Nielsen 2018 year end report

[Gary]

Drake's 'Scorpion' Is Nielsen Music's Top Album Of 2018 in U.S., 'God's Plan' Most-Streamed Song

1/8/2019 by Keith Caulfield

Prince Williams/Wireimage
Drake performs onstage during the Final Stop of 'Aubrey & The three Amigos Tour' at State Farm Arena on Nov. 18, 2018 in Atlanta.
Plus: Album equivalent audio music consumption gained 23%, R&B/hip-hop continues dominance as most popular genre, and total on-demand streams grew 49%.

For the second time, Drake takes home the honor of having the most popular album of the year, according to Nielsen Music. His Scorpion release finishes 2018 as the year’s top album in the U.S., following the hip-hop king’s coronation in 2016 with Views. The data-tracking firm reports that Scorpion earned 3.905 million equivalent album units during the year, with 330,000 of that sum coming from album sales.

In 2017, Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) was named Nielsen Music’s top album.

Scorpion’s 3.905 million equivalent album units sum is a multi-metric consumption total, which includes album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and on-demand audio streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The multi-metric formula is also used to compile the weekly Billboard 200 albums chart, which ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. (One TEA unit is equal to 10 tracks sold from an album. One SEA unit is equal to 1,250 paid subscription or 3,750 ad-supported on-demand audio streams of tracks from an album.)

Nielsen Music’s 2018 tracking year ran from Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019. Due to a quirk in the calendar, there were 53 weeks in 2018, instead of the usual 52. So, for 2018 volume comparisons to 2017, a corresponding 53-week period is used by Nielsen Music for 2017: Dec. 30, 2016 through Jan. 4, 2018. (Historical comparable references to volume in 2017 versus that of 2016 used the traditional comparable 52-week years for both, as stated in earlier Billboard stories.)

Numbers in this story are rounded. Nielsen Music began electronically tracking sales and data in 1991 (so a reference in this story to the “Nielsen era” means from 1991 to the present).

Drake performs in Concert at Aubrey & The Three Amigos Tour - Chicago, Illinois at United Center on Aug. 17, 2018 in Chicago.
Read More
Drake's 'God's Plan' Tops Spotify's 2018 Workout Songs

Scorpion’s year-end finish as Nielsen Music’s top album was powered in large part by its streaming activity, as the set garnered 3.293 million SEA units (equaling 4.572 billion on-demand audio streams for the set’s songs in 2018). Scorpion is also the most-streamed album of 2018.

Scorpion marked Drake’s eighth No. 1 album on the weekly Billboard 200 chart, where it ruled for five weeks. In the set’s debut frame, it racked up a weekly record 745.9 million on-demand audio streams for its songs.

The set spun off three No. 1 hits on the weekly Billboard Hot 100 songs chart: “God’s Plan” (No. 1 for 11 weeks), “Nice for What” (No. 1 for eight weeks) and “In My Feelings” (No. 1 for 10 weeks). Drake’s combined total of 29 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2018 was the most weeks atop the list in a year by any artist since the chart launched in 1958.

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2018 IN U.S., BY TOTAL EQUIVALENT ALBUM UNITS
Rank Artist, Title Total Units Album Sales TEA Units SEA Units
1 Drake, Scorpion 3,905,000 330,000 282,000 3,293,000
2 Post Malone, beerbongs & bentleys 3,251,000 374,000 234,000 2,643,000
3 Soundtrack, The Greatest Showman 2,499,000 1,491,000 187,000 821,000
4 Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy 2,060,000 222,000 184,000 1,654,000
5 Travis Scott, Astroworld 1,985,000 464,000 49,000 1,471,000
6 XXXTentacion, ? 1,637,000 94,000 82,000 1,461,000
7 Migos, Culture II 1,599,000 115,000 90,000 1,393,000
8 Ed Sheeran, ÷ (Divide) 1,481,000 367,000 212,000 902,000
9 Soundtrack, Black Panther: The Album 1,459,000 234,000 104,000 1,120,000
10 Post Malone, Stoney 1,388,000 95,000 84,000 1,209,000


Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019.

Post Malone captures two of the year’s top 10 albums, as his sophomore studio set Beerbongs & Bentleys, released in 2018, finishes at No. 2 (3.251 million units) while his debut studio album Stoney, released in 2016, is at No. 10 (1.388 million units). Post is the first act to have two of the year’s top 10 albums since Nielsen Music began tracking albums by overall consumption in 2014. Dating back to when the year’s overall top 10 albums were ranked solely by album sales (pre-2014), Malone is the first act to double up in the top 10 since 2012, when One Direction had the Nos. 3 and 5 biggest-selling titles (with Up All Night and Take Me Home, respectively).


The No. 3 album of 2018 is the multi-artist soundtrack to The Greatest Showman, with 2.499 million units. It is the highest-ranked year-end soundtrack since 2014, when Frozen was the year’s most-consumed album, with 4.471 million units earned that year. Notably, The Greatest Showman’s success is largely driven by album sales, and not streams, like Scorpion and Beerbongs. The Greatest Showman sold 1.491 million copies in 2018, and was the top-selling album of the year (more on that in a moment).

Hip-hop albums overwhelmingly dominate Nielsen Music’s year-end top 10 albums tally, as there are just two titles from outside the genre: the pop sets The Greatest Showman and Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide). A year ago, hip-hop held four of the top 10.

MUSIC CONSUMPTION CONTINUES TO GAIN: Album equivalent audio consumption in 2018 jumped 23 percent, rising to 618 million units (up from 501 million). Those figures combine album sales, TEA units and SEA units from on-demand audio streams.

The R&B/hip-hop genre dominated the year in consumption, as it did in 2017. In 2018, the genre equaled 25.6 percent of album equivalent audio consumption — the largest share of any genre in 2018.

"SHOWMAN" IS YEAR’S TOP-SELLING ALBUM: The soundtrack to the movie musical The Greatest Showman is 2018’s top-selling album, with 1.491 million copies sold. It was the only album to sell more than 1 million copies in 2018, and it marks the first time since Nielsen began tracking sales in 1991 that just one album sold more than a million in a calendar year. The prior fewest number of million sellers had occurred in 2017, when just two albums crossed the million mark: Taylor Swift’s reputation (1.9 million) and Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide) (1.1 million).

Showman also marks the first time the year’s top-selling album is a soundtrack since 2006, when the companion album to the Disney Channel TV musical movie High School Musical was tops with 3.719 million.

TOP 10 SELLING ALBUMS OF 2018 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Sales
1 Soundtrack, The Greatest Showman 1,491,000
2 Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born (Soundtrack) 704,000
3 Eminem, Kamikaze 493,000
4 Travis Scott, Astroworld 464,000
5 Jason Aldean, Rearview Town 463,000
6 Justin Timberlake, Man of the Woods 422,000
7 Carrie Underwood, Cry Pretty 401,000
8 Post Malone, beerbongs & bentleys 374,000
9 Dave Matthews Band, Come Tomorrow 369,000
10 Ed Sheeran, ÷ (Divide) 367,000


Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019.

ALBUM SALES FALL AGAIN: Overall album sales in 2018 fell by 17.7 percent to 141 million copies sold across all formats (CD, digital albums, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.). The decline is about on par with the volume drop in 2017 vs. 2016 (17.7 percent, to 169.15 million copies sold).

Scrolling back in time, album sales decreased 16.7 percent in 2016, 6 percent in 2015, 11 percent in 2014, 8 percent in 2013 and 4 percent in 2012.

Physical album sales (CD, vinyl, cassette, etc.) dropped by 15.8 percent to 88 million in 2018. CD album sales comprised 70.7 million of that sum (down 20.9 percent). The CD format continues to be the leader for album purchases, while the digital format is the runner-up with 53.4 million digital albums sold in 2018 (down 20.7 percent).



The biggest-selling digital album of 2018 is The Greatest Showman soundtrack, with 883,000 digital downloads sold. Rock music dominated album sales, as the genre comprised a whopping 37.4 percent of all album purchases in 2018.
TOP 10 SELLING DIGITAL ALBUMS OF 2018 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Sales
1 Soundtrack, The Greatest Showman 883,000
2 Travis Scott, Astroworld 435,000
3 Eminem, Kamikaze 381,000
4 Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper, A Star Is Born (Soundtrack) 299,000
5 Drake, Scorpion 256,000
6 Post Malone, beerbongs & bentleys 222,000
7 Cardi B, Invasion of Privacy 218,000
8 Justin Timberlake, Man of the Woods 183,000
9 J. Cole, KOD 180,000
10 Lil Wayne, Tha Carter V 173,000


Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019.

