Monday 16 April 2018

Country Billboard Chart News April 9, 2018


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

Kane Brown Earns RIAA Platinum Certifications For Debut Album, Current Single
RCA NASHVILLE artist Kane Brown's self-titled debut album and his current single, "Heaven," have both been certified Platinum by the RIAA. The album and the single have reached the one-million unit threshold of total physical sales, downloads, and on-demand audio/video stream equivalents.
  


Smells Like Team Spirit: Atlantic/WMN's Hunter Hayes and his team commemorate his 5X platinum No.1 single “Wanted” surpassing 100 million streams on Spotify. 
Pictured (l-r) are the label's Clark Tedesco, Shane Tarleton and Kristen Williams, Hayes, Starstruck's Narvel Blackstock and Dan Wise and the label's Tim Foisset and Rohan Kohli.


On Thursday, April 5, Walker Hayes was surprised with Platinum certification for his hit, “You Broke Up With Me,” in front of a sold out crowd of more than 2500 fans at PlayStation Theater as part of Kelsea Ballerini’s UnapologeticallyTour. The Platinum certification signifies 1 million records sold.

As he was brought to stage by the local radio station, NASH FM, DJs Katie Neal and Jesse Addy introduced him to the packed house as a “13 year overnight success story” and although the first single from his debut album, “You Broke Up With Me,” is now Certified Platinum, Hayes says the long journey to this point is what makes it so special.
“I’m so humbled and excited to get my first Platinum plaque,” Hayes said to his crowd as they roared with applause. “This is because of people like you who are open minded and love my music that doesn’t really fit in a box. This has been a long journey and I’m finally making the music that is true to me, so thank you for listening and buying and showing up.”

In Brief: Billboard Country Charts (Chart issue week of April 14, 2018)

Country Album Chart ** No.1 GOLDEN HOUR Kacey Musgraves
Hot Country Songs ** No.1 (19 weeks) ** “Meant To Be” Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line
Country Airplay *** No.1 (3 weeks) *** “Most People Are Good” Luke Bryan
Country Digital Songs ** No.1 (17 non-consecutive weeks) ** “Meant To Be” Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line

Billboard Top 200 / Country Album Chart News (Chart issue week of April 14, 2018)

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

The Weeknd logged his third No. 1 in a row on the Billboard Top 200 Albums Chart (BB200), as his latest project, MY DEAR MELANCHOLY, debuted atop the list.
The surprise release, which arrived on March 30 via XO/Republic Records, earned 169,000 equivalent album units in the week ending April 5, according to Nielsen Music -- the biggest week for an R&B album in over a year, since his own last album. Of that sum, 68,480 were in traditional album sales.
The six-song album appeared with little warning, following a cryptic Instagram post on March 27, which led to a confirmation of an album two days later. My Dear Melancholy follows The Weeknd’s two previous No. 1s: 2016’s Starboy and 2015’s Beauty Behind the Madness.
Though My Dear Melancholy’s sales were solid, the album’s debut saw more than half of its units driven by streams. The title bowed with 94,000 SEA units, which equates to 140.8 million on-demand audio streams of the set’s songs (each SEA unit is equal to 1,500 streams). My Dear Melancholy’s streaming start of 94,000 SEA units is the third-biggest streaming week for an album in 2018.

Kacey Musgraves collected her third top 10 album, as her seventh studio album GOLDEN HOUR made a hour at No.4 with 49,000 units (with 38,810 of that sum powered by traditional album sales). Musgraves previously visited the top 10 with PAGEANT MATERIAL (No.3 in 2015) and SAME TRAILER DIFFERENT PARK (No. 2, 2013).
Golden Hour is the highest charting country album since Luke Bryan’s What Makes You Country launched at No.1 on the Dec. 30, 2017-dated list.

Billboard Top Country Albums (Chart issue week of April 14, 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.

Singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves with her third full-length, GOLDEN HOUR (MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville), debuted at No.1 on Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart (dated April 14). 

It earned 49,000 equivalent album units in its first week ending April 5, according to Nielsen Music (38,810 were traditional album sales). Golden marked Musgraves’ third No.1 on Top Country Albums.
The set, with all 13 tracks co-authored by Musgraves, made a bow at No.1 on Americana/Folk Albums.

CHART HISTORY
Her 2013 Grammy Winning debut SAME TRAILER DIFFERENT PARK (released March 19, 2013; co-written by Kacey and co-produced with Shane McAnally and Luke Laird) launched at No.2 on the Billboard B200 (#1 Country albums) with 43,496 copies sold, her previous largest sales week. In its second week Trailer sold 17,586 (down 60%), then 18,059 in week three (up 3%) and eventually scanned GOLD at retail (chart week April 11, 2015). The album won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album at the 56th Annual Grammy Awards. The week after winning two awards and performing at the 2014 Grammy Awards, sales for the album in the United States increased 146%. The chart frame week of Feb 6, 2014, the album returned to No.1 on the U.S. Top Country Albums Chart and saw sales increase a further 177% selling more than 27,000 copies. As of July 2015 the album had sold 519,000 copies in the US.


