tate) was previously a tender
acoustic closer on Gretchen Wilson's March 2010 released album I GOT YOUR
COUNTRY RIGHT HERE.
Watch the official music video for >> "Music Is Medicine," (written by Allen
Shamblin, Julia Sinclair and Steve Seskin)
Music Is Medicine (Album Sampler):
Critical reception for Marie Osmond’s Music is Medicine:
Del
McCoury Band’s Del & Woody, a collection of lyrics left behind by Woody
Guthrie and put to music by McCoury, reached #1 on the Billboard Bluegrass chart. No Woody Guthrie project that
included only his songs has ever risen to the top of the Billboard album chart.
McCoury—who at 77 is no stranger to the top of the charts himself—said he is
proud that it was his unique collaboration with the world-acclaimed folk bard
of the depression that pulled Woody to the top.
Hot Country Songs chart, which encompasses airplay, digital sales and
streaming, for a second week, Thomas Rhett’s “T-Shirt”
(Valory) entered the top 10 (12-9).
Critical reception for Marie Osmond’s Music is Medicine:
Hallels.com (Rating: Mixed) .Marie Osmond's "Music is Medicine"
is more than just an album, it's a manifesto.
It's a deeply personal narrative of unadulterated wisdom garnered from a
woman who have had experienced God's healing over bouts of
depression, the suicide of
her son, divorce and re-marriage. ..."Music is Medicine" doesn't find
Osmond stymied in the 80s. Rather, this
"country" record finds more affinity with Keith Urban, Thomas Rhett
and Cam than her 80s peers such as Crystal Gayle and Tanya Tucker. Most obvious is that she has chosen to work
with Jason Greene (Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town) as producer....What sounds
like an odd combination actually works. Olivia Newton-John has the most country
offering on the set. Her duet with
Osmond "Getting Better All the Time" also underscores an
indispensable message that God often uses trials to make us
stronger. Marty Roe of Diamond Rio is in fine
voice. But his duet with Osmond
"I'd Love to Be Your Last" is one of those vanilla cringe-worthy love
songs that Hallmark is noted for...."Baby It's Crazy" is superbly
catchy, "Wild and Sweet" is, as the titular says, sweet, and
"Then There's You" is perfect.
The latter finds Osmond dueting with actor and singer Alex Boye. Boye's gravelly vocal grit gorgeously
complements Osmond's teary-sounding melisma.
Prime Cuts: "Getting Better All the Time" (with Olivia
Newton-John). "Then There's You" (with Alex Boye), "Give Me a
Good Song "(with Sisqo)
Digital Journal (Rating: 4.5 out of 5
stars).... "Give Me a Good
Song" is a cool collaboration with Sisqo, while "Getting Better All
the Time," where she sings with Olivia Newton-John is the highlight duet
on the album...Osmond shows her sassy side on "Baby You're Crazy,"
where the listener can recall Jennifer Nettles from the country duo Sugarland.
Alex Boye is a gem on "Then There's You."
Overall, Marie Osmond's
latest studio album Music is Medicine is sensational. It was definitely worth
the wait for her fans.
Outside
Top 25 Country Albums
Elvis Presley with I'M LEAVIN' (Amazon UK) was new at No.27, The very best of Elvis Folk-Country 1966-1973. This special Record Store Day release includes
masters from Elvis' sessions at RCA Victor's Studio B in Nashville in May 1971,
a period in which several folk writers material surfaced spontaneously amid
gospel and holiday recordings, plus others with similar provenance: from Dylan’s
"Tomorrow Is A Long Time" in 1966, to then-contemporary pop-folk such
as "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues" in 1973, this is Elvis in an
introspective mood.
Willie Nelson And Friends (Cracker Barrel Willie Nelson With Asleep At The Wheel,
Tanya Tucker, Sherley Collie) arrived at No.39,
Porter Wagoner
And Dolly Parton’s THE RIGHT
COMBINATION debuted at No.45 and Buck Owens’ CLASSIC #1
Hits made a bow at No.49.