HOT WAX: Vinyl album sales continue to be a bright spot among an otherwise bleak album sales picture. For the 13th consecutive year, vinyl album sales have grown to a new yearly high, rising to 16.8 million sold in 2018 (up 14.6 percent).

Vinyl LP sales accounted for 11.9 percent of all album sales in 2018. In 2017, the format comprised 6.5 percent of album sales. Impressively, vinyl album sales were a whopping 19.1 percent of all physical album sales in 2018 — a new Nielsen-era record share for the once-dormant format, up from 14 percent in 2017.

In total, 14 albums sold more than 50,000 copies on vinyl – up from just eight titles in 2017. Further, 79 titles exceeded 20,000 in LP sales in 2018, as compared to 77 in 2017, and 58 in 2016.

The top-selling vinyl album of 2018 is the Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 soundtrack, with 84,000 copies sold. It is followed by Michael Jackson’s Thriller (nearly 84,000), Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (77,000), The Beatles’ Abbey Road (76,000) and Prince and The Revolution’s soundtrack to Purple Rain (71,000).



Rock music is tops among vinyl album buyers, as the genre comprises the largest share of vinyl LP sales: 63 percent. In 2017, the genre amounted to 67 percent of LP sales, while in 2016 rock yielded 69 percent of LP sales.

Sales of older albums continue to drive the bulk of vinyl LP sales, as deep catalog titles (albums that are at least 36 months old) held a 65 percent share of vinyl album sales in 2018. The only title among 2018’s top 10 selling vinyl albums that is not a deep catalog title is Panic! at the Disco’s Pray for the Wicked (No. 10 with 59,000), which was released in June of 2018.
TOP 10 SELLING VINYL ALBUMS OF 2018 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Sales
1 Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 84,000
2 Michael Jackson, Thriller 84,000
3 Fleetwood Mac, Rumours 77,000
4 The Beatles, Abbey Road 76,000
5 Prince and The Revolution, Purple Rain (Soundtrack) 71,000
6 Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon 67,000
7 Bob Marley and The Wailers, Legend: The Best Of… 61,000
8 Queen, Greatest Hits 60,000
9 Amy Winehouse, Back to Black 59,000
10 Panic! at the Disco, Pray for the Wicked 59,000


Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019.

"GOD" RULES STREAMING WORLD: Drake’s smash single “God’s Plan” finishes 2018 as the most-streamed song of the year, as it accumulated 1.566 billion on-demand audio and video streams. It was one of four titles to surpass 1 billion streams in 2018, up from just one billion-streamer in 2017.

The top 10 most-streamed songs of 2018 were unsurprisingly dominated by hip-hop titles, with only Sheeran’s “Perfect” being the non-hip-hop effort in the region (at No. 9, with 797.27 million streams).

“God’s Plan” was also the most-streamed song in terms of audio-only on-demand streams (918.87 million) and video-only on-demand streams (647.84 million). Overall on-demand streams (audio and video combined) rose 42.6 percent in 2018 to 901 billion. On-demand audio streams vaulted 49 percent to 611 billion, while on-demand video streams surged 30 percent to 290 billion.

The R&B/hip-hop genre led the way in total on-demand streaming, with 29.7 percent of all streams in 2018. The second-largest genre was rock music, with 14.2 percent.

TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2018 IN U.S., ON-DEMAND AUDIO & VIDEO COMBINED
Rank Artist, Title Streams
1 Drake, "God's Plan" 1,565,711,000
2 Juice WRLD, "Lucid Dreams" 1,107,289,000
3 Drake, "In My Feelings" 1,100,534,000
4 XXXTentacion, "Sad!" 1,026,294,000
5 Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign, "Psycho" 924,496,000
6 Post Malone featuring 21 Savage, "Rockstar" 905,440,000
7 Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin, "I Like It" 873,494,000
8 Drake, "Nice for What" 844,403,000
9 Ed Sheeran, "Perfect" 797,274,000
10 BlocBoy JB featuring Drake, "Look Alive" 766,073,000


Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019.

TOP 10 ON-DEMAND STREAMS OF 2018 IN U.S., AUDIO-ONLY
Rank Artist, Title Streams
1 Drake, "God's Plan" 917,872,000
2 Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign, "Psycho" 594,516,000
3 Drake, "Nice for What" 576,214,000
4 Juice WRLD, "Lucid Dreams" 572,972,000
5 XXXTentacion, "Sad!" 565,324,000
6 Post Malone featuring 21 Savage, "Rockstar" 525,971,000
7 Drake, "In My Feelings" 522,591,000
8 BlocBoy JB featuring Drake, "Look Alive" 522,155,000
9 Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin, "I Like It" 508,202,000
10 Travis Scott, "Sicko Mode" 479,509,000


Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019.

TOP 10 ON-DEMAND STREAMS OF 2018 IN U.S., VIDEO-ONLY
Rank Artist, Title Streams
1 Drake, "God's Plan" 647,839,000
2 Drake, "In My Feelings" 577,943,000
3 Juice WRLD, "Lucid Dreams" 534,317,000
4 XXXTentacion, "Sad!" 460,970,000
5 Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber, "Despacito" 422,743,000
6 Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B, "Girls Like You" 415,292,000
7 Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug, "Havana" 399,510,000
8 Ella Mai, "Boo'd Up" 398,445,000
9 Post Malone featuring 21 Savage, "Rockstar" 379,468,000
10 Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin, "I Like It" 365,292,000


Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019.

"PERFECT" LEADS DIGITAL SONGS ROUNDUP: As consumers increasingly adapt to using streaming services to enjoy music instead of buying individual songs and albums, music sales naturally decrease. Digital song sales are no exception, as overall sales fell 27.2 percent in 2018 to 412 million. It marks the sixth year in a row of declines for the format.

The top-selling digital song of 2018 is Sheeran’s “Perfect,” with 1.3 million sold, followed by two more million sellers: Drake’s “God’s Plan” (1.06 million) and Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s “Meant to Be” (1.04 million).

For the first time since 2006, there were no songs that sold 2 million downloads in a calendar year. A year ago, there was just one: Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” featuring Justin Bieber, with 2.69 million. (Nielsen Music began tracking digital song sales in 2003.) Further, in 2018, there were only three million-sellers, down from 14 in 2017.

From 2004 through 2012, digital song sales grew on a yearly basis. The high-water mark for the format’s sales was in 2012, when 1.336 billion songs were sold.

TOP 10 SELLING DIGITAL SONGS OF 2018 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Sales
1 Ed Sheeran, "Perfect" 1,300,000
2 Drake, "God's Plan" 1,056,000
3 Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line, "Meant to Be" 1,042,000
4 Maroon 5, "Girls Like You" 896,000
5 Imagine Dragons, "Whatever It Takes" 849,000
6 Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin, "I Like It" 844,000
7 Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug, "Havana" 828,000
8 Imagine Dragons, "Thunder" 772,000
9 Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey, "The Middle" 753,000
10 Drake, "In My Feelings" 708,000


Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019.

SHEERAN IS RADIO’S FAVORITE, AGAIN: For the second year in a row, Sheeran has the most-heard song on the radio. “Perfect” was tops in 2018, with 3.988 billion audience impressions earned. In 2017, Sheeran’s “Shape of You” was the most-heard song, with 5.847 billion impressions.

“Perfect” spent nine weeks atop Billboard’s all-genre Radio Songs chart and reached No. 1 on the Pop Songs, Adult Pop Songs and Adult Contemporary airplay charts.
TOP 10 RADIO SONGS OF 2018 IN U.S. (RANKED BY AUDIENCE IMPRESSIONS)
Rank Artist, Title Audience Impressions
1 Ed Sheeran, "Perfect" 3.988 billion
2 Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line, "Meant to Be" 3.533 billion
3 Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey, "The Middle" 3.505 billion
4 Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B, "Girls Like You" 3.079 billion
5 Dua Lipa, "New Rules" 2.841 billion
6 Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug, "Havana" 2.814 billion
7 Camila Cabello, "Never Be the Same" 2.747 billion
8 Drake, "God's Plan" 2.630 billion
9 MAX, "Lights Down Low" 2.616 billion
10 Taylor Swift, "Delicate" 2.509 billion


Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019.

