Billboard 200: 1/16/16: Adele #1: 363k/307k

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6828916/adele-25-sixth-week-no-1-billboard-200

Adele's '25' Scores Sixth Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart
1/4/2016 by Keith Caulfield

Adele’s 25 scores a sixth straight week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as the set earned another 363,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Dec. 31, 2015 (down 70 percent), according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 307,000 were in pure album sales (down 73 percent).

25 sold 7.44 million copies in the U.S. through the week ending Dec. 31. It finishes 2015 as the top selling album of the year, and is the biggest seller of any calendar year since 2004 (when Usher’s Confessions sold 7.98 million).

25 was released through XL Recordings/Columbia Records on Nov. 20.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new Jan. 16, 2016-dated chart (where 25 is No. 1 for a sixth frame) will be posted in full to Billboard’s Websites on Tuesday, Jan. 5.

25 is the first album to tally its first six weeks at No. 1 since Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed a Dream also claimed its first six weeks at No. 1 (Dec. 12, 2009 through Jan. 16, 2010).

In addition, 25 is the first set to spend at least five weeks in a row at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 since the Frozen soundtrack notched eight straight frames at No. 1 in early 2014 (on the charts dated March 29 through May 17, 2014). The Frozen album spent a total of 13 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1.

But wait, there’s more! 25 is the first album released since 2001 to sell more than 300,000 copies in each of its first six weeks on sale. The last to do so was Creed’s Weathered, which blew through 300,000-plus in each of its first six weeks, following its release on Nov. 20, 2001.

As the latest tracking week reflects the frame ending Dec. 31, there are few debuts on the Billboard 200 because most artists and record labels tend not to release new albums so close to the Christmas holiday (Dec. 25). That said, there are still a few new entries, the highest of which is Kid Ink’s Summer in the Winter at No. 50 (16,000 units; 11,000 copies sold). The set was released on Dec. 25, and marks the rapper’s fifth charting album.

Back in the top 10, Justin Bieber’s Purpose is a non-mover at No. 2 (217,000 units; down 5 percent) while Twenty One Pilots’ former No. 1 Blurryface vaults 11-3 (79,000 units; up 33 percent). The latter (46,000 sold in pure album sales; up 16 percent) benefits from sale pricing in the iTunes Store, where it was discounted to $7.99 during the tracking week. It also gains thanks to the continued growth of its single “Stressed Out.” On the all-genre Radio Songs airplay chart, the song bounded into the top 15 of the tally dated Jan. 9 (in only its fourth chart week). It’s also No. 4 on the latest Digital Songs chart, with 159,000 downloads sold in the week ending Dec. 31 (up 95 percent).

On the new Billboard 200, One Direction’s Made in the A.M. climbs 6-4 (75,000 units; down 19 percent) while Fetty Wap’s self-titled set jumps back into the top 10, rising 21-5 with 70,000 units (up 69 percent). The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness ascends 9-6 with 69,000 units (down 4 percent) and Selena Gomez’s Revival zooms 15-7 with 57,000 units (up 9 percent). The latter title is down 26 percent in pure album sales (to 21,000 sold) but rallies thanks to TEA units (28,000; up 73 percent).

Chris Brown’s Royalty dips 3-8 in its second week (55,000 units; down 70 percent) and Taylor Swift’s 1989 is down 8-9 (54,000 units; down 26 percent).

Bryson Tiller’s Trapsoul rounds out the top 10, as the album hits a new peak, flying 33-10 (53,000 units; up 59 percent). It surpasses its previous high-water mark of No. 11, notched in its debut frame (Oct. 17-dated chart). The album has ranked in the weekly top 40 since its release.

[Envoirment]

Guess Adele isn't immune to the Christmas slump then! Granted, her album wasn't discounted like a lot of others to off-set the fall. Still, another 307k albums to add to her total is still bigger than most albums debut with nowadays. 7.44 million - 2.56 million to go until Diamond. Needs to average ~77,500 copies a week to tie the record of fastest album to diamond. Can see the album doing it a lot faster though with it likely to sell 100k+ for a good few weeks yet, especially with a likely grammy performance coming up and the impacting of "When We Were Young" in airplay.

