Billboard 200 4/23/16 - Kanye West #1 28K/94K

[Gary]

Kanye West's 'The Life of deleted' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart
News /

By Keith Caulfield | April 10, 2016 3:01 PM EDT



Kanye West scores his seventh No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, as his latest release, The Life of deleted, arrives atop the list. The set earning 94,000 equivalent album units in the week ending April 7, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 28,000 were in pure album sales -- the rest were in streaming equivalent albums.

Chris Stapleton Surges to No. 2 on Billboard 200, Lukas Graham, Weezer and Twenty88 Debut in Top 10

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new April 23-dated chart (where The Life of deleted is No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, April 12.

The Life of deleted is the first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 where the majority (70 percent, in fact) of its units were generated by streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Its 66,000 SEA units equates to just over 99 million U.S. streams for the album’s tracks in the week ending April 7. (Each SEA unit is equal to 1,500 streams from an album.)

None of deleted’s tracks were available for individual purchase, so the album debuts on the strength of only streams and traditional album sales.

The previous high-water mark for streaming percentage at No. 1 was notched just three weeks ago, on the April 2-dated chart, when Rihanna’s Anti returned to No. 1, with 31.3 percent of its total units (54,000) derived from streams. That week, Anti sold 17,000 in traditional album sales, while the rest of its unit total was comprised of streaming and track equivalent album units.

Kanye West Confirms Upcoming Tour in Support of 'Life of deleted' Album

In terms of streaming units at No. 1, deleted has the second-largest streaming sum, just barely behind the chart-topping bow of Justin Bieber’s Purpose late last year. The latter started with 67,000 SEA units -- equal to slightly more than 100 million streams of the album’s tracks. (Purpose’s overall first week unit total was 649,000, powered mostly by its strong 522,000 album sales start.)

The Life of deleted was initially released on Feb. 13 via Tidal’s streaming service, and briefly as a commercial download via West’s official website. The set’s sales and its streams through Tidal were not reported to Nielsen Music, whose data powers the Billboard 200 chart, and it was thus unable to chart.

On April 1, the album became widely available to other streaming services, and went on sale via West and Tidal’s sites. The streams and sales of the wide release were reported to Nielsen Music, enabling its arrival on the charts.

The 28,000 sales reported for the album were from the two web sites, and album/ticket offers with West’s Yeezy Season 3 fashion show at Madison Square Garden in New York on Feb. 11, and its simultaneous live stream movie theater event.

Kanye West's 'Life of deleted' Headed For A No. 1 Debut on Billboard 200, Despite Wild Rollout

Tickets to the New York event came with a download of deleted, and the sales of the set were counted when and if consumers opted to redeem and download the release. For the live stream movie theater event, customers had the option to add the deleted album to their purchase. The sales of those albums counted when they were fulfilled to the customer.

Both the Madison Square Garden event and the live stream theater experience are similar to previous chart-eligible offers from artists like Justin Bieber, One Direction, Ellie Goulding, Andrea Bocelli and Elton John.

The Life of deleted is West’s seventh consecutive No. 1 album, and all have debuted at No. 1. deleted follows his previous leaders Yeezus (released in 2013), Watch the Throne (the collaborative set with Jay Z, 2011), My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010), 808s & Heartbreak (2008), Graduation (2007) and Late Registration (2005). (West only missed the top slot once, with his debut effort, The College Dropout. It bowed and peaked at No. 2 in 2004.)

[Gary]

Chris Stapleton Surges to No. 2 on Billboard 200, Lukas Graham, Weezer and Twenty88 Debut in Top 10
News /

By Keith Caulfield | April 10, 2016 3:00 PM EDT


As Kanye West’s The Life of deleted arrives at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Chris Stapleton’s Traveller surges to No. 2, while three more sets bow in the top 10.

Kanye West's 'The Life of deleted' Debuts at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The new April 23-dated chart (where The Life of deleted is No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, April 12.

As previously reported, The Life of deleted starts at No. 1 with 94,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending April 7, according to Nielsen Music. Streaming equivalent albums comprised the majority of its overall unit start (66,000 of its 94,000 units).