PAGEANT MATERIAL (June 23, 2015; Mercury Nashville) debuted at #3 Billboard 200 / #1 Country (Chart issue week of July 11, 2015) selling 54,752 copies (her biggest sales week). In its second week at retail it sold 18,300 copies (down 67%). By chart issue week of Dec 19, 2015, it had sold 145,500 copies. As of September 2016, the album has sold 179,400 copies in the US. The album made numerous "Best Albums of 2015" lists and was nominated for Best Country Album at the 58th Grammy Awards

She also reached No.11 in December 2016 with A VERY KACEY CHRISTMAS. It debuted at #143 Billboard 200; #16 Country selling 4,765 copies. On the chart dated Dec 24, 2016 it sold 8,900 sales with a 6-week total 32,800. On the chart dated Jan 7, 2017) it sold 9,246 copies and a week later is was at No.21 on Top Country Albums selling 4,600 with a total of 55,100.

Despite her impressive album chart success, Musgraves has garnered modest support at country radio. Says MCA Nashville VP promotion Katie Dean, “We took a slightly different approach to launching Golden Hour at radio. We identified both ‘Butterflies’ and ‘Space Cowboy’ as potential lead singles and serviced the two tracks simultaneously, because they’re an integral part of the narrative of this record. We’ve received airplay on both, in addition to [the set’s] ‘High Horse.’”
On Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, “Butterflies” debuts at No.56 with 574,000 impressions (her seventh appearance on Country Airplay). “I’m going to make ‘Butterflies’ a single whether it’s a [label-sanctioned] single or not,” says WCOL Columbus, Ohio, PD Dan Zuko.
“I’ve always been a huge fan of her music, and I think ‘Butterflies’ is a perfect fit for our audience. It’s a beautiful song from a beautiful voice.”
Kevin Christopher, PD of KJKE Oklahoma City, which leads all stations with 177 plays of “Butterf lies” to date, says the track “is a great song, and Golden Hour is such a cool album. Musgraves has always done well for KJKE, and ‘Butterflies’ feels like a hit.”
 She has earned one top 10 so far: her debut single as a lead artist, “Merry Go ’Round,” which peaked at No. 10 in 2013.
On the Hot Country Songs chart, which blends streaming, airplay and sales data, “Butterflies” re-entered at its No.32 high; followed by the new LP’s “High Horse,” up 39-36; “Space Cowboy,” a re-entry at No. 40; and "Slow Burn,” which is new at No. 42.

GOLDEN HOUR album includes a note to people who purchase the record, which she says represents “the whole picture” of her.
“I thought it would be kind of cool to include a little bit of a note or a foreword to anybody that opens the album,” says Kacey. “And it’s just a statement as to where I am, where the music is and why it’s here and what I kind of am sensing that humanity is kind of craving right now.”
The note says, “There we were in the middle of making this record and a total solar eclipse darkened Nashville on my birthday, my 29th year, a golden hour in my young adult life. There are certain junctures that you can’t just think your way through, you just have to feel. I found myself at one making this album. It was like the universe was majestically saying, ‘This is a time to be present to witness the beauty of this incredible world that you’re lucky to be alive in despite it being more complicated than ever and filled with so much darkness.’ We all need a little bit of light right now. We all need for compassion and art to flourish; things we rely on turn out to be fake and hurtful; people we look up to turn out to be just as jaded and messed up as everybody else and yet somehow new love finds its way up through the cracks in the sidewalk. The sun still rises and the birds still sing, inspiration still finds its way to you again. There are different masks that we all wear that represent different sides of ourselves. None of them are solely us, and yet they all are. There’s the lonely girl, the blissful girl, the new wife, the daughter missing her mother, the hopeful girl, the selfish girl, the sarcastic rhinestone Texan, the shy girl and the life of the party, the winner, the loser – they’re all characters on this record. None of them alone are me, and yet they all are. The Golden Hour is when all the masks come together as one and you can see in perfect light the whole picture of me.”

PROMOTION: Kacey appeared on CBS-TV's "Late Show With STEPHEN COLBERT" Thursday night (3/29), where she performed "Slow Burn" >> YouTube from her just-released album, "Golden Hour." She also appeared on NBC-TV's "Today" show Friday morning (March 30), where she performed the song "Butterflies" www.today.com
She performed "High Horse" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show (April 4). Watch here.