Most notable
was The Del McCoury Band with the 12 track DEL AND WOODY (McCoury Music/RED)
arrived at No.42.
Del & Woody
was the brainchild of Woody’s daughter, Nora Guthrie. Upon hearing the Del
McCoury Band, she recalls, she had a feeling that Del would be the right man to
write music to some of her father’s lyric sheets. Still, it wasn’t until the
Newport Folk Festival’s 50th anniversary in 2009 that she zeroed in on the
bluegrass patriarch’s unique fitness for what became Del And Woody. The Del McCoury Band will be touring in
support of this release in 2016. On designated “Del & Woody” shows the band
performs this album in its entirety with companion videos to each song playing
behind them. It really does bring Woody’s work to life after many years of
these lyrics sitting on a shelf. - See more at: cybergrass.com
Critical
reception for The Del McCoury Band’s Del and Woody:
American Songwriter (Rating: 4/5 STARS) ...McCoury has done
an excellent job of combining bluegrass melodies, harmonies and
changes with
Guthrie’s lyrics, which actually lend themselves to the bluegrass genre in so
many ways. Guthrie, an underrated guitar self-accompanist, was never known for
complicated music, which only helped add to his everyman legacy. And there’s
really not that much difference between the structure of bluegrass and what was
once called folk music, with the exception of the occasional blue note that
Bill Monroe tossed in, and that McCoury and his players include here as
well.....McCoury has done a great job of bringing all the lyrics to life, and
as the album’s producer he has wisely kept it simple, with pretty much traditional
bluegrass picking and arrangements and none of the out-of-the-box solos that
his band members, especially his mandolinist son Ronnie, are capable of. The
executive producer here is Guthrie’s daughter Nora, who shepherded a similar
project with Billy Bragg and Wilco (Mermaid Avenue) in 1998. There’s nothing
ground-breaking or iconic like “This Land Is Your Land” or “Jesus Christ” here,
but it’s still a pretty cool record. Recommended for fans of Guthrie, McCoury,
and traditional bluegrass in general. Anyone who isn’t a fan of any of the
above, though, probably won’t be converted. It is what it is, a traditional
music form supporting the words of someone who’s been dead for almost half a
century.
Year-To-Date
Albums
7,087,000 (Physical sales 4,660,000
(down 9%) + Digital sales 2,427,000 (down -16.8%)) which is 9.2% down at the same point in 2015 (7,806,000
sales)
Year-To-Date
Digital Tracks
29,110,000 down 20.4% at the same point in 2015 (36,573,000)
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:
Dierks Bentley with “Somewhere on a Beach” (Capitol Nashville) led Billboard’s hybrid
“T-Shirt” was sparked by a 14% increase on Country Airplay, where it also
reached the top 10 (14-10; 28.5 million, up 13 percent). The track zoomed 10-4
on Country Digital Songs (25,000 downloads sold; up 16%) and 10-5 on Country
Streaming Songs (2.3 million U.S. streams, up 14%). “T-Shirt” is Rhett’s sixth
Hot Country Songs top 10 and seventh Country Airplay top 10.
Hot County
Songs
** No.1 (2 weeks)
** “Somewhere On A Beach” Dierks Bentley
** Airplay
Gainer ** No.3 “Think Of You” Chris
Young duet with Cassadee Pope
** Streaming
Gainer ** No.9 “T-Shirt” Thomas Rhett
** Digital
Gainer ** No.29 “Running For You” Kip
Moore
** Hot Shot
Debut ** No.31 “Soulshine” Adam
Wakefield
Debut
No.35 “What The Hell Did I Say” Dierks
Bentley
Debut
No.41 “Stars” Cole Swindell
Debut
No.43 “Livin' The Dream” Drake White
Debut
No.47 “Southern Boy” Jordan Rager with
Jason Aldean
Debut
No.48 “In Bloom” Sturgill Simpson
Florida
Georgia Line with “Confession” (Republic Nashville) crowned Billboard’s
Country Airplay chart (dated May 7), lifting 2-1, up 4% to 44.8 million
audience impressions in the tracking week ending April 24, according to Nielsen
Music.