Stapleton’s Traveller jumps from No. 8 to No. 2 with 73,000 units and a 138 percent gain, following his multiple wins and performance on the Academy of Country Music Awards on April 3 (broadcast by CBS TV). That same day, he was additionally profiled on the network’s Sunday Morning program. In terms of traditional album sales, Traveller sold 59,000 copies, up 149 percent.

Billboard 200 Chart Moves: 'Hymns' Is Now Joey + Rory's Biggest-Selling Album Ever

Traveller first hit No. 1 in the wake of another awards show, the Country Music Association Awards (CMAs, Nov. 4), where he duetted with Justin Timberlake and won three trophies. Traveller re-entered the Billboard 200 chart at No. 1 following the CMAs, and spent two weeks in the penthouse.

Danish band Lukas Graham arrives at No. 3 with its self-titled U.S. debut, earning 59,000 units (with 34,000 in pure album sales). The set is powered by the group’s smash single “7 Years,” which was No. 2 (its peak) on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated April 16.

Lukas Graham nabs the largest first-week for a group’s debut full-length album in over a year, since Fifth Harmony’s Reflection debuted at No. 5 (Feb. 21, 2015-dated chart) with 80,000 units.

Weezer’s latest self-titled album, also known as White Album, launched at No. 4 on the new Billboard 200 with just over 49,000 units (45,000 in pure album sales). It’s the eighth top 10 effort for the band, and their fourth self-titled album.

Hip-hop duo Twenty88 -- comprising Big Sean and Jhene Aiko -- start at No. 5 with their self-titled album, earning 49,000 units (40,000 in album sales).

As for the rest of the new top 10 on the Billboard 200, Rihanna’s Anti slips 3-6 (48,000 units; down 4 percent), Zayn’s Mind of Mine falls 1-7 (44,000; down 72 percent), Justin Bieber’s Purpose dips 4-8 (41,000; down 13 percent), Adele’s 25 descends 5-9 (36,000; down 23 percent) and Twenty One Pilots’ Blurryface moves 6-10 (30,000; down 28 percent).

[onebuffalo]

Good. Kanye West could not break 100,000 units for the week.

Bad. He's #1 on the chart.

[areyoureadytojump]

Adele is out of the Top 5 for the first time.

[MusicTalker]

Apr 10, 2016 14:51:40 GMT -5 areyoureadytojump said:

Adele is out of the Top 5 for the first time.

Hopefully she plans on releasing the 3rd single soon. She's hinted at wanting to shoot a video for Send My Love at one of her shows, and I think that would be the perfect choice right now. 

[Glove Slap]

Glad to see Ye at the top spot over Stapleton.

[areyoureadytojump]

Apr 10, 2016 14:58:07 GMT -5 MusicTalker said:

Apr 10, 2016 14:51:40 GMT -5 areyoureadytojump said:

Adele is out of the Top 5 for the first time.

Hopefully she plans on releasing the 3rd single soon. She's hinted at wanting to shoot a video for Send My Love at one of her shows, and I think that would be the perfect choice right now. 

Promotion of the album is supposedly over. No more official singles...

PS:

Gary, could you please put the sales in the subject line. (94k/28k). We usually do that. Thanks.

[MusicTalker]

Apr 10, 2016 15:04:51 GMT -5 areyoureadytojump said:

Apr 10, 2016 14:58:07 GMT -5 MusicTalker said:

Hopefully she plans on releasing the 3rd single soon. She's hinted at wanting to shoot a video for Send My Love at one of her shows, and I think that would be the perfect choice right now. 

Promotion of the album is supposedly over. No more official singles...

PS:

Gary, could you please put the sales in the subject line. (94k/28k). We usually do that. Thanks.

That would be disappointing, but I guess wouldn't be that surprised overall considering it's her, lol. I think the album has more potential that she's not fully taking advantage of. Specifically, with Send My Love and Water Under the Bridge.

Despite that, the album should hopefully be diamond by the end of the year?? 