Critical reception for Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour:
13 Tracks/ Time: 45:32 Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com

The Guardian Album of the week 5 STARS Alexis Petridis's album of the week Kacey Musgraves: Golden Hour review – universal classic from acid-dropping country star
Acid, futurism, LGTBQ rights: you don’t have to be a dedicated student of Nashville’s history to know that this is not the usual fare dished up by Music City’s mainstream stars. But then, as was established the moment her major label debut, Same Trailer Different Park, appeared in 2013, Musgraves is not your usual Nashville star. It was released just as bro country’s lunkheaded restatement of at least some of the genre’s core values – macho songs about boozing, babes, trucks and guns – was reaching its commercial zenith, and signalled the arrival of an artist not bent on iconoclasm so much as gently but firmly pushing at the boundaries of modern country music’s outlook......The success of High Horse is indicative of the ease and confidence that courses through Golden Hour. Regardless of genre, you’ll be hard pushed to find a better collection of pop songs this year. Everything clicks perfectly, but the writing has an effortless air; it never sounds as if it’s trying too hard to make a commercial impact, it never cloys, and the influences never swallow the character of the artist who made it.....It’s an album that imagines a world in which its author is the mainstream, rather than an influential outlier. It says something about its quality that, by the time it’s finished, that doesn’t seem a fanciful notion at all.

Allmusic (Rating: 4.1/2 STARS) Golden Hour shimmers with the vivid colors that arrive when the sun starts to set, when familiar scenes achieve a sense of hyperreality. Such heightened emotions are a new aesthetic for Kacey Musgraves, who previously enlivened traditional country with her sly synthesis of old sounds and witty progressive lyrics. Musgraves barely winks on Golden Hour, disguising her newfound emotional candidness behind a gorgeous veneer of harmonies and synthesizers. Sonically, the album doesn't scan country.....The very sound of Golden Hour is seductive -- it's warm and enveloping, pitched halfway between heartbreak and healing -- but the album lingers in the mind because the songs are so sharp, buttressed by long, loping melodies and Musgraves' affectless soul-baring. Previously, her cleverness was her strong suit, but on Golden Hour she benefits from being direct, especially since this frankness anchors an album that sounds sweetly blissful, turning this record into the best kind of comfort: it soothes but is also a source of sustenance.

Consequence Of Sound (Rating: A-) ..Golden Hour is the steady and self-assured product of an audacious artist whose body of work speaks for itself. The record exemplifies the deep and powerful magic of pure goodness. Musgraves hits one high note after another on Golden Hour; her talent as a songwriter and melody-maker is second to none, and each song is thoughtful, well-formed, and a delightful experience on its own. Together, the tracks on Golden Hour add up to an honest, cohesive musical experience that will linger in your mind and heart long after the final notes have faded.
Essential Tracks: “Space Cowboy”, “Mother”, “Happy & Sad”, and “Rainbow”

Uncut (Rating: 7/10) Golden Hour doesn't carry quite the same bite as either 2015 predecessor Pageant Material or 2013's Sam Trailer Different Park, preferring a more loved-up vibe that favours pillowy sophisti-pop over bittersweet country.

The Independent (Rating: 5/5) Musgraves has always been a brilliant songwriter but she’s never sounded as confident as this; it’s as though a wall has been knocked down and a little of that bolshy attitude has been paired back to make for some of her most personal lyrics......On “Space Cowboy” she uses ice-cold wordplay to cut her subject, a boy, down to size, proving that whip-smart tongue is still present beneath the wistful vocals. “Love Is A Wild Thing” has her marvelling at the strength of the bond that ties her to the one she loves. Her voice sits ahead of the sparse instrumentation on a bittersweet track like “Lonely Weekend” (Even if you got somebody on your mind/It’s alright to be alone sometimes”). “High Horse” is disco western and the most radical departure from Musgraves' earlier sound. It’s a Kylie Minogue circa 2001-level bop that builds on summery guitar strumming with sweetly lilting vocals that hold just a hint of menace. The lightness returns on a song like “Butterflies”, with its cheerful bass line running beneath her sweet, dreamy vocals.
Download this: Slow Burn, Golden Hour, Lonely Weekend, High Horse

NPR (Rating: Postive) More than in the past, Musgraves is encouraging listeners to hear the autobiography woven through her songs, situating them as the fruit of her finding love and getting married. But there's still a tentative side to her tenderness; she's a reflective songwriter and a reedy, temperate singer, often examining her feelings from a bit of a remove. Besides, she sees no need to separate sentimentality from third-person-perspective psychedelia, weaving easygoing eccentricities into thosegreat, affecting country and pop themes of missing mom and home and getting swept off your feet by a lover....After several years of making space for herself in her genre and the broader musical landscape, Musgraves is nervy enough to let her guard down and embrace her complexity, and that's given her listeners more to grab a hold of than ever.