Penned by Rodney Clawson, Ross Copperman and Matt Jenkins, “Confession”
marked a milestone for the duo of Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard.
The fifth single from FGL’s sophomore album, ANYTHING GOES, is the pair’s
fourth to top Country Airplay, following “Sippin’ on Fire” (June 20, 2015),
“Sun Daze” (Feb. 28, 2015) and “Dirt” (Oct. 25, 2014). (The title-track fourth
single peaked at No. 3 in October.)
Florida Georgia Line’s first full studio set, Here’s to the Good Times,
also produced four Country Airplay leaders (2012-14), matching the record for
the most No.1s from a debut major-label album, previously set by Brooks &
Dunn (Brand New Man, 1991-92) and Zac Brown Band (The Foundation, 2008-10).
FGL join ZBB as the only two acts to accomplish four Country Airplay
chart-toppers from each of their first two albums. ZBB’s second
full-length, You Get What You Give, produced the No.1s “As She’s Walking Away”
(featuring Alan Jackson), “Colder Weather,” “Knee Deep” (featuring Jimmy
Buffett) and “Keep Me in Mind” (2010-11).
“It still feels like a dream to us
and we’re humbled,” FGL’s Kelley told Billboard. “ ‘Confession’ is in our hearts and we are thankful it had a chance to be
a single and have an impact. It really opens the door for what we’ve got coming
on [April 29].”
“This is an amazing achievement and
it couldn’t happen to nicer people,” added Big Machine Label Group
executive vp and Republic Records President Jimmy Harnen. “On the eve of launching their debut single from their third LP, FGL
continues to lead the pack.”
Wait — what was that about April 29 and a new single and album? While not
divulging the exact date, Harnen told Billboard that the duo’s third album will
arrive in late summer.
KKBQ Houston PD Johnny Chiang feels that Florida Georgia Line gave radio
something fresh with “Confession.” “FGL
is one of the acts to pioneer a new sound, yet they’ve managed to mature as
well,” he told Billboard. “While
their music always performs with younger demos, this one also fared well with
the older end of our audience.”
Also on Country
Airplay, Luke
Bryan with “Huntin’, Fishin’ & Lovin’ Every Day” (Capitol Nashville) became
his 21st top
10 (12-9; 30 million, up 10%).
Country
Airplay
***
No.1 (1 week) *** "Confession” Florida
Georgia Line 44.761 million audience (+7.851 million) / 8,238 radio plays
(+1446)
** Most
Increased Audience ** No.3 “Think Of You” Chris
Young with Cassadee Pope +4.526 million audience gain
**
Most Added ** No.23 “Church Bells” Carrie
Underwood (39 ADDS)
**
Hot Shot Debut ** No.53 “Think A Little Less” Michael Ray
Debut
No.60 “Someone To Take Your Place” Tara
Thompson
Tim
McGraw with “Humble and Kind” (McGraw/Big
Machine/Big Machine Label Group) held at No.1 (#17-25 Digital Songs).
Dierks
Bentley with “Somewhere On A Beach" held at #2.
Maren
Morris with "My Church" (Columbia
Nashville/Sony Music Nashville) climbed 7-3 in her 15th week (#36-39 Digital Songs).
Thomas
Rhett with his latest hit
"T-Shirt" rose 10-4 in his 14th chart frame (#43-40 Digital Songs), whilst his ACM award
winning song “Die A Happy Man” remained at #9 in his 31st week.
Chris
Young duet with Cassadee Pope rose 6-5 in their 14-week (#35-41 Digital Songs).