[Glove Slap]

Wasn't Adele asking about video ideas for SML at a concert recently?

[areyoureadytojump]

^She did. Doesn't mean she'll actually make a video for it.

[Choco]

She also said she wanted to do a When we Were Young video with director Todd Haynes and that went nowhere.
Send My Love is an OK choice, but I think Water Under The Bridge is a smash waiting to happen. No All I Ask please, love it but shouldn't be the next single.
25 could potentially outsell 21 if they keep promoting and releaasing singles.

Even with the strange release, it's weird seeing Kanye selling less than Rihanna on their first week. (Unless you somehow count the #27 placement of ANTI from just a few hours of sales).

[Enigma.]

Water Under the Bridge is the only possibly big hit left on the album imo

[areyoureadytojump]

www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2016/04/10/kanye-wests-new-album-is-the-first-to-debut-at-no-1-based-mostly-on-streams/#fca0c267dac7

Kanye West's New Album Is The First To Debut At No. 1 Based Mostly On Streams

by Hugh McIntyre , CONTRIBUTOR

The Life Of deleted just debuted in the top spot on the Billboard 200

Despite the fact that it dropped almost two months ago, Kanye West’s latest album has just found its way to number one, which just goes to show how big he really is.

The Life Of deleted just debuted in the top spot on the Billboard 200 with 94,000 equivalent units, which is actually a career low for the rapper, but there’s a good reason for that. The record was only made available for sale in a handful of places, so its debut is powered mostly by its popularity on streaming platforms. Of those 94,000 units, only a mere 28,000 were pure sales. Billboard reports that this makes deleted the first album in history to make it to number one where the majority of “sales” (now referred to as units for obvious reasons) were comprised of streams. 70% of the album’s equivalent units came from the millions of people who played it on Spotify, Tidal, and the like over the past week and change.


deleted was not available for sale in stores in a physical edition (which still hasn’t been made yet), nor was it an option in the typical outlets like iTunes or Amazon. Instead, fans could only purchase a copy of the record by visiting West’s website, on Tidal, or when they bought a ticket to the hip-hop star and fashion designer’s Madison Square Garden runway show or to watch the event from movie theaters around the world. Even those diehard fans that did purchase the album in the first few hours it was made available didn’t get their downloads for weeks.

While Kanye’s eighth album might be the first to reach the penthouse thanks to streaming, it is still not the lowest-selling number one album of all time. That distinction (whether good or bad) belongs to Rihanna, who claimed her place in history just this year when her new album, Anti, hit number one with a shockingly-low 17,000 actual sales.

The album arrives thanks to its immense popularity on streaming sites, where it has just been made widely available. When it first arrived on Valentine’s Day, people could only listen to deleted on Tidal, the streaming service West co-owns with Jay Z, Beyoncé, and over a dozen other super stars. For weeks, West pushed his fans to sign up and listen to his latest masterpiece, which he was also changing all the time, updating as he felt like it. After over a month of exclusivity, West finally shared deleted with other platforms, which allowed it to be heard by the masses, as Tidal doesn’t have nearly enough users (just over three million, according to the company itself) to chart a number one record based almost exclusively on sales.

deleted is West’s seventh consecutive number one album, and it’s only his eighth record overall. In fact, only his debut record, The College Dropout, didn’t make it to number one on the Billboard 200, though it did get as high as the runner up position.

[areyoureadytojump]

hiphopdx.com/news/id.38299/title.hip-hop-album-sales-kanye-west-twenty88-drake-future

Hip Hop Album Sales: Kanye West, Twenty88, Drake & Future
April 11, 2016
by Victoria Hernandez

After releasing The Life of deleted to all major streaming services, Kanye West finally appears on Billboard's Top 200 albums chart. Twenty88, made up of Big Sean and Jhene Aiko, debut on the chart with their joint project. Drake and Future's What a Time to Be Alive sees a jump in sales.