[Gary]

For the link police

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8492663/nielsen-music-top-album-2018-drake-scorpion

[Gary]

The link to the 2017 thread


pulsemusic.proboards.com/thread/173079/nielsen-2017-year-report-sheeran

[Gary]

Jan 3, 2018 18:22:24 GMT -5 Gary said:

Also Top 10 SoundScan Albums by year 1992 - 2015

2015

1. 7,441,000 Adele, 25
2. 1,993,000 Taylor Swift, 1989
3. 1,269,000 Justin Bieber, Purpose
4. 1,162,000 Ed Sheeran, X
5. 1,142,000 Drake, If You're Reading This It's Too Late
6. 1,018,000 Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour
7. 1,007,000 Meghan Trainor, Title
8. 862,000 The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
9. 861,000 Soundtrack, Fifty Shades of Grey
10. 851,000 Luke Bryan, Kill the Lights

2014

1. 3,661,000 Taylor Swift, 1989
2. 3,527,000 Frozen Sdtk.
3. 1,208,000 Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour
4. 1,143,000 Pentatonix, That's Christmas to Me
5. 898,000 Guardians of the Galaxy Sdtk.
6. 878,000 Beyonce, Beyonce
7. 856,000 Barbra Streisand, Partners
8. 841,000 Lorde, Pure Heroine
9. 814,000 One Direction, FOUR
10. 811,000 Eric Church, The Outsiders

2013

1. 2,427,000 Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience
2. 1,727,000 Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP 2
3. 1,521,000 Luke Bryan, Crash My Party
4. 1,402,000 Imagine Dragons, Night Visions
5. 1,399,000 Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox
6. 1,350,000 Florida Georgia Line, Here's To the Good Times
7. 1,344,000 Drake, Nothing Was The Same
8. 1,301,000 Beyonce, Beyonce
9. 1,109,000 Blake Shelton, Based On A True Story
10. 1,099,000 Jay Z, Magna Carta…Holy Grail

2012

1. 4,410,000 Adele, 21
2. 3,110,000 Taylor Swift, Red
3. 1,620,000 One Direction, Up All Night
4. 1,460,000 Mumford & Sons, Babel
5. 1,340,000 One Direction, Take Me Home
6. 1,340,000 Justin Bieber, Believe
7. 1,200,000 Carrie Underwood, Blown Away
8. 1,100,000 Luke Bryan, Tailgates & Tanlines
9. 1,070,000 Lionel Richie, Tuskegee
10. 1,020,000 Jason Aldean, Night Train

2011

1. 5,824,000 Adele, 21
2. 2,452,000 Michael Buble, Christmas
3. 2,101,000 Lady GaGa, Born This Way
4. 1,917,000 Lil Wayne, Tha Carter IV
5. 1,576,000 Jason Aldean, My Kinda Party
6. 1,420,000 Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More
7. 1,247,000 Drake, Take Care
8. 1,245,000 Justin Bieber, Under the Mistletoe
9. 1,232,000 Jay-Z & Kanye West, Watch the Throne
10. 1,204,000 Lady Antebellum, Own the Night

2010

1. 3,415,000 Eminem, Recovery
2. 3,089,000 Lady Antebellum, Need You Now
3. 2,960,000 Taylor Swift, Speak Now
4. 2,319,000 Justin Bieber, My World 2.0
5. 1,852,000 Susan Boyle, The Gift
6. 1,591,000 Lady Gaga, The Fame
7. 1,300,000 Sade, Soldier of Love
8. 1,269,000 Drake, Thank Me Later
9. 1,143,000 Usher, Raymond V Raymond
10. 1,143,000 Ke$ha, Animal

2009

1. 3,217,000 Taylor Swift, Fearless
2. 3,103,828 Susan Boyle, I Dreamed A Dream
3. 2,355,000 Michael Jackson, Number Ones
4. 2,238,000 Lady Gaga, The Fame
5. 2,207,000 Andrea Bocelli, My Christmas
6. 1,823,000 Hanna Montana, Hannah Movie Soundtrack
7. 1,786,852 Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D.
8. 1,735,358 Eminem, Relapse
9. 1,514,800 Jay-Z, Blueprint 3
10. 1,398,000 Kings of Leon, Only By the Night

2008

1. 2,874,000 Tha Carter III/ Lil Wayne
2. 2,144,000 Viva La Vida/ Coldplay
3. 2,112,000 Fearless/Taylor Swift
4. 2,018,000 Rock N Roll Jesus/ Kid Rock
5. 1,915,000 Black Ice/ AC/DC
6. 1,597,000 Taylor Swift/Taylor Swift
7. 1,565,000 Death Magnetic/ Metallica
8. 1,522,000 Paper Trail/ T.I.
9. 1,492,000 Sleep Through the Static/ Jack Johnson
10. 1,459,000 I Am…Sasha Fierce/ Beyonce

2007

1. 3,698,934 Josh Groban, Noel
2. 2,956,799 High School Musical 2 Sdtk.
3. 2,608,338 Eagles, Long Road Out Of Eden
4. 2,543,224 Alicia Keys, As I Am
5. 2,497,457 Daughtry, Daughtry
6. 2,487,346 Hannah Montana 2 Sdtk., Miley Cyrus
7. 2,098,941 Linkin Park, Minutes To Midnight
8. 2,063,572 Fergie, The Duchess
9. 1,950,641 Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift
10. 1,891,918 Kanye West, Graduation

2006

1. 3.720,000 High School Musical
2. 3.480,000 Rascal Flatts, Me and My Gang
3. 3.020,000 Carrie Underwood, Some Hearts
4. 2.690,000 Nickelback, All the Right Reasons
5. 2.380,000 Justin Timberlake, Futuresex/Lovesounds
6. 2.140,000 James Blunt, Back to Bedlam
7. 2.010,000 Beyonce, B'Day
8. 1.990,000 Hannah Montana Sdtk.
9. 1.860,000 Dixie Chicks, Taking the Long Way
10. 1.820,000 Hinder, Extreme Behavior

2005

1. 4,968,606 CAREY*MARIAH, EMANCIPATION OF MIMI
2. 4,852,744 50 CENT, MASSACRE
3. 3,496,192 CLARKSON*KELLY, BREAKAWAY
4. 3,360,394 GREEN DAY, AMERICAN IDIOT
5. 3,037,251 BLACK EYED PEAS, MONKEY BUSINESS
6. 2,615,280 COLDPLAY, X&Y
7. 2,511,209 RASCAL FLATTS, FEELS LIKE TODAY
8. 2,505,390 STEFANI*GWEN, LOVE.ANGEL.MUSIC.BABY
9. 2,413,580 WEST*KANYE, LATE REGISTRATION
10. 2,275,646 The GAME, DOCUMENTARY

2004

1. 7,978,594 Confessions, Usher
2. 3,842,920 Feels Like Home, Norah Jones
3. 3,517,097 Encore, Eminem
4. 3,072,224 When The Sun Goes Down, Kenny Chesney
5. 2,931,097 Here for the Party, Gretchen Wilson
6. 2,786,840 Live Like You Were Dying, Tim McGraw
7. 2,708,415 Songs About Jane, Maroon 5
8. 2,614,226 Fallen, Evanescence
9. 2,576,945 Autobiography, Ashlee Simpson
10. 2,560,316 Now 16 Now That's What I Call Music!

2003

1. 6,535,809 50 Cent, Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
2. 5,137,468 Jones Norah, Come Away With Me
3. 3,478,361 Linkin Park, Meteora
4. 3,364,738 Evanescence, Fallen
5. 3,089,849 Outkast, Speakerboxx-Love
6. 2,527,485 Beyonce, Dangerously In Love
7. 2,439,536 Kelly R., Chocolate Factory
8. 2,405,544 Duff Hilary, Metamorphosis
9. 2,324,437 Keith Toby, Shock N Y'all
10. 2,183,997 Coldplay, Rush Of Blood To The Head

2002

1. 7.607.925 Eminem, Eminem Show
2. 4.916.073 Nelly, Nellyville
3. 4.121.396 Avril Lavigne, Let Go
4. 3.690.413 Dixie Chicks, Home
5. 3.498.497 Soundtrack, 8 Mile
6. 3.144.947 Pink, M!ssundaztood
7. 3.099.216 Ashanti, Ashanti
8. 3.054.736 Alan Jackson, Drive
9. 2.909.499 Shania Twain, Up
10. 2.736.049 Soundtrack, O Brother, Where Art Thou?