[jj99$ - - LeLe]

Excellent hold for Justin.

He also didn't have any discounts last week.

[HolidayGuy]

Yay for 25 sales topping 300K.

[Devil Marlena Nylund]

Yay for 25 units topping 360k.

[Gary]

The million a week thing was not going to continue forever.


Looks like it will be #1 for a while still until something new comes out with more down-to-earth numbers

[HolidayGuy]

^My comment was about HITS' numbers being off, and that it's good to see an album crack 300,000 in pure sales. But, I'm sure you're aware of that. :) (But, itis kinda a Rose thing to say, idn't it?)

[areyoureadytojump]

Drake has a rumored album coming out.

Rihanna should be putting out her new album before her tour starts in February. #mess

and...

Be on the look out for the year-end SoundScan, excuse me, Nielsen Music press release.

[Enigma.]

Jan 4, 2016 13:25:30 GMT -5 areyoureadytojump said:

Drake has a rumored album coming out.

Rihanna should be putting out her new album before her tour starts in February. #mess

and...

Be on the look out for the year-end SoundScan, excuse me, Nielsen Music press release.

Wouldn't count on that LOL

David Bowie should reach top 3 in 2 weeks but probably not enough for Adele or Bieber. His previous album started with 85k.

[HolidayGuy]

^Vinyl albums topped 9 million in 2014, and that number definitely swelled in 2015. As for albums, 257m (all formats) were sold in 2014, so I'm not sure where this source is getting the numbers and trends.

[areyoureadytojump]

^Yes, I deleted it. It was taken down at Buzz Angle as well.

[DJ General]

Drake is going to be releasing his album digitally on January 6 and at retail shortly after. Rihanna is currently scheduled for February 12, but who knows if it will stick... probably will since the tour is coming shortly. Also heard she has a new heavily promoted pop song out VERY soon aka this week

[areyoureadytojump]

If you know where to look...

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6835169/meghan-trainor-album-title-tops-million-sold

Meghan Trainor's Album 'Title' Tops a Million Sold
1/5/2016 by Keith Caulfield

Nearly a year after its release, Meghan Trainor’s album Title has surpassed 1 million copies sold. The singer's debut full-length set, released Jan. 13, 2015 on Epic Records, sold another 14,000 in the week ending Dec. 31, raising its total sales to 1.007 million, according to Nielsen Music.

Thanks in part to its string of hit singles, Title has remained in the top 30 of the weekly Billboard 200 chart since its debut at No. 1 on the Jan. 31, 2015-dated list. This week (on the chart dated Jan. 16), it rises 22-19 (34,000 equivalent album units; down 13 percent).

The album’s latest hit single, "Like I’m Gonna Lose You," featuring John Legend, ranks at No. 10 for a fourth straight week on the Billboard Hot 100 after reaching No. 8. On the Radio Songs airplay chart, the love song hits a new peak, climbing 4-3 with 115 million in audience (up 8 percent).

On the Hot 100, "Lose You" follows the first three hit singles from Title: "All About That Bass," which spent eight weeks at No. 1 (passing Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" and "Black or White" for the longest-leading No. 1 in Epic's history); "Lips Are Movin" (No. 4); and "Dear Future Husband" (No. 14). The album's title cut (no pun intended) also charted, for a week at No. 100, although it was not promoted as an official single.

[DJ General]

Good job for Meghan!

[areyoureadytojump]

hiphopdx.com/news/id.36898/title.hip-hop-album-sales-drake-future-j-cole

Top 10 Billboard Top 200 Rap & R&B Albums For The Week Ending 12/31/2015

Note: The first number below is this week’s “total album equivalent units” count, an intersection of album sales, single sales, and streams implemented by Billboard's new rating system. A pure album sales figure is available in bold in parenthesis and information about each album's streaming count is available in brackets.