Previous weeks chart topper and an 8-week multiweek No.1 Kane Brown with his SELF-TITLED slipped 1-2 (#19 non-mover Billboard 200) selling 5,180 copies (70-week total 359,500).

Chris Stapleton with TRAVELLER (MERCURY/ UMGN) fell 2-3 (28-32 BB200) selling 5,500 copies (153-week total 2,263,000) as his set From A Room: Volume 1 (Mercury/Universal Music Group Nashville) held at No.8 (51-55 BB200) selling 5,910 copies (48-week total 759,300) and From A Room: Volume 2 dropped 11-14 (97-106 BB200) selling 5,060 copies (18-week total 360,400).

Former No.1 Thomas Rhett with LIFE CHANGES (Valory/Big Machine Label Group) held at No.4 (#42-37 Billboard 200) selling 2,487 copies (30-week total 255,400).
Former No.1 Luke Combs with THIS ONE’S FOR YOU (River House/ Columbia Nashville/Sony Music Nashville) moved 7-5 (#49-45 Billboard 200) selling 1,977 copies (44-week total 206,200).

Former No.1 Luke Bryan with WHAT MAKES YOU COUNTRY (Capitol Nashville | UMGN) fell 5-6 (#45-47 Billboard 200) selling 5,802 copies (17-week total 263,700).

Ashley McBryde with GIRL GOING NOWHERE (Atlantic | WMN) made a debut at No.7 (#49 Billboard 200) selling 8,957 copies.
Produced by Jay Joyce, McBryde’s label debut features 11 songs she wrote or cowrote, including the single “A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega” and “Girl Goin’ Nowhere,” “American Scandal” and “Andy (I Can’t Live Without You).”
Ashley McBryde has built an unconventional career since a teacher back home in Mammoth Spring, Arkansas suggested the singer/songwriter not get her hopes up about a career in music. Criss-crossing the South, playing any gig, room or biker bar she could find, the raven haired young woman built a foundation fan-by-fan, gig-by-gig over a number of years on her way to a deal with Atlantic Records/Warner Music Nashville.

The artist who was told she’d amount to nothing witnessed 
GIRL GOING NOWHERE as the biggest debut by a solo country artist this year. Championed by SiriusXM’s The Highway, McBryde’s “A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega” found traction; anywhere people heard the voice that’s equal parts real life, unabashed hope and savoring the good parts, they responded, coming to shows, buying music and singing along.

"It feels incredible to have this album out in the world," said McBryde who collaborated with producer Jay Joyce on the 11-song album. "It may not seem like it, but I’ve always been a shy person, so to hear stories of how other folks relate to these stories, these lyrics and our songs reaffirms this unconventional path we took creating and releasing it." 
McBryde is the latest in a new breed of country music maverick. Rather than wait on country radio, she makes her music, goes out to her fans and connects from the soul and the heart. With her single “A Little Dive Bar in Dahlonega” sitting just outside the Top 30, Girl achieves unprecedented chart position on the strength of her fans seeing themselves in her songs. Whether it’s the second chance of “Little Dive Bar,” the dug-in dreamer of the title track, the hell-bent for love “American Scandal” or the tender “The Jacket,” McBryde’s country is cut from her life – and the lives of many people just like her. 
Critical reception for Ashley McBrydes’ Girl Goin' Nowhere:
11 Tracks/ Time: 40:28 Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com
With The New York Times proclaiming, “Varied, warm and effortlessly confident,” Rolling Stone opining, “She has a serious gift” and Variety declaring, “An unabashed, Southern-rooted, honest-to-Gawd great country record,” McBryde has touched a nerve amongst music lovers. As Billboard points out, “Unlike Nashville’s current crop,” McBryde’s earthy tenor as a singer and a writer has been described by The Washington Post as “Vivid,” Uproxx as “Prodigiously talented” and Entertainment Weekly as  “…cutting through the cookie-cutter clutter of contemporary pop-country, thanks to her gifts at combining classic storytelling specificity.”

In a world/genre where strong women’s voices are hard to find, McBryde stands out, NPR recognized the potency of her work early. Featuring album cut “Radioland” on 
All Songs Considered, they wrote, “The cheap comparison would be female Chris Stapleton, but Ashley is her own woman. She really does however, combine the energy of rock, the earnestness and simple beauties of prime-era Springsteen or John Mellencamp; her songs are about family, working people, about living your best life when your best life is maybe on the outskirts of town in a ranch house with a manual lawnmower.”
Allmusic (Rating: 4 STARS) On her debut album, Girl Going Nowhere, Ashley McBryde sounds like an outsider in Nashville. She doesn't attempt to meddle with the electronics that are so in vogue in 2018, yet she doesn't seem overly concerned with conventional notions of country tradition. Certainly, Girl Going Nowhere isn't layered with fiddles and steel guitars: It's a brawny, guitar-heavy affair that doesn't hide its debts to Eric Church....The forceful sound of Girl Going Nowhere may camouflage the subtleties of her songwriting, but it's also an asset, as the production, along with her powerhouse voice, demand attention. Once McBryde has that, she gives you plenty of reasons to return to this exceptional record again and again.