2001

1. 4,812,852 Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park
2. 4,507,568 Hotshot, Shaggy
3. 4,421,231 Celebrity, N Sync
4. 4,410,053 Day Without Rain, Enya
5. 4,242,507 Break the Cycle, Staind
6. 4,102,482 Songs In A Minor, Alicia Keys
7. 3,718,446 Survivor, Destiny's Child
8. 3,581,344 Weathered, Creed
9. 3,460,852 Soundtrack, O Brother Where Art Thou?
10. 3,133,462 Vol.6-Now That's What I Call Music !

2000

1. 9.936.104 N Sync, No Strings Attached
2. 7.921.107 Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP
3. 7.893.544 Britney Spears, Oops!...I Did it Again
4. 6.587.834 Creed, Human Clay
5. 5.857.824 Santana, Supernatural
6. 5.068.300 The Beatles, 1
7. 5.067.529 Nelly, Country Grammar
8. 4.289.865 Backstreet Boys, Black and Blue
9. 3.992.311 Dr Dre, 2001
10. 3.802.165 Destiny's Child, The Writing's on the Wall

1999

1. 9,445,732 MILLENNIUM Backstreet Boys
2. 8,358,619 ...BABY ONE MORE TIME Britney Spears
3. 5,981,155 RICKY MARTIN Ricky Martin
4. 5,618,134 COME ON OVER Shania Twain
5. 4,952,890 SIGNIFICANT OTHER Limp Bizkit
6. 4,732,589 SUPERNATURAL Santana
7. 4,259,736 DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE Kid Rock
8. 4.186,685 FANMAIL TLC
9. 3,662,905 CHRISTINA AGUILERA Christina Aguilera
10. 3,463,642 WIDE OPEN SPACES Dixie Chicks

1998

1. 9,338,061 TITANIC Soundtrack
2. 5,859,421 LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE Celine Dion
3. 5,709,369 BACKSTREET BOYS Backstreet Boys
4. 4,872,841 COME ON OVER Shania Twain
5. 4,385,148 'N SYNC 'N Sync
6. 4,120,508 CITY OF ANGELS Soundtrack
7. 3,892,288 DOUBLE LIVE Garth Brooks
8. 3,687,568 BIG WILLIE STYLE Will Smith
9. 3,247,406 SAVAGE GARDEN Savage Garden
10. 3,222,603 ARMAGEDDON Soundtrack

1997

1. 5,300,000 Spice, Spice Girls
2. 4,300,000 Pieces of You, Jewel
3. 3,300,000 No Way Out Puff, Daddy & The Family
4. 3,400,000 Sevens, Garth Brooks
5. 3,200,000 Middle of Nowhere, Hanson
6. 3,100,000 Life After Death, The Notorious B.I.G.
7. 3,100,000 Bringing Down The House, The Wallflowers
8. 3,000,000 Falling Into You, Celine Dion
9. 2,900,000 Space Jam, Soundtrack
10. 2,900,000 You Light Up My Life, LeAnn Rimes

1996

1. 7,400,000 Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette
2. 6,000,000 Falling Into You, Celine Dion
3. 4,500,000 The Score, The Fugees
4. 4,400,000 Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt
5. 3,000,000 Daydream, Mariah Carey
6. 3,000,000 All Eyez On Me, 2Pac
7. 3,000,000 Load, Metallica
8. 2,900,000 Secrets, Toni Braxton
9. 2,800,000 The Woman In M, Shania Twain
10. 2,600,000 What's The Story Morning Glory?, Oasis

1995

1. 7.0m CRACKED REAR VIEW Hootie & The Blowfish
2. 4.8m CRAZYSEXYCOOL TLC
3. 4.2m JAGGED LITTLE PILL Alanis Morissette
4. 3.9m DAYDREAM Mariah Carey
5. 3.8m THE HITS Garth Brooks
6. 3.5m THROWING COPPER Live
7. 3.4m II Boyz II Men
8. 2.9m ANTHOLOGY 1 The Beatles
9. 2.8m HELL FREEZES OVER Eagles
10. 2.8m THE WOMAN IN ME Shania Twain

1994

1. 4.9m THE LION KING Soundtrack
2. 4.9m THE SIGN Ace Of Base
3. 4.3m II Boyz II Men
4. 3.8m AUGUST AND EVERYTHING AFTER Counting Crows
5. 3.4m DOOKIE Green Day
6. 3.2m NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON Tim McGraw
7. 3.1m PURPLE Stone Temple Pilots
8. 3.0m MIRACLES:THE HOLIDAY ALBUM Kenny G
9. 2.9m SMASH Offspring
10. 2.7m MUSIC BOX Mariah Carey

1993

1. 5.5m THE BODYGUARD Soundtrack
2. 4.3m JANET Janet Jackson
3. 3.8m VS Pearl Jam
4. 3.8m BREATHLESS Kenny G
5. 3.3m MUSIC BOX Mariah Carey
6. 2.9m THE CHRONIC Dr Dre
7. 2.9m UNPLUGGED Eric Clapton
8. 2.8m IN PIECES Garth Brooks
9. 2.7m CORE Stone Temple Pilots
10. 2.6m BAT OUT OF HELL II-BACK INTO HELL Meat Loaf

1992

1. 4.7m SOME GAVE ALL Billy Ray Cyrus
2. 4.0m ROPIN' THE WIND Garth Brooks
3. 3.4m TEN Pearl Jam
4. 3.3m THE BODYGUARD Soundtrack
5. 3.2m TOTALLY KROSSED OUT Kris Kross
6. 3.1m NO FENCES Garth Brooks
7. 3.1m THE CHASE Garth Brooks
8. 2.7m NEVERMIND Nirvana
9. 2.7m ADRENALIZED Def Leppard
10. 2.6m METALLICA Metallica

[Gary]

By comparison here is last year's album numbers - 2016

2016 OVERALL TOP ALBUMS
(BASED ON U.S. ALBUM SALES; TRACK EQUIVALENT ALBUMS; STREAM EQUIVALENT ALBUMS)
RANK ARTIST TITLE TOTAL

1 DRAKE VIEWS 4,140 1,608 5,087 3,035,770
2 ADELE 25 2,369 1,731 3,332 457,220
3 BEYONCE LEMONADE 2,187 1,554 4,184 321,481
4 RIHANNA ANTI 1,966 603 4,195 1,415,385
5 TWENTY ONE PILOTS BLURRYFACE 1,732 738 3,795 922,471
6 JUSTIN BIEBER PURPOSE 1,678 554 3,994 1,086,450
7 CHRIS STAPLETON TRAVELLER 1,421 1,085 1,709 247,594
8 ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST HAMILTON 1.327 820 444 694,306
9 VARIOUS ARTISTS SUICIDE SQUAD: THE ALBUM 1,126 472 3,095 517,888
10 ARIANA GRANDE DANGEROUS WOMAN 1,070 322 2,809 700,615

2016 TOP ALBUMS (BASED ON U.S. SALES)
RANK ARTIST TITLE ALBUM SALES
1 ADELE 25 1,731,000
2 DRAKE VIEWS 1,608,000
3 BEYONCE LEMONADE 1,554,000
4 CHRIS STAPLETON TRAVELLER 1,085,000
5 PENTATONIX A PENTATONIX CHRISTMAS 904,000
6 ORIGINAL BROADWAY CAST HAMILTON 820,000
7 TWENTY ONE PILOTS BLURRYFACE 738,000
8 PRINCE VERY BEST OF PRINCE 668,000
9 RIHANNA ANTI 603,000

[Gary]

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2017 IN U.S., BY TOTAL EQUIVALENT ALBUM UNITS
Rank Artist, Title Total Units Album Sales TEA Units
1 Ed Sheeran, ÷ (Divide) 2,764,000 1,102,000 581,000
2 Kendrick Lamar, DAMN. 2,747,000 910,000 217,000
3 Taylor Swift, Reputation 2,336,000 1,903,000 153,000
4 Drake, More Life 2,227,000 363,000 149,000
5 Bruno Mars, 24K Magic 1,626,000 710,000 320,000
6 Post Malone, Stoney 1,564,000 128,000 174,000
7 Migos, Culture 1,438,000 134,000 156,000
8 The Weeknd, Starboy 1,408,000 275,000 189,000
9 Soundtrack, Moana 1,254,000 709,000 197,000
10 Khalid, American Teen 1,220,000 147,000 124,000
Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2016 through Dec. 28, 2017.