Kanye West Makes History With "The Life of deleted"

Kanye West's The Life of deleted makes its debut on Billboard's Top 200 albums chart and hits the #1 spot with 94,315 album equivalent units. The project garnered 99.4 million streams across all major platforms in its first week reporting numbers to Nielson. This is the first album ever to reach the top spot based on stream count. According to TIDAL, the project was streamed more than 250 million times in the first 10 days when it was released exclusively to the platform in February. In the newest report, the project sold 28,003 albums as it was available for purchase through West's personal website and TIDAL. These numbers also included albums purchased in ticket packages for West's "Yeezy Season 3" event. The Life of deleted is West's seventh chart-topping album, including Watch the Throne with Jay Z and all of his solo LPs except for Graduation.

Big Sean & Jhene Aiko Debut "Twenty88" In Top 10

Big Sean and Jhene Aiko's collaborative album, Twenty88, hits the #5 spot on the chart in its first week. The project sold 48,970 album equivalent units and was streamed more than eight million times. This is the Detroit rapper's fourth album to hit the Top 5. His last output, Dark Sky Paradise, debuted at #1 upon its release last February. Jhene Aiko's last highest charting position was #3 with 2014's Souled Out.

Drake and Future See Jump In Sales

When Apple Music released a commercial featuring Taylor Swift rapping to "Jumpman" last week, the single reportedly saw a 431 percent increase in sales. This jump is reflected in What a Time to Be Alive's album sales as Drake and Future's joint project saw a 30 percent rise on this week's chart. It lands at #17 with 18,612 album equivalent units and more than 16 million streams.

Top 10 Billboard Top 200 Rap & R&B Albums For The Week Ending 04/07/2016

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.

#1 Kanye West - The Life of deleted - 94,315 (28,003) [99,468,145]

#5 Twenty88 (Big Sean and Jhene Aiko) - Twenty88 - 48,970 (40,237) [8,167,073]

#6 Rihanna - ANTI - 48,040 (14,712) [33,578,345]

#11 Kevin Gates - Islah - 26,321 (8,419) [17,499,332]

#12 Bryson Tiller - Trapsoul - 24,270 (5,689) [23,065,331]

#13 G-Eazy - When It's Dark Out - 23,446 (4,141) [18,337,507]

#14 The Weeknd - Beauty Behind the Madness - 21,781 (6,516) [16,185,604]

#17 Drake and Future - What a Time to Be Alive - 18,612 (2,025) [16,567,978]

#21 Fetty Wap - Fetty Wap - 17,415 (3,357) [14,157,752]

#27 Future - EVOL - 16,283 (2,214) [16,362,892]

[HolidayGuy]

Stapleton returning to the No. 1 sales position after nearly five months.

[areyoureadytojump]

roughstock.com/news/2016/04/40130-country-album-sales-chart-april-11-2016

Country Album Sales Chart: April 11, 2016
Posted By Matt Bjorke on Sunday April 10, 2016

ACM Awards sales results are in and, as always, it's a booming week for anyone involved in the show.

CNTRY Artist Album Week Total Scans

1 Chris Stapleton Traveller 59,200 1,158,900
2 Joey+Rory Hymns 21,000 296,200
3 Carrie Underwood Storyteller 9,500 554,000
4 Sam Hunt Montevallo 7,700 1,099,100
5 Thomas Rhett Tangled Up 7,300 348,900
6 Eric Church Mr. Misunderstood 6,000 347,900
7 Tim McGraw Damn County Music 5,900 145,900
8 Chris Young I'm Comin' Over 5,800 182,900
9 Luke Bryan Kill The Lights 5,700 934,000
10 Joey+Rory Album Collection (3 first) 4,100 4,100
11 Loretta Lynn Full Circle 3,800 43,400
12 Kelsea Ballerini The First Time 3,800 121,800
13 Old Dominion Meat and Candy 3,700 94,000
14 Cam Untamed 3,500 114,900
15 Randy Houser Fired Up 3,400 36,400