Rollingstone (Rating: 4 STARS) McBryde's got a big, vibrato-tinged alto, biker-chick style, and she wrote or co-wrote everything here, including "Dahlonega," with a sharp eye for piercing detail. She has a serious gift.

Paste (Rating: 8.3/10) It’s a no bullshit record free of frills and fat; 11 songs that make their points powerfully and memorably....These songs don’t need to be messed with or tarted up or given a 21st century shine. They work perfectly in their current roughshod, if gently polished, form. The needle may keep moving for female country artists, but that’s of little concern to McBryde. She’s on a journey toward career longevity and Nowhere is her confident and solid first step.
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/04/ashley-mcbryde-girl-going-nowhere-review.html

Saving Country Music (Rating: 1 3/4 Guns Up (7.5/10) One of the most important and flattering praises for Girl Going Nowhere is that it doesn’t sound like a mainstream country release at all. You don’t have to squint to find what to like on this record, or regard it on a sliding scale since it was underwritten by a major label. ......it’s time to stop pretending that mild-mannered pragmatism, measured goals, and guarded optimism will ever be enough to even put a dent in the dilemmas mainstream country music is facing, let alone break the doors down to where a flood of talent can come barging through and rejuvenate the format.
Listen to the title track of this record, watch Ashley McBryde perform it during her Grand Ole Opry debut (which she wrote it specifically for), and then try to say she doesn’t have the skill, the talent, and the drive and guts to do what many have failed at doing before. Doubt Ashley McBryde all you want, but prepare to be made a dumbass because she has the boldness to sing the truth, the fearlessness to champion it through the fire, and the force to come out of the other side the victor. Country music, watch the hell out, because Ashley McBryde has arrived.

Sounds Like Nashville (Rating: Positive) ...Overall all a versatile release, McBryde’s Girl Going Nowhere embodies 11 tracks that highlight the singer’s distinct talent as a songwriter. Embodying unique storylines and heartfelt lyrics alongside superb musicianship, Girl Going Nowhere is just a taste of what’s to come from McBryde. And, with country icons like Brooks, Church and Lambert already in her corner, McBryde has a bright future ahead.

Entertainment Focus (Rating: 5/5) Powerful and emotional vocals. Interesting lyrics that pack a punch. A rich variety of musical styles....At the end of 2018 McBryde’s Girl Going Nowhere is going to be making a lot of Top 10 albums of the year lists. It’s been a long time coming for McBryde but this is only the beginning of the success she’s going to have. If you like your music honest, bold, emotional and with its heart on its sleeve, then there’s a lot to love here. McBryde is seizing her moment and I can’t wait to see just how far she goes over the coming years.

Former No.1 Scotty McCreery, with SEASONS CHANGE (Triple Tigers/RED) fell 3-9 (37-59 BB200) selling 6,072 copies (down 31%) 3-week total 49,278.

Brett Young with self- titled BRETT YOUNG (BMLG) fell 9-10 (#60 non-mover Billboard 200) selling 1,779 copies (60-week total 197,800).
Outside the Top 10
Jon Pardi with CALIFORNIA SUNRISE (Capitol Nashville | UMGN) fell 10-11 (#80-79 Billboard 200) selling 1,839 copies (94-week total 229,100)

Alan Jackson with PRECIOUS MEMORIES COLLECTION (ARC/EMI Nashville | UMGN) held at No.15 (#125-108 BB200) selling 1,637 copies (38-week total 217,500)

Jordan Davis with HOME STATE (MCA Nashville/Universal Music Group Nashville), dropped 6-16 (#47-122 Billboard 200) selling 1,815 copies in his second week (down 69%; 2-week total 7,615)

Outside the Top 10
Former No.1 Blake Shelton with TEXOMA SHORE (Warner Bros./Warner Music Nashville) retreated 13-22 (120-118 BB200) selling 1,977 copies (22-week total 216,800).

Outside the Top 25

Mary Chapin Carpenter with her 11 track set SOMETIMES JUST THE SKY (Lambent
Light/Thirty Tigers | Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com | Country Music People March 2018 5 STARS) made a debut at No.29 (#11 Country Sales) selling 4,026 copies.  