TOP 10 SELLING ALBUMS OF 2017 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Sales
1 Taylor Swift, Reputation 1,903,000
2 Ed Sheeran, ÷ (Divide) 1,102,000
3 Kendrick Lamar, DAMN. 910,000
4 Bruno Mars, 24K Magic 710,000
5 Soundtrack, Moana 709,000
6 Chris Stapleton, From A Room: Volume 1 658,000
7 P!nk, Beautiful Trauma 628,000
8 Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 600,000
9 Metallica, Hardwired… To Self-Destruct 585,000
10 Soundtrack, Trolls 522,000
Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 30, 2016 through Dec. 28, 2017.

[Exclusive]

Jan 8, 2019 13:15:48 GMT -5 Gary said:

TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2018 IN U.S., ON-DEMAND AUDIO & VIDEO COMBINED
Rank Artist, Title Streams
1 Drake, "God's Plan" 1,565,711,000
2 Juice WRLD, "Lucid Dreams" 1,107,289,000
3 Drake, "In My Feelings" 1,100,534,000
4 XXXTentacion, "Sad!" 1,026,294,000
5 Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign, "Psycho" 924,496,000
6 Post Malone featuring 21 Savage, "Rockstar" 905,440,000
7 Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin, "I Like It" 873,494,000
8 Drake, "Nice for What" 844,403,000
9 Ed Sheeran, "Perfect" 797,274,000
10 BlocBoy JB featuring Drake, "Look Alive" 766,073,000

Nice to see that a few songs crossed the 1 million mark, but the overall decline is real.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2019/total-album-equivalent-consumption-in-the-us-increased-23-percent-in-2018.html

[Kris]

Jan 8, 2019 18:16:58 GMT -5 Exclusive said:

Jan 8, 2019 13:15:48 GMT -5 Gary said:

TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2018 IN U.S., ON-DEMAND AUDIO & VIDEO COMBINED
Rank Artist, Title Streams
1 Drake, "God's Plan" 1,565,711,000
2 Juice WRLD, "Lucid Dreams" 1,107,289,000
3 Drake, "In My Feelings" 1,100,534,000
4 XXXTentacion, "Sad!" 1,026,294,000
5 Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign, "Psycho" 924,496,000
6 Post Malone featuring 21 Savage, "Rockstar" 905,440,000
7 Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin, "I Like It" 873,494,000
8 Drake, "Nice for What" 844,403,000
9 Ed Sheeran, "Perfect" 797,274,000
10 BlocBoy JB featuring Drake, "Look Alive" 766,073,000

Nice to see that a few songs crossed the 1 million mark, but the overall decline is real.

Thats billion you're looking at.

[Exclusive]

Jan 8, 2019 21:53:18 GMT -5 Kris said:

Jan 8, 2019 18:16:58 GMT -5 Exclusive said:

Nice to see that a few songs crossed the 1 million mark, but the overall decline is real.

Thats billion you're looking at.

#Mess I meant to quote this:

Jan 8, 2019 13:15:48 GMT -5 Gary said:

TOP 10 SELLING DIGITAL SONGS OF 2018 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Sales
1 Ed Sheeran, "Perfect" 1,300,000
2 Drake, "God's Plan" 1,056,000
3 Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line, "Meant to Be" 1,042,000
4 Maroon 5, "Girls Like You" 896,000
5 Imagine Dragons, "Whatever It Takes" 849,000
6 Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin, "I Like It" 844,000
7 Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug, "Havana" 828,000
8 Imagine Dragons, "Thunder" 772,000
9 Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey, "The Middle" 753,000
10 Drake, "In My Feelings" 708,000

[Enigma.]

Wonder how SS numbers are significantly higher than HDDs, usually it's the other way around on a weekly basis. For example SS has Drake at over 3.9M, and HDD at 3.7M

[areyoureadytojump]

HITS uses BuzzAngle figures which have shown lately to have no credibility.

[areyoureadytojump]

Jan 8, 2019 13:20:30 GMT -5 Gary said:

For the link police

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8492663/nielsen-music-top-album-2018-drake-scorpion

Some of us here like to go to the original source to read the article.

[owenlovesmusic]

If Drake only had one more minute on his album to make it 2 sides it would be almost eligible for 8x Platinum

[Gary]

Jan 9, 2019 10:08:23 GMT -5 areyoureadytojump said:

Jan 8, 2019 13:20:30 GMT -5 Gary said:

For the link police

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8492663/nielsen-music-top-album-2018-drake-scorpion

Some of us here like to go to the original source to read the article.

I understand - feel free to do so.

[areyoureadytojump]

^And that 1992-2015 album sales list is mine. I compiled it.

Here's the mid-year 2018 report:

pulsemusic.proboards.com/thread/177491/nielsen-music-year-2018-report

[garrettlen]

Jan 8, 2019 13:15:48 GMT -5 Gary said:

TOP 10 SELLING VINYL ALBUMS OF 2018 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Sales
1 Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 84,000
2 Michael Jackson, Thriller 84,000
3 Fleetwood Mac, Rumours 77,000
4 The Beatles, Abbey Road 76,000
5 Prince and The Revolution, Purple Rain (Soundtrack) 71,000
6 Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon 67,000
7 Bob Marley and The Wailers, Legend: The Best Of… 61,000
8 Queen, Greatest Hits 60,000
9 Amy Winehouse, Back to Black 59,000
10 Panic! at the Disco, Pray for the Wicked 59,000

Damn, nearly 50 years on and "Abbey Road" is STILL selling nicely on vinyl!   Pretty impressive considering it's the oldest record on this list; having been originally released in September 1969.

Some albums just sound better on vinyl, "Abbey Road" is probably one of them.

I remember my first vinyl copy of "Abbey Road"...but that would be dating myself. 

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8493091/drake-2018-most-streamed-artist-rb-hip-hop

30% of All U.S. Music Streams in 2018 Were R&B/Hip-Hop, With Drake the Most-Streamed Artist of Year
1/10/2019 by Keith Caulfield

Drake is first artist to earn 10 billion streams in a year, while total on-demand streams totaled 901 billion in 2018 — up 43 percent.

Drake was the king of streaming in 2018, as he finished the year as the most-streamed artist in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music. The superstar collected 11.13 billion on-demand streams for his catalog of songs (in both audio and video streams) -- a yearly record for an artist, surpassing his own record of 6.4 billion in 2017.

Drake is also the first act to earn 10 billion streams for his songs in a calendar year.

Drake’s streaming haul represented 1.2 percent of total streams across all artists in all genres. In total, 901 billion on-demand streams were registered in 2018 -- up 42.6 percent over 2017.

Drake’s streams were fueled greatly by the success of his album Scorpion, which generated 4.57 billion on-demand audio streams -- the most-streamed album of 2018. (Meanwhile, the set’s songs collected another 1.76 billion in on-demand video streams.)

R&B/HIP-HOP DOMINATES STREAMING: The combined genre of R&B/hip-hop continues to be the heaviest hitter on streaming services, with the genre accounting for 30 percent of all on-demand streams in 2018 (267.4 billion clicks of the 901 billion total).

The second-largest genre in 2018 streaming was rock music, with a 14.2 percent share of the market (127.5 billion streams).

Overall on-demand audio streams vaulted 49 percent to 611 billion, while on-demand video streams surged 30 percent to 290 billion.

RAP RULES AMONG MOST-STREAMED ARTISTS: Following Drake on the list of the most-streamed acts of 2018 are eight more hip-hop acts: Post Malone (7.51 billion), XXXTentacion (6.91 billion), Eminem (4.82 billion), YoungBoy Never Broke Again (4.46 billion), Migos (4.17 billion), Travis Scott (4.01 billion), Cardi B (3.99 billion) and Lil Baby (3.32 billion). Rounding out the top 10 most-streamed acts of 2018 is pop superstar Ariana Grande, with 3.28 billion clicks.