-- Blake Shelton Reloaded: 20 #1 Hits 3,100 266,700
-- Granger Smith Remington 3,000 42,000
-- Little Big Town Painkiller 2,800 462,600
-- Brett Eldredge Illinois 2,400 127,200
-- Florida Georgia Line Anything Goes 2,300 842,100
-- Maren Morris Maren Morris EP 2,100 25,800
-- Carrie Underwood Greatest Hits: Decade #1 2,000 489,800
-- Vince Gill Down To My Last Bad Habit 2,000 45,000
-- Soul Circus Cowboys Tailgate Country 2,000 6,600
-- W.Nelson/M.Haggard Django & Willie 1,700 139,000
-- Charles Kelley The Driver 1,700 30,800
-- Joey+Rory Country Classics 1,700 44,700
-- Brothers Osborne Pawn Shop 1,400 52,300
-- Flatland Cavalry Humble Folks 1,100 1,100
-- Madde & TAe Start Here 1,100 94,400
-- William Michael Morgan EP 1,100 4,400
-- Kacey Musgraves Pageant Material 900 167,600
-- Kip Moore Wild Ones 700 79,100
-- Garth Brooks Man Against Machine 700 677,200
-- Levi Hummon Levi Hummon EP 400 400

[areyoureadytojump]

www.metalinsider.net/columns/metal-by-numbers/metal-by-numbers-hey-baby-metal


Metal by Numbers: Hey Baby… metal
Posted by Bram Teitelman on April 13, 2016

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

Okay, well technically, the biggest selling rock/metal act of the week is Black Stone Cherry, whose butt-rock debut for Mascot landed them the #15 current album in the country, but just behind them by literally 33 albums are Babymetal. The band’s come a long way since 2014, and we don’t mean geographically. For them to have a top 20 album in the States from a Japanese-language album is pretty impressive. Either J-pop is blowing up in the States, or there’s lots of creepy people that like watching Japanese teens sing metal, but this suggests that it’s more than just novelty.


Notable Debuts:

Black Stone Cherry, Kentucky (Mascot) #15, 12,275 sold

The band’s fifth album is named after their home state.



Babymetal, Metal Resistance (RAL) #16, 12,250 sold

After the slow burn of their debut album, which was only available as an import or digital download for most of it’s time in the States, this is obviously their biggest sales week in America.



The Used , Live and Acoustic at the Palace (Hopeless) #44, 5,580 sold

Remember when The Used were on Ozzfest and the singer was dating Kelly Osbourne? Oh, us neither.



Charles Bradley, Changes (Daptone) #52, 4,650 sold

This isn’t really metal, but if you haven’t heard his cover of Black Sabbath’s “Changes,” then you’re doing it wrong.



Mike & The Melvins, Three Men & a Baby (Sub Pop) #111, 2,500 sold

This album, featuring Melvins and former godheadSilo bassist/vocalist Mike Kunka, is 17 years old and just got released.



Entheos, The Infinite Nothing (Artery) 1,300 sold

If you’re a fan of The Faceless, Animals as Leaders or Animosity, you’ll want to listen to the band’s full-length debut. Read an interview with band mastermind Evan Brewer here.


Notable Sales:



Disturbed, Immortalized (Reprise) #26, 8,425 sold

This has sold 330,000 copies so far, and with their “Sound of Silence” cover approved by Paul Simon himself, it should keep going.



Amon Amarth, Jomsviking (Metal Blade) #45, 5,300 sold

This has sold over 25,000 copies in two weeks.



Metal Church, XI (Rat Pak) #49, 4,900 sold

The band’s in the middle of a career renaissance. Only a 54% second-week drop following the return of Mike Howe.



Halestorm, Into the Wild Life (Atlantic) #50, 4,800 sold

Good week for Halestorm. First they get two gold records, then their latest album rebounds back on to the chart.



Asking Alexandria, The Black (Sumerian) #51, 4,790 sold

A gigantic second-week drop of 83%, but at a two-week tally of about 33,000, they’re probably not complaining too much.



Coheed & Cambria, Color Before the Sun (300 Entertainment) Re-entry #76, 3,475 sold

This has a huge jump back onto the charts, with nearly a 200% increase from last week. It’s sold 75,000 so far.



In This Moment, Black Widow (Atlantic) Re-entry #79, 3,400 sold

Another band that catapults back onto the charts this week. It’s sold over 163,000.