Recorded live at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios, the 13-track album was produced by Ethan Johns (Ryan Adams, Paul McCartney, Ray LaMontagne). It features new versions of previously-released songs as well as one new song, the title track.



FALLING SHORT of Top 50:
On the Country Album Sales list (pure sales; old methodology)

Various Artists with 20-track DANCEHALL DREAMIN': A TRIBUTE TO PAT GREEN (Greenhorse Music |Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com) made a debut at #18 with 1,700 sales.

Lindi Ortega with 15-track set Liberty (2018 Shadowbox Music Inc. | Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com ) made a debut at #28 with 1,000 sales (2 retail weeks 1,600 total).
Ortega wrote half of the 12 tracks on her fifth studio record and enlisted co-writers Aaron Raitiere, Bruce Wallace and John Paul White (The Civil Wars) for the rest. The result is a three-part concept album “reflecting loss, seance, resurrection and freedom.”

(30 March 2018) Red Shahan with the 12-track CULBERSON COUNTY (2018 7013 Records | Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com) made a debut at #29 with 1,000 sales.
For his sophomore album, Shahan (Fort Worth, TX based) enlisted Elijah Ford (producer), Matthew “Paw Paw” Smith (drums), Parker Morrow (bass), Daniel Sproul (lead guitar) and fellow Texas songwriters Charlie Shafter and Bonnie Bishop on background and harmony vocals, as well as his mother, Kim Smith, who sings on the song “Memphis.”
Music for your soul.

Caroline Jones with 11 track set BARE FEET (Mailboat Records | Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com ) made a debut at #33 with 700 sales.

Jones performed all instruments (except bass and drums) and co-produced Bare Feet with Grammy and Academy Award-winning producer Ric Wake (Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Trisha Yearwood).
“If there’s any justice in the music business, this unique gem will find a place in the hearts of music fans everywhere in the coming year. Her music is a little country, a sprinkle of pop, and a dash of folk, but when you hear a song that has the infectious sparkle of “Bare Feet,” you know that Jones is something special.” – Billboard

Palo Duro with 10-track SHOTGUN RIDER (2018 Torrez Music Group | Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com ) made a debut at #37 with 700 sales.
The two leaders of Shotgun Rider have developed a signature sound tinged with that eerie loneliness reminiscent of their homeland.

Kim Richey with 8th studio record EDGELAND (Yep Roc | Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com) made a debut at #48 with 600 sales.

Falling short of all the charts Buddy Brown with 7-track JUST SAYIN' (EP; Buddy Brown | Amazon UK - UK iTunes - Amazon.com) sold just 400 copies despite as an independent artist having 380,000 followers!

Year-To-Date Digital Tracks
4,014,000 (Physical sales 2,861,000 (down -20.1%) + Digital sales 1,154,000 (down -33.2%) which is 24.3% down at the same point in 2017 (5,306,000 sales) 

Year-To-Date Digital Tracks
13,287,000 down 32.0% at the same point in 2017 (19,553,000)

Billboard Hot Country Songs (Chart issue week of April 14, 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 Meant to Be” (Warner Bros./BMLG) led Hot Country Songs for a 19th week, tying Leroy Van Dyke’s “Walk On By” in 1961-62 for the third-longest command in the chart’s history. FGL also boasted the second-longest command (24 weeks) with its debut hit, “Cruise,” in 2012-13, which trails the all-time leader, Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road” (34 weeks, 2017).
On the all-genre Radio Songs chart, “Meant” rose 2-1 (131 million, up 7 percent). That makes it the ranking’s first No.1 for a country act since Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now,” which reigned for two weeks in 2010. The song lifts 3-2 on both Pop Songs and Adult Pop Songs, and holds at No. 3 on Country Airplay.

Dan + Shay notch their fifth Hot Country Songs top 10 as “Tequila” (Warner Bros./WAR) darted 12-9. It gained by 5 percent, tallying 8.5 million U.S. streams.

Luke Combs collected his third top 10 on the chart as “One Number Away” (River House/Columbia Nashville) rolled 11-10. It rose 15-13 on Country Airplay (20.7 million, up 12 percent).

Hot County Songs
** No.1 (19 weeks)/ Digital Gainer/ Airplay Gainer ** “Meant To Be” Bebe Rexha feat. Florida Georgia Line
** Streaming Gainer ** No.6 “Singles You Up” Jordan Davis  
** Hot Shot Debut ** No.37 “Get Along” Kenny Chesney  
Debut No.48 “High Noon Neon” Jason Aldean
Debut No.49 “Take You Home” Cassadee Pope

Billboard Country Airplay (Chart issue week of April 14, 2018)

Luke Bryan with “Most People Are Good” (Capitol Nashville) crowned Country Airplay for a third week (43.3 million, down less than 1%). The song is the first three-week No.1 since Brett Young’s “Like I Loved You,” which led for three frames starting Jan. 3.
“Good” ties “Crash My Party” (2013) for the second-longest leading of Bryan’s 19 No.1s, after “Play It Again,” which reigned for four weeks in 2014.