#5 Fetty Wap - Fetty Wap - 70,434 (18,517) [18,178,125]

#6 The Weeknd - Beauty Behind the Madness - 69,153 (24,747) [23,675,888]

#8 Chris Brown - Royalty - 54,723 (36,067) [13,022,572]

#10 Bryson Tiller - Trapsoul - 52,823 (24,869) [24,063,282]

#13 G-Eazy - When It's Dark Out - 44,712 (21,925) [14,597,709]

#14 Drake and Future - What a Time To Be Alive - 40,544 (10,888) [18,160,934]

#18 Future - Dirty Sprite 2 - 34,341 (13,845) [15,365,445]

#29 Drake - If Youre Reading This Its Too Late - 27,670 (11,227) [12,565,133]

#30 J. Cole - 2014 Forest Hills Drive - 25,909 (10,701) [10,987,164]

#43 Travi$ Scott - Rodeo - 18,749 (4,741) [7,653,283]

MORE NEWS ON HIPHOPDX

[areyoureadytojump]

roughstock.com/news/2016/01/39558-top-10-country-albums-chart-january-4-2016

Top 10 Country Albums Chart: January 4, 2016
Posted By Matt Bjorke

CNTRY Artist Album Week Total Scans

1 Chris Stapleton Traveller 37,400 685,000
2 Carrie Underwood Greatest Hits: Decade #1 18,000 461,800
3 Luke Bryan Kill The Lights 17,100 850,600
4 Sam Hunt Montevallo 16,500 969,300
5 Carrie Underwood Storyteller 15,500 465,400
6 Thomas Rhett Tangled Up 11,300 257,000
7 Eric Church Mr. Misunderstood 10,600 275,200
8 Chris Young I'm Comin' Over 8,900 130,400
9 Cam Untamed 7,800 68,000
10 Blake Shelton Reloaded: 20 #1 Hits 7,500 189,300
11 Chris Janson Buy Me A Boat 6,400 61,800
12 Zac Brown Band Jekyll+Hyde 4,000 600,600
13 Little Big Town Pain Killer 3,800 426,300
14 Old Dominion Meat And Candy 3,800 51,000
15 Florida Georgia Line Anything Goes 3,500 813,200

-- Don Henley Cass County 3,400 222,600
-- Kenny Rogers Once Again, It's Christmas 3,000 34,900
-- Tim McGraw Damn Country Music 2,900 95,500
-- George Strait Cold Beer Conversation 2,900 212,000
-- Brantley Gilbert Just As I Am 2,700 948,000
-- Kelsea Ballerini The First Time 2,700 94,100
-- Brett Eldredge Illinois 2,400 100,000
-- Maddie & Tae Start Here 2,300 78,200
-- Kacey Musgraves Pageant Material 2,300 154,800
-- Jana Kramer Thirty-One 2,000 37,400
-- Sam Hunt Between The Pines 1,500 34,000
-- LeAnn Rimes Today Is Christmas 1,300 35,700
-- Home Free Country Evolution 1,100 27,500
-- Alan Jackson Genuine: The Alan Jacks... 1,000 19,500
-- Dustin Lynch Where It's At 700 128,000

[jenglisbe]

Lol at Kelsea Ballerini not even crossing 100k yet.

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6836100/drake-future-half-million-billboard-200-chart-moves

Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Drake & Future's 'Alive' Hits Half-Million in U.S. Sales
1/7/2016 by Keith Caulfield

Now, let’s take a closer look at some of the action on the chart:

— Drake & Future, What a Time to Be Alive - No. 14 — What a Time to Be Alive becomes Drake’s sixth half-million selling album -- and Future’s first -- as the set’s total sales climbed past the 500,000 mark in the week ending Dec. 31, 2015, according to Nielsen Music. It moved another 11,000 during the week, bringing its cumulative sales sum to 508,000. All six of Drake’s albums have now sold more than a half-million, including If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late, which closes 2015 as the year’s top selling rap effort (1.14 million).

— Original Broadway Cast, Hamilton: An American Musical - No. 42 — With 169,000 copies sold in 2015, Hamilton is the biggest-selling cast album of a calendar year since 2011 (The Book of Mormon; 182,000). Hamilton remains at No. 1 on the Top Cast Albums chart for a 14th week.

— The Chainsmokers, Bouquet (EP), Daya, Daya (EP) - Nos. 53 & 71 — The Chainsmokers (117-53) and Daya (a re-entry at No. 71) graduate from the Heatseekers Albums chart as they each breach the top 100 of the Billboard 200 for the first time. The Bouquet EP tallies a 38 percent units gain (to 15,000) while Daya’s set bounds with 12,000 units (up 76 percent).