Highly Suspect, Mister Asylum (300 Entertainment) #83, 3,300 sold

This also re-enters the chart. It’s a little sad that a Grammy-nominated rock band with a year-old album has only sold 45,000 so far.



Five Finger Death Punch, Got Your Six (Prospect Park) #89, 3,000 sold

This sells slightly less than it did last week, but it’s still moved over 300,000 so far.



Killswitch Engage, Incarnate (Roadrunner) #93, 2,950 sold

This should cross the 50,000-sold mark next week. Not bad for five weeks.



Trivium, Silence in the Snow #99, 2,900 sold

This had a big bounce back onto the charts this week, and should hit 50,000 sold in the next few weeks like their above label-mates.



Megadeth, Dystopia (Tradecraft/UMe) #110, 2,500 sold

This might still be 2016’s biggest-selling metal album.



Shinedown, Threat To Survival (Atlantic) #120, 2,450 sold

This one takes a 53% hit, but it’s sold over 200,000 so far.



Anthrax, For All Kings (Megaforce) #145, 2,000 sold

This has sold about 55,000 despite a 20% drop this week.



Red, Of Beauty and Rage (Essential) #186, 1,450 sold

This has sold 113,0000 so far.



Bring Me The Horizon, That’s The Spirit (Columbia) #192, 1,400 sold

This is in danger of dropping off the top 200, but it’s been a 30-week run.

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/7333173/billboard-200-chart-cheap-trick-returns

Billboard 200 Chart Moves: Cheap Trick Returns to Top 40 After 27 Years
4/14/2016 by Keith Caulfield

— Original Broadcast Cast, Hamilton - No. 18 — Hamilton has spent more weeks in the top 40 of the chart (17 and counting) than any cast recording since 1969’s Hair. The latter lingered in the region for 59 weeks, and was also the last cast set to hit No. 1. It spent 13 weeks atop the list.

— Cheap Trick, Bang Zoom Crazy…Hello - No. 31 — The rock band returns to the top 40 for the first time since 1988, as the act’s new set, Bang Zoom Crazy…Hello arrives at No. 31. The album earned 14,000 units in its first week, with nearly all of that sum coming from pure album sales. Further, that’s the band’s best sales week since Nielsen Music began tracking sales in 1991. The new album was released one week before the group’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (on April 8) — which no doubt helped drive interest in the new album. It’s also the band’s Big Machine Records debut, and the group’s highest charting title since Lap of Luxury peaked at No. 16 on Sept. 24, 1988. Lap of Luxury — which hung out in the weekly top 30 for six months that year — contained the band’s only No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: “The Flame,” in addition to another top five smash, a cover of “Don’t Be Cruel.” (Lap of Luxury spent its last week in the top 40 on the chart dated Nov. 26, 1988.)


— Pet Shop Boys, Super - No. 58 — The pop/dance duo debut at No. 58 with their latest studio effort, Super, arriving nearly 30 years after the act first arrived on the chart with Please. The latter bowed on the list dated April 19, 1986 at No. 38, on its way to a No. 7 peak (June 21).

— Soundtrack, Star Wars: The Force Awakens - No. 89 — The soundtrack blasts back onto the list with 7,000 units (up 136 percent) and nearly 7,000 copies sold (up 154 percent) thanks to the film’s home video release. The blockbuster movie was issued on digital download on April 1, and a DVD and Blu-ray release followed on April 5.

— Kelly Clarkson, Greatest Hits: Chapter One - No. 130 — After the first American Idol winner bid farewell to the show on its finale episode (April 7), her greatest hits album returns to the tally (6,000 units — up 44 percent, 2,000 copies sold — up 81 percent). On the show, Clarkson performed a medley of her hits, including smashes like “Since U Been Gone” and “Miss Independent,” and her Idol coronation single (and first Hot 100 No. 1) “A Moment Like This.”

[onebuffalo]

^Cheap Trick. Even though they are signed to Big Machine Records, I'm surprised their album has not charted in country. Let me guess, no country content on that album.