Darius Rucker banked his 11th Country Airplay top 10 as “For the First Time” (Capitol Nashville) climbed 11-9 (26.7 million, up 6 percent)
Blake Shelton scored his 30th as “I Lived It” (Warner Bros./Warner Music Nashville) lifted 12-10 (23.4 million, down less than 1 percent).

Get Along,” Kenny Chesney’s 88th Country Airplay entry (second only to George Strait’s 98) and his first single for Warner Music Nashville, debuted at No.19 (11.5 million impressions). He logged his fourth-highest start and best since “Feel Like a Rock Star,” with Tim McGraw (No.13, 2012).

Singer-songwriter Stephanie Quayle, who’s originally from Bozeman, Mont., made her first appearance on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart as “Selfish,” which she co-penned, opened at No.60 with 481,000 audience impressions (up 31 percent).

Country Airplay
*** No.1 (3 weeks) *** “Most People Are Good” Luke Bryan 43.261 million audience (-0.053 million) / 8,145 radio plays (-30)
** Most Increased Audience/ Hot Shot Debut/ Most Added ** No.19 “Get Along” Kenny Chesney 11.515 million audience gain and 1,695 spins thanks to 92 fresh radio commitments (ADDS)
Debut No.56 Butterflies Kacey Musgraves
Debut No.58 “The Difference” Tyler Rich
Debut No.59 “Caught Up In The Country” Rodney Atkins feat. The Fisk Jubilee Singers
Debut No.60 “Selfish” Stephanie Quayle

Billboard Country Digital Singles Chart 
(Chart issue week of April 14, 2018)

Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line's "Meant to Be" (Warner Bros. | BMLG) remained at No.1 for in its 19th chart frame (16 non-consecutive weeks) and rose 4-3 on Digital Song Sales selling 38,000 copies (19-week total 860,000 ).
It was two places behind Drake's "God's Plan" which logged an eighth week atop Digital Song Sales, up 14% to 48,000 downloads sold in the week ending April 5. On the Radio Songs chart, "Plan" held at No. 4, after reaching No.3, up 2 percent to 109 million in all-format airplay audience in the week ending April 8.

Jason Aldean with “You Make It Easy” (Macon/Broken Bow | BBMG) held at No.2 (#12 non-mover Digital Songs; 26,000 sales; 10-week total) as new track “Gettin' Warmed Up” dropped off the chart in the second week selling 3,000 copies (2-week total 14,000) but charting a new song “High Noon Neon” at #17 (7,000 sales).
Kane Brown with “Heaven” (Zone 4 | RCA Nashville) held at #3 (#18-13 Digital Songs; 22,000 sales; 20-week total 335,000).
Luke Bryan with “Most People Are Good” (Capitol Nashville) held at #4 (#26-28 Digital Songs; 15,000 sales; 13-week total 177,000).
Thomas Rhett with “Marry Me” (Valory) held at #5 (#31-29 Digital Songs; 14,000 sales;25-week total 380,000).

Chris Stapleton with “Broken Halos” (Mercury | UMGN) climbed 7-6 (#40-37 Digital Songs; 12,000 sales; 32-week total 478,000).
Jordan Davis with “Singles You Up” rose 8-7 (#42-38 Digital Songs; 12,000 sales; 12-week total 179,000).
Luke Combs with “One Number Away” stepped 9-8 (#49 New Entry Digital Songs; 10,000 sales; 11-week total 119,000).
Morgan Wallen featuring Florida Georgia Line with “Up Down” (Warner) lifted 11-9 (10,000 sales; 16-week total 144,000)
Dan + Shay with “Tequila” (WM Music) pushed 13-10 (9,000 sales; 11-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; 9-week total 103,000)

Cassadee Pope with “Take You Home”, the song from the season-three winner of NBC’s The Voice, where she’s now back in an advisory role for Kelly Clarkson’s team, opened at No.13 on Country Digital Song Sales with 8,000 sold. It also started at No.49 on Hot Country Songs.

Keith Urban feat. Julia Michaels (Capitol Nashville) with “Coming Homefell off the chart from previous weeks No.10 selling 3,000 copies (down 73%; 2 -week total 11,000 downloads).

Country Aircheck MEDIABASE Chart

April 9, 2018

Three-peat congrats to Luke Bryan, Royce Risser, Bobby Young, David Friedman and the Capitol promotion staff for a quite rare third week at No.1 with “Most People Are Good.” The song is the first three-week bell ringer in more than two years (Thomas Rhett’s “Die A Happy Man,” January 2016).




