“GOD’S PLAN” IS YEAR’S MOST-STREAMED SONG: Drake’s smash single “God’s Plan” finishes 2018 as the most-streamed song of the year, as it accumulated 1.566 billion on-demand audio and video streams -- a calendar-year record for a song. It was one of four titles to surpass 1 billion streams in 2018, up from just a single billion-streamer in 2017 (Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito,” featuring Justin Bieber, with 1.32 billion).

The top 10 most-streamed songs of 2018 were unsurprisingly dominated by hip-hop titles, with Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” being the only non-hip-hop effort in the region (at No. 9, with 797.27 million streams).

Nielsen Music’s 2018 tracking year ran from Dec. 29, 2017, through Jan. 3, 2019. Due to a quirk in the calendar, there were 53 weeks in 2018 instead of the usual 52. So for 2018 volume comparisons to 2017, a corresponding 53-week period is used by Nielsen Music for 2017: Dec. 30, 2016 through Jan. 4, 2018. Numbers in this story are rounded.

TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2018 IN U.S., ON-DEMAND AUDIO & VIDEO COMBINED
Rank Artist, Title Streams

1 Drake, "God's Plan" 1,565,711,000
2 Juice WRLD, "Lucid Dreams" 1,107,289,000
3 Drake, "In My Feelings" 1,100,534,000
4 XXXTentacion, "Sad!" 1,026,294,000
5 Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign, "Psycho" 924,496,000
6 Post Malone featuring 21 Savage, "Rockstar" 905,440,000
7 Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin, "I Like It" 873,494,000
8 Drake, "Nice for What" 844,403,000
9 Ed Sheeran, "Perfect" 797,274,000
10 BlocBoy JB featuring Drake, "Look Alive" 766,073,000

Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019.


TOP 10 ON-DEMAND STREAMS OF 2018 IN U.S., AUDIO-ONLY
Rank Artist, Title Streams

1 Drake, "God's Plan" 917,872,000
2 Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign, "Psycho" 594,516,000
3 Drake, "Nice for What" 576,214,000
4 Juice WRLD, "Lucid Dreams" 572,972,000
5 XXXTentacion, "Sad!" 565,324,000
6 Post Malone featuring 21 Savage, "Rockstar" 525,971,000
7 Drake, "In My Feelings" 522,591,000
8 BlocBoy JB featuring Drake, "Look Alive" 522,155,000
9 Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin, "I Like It" 508,202,000
10 Travis Scott, "Sicko Mode" 479,509,000

Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019.


TOP 10 ON-DEMAND STREAMS OF 2018 IN U.S., VIDEO-ONLY
Rank Artist, Title Streams

1 Drake, "God's Plan" 647,839,000
2 Drake, "In My Feelings" 577,943,000
3 Juice WRLD, "Lucid Dreams" 534,317,000
4 XXXTentacion, "Sad!" 460,970,000
5 Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee featuring Justin Bieber, "Despacito" 422,743,000
6 Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B, "Girls Like You" 415,292,000
7 Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug, "Havana" 399,510,000
8 Ella Mai, "Boo'd Up" 398,445,000
9 Post Malone featuring 21 Savage, "Rockstar" 379,468,000
10 Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin, "I Like It" 365,292,000

Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019.

[HolidayGuy]

Nice numbers for vinyl- and, even with the dominance of streaming- 141 million albums sold/scanned. Even if the format were to drop 20% in 2019, that's still 110 million+. Of course, just 10% or so of the peak shipment numbers in the late 90s/early 2000s, but still a noteworthy amount.

[kanfad]

Jan 11, 2019 8:40:23 GMT -5 areyoureadytojump said:

TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2018 IN U.S., ON-DEMAND AUDIO & VIDEO COMBINED
Rank Artist, Title Streams

1 Drake, "God's Plan" 1,565,711,000
2 Juice WRLD, "Lucid Dreams" 1,107,289,000
3 Drake, "In My Feelings" 1,100,534,000
4 XXXTentacion, "Sad!" 1,026,294,000
5 Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign, "Psycho" 924,496,000
6 Post Malone featuring 21 Savage, "Rockstar" 905,440,000
7 Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin, "I Like It" 873,494,000
8 Drake, "Nice for What" 844,403,000
9 Ed Sheeran, "Perfect" 797,274,000
10 BlocBoy JB featuring Drake, "Look Alive" 766,073,000

So wouldn't these numbers mean that God's Plan is actually eligible for 11x platinum (+ 1.1m in pure sales), and IMF eligible for 7x?
or have RIAA changed the formula

[areyoureadytojump]

^Drake's label doesn't update his certifications regularly.

[thegreatdivine]

Jan 11, 2019 9:46:25 GMT -5 kanfad said:

Jan 11, 2019 8:40:23 GMT -5 areyoureadytojump said:

TOP 10 MOST STREAMED SONGS OF 2018 IN U.S., ON-DEMAND AUDIO & VIDEO COMBINED
Rank Artist, Title Streams

1 Drake, "God's Plan" 1,565,711,000
2 Juice WRLD, "Lucid Dreams" 1,107,289,000
3 Drake, "In My Feelings" 1,100,534,000
4 XXXTentacion, "Sad!" 1,026,294,000
5 Post Malone featuring Ty Dolla $ign, "Psycho" 924,496,000
6 Post Malone featuring 21 Savage, "Rockstar" 905,440,000
7 Cardi B, Bad Bunny & J Balvin, "I Like It" 873,494,000
8 Drake, "Nice for What" 844,403,000
9 Ed Sheeran, "Perfect" 797,274,000
10 BlocBoy JB featuring Drake, "Look Alive" 766,073,000

So wouldn't these numbers mean that God's Plan is actually eligible for 11x platinum (+ 1.1m in pure sales), and IMF eligible for 7x?
or have RIAA changed the formula

Yes. Nice for What is also 6x platinum eligible. Scorpion is also 4x platinum eligible, but it's still certified at 1x platinum. There's also songs like Nonstop, I'm Upset, Don't Matter to Me and Mob Ties that are all at least 1x platinum. Nonstop should be 2-3x platinum right now.

I think he'll have another major certification of his albums/songs at the end of the year.

[areyoureadytojump]

^His mixtape/album "More Life" is eligible for 2xP, but it hasn't even been certified Gold. Lazy.

[HolidayGuy]

Following up on the albums note- even the digital-tracks number is still very noteworthy, even if it's just below one-third of what track sales were at their peak.

[Baby Yoda Hot100Fan]

Maroon 5 Biggest Act On U.S. Radio in 2018, Ed Sheeran's 'Perfect' Year's Top Song

1/11/2019 by Keith Caulfield

If it feels like you heard a lot of Maroon 5 on the radio in 2018, you’re right. The band finished 2018 as the biggest act on U.S. radio airwaves, according to Nielsen Music. The group’s catalog of songs collected 8.58 billion audience impressions across all monitored radio stations, from 1.95 million plays of their tunes.

Drake was the second most-heard act on the radio last year, with 8.15 billion in audience impressions, while Imagine Dragons (7.18 billion), Post Malone (7.14 billion) and Ed Sheeran (7.08 billion) rounded out the top five biggest radio acts of 2018.

As for the rest of the top 10 biggest radio acts of the year: Bruno Mars was the sixth-biggest (6.41 billion), followed by Camila Cabello (5.81 billion), Taylor Swift (5.52 billion), Shawn Mendes (5.38 billion) and Cardi B (5.14 billion).

“PERFECT” IS 2018’S BIGGEST RADIO HIT: For the second year in a row, Ed Sheeran had the most-heard song on the radio. “Perfect” was tops in 2018, with 3.99 billion audience impressions. In 2017, Sheeran’s “Shape of You” was the most-heard song, with 5.847 billion impressions. (See top 10 chart, below.)

“Perfect” spent nine weeks atop Billboard’s all-genre Radio Songs chart and reached No. 1 on the Pop Songs, Adult Pop Songs and Adult Contemporary airplay charts.

Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line’s crossover hit “Meant to Be” was radio’s No. 2 biggest song of 2018, with 3.53 billion in audience impressions. The song topped Billboard’s weekly all-genre Radio Songs airplay chart, as well as the Country Airplay and Adult Pop Songs airplay tallies. It also reached the top three on the Pop Songs and Adult Contemporary airplay charts.

Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey’s “The Middle” was the No. 3 radio tune of the year (3.5 billion in audience), followed by Maroon 5’s “Girls Like You,” featuring Cardi B (3.08 billion), and Dua Lipa’s “New Rules” (2.84 billion). The lattermost track broke the record for the most weeks ever on the Pop Songs airplay chart, spending a mighty 45 weeks on the tally (and ruling at No. 1 for four of those weeks).

Camila Cabello is the only act with two songs in the year-end top 10 radio tally, as “Havana,” featuring Young Thug, is No. 6 (2.81 billion) and “Never Be the Same” is No. 7 (2.75 billion). Drake’s “God’s Plan” is No. 8 (2.63 billion), MAX’s breakthrough hit “Lights Down Low,” featuring Gnash, is No. 9 (2.62 billion) and Taylor Swift’s “Delicate” is No. 10 (2.51 billion).

Nielsen Music’s 2018 tracking year ran from Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019. Due to a quirk in the calendar, there were 53 weeks in 2018, instead of the usual 52. So, for 2018 volume comparisons to 2017, a corresponding 53-week period is used by Nielsen Music for 2017: Dec. 30, 2016 through Jan. 4, 2018. Numbers in this story are rounded. Audience impressions are measured by cross-referencing plays with Nielsen Audio audience data – i.e., a play on a top-rated New York station at 8 a.m. on a Monday has more listeners (audience) than an overnight weekend play in a smaller city.

TOP 10 RADIO SONGS OF 2018 IN U.S. (RANKED BY AUDIENCE IMPRESSIONS)
Rank Artist, Title Audience Impressions
1 Ed Sheeran, "Perfect" 3.988 billion
2 Bebe Rexha & Florida Georgia Line, "Meant to Be" 3.533 billion
3 Zedd, Maren Morris & Grey, "The Middle" 3.505 billion
4 Maroon 5 featuring Cardi B, "Girls Like You" 3.079 billion
5 Dua Lipa, "New Rules" 2.841 billion
6 Camila Cabello featuring Young Thug, "Havana" 2.814 billion
7 Camila Cabello, "Never Be the Same" 2.747 billion
8 Drake, "God's Plan" 2.630 billion
9 MAX, "Lights Down Low" 2.616 billion
10 Taylor Swift, "Delicate" 2.509 billion
Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019.

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8493256/vinyl-album-sales-growth-2018-beatles-david-bowie-pink-floyd?utm_source=twitter

U.S. Vinyl Album Sales Grew 15% in 2018, Led by the Beatles, Pink Floyd, David Bowie & Panic! at the Disco
1/12/2019 by Keith Caulfield

Vinyl album sales in the U.S. hit their 13th consecutive year of growth, with 'Guardians' being the top-selling LP and "Yellow Submarine” the biggest vinyl single.

Vinyl album sales continue to be a bright spot among an otherwise bleak album sales picture. 16.8 million vinyl albums were sold in 2018, according to Nielsen Music (up 14.6 percent) — marking the 13th consecutive year of growth for the format. 16.8 million is also a new yearly high for vinyl album sales since Nielsen Music began tracking sales in 1991.

Comparatively, overall album sales (vinyl LP, CD, digital, cassette, etc.) in 2018 fell 17.7 percent to 141 million.

Vinyl LP sales accounted for 11.9 percent of all album sales in 2018 (16.8 million of 141 million). In 2017, the format comprised 6.5 percent of album sales.

Nielsen Music’s 2018 tracking year ran from Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019. Due to a quirk in the calendar, there were 53 weeks in 2018, instead of the usual 52. So, for 2018 volume comparisons to 2017, a corresponding 53-week period is used by Nielsen Music for 2017: Dec. 30, 2016 through Jan. 4, 2018. Numbers in this story are rounded.

Perhaps not surprisingly, vinyl LPs were 19.1 percent of all physical album sales (CDs, LPs, cassettes, etc.) in 2018. That’s a new Nielsen-era record share for the once-dormant format, up from 14 percent in 2017.

Vinyl’s growing share of the physical album market isn’t shocking, considering CD album sales continue to falter.

In total, physical album sales equaled 88 million in 2018, down 15.8 percent. And of that sum, CD album sales were 70.7 million — down 20.9 percent.

The CD format continues to be the leader for all album purchases, while the digital format is the runner-up with 53.4 million digital albums sold in 2018 (down 20.7 percent).

TOP-SELLING VINYL ARTISTS: The top-selling vinyl albums artist in 2018 was the Beatles, with 321,000 copies sold of their catalog on vinyl. Their biggest seller was Abbey Road, which finishes the year as the No. 4 largest-seller, with 76,000 copies. The Fab Four also have two more titles among the year’s top 15-sellers: their self-titled (White Album) is No. 11 (56,000) and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is No. 13 (50,000).

The top 10-biggest selling vinyl acts of the year are rounded out mostly by classic and veteran rock acts: Pink Floyd (177,000), David Bowie (150,000), Panic! at the Disco (148,000), Fleetwood Mac (139,000), Led Zeppelin (138,000), Michael Jackson (131,000), Jimi Hendrix (119,000), Metallica (116,000) and Queen (113,000).

‘GUARDIANS’ LEAD THE PACK, AGAIN: The top-selling vinyl album of 2018 is the Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 soundtrack, with 84,000 copies sold. (See top 10 sellers list, below.) The top five sellers of the year are rounded out by four classic Billboard 200 chart-topping albums: Michael Jackson’s Thriller (nearly 84,000), Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (77,000), the Beatles’ Abbey Road (76,000) and Prince and the Revolution’s soundtrack to Purple Rain (71,000).

Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 has been a consistent seller on vinyl, as 11 percent of the set’s total sales (244,000 of 2.29 million) have come via vinyl LP. The album was released in July of 2014, and its vinyl edition was issued in September of that year.

Other hot-selling vinyl albums in 2018 included more recent releases, like Khalid’s American Teen (55,000), the soundtrack to The Greatest Showman (50,000), Jack White’s Boarding House Reach (42,000) and Twenty One Pilots’ Trench (40,000).

Overall in 2018, 14 albums sold more than 50,000 copies on vinyl — up from just eight titles in 2017. Further, 79 titles exceeded 20,000 in LP sales in 2018, as compared to 77 in 2017 and 58 in 2016.

TOP 10 SELLING VINYL ALBUMS OF 2018 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Sales

1 Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 84,000
2 Michael Jackson, Thriller 84,000
3 Fleetwood Mac, Rumours 77,000
4 The Beatles, Abbey Road 76,000
5 Prince and The Revolution, Purple Rain (Soundtrack) 71,000
6 Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon 67,000
7 Bob Marley and The Wailers, Legend: The Best Of… 61,000
8 Queen, Greatest Hits 60,000
9 Amy Winehouse, Back to Black 59,000
10 Panic! at the Disco, Pray for the Wicked 59,000

Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019. (Titles listed with the same sales total are not tied, as their exact sales are rounded to the nearest thousand.)

RECORD WEEK FOR VINYL ALBUM SALES: 905,000 vinyl albums were sold in the week ending Dec. 27, 2018, the largest week for the format since Nielsen Music began tracking sales in 1991. That sum actually beats out a record that was only set a week earlier, when 880,000 vinyl LPs were sold in the frame ending Dec. 20. (Before 2018, the largest week was registered in the week ending Dec. 21, 2017, with 811,000 vinyl albums sold.)

ROCK AROUND THE VINYL CLOCK: Rock music is tops among vinyl album buyers, as the genre comprises the largest share of vinyl LP sales: 63 percent. In 2017, the genre amounted to 67 percent of LP sales, while in 2016 rock yielded 69 percent of LP sales.

Sales of older albums continue to drive the bulk of all vinyl LP sales, as deep catalog titles held a 65 percent share of vinyl album sales in 2018. (Deep catalog albums are defined as those that are at least 36 months old.) The only title among 2018’s top 10-selling vinyl albums that is not a deep catalog title is Panic! at the Disco’s Pray for the Wicked (No. 10 with 59,000), which was released in June of 2018.

INDIE STORES LOVE VINYL, TARGET GETS INTO THE GROOVE: In total, of the 16.8 million vinyl albums sold in 2018, 41.1 percent of them — the largest share of the market — were sold via independent music stores (6.9 million).