Blake
Shelton with “Came Here to Forget” (Warner Bros./
WMN) fell 3-6 in his 7-weeks (#30-43 Digital Songs).
Cole
Swindell with “You Should Be Here” fell 5-7 in his 19th week (#34-44 Digital Songs).
Adam Wakefield (The Voice contestant) with
his cover of The Allman Brothers Band’s "Soulshine" (Republic) made a debut at #12.
Dierks Bentley with “What The Hell Did I Say” made a debut at #22
Country Aircheck MEDIABASE
Chart
25
April 2016
Florida
Georgia Line Hits #1 With 'Confession'
Congrats
to Tyler Hubbard, Brian Kelley, Matthew Hargis and the Republic Nashville promo apes on scoring the week’s No.1 with Florida Georgia
Line’s “Confession.”
The
song logged 8,574 radio spins (+452)
and 59.028 million audience
impressions (+2.712) with 27539
Total Points from 158 tracking stations for the tracking week April 17 to April
23, 2016 and published chart April 25th 2016.
This
makes the FGL team five for five off ANYTHING
GOES – five singles, five chart-toppers. Some folks might be sippin’ on
fire tonight. "Confession" is FGL's ninth career #1 and the duo's
fifth consecutive chart-topper from their "Anything Goes" album,
following "Anything Goes" (Nov 2, 2015), "Sippin' On Fire"
(June 8, 2015), "Sun Daze" (Feb 16, 2015), and "Dirt" (Oct
13, 2014)
Kudos
to Kris Lamb and the Dot crew on
notching 58 adds for Zac Brown Band’s “Castaway,” topping the week’s "Most Added" board.
Pictured
L-R: Dot Dir./Northeast/Midwest Promotion Michelle Kammerer, Coor./Label
Resources Mallory Allgood, Promotion Coordinator Brooke Nixon, VP/Promotion
Kris Lamb, Ex. Asst. Bernadette Gibbons, and intern Nicole Hunt.
Billboard Boxscores (Selective Country
concerts)
Rank
Artist: #1
Event
Venue City/State: Adele, O2 Arena, London, U.K.
Dates:
March 15-16, 18-19,
21-22, April 4-5, 2016: Gross Sales: $14,759,300 Attend: 126,043/ 126,043
Shows/
Sellouts: 8/8 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices:
$136.36, $50.24
Rank
Artist: #35
Event
Venue City/State: Blake Shelton, Chris Janson First Niagara Center, Buffalo,
N.Y.
Dates:
March 17, 2016 Gross Sales: $1,003,452 Attend: 16,980 / 16,980
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices:
$79, $49
Promoters:
Live Nation
Rank
Artist: #39
Event
Venue City/State: Zac Brown Band, CenturyLink Center, Omaha,
Neb.
Dates:
April 1, 2016 Gross Sales: $866,982 Attend: 13,316 / 13,342 (just 24 unsold)
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/0 Prices: $74.50, $69.50, $59.50, $39.50
Rank
Artist: #43
Event
Venue City/State: Carrie Underwood, Easton
Corbin, The Swon Brothers, Talking Stick Resort Arena Phoenix, Ariz.
Dates:
April 14, 2016 Gross Sales: $829,160 Attend: 12,815/ 12,815
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices:
$76, $46
Promoters:
AEG Live
Rank
Artist: #60
Event
Venue City/State: Alan Jackson, Lauren Alaina, Honda Center, Anaheim,
Calif.
Dates:
April 16, 2016 Gross Sales: $403,112 Attend: 7,409 / 7,520 (111 unsold)
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/0 Prices: $149.95, $39.95
Promoters:
Goldenvoice/AEG Live
Rank
Artist: #70
Event
Venue City/State: Chris Stapleton, Mesa Amphitheatre, Mesa,
Ariz.
Dates:
April 14, 2016 Gross Sales: $186,835 Attend:
4,802/ 4,802
Shows/
Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices:
$40
Promoters:
Goldenvoice/AEG Live