Most People Are Good” (Capitol) logged 8,895 radio spins (+30) and 60.923 million audience impressions (-0.058 million) with 23825 Total Points (-13) from 157 tracking stations for the tracking week April 1 to April 7, 2018 and published chart April 9th 2018.

Kudos to Adrian Michaels and the WEA reps for landing 130 adds on Kenny Chesney’s Get Along”.  The song topped the "Most Added" board this chart week.
 
In celebration of Blue Chair/Warner Bros./WEA's Kenny Chesney garnering 130 Mediabase adds with his new single, "Get Along," and being most-added at Country radio this week. Pictured L-R: (back) WMN SVP/Radio & Streaming Kristen Williams; WEA Dir./National Radio & Streaming Adrian Michaels; WMN Coord./Radio & Streaming Justin Newell, Exec. Asst. Kati Salverson, Coord./Streaming Brette Moseley, and VP/Original Content & Radio Marketing Chad Schultz; (front) WEA Coord./Radio & Streaming Kate Myers; and WAR Coord./Radio & Streaming Taylor Aretz




















Mediabase Adds (Selective)

Artist/Title (Label) TW Total Historic Adds
KENNY CHESNEY/Get Along (BlueChair/WarnerBros/WEA ) 130  130
MIDLAND/Burn Out (Big Machine) 45 47
CRAIG CAMPBELL/See You Try (Red Bow) 42 46
OLD DOMINION/Hotel Key (RCA) 40 62
KEITH URBAN f/J. MICHAELS/Coming Home (Capitol) 22 134
TRENT HARMON/You Got 'Em All (Big Machine) 18 99
TYLER RICH/The Difference (Valory) 12 46
MITCHELL TENPENNY/Drunk Me (Riser House/Columbia) 11 74
MICHAEL RAY/Get To You (Atlantic/WEA) 9 154
BRETT YOUNG/Mercy (BMLGR) 5 120
TRAVIS DENNING/David Ashley Parker From... (Mercury) 5 64
AARON WATSON/Run Wild Horses (Big Label) 4 47
KELSEA BALLERINI/I Hate Love Songs (Black River) 4 88
DANIELLE BRADBERY/Worth It (BMLGR) 3 44
KACEY MUSGRAVES/Butterflies (MCA) 2 11
THOMAS RHETT/Life Changes (Valory) 2 5
ASHLEY MCBRYDE/A Little Dive Bar In Dahlonega (Atlantic/WAR) 1 103
RODNEY ATKINS/Caught Up In The Country (Curb) 1 3
SMITHFIELD/Hey Whiskey (Deluge/In2une) 1 20
WALKER HAYES/Craig (Monument/Arista) 1 1

For a detailed report check out Country Aircheck Weekly Issue 596 - April 9, 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: #27
Event Venue City/State: Kid Rock, A Thousand Horses Mandalay Bay Events Center Las Vegas, Nev.
Dates: March 24, 2018 Gross Sales: $918,377 Attend: 8,373/ 8,373
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $149.50, $49.50
Promoters: Live Nation

Rank Artist: #28
Event Venue City/State: Chris Stapleton MGM Grand Garden Las Vegas, Nev.
Dates: March 23, 2018 Gross Sales: $912,884 Attend: 11,682/ 11,682
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $175, $49
Promoters: in-house     

Rank Artist: #49
Event Venue City/State: Little Big Town, Kacey Musgraves, Midland Radio City Music Hall New York, N.Y.
Dates: Feb. 24, 2018 Gross Sales: $417,474 Attend: 5,593/ 5,593
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $79, $56.50, $46, $30
Promoters: AEG Presents

Rank Artist: #64
Event Venue City/State: Jason Isbell Kings Theatre Brooklyn, N.Y.
Dates: Feb. 3, 2018 Gross Sales: $184,702 Attend: 3,099/ 3,099
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $69.50, $35
Promoters: The Bowery Presents    

Rank Artist: #80
Event Venue City/State: I'm With Her, Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O'Donovan Town Hall New York, N.Y.
Dates:  March 15, 2018 Gross Sales: $57,300 Attend: 1,471/ 1,471
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $42.50, $37.50
Promoters: The Bowery Presents

Rank Artist: #86
Event Venue City/State: I'm With Her, Andrew Combs 9:30 Club Washington, D.C.
Dates:  March 13, 2018 Gross Sales: $39,000 Attend: 1,200/ 1,200
Shows/ Sellouts: 1/1 ** SOLD OUT ** Prices: $32.50
Promoters: I.M.P.
Latest Billboard Boxscore Chart
  

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