— Guns N’ Roses, Greatest Hits - No. 115 — News of Guns N’ Roses’ reunion perhaps spurs a gain for their Greatest Hits, as it reenters at No. 115 with 9,000 units; up 23 percent, and at No. 25 on Top Catalog Albums with 5,000 sold; up 4 percent. Billboard reported on Dec. 29 that the group -- with founding members Axl Rose and Slash -- will headline the Coachella Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. in April, and are in talks to play a stadium tour. It would be the first GNR shows with Rose and Slash together since 1993. (Coachella and GNR later confirmed Billboard’s initial report.)

— Carole King, Tapestry - No. 176 — Carole King’s classic 1971 album Tapestry reenters at No. 176 following her tribute on the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors (broadcast Dec. 29 on CBS). The set also jumps back onto the Top Catalog Albums chart at No. 20 with its best sales week in nine years: 5,000 sold in the week ending Dec. 31 (up 43 percent), according to Nielsen Music.

On the Honors, which was taped on Dec. 6, Aretha Franklin performed the King-penned “A Natural Woman,” which went viral on YouTube and generated headlines thanks to what appeared to a tearful reaction from President Obama (and a standing ovation from the audience).

Tapestry last sold more in a week during the frame ending Dec. 24, 2006, when it sold slightly more than 5,000.

Tapestry spent 15 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and is certified at 10 million sold in the U.S. according to Recording Industry Association of America.

[areyoureadytojump]

www.metalinsider.net/columns/metal-by-numbers/metal-by-numbers-17-happyish-new-year

Metal By Numbers 1/7: Happy(ish) New Year
Posted by Matt Brown on January 7, 2016

Metal By Numbers is a weekly column in which we look at the top metal sellers and debuts of the week.

The metal world seems to be starting off 2016 in an odd place, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you why. As such, there isn’t much in the way of new music yet to carry us out of this funk and kickstart the new year. This has pretty much always been the case in years past, but it doesn’t make us any more used to the fact that we’re all basically floating in space until something comes along. Luckily, as you can see from this list, we’re not far off from some of the most anticipated albums of 2016. I’d go so far as to say that January 2016 will the best start to the new year metal has had in a long time. Until then, sit tight. Things will get rolling soon.

Notable Debuts:

Baroness, Purple (Abraxan Hyms) #102, 4,000 sold

Baroness’s latest album debuted last week at #44 with 17,400 sold.

Notable Sales:

Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Letters From The Labyrinth (Republic) #49, 8,500 sold

A 55% drop isn’t enough to keep this out of the top 50.

Five Finger Death Punch, Got Your Six (Prospect Park) #56, 7,425 sold

Over 280,000 sold.

Disturbed, Immortalized (Reprise) #60, 7,200 sold

A 40% drop with just under 235,000 sold.

Bring Me The Horizon, That’s The Spirit (Columbia) #70, 6,100 sold

A 29% boost to just under 120,000 sold.

Slipknot, .5: The Gray Chapter (Roadrunner) #71, 6,025 sold

This got boosted back up last week and again this week by 15%.

Shinedown, Threat To Survival (Atlantic) #95, 4,900 sold

Over 150,000 sold.

Breaking Benjamin, Dark Before Dawn (Hollywood) #87, 4,725 sold

Over 300,000 sold.

Rush, R40 Live (Rounder)#150, 2,425 sold

A 70% drop just ain’t working, man.

Iron Maiden, The Book of Souls (BMG) #157, 2,300 sold

Just under 150,000 sold

Motörhead, Bad Magic (UDR) #165, 2,175 sold

Not surprisingly, Motörhead’s final album had experienced a surge in sales (god that was a weird sentence to write).

Slayer, Repentless (Nuclear Blast) #175, 2,050 sold

This is back on the charts and is still a few weeks away from the 100,000 mark.

Clutch, Psychic Warfare (Weathermaker) #177, 2,025 sold

This has also made its way back to the charts.

Def Leppard, Def Leppard (Mailboat) #185, 1,925 sold

A 64% drop is defening.