That’s not surprising, considering so many unique vinyl products are created for Record Store Day and Record Store Day Black Friday each year. Those annual indie music retailer celebrations offer a slate of exclusive and limited-edition vinyl albums and singles, generally only found in indie stores.

Indie stores’ 6.9 million vinyl album sales were up 15 percent as compared to their sales in 2017 (6 million).

Coming in a close second for market share was Nielsen Music’s grouping of Internet/Mail Order/Venue sellers, which collectively tallied 40.9 percent of vinyl album sales (6.89 million). Internet sellers include Amazon.com.

In a distant third were chain stores (1.76 million; 10.5 percent), followed by mass merchants (661,000; 3.9 percent) and lastly non-traditional retail outlets (608,000; 3.6 percent).

Mass merchants had a big spike in vinyl LP sales in 2018 — growing 611 percent over 2017 (93,000). The growth is likely owed to mass merchants like Target devoting more space in their stores to vinyl albums, and procuring exclusive variants of releases. Among the unique titles only available at Target: a translucent blue vinyl version of Khalid’s American Teen, a translucent orange edition of Justin Timberlake’s Man of the Woods and a gold version of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Legend.

SINGLES ACTION: In terms of vinyl singles, while it’s a smaller market as compared to that of full-length vinyl albums, there were still some pretty notable vinyl singles with significant sales in 2018.

The top-selling vinyl single of 2018 is the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” 7-inch picture disc, with 10,000 copies sold. (See top 10 list, below.) The title was released on July 6, 2018, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the single and its parent film of the same name. The new picture disc’s B-side is “Eleanor Rigby,” just as it was for the original 7-inch plain black vinyl single release in 1968.

The No. 2-biggest-selling vinyl single of 2018 was Prince’s “Nothing Compares 2 U” on 7-inch vinyl (9,000). The single, containing Prince’s original studio version of the track, along with an edited version of the tune, was released widely on May 25, 2018.

Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” 7-inch yellow vinyl single, with “Friends” as its B-side, comes in at No. 3 on the top sellers list. The product, with previously unheard mixes of the tracks, was released for Record Store Day on April 21. (Many of the year’s top sellers were associated with Record Store Day, or Record Store Day Black Friday initiatives.)

Rounding out the top 10 selling vinyl singles: John Williams’ “The Rebellion Is Reborn,” backed with “Canto Bight,” from Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The 10-inch single was pressed on a Porg-shaped picture disc. It was the 10th-largest seller of the year.

Outside of the top 10, there were a range of notable titles that performed well. Among them: Weezer’s “Africa” pressed on a 10-inch picture disc in the shape of Africa (3,000 sold), Sufjan Stevens’ three-song 10-inch clear transparent release containing his contributions to the Call Me by Your Name soundtrack (2,000) and Cheech & Chong’s 40th anniversary release of “Up in Smoke” on a 7-inch picture disc in the shape of a marijuana leaf, and packaged with a scratch-and-sniff sticker (2,000).

TOP 10 SELLING VINYL SINGLES OF 2018 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Sales

1 The Beatles, "Yellow Submarine" 10,000
2 Prince, "Nothing Compares 2 U" 9,000
3 Led Zeppelin, "Rock and Roll"/"Friends" 8,000
4 Sleep, "Leagues Beneath" 5,000
5 Chris Cornell, "When Bad Does Good" 4,000
6 David Bowie, "Let's Dance" (Full Length Demo) 4,000
7 Paul McCartney, "I Don't Know"/"Come On To Me" 4,000
8 U2, "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me" 3,000
9 The Jimi Hendrix Experience, "Burning of the Midnight Lamp" 3,000
10 John Williams, "The Rebellion Is Reborn" 3,000

Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019. (Titles listed with the same sales total are not tied, as their exact sales are rounded to the nearest thousand.)

[Mr. Thonk Eyes]

I wonder if anyone has the top 10 SPS singles for the year. I always like seeing those.

[areyoureadytojump]

2018 year end country chart:

bulletins.billboard.com/country/country_update_0114.pdf

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/8493927/us-cassette-album-sales-2018-britney-spears-guardians-twenty-one-pilots?utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR0e4gmcUzbDopzR6Kv4IPlb_EoWmPAQ4VGLKAg-XzjQ9za-P8URKkkAYrI

U.S. Cassette Album Sales Grew 23% in 2018, Aided by Britney Spears, 'Guardians,' Twenty One Pilots & More
1/17/2019 by Keith Caulfield

Thanks to such acts as Britney Spears, Twenty One Pilots and Guns N’ Roses, along with soundtracks from the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise -- which boasts the year’s top two sellers -- and Netflix’s Stranger Things series, cassette tape album sales in the U.S. grew by 23 percent in 2018.

According to Nielsen Music, cassette album sales climbed from 178,000 in 2017 to 219,000 copies in 2018. While that’s a small number compared to the overall album market (141 million copies sold in 2018), that’s a sizable number for a once-dead format. In 2014, for example, cassette album sales numbered just 50,000. But, 20 years before that, back in 1994, when cassettes were still very much a hot-selling format, there were 246 million cassette albums sold that year, of an overall 615 million albums.

Cassette album releases in 2018 are still a very niche offering, with most significant titles limited to specialty reissues and unique projects. Among the top 10 selling cassette albums (see list, below) were Twenty One Pilots’ new studio album, Trench, and a reissue of Britney Spears’ debut album, …Baby One More Time.

Trench was issued on a yellow-colored cassette and sold 7,000 copies in 2018, finishing as the year’s No. 3 seller. The Trench cassette was released concurrently with the album on Oct. 5 on CD, vinyl LP and digital download formats.

Spears’ …Baby One More Time sold 4,000 cassette copies and was the No. 5 biggest seller. It was reissued on cassette for its 20th anniversary, exclusive to Target stores, as a pink-colored cassette. Spears’ …Baby One More Time was originally released in January of 1999 on CD and cassette. Of the album’s 10.6 million copies sold to date, 1.49 million are on cassette. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, and the set's title track became Spears' first No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100.

For the fourth year in a row, the year’s top-selling cassette album came from the Guardians of the Galaxy film series. The best-selling title in 2018 was the Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 soundtrack (24,000 sold). It was released in 2014 and served as the companion album to the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. It was also the top seller in 2015 and 2016. The cassette continues to do robust business, thanks to its strong link to the first film. The cassette is a replica of the oft-played mixtape seen in the movie, and the set’s music is heard throughout the film.

In 2017, the movie’s sequel soundtrack took over as the year’s best-selling cassette album, as Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 was tops.

In 2018, Vol. 2 finished as the No. 2 seller (19,000). Another Guardians-related cassette, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Mix, Vol. 1, is the No. 6 seller of the year (3,000). Cosmic is the soundtrack to the first season of the animated Guardians of the Galaxy TV series.

Other titles among the top 10 selling cassette albums of 2018: Guns N’ Roses' 30th reissue of their debut album, Appetite for Destruction (No. 7 with 3,000); Metallica’s reissue of The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited (No. 8; 3,000); Elvis Presley’s new inspirational compilation Where No One Stands Alone (No. 9; 2,000); and Wu-Tang Clan’s 25th-anniversary reissue of their debut set, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (No. 10; 2,000).

In total for 2018, there were 28 albums that sold at least 1,000 copies on cassette -- up from just 17 in 2017. (Though, there were 25 titles that sold at least 1,000 in 2016.)

TOP 10 SELLING CASSETTE ALBUMS OF 2018 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Sales

1 Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Awesome Mix Vol. 1 24,000
2 Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2: Awesome Mix Vol. 2 19,000
3 Twenty One Pilots, Trench 7,000
4 Soundtrack, Stranger Things: Music From the Netflix Original Series 5,000
5 Britney Spears, …Baby One More Time 4,000
6 Soundtrack, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Mix, Vol. 1 3,000
7 Guns N' Roses, Appetite for Destruction 3,000
8 Metallica, The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited 3,000
9 Elvis Presley, Where No One Stands Alone 2,000
10 Wu-Tang Clan, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) 2,000

Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2017 through Jan. 3, 2019. (Titles listed with the same sales total are not tied, as their exact sales are rounded to the nearest thousand.)