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8 Dec 2016 Music Now!

The Year in Charts 2016: Adele Rules as Top Artist (Again!), Justin Bieber Leads Hot 100

Adele finishes 2016 in a familiar place: on top. Nearly five years after her last blockbuster album — 2011’s 21, which spent 24 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — the 28-year-old British pop powerhouse returned as if she had never left, closing out 2016 as Billboard’s top artist for a record third time. (She previously ruled 2011 and 2012.)

2016 Year-End Charts: Hot 100 | Billboard 200 | Top Artists

Long breaks between albums seem only to confirm that Adele’s adoring fan base will spring for new music no matter when it arrives. Her third studio album, 25, hit shelves on Nov. 20, 2015, with a blend of epic ballads and soulful pop similar to that on her sophomore hit, 21, and easily conquered the Billboard 200, blasting in at No. 1 with a Nielsen Music-era (1991 to the present) record of 3.4 million copies sold in its first week. So far, those sales have climbed to 9.1 million and counting.

Click Here For All the 2016 Year-End Charts

The album’s runaway success 
is especially impressive — and indicative of Adele acolytes’ enduring loyalty — considering the fact that the singer initially shunned streaming services, denying 25 to Spotify until seven months after the album’s release. That didn’t hurt 25 one bit: It spent 10 weeks at No. 1 on the weekly Billboard 200 (a chart driven by both track and album sales plus streaming) and is far and away the chart’s year-end winner.

That Adele announced her
 return with one of the year’s most inescapable singles certainly helped her clinch 2016’s top charts prize. “Hello” felt like a nod to listeners who had stuck out the last five years, going on to rule both the Billboard Hot 100 (staying at No. 1 for 10 weeks) and the pop culture landscape (see the numerous Lionel Richie vs. Adele “Hello” memes, a viral “Carpool Karaoke” segment and a “Hello”-inspired Saturday Night Live skit, for starters).

The song closes out 2016 as 
the Hot 100’s year-end No. 8
 track — the second time Adele has finished within the top 10 on that list, following her No. 1 in 2011 with “Rolling in the Deep.” And it’s just one of 25’s triumphs: Two other tracks, “When We Were Young” 
and “Send My Love (To Your New Lover),” charted in the weekly Hot 100’s top 20, and Adele went on to sell out a world tour, raking in more than $150 million from 100-plus shows across Europe and North America and finishing the year as the No. 4 tour.

On the year-end Hot 100, another artist who stepped away from the pop world claims the top two songs: Justin Bieber, who released Purpose the same month as Adele’s 25, and more than three years after his previous studio effort, 2012’s Believe.

Thanks to a new tropical house-influenced sound and a trio of 2016’s most infectious singles, Bieber returned to pop as a bona fide superstar. Purpose topped the Billboard 200, and Bieber earned his first three No. 1 songs on the Hot 100, becoming only the third artist in the chart’s 58-year history to score its year-end top two songs (“Love Yourself ” and “Sorry”). The last act to achieve that? Bieber’s mentor, Usher, with “Yeah!” (featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris) and “Burn” in 2004, and, before him, The Beatles in 1964 with their debut hits “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You.”

Bieber’s return started strong in early 2015 with the Diplo and Skrillexcollaboration “Where Are U Now” (reaching No. 8 on the Hot 100). His first Hot 100 No. 1 followed that — Purpose lead single “What Do You Mean?” — and he continued to turn out hits throughout 2016: the Ed Sheeran co-write “Love Yourself ” and “Sorry” led the Hot 100 for two and three weeks, respectively.

While “Love Yourself” and “Sorry” may have logged relatively brief visits to the No. 1 slot, their lengthy runs inside the top 10 helped cement their year-end status: “Love Yourself” ranked in the top 10 for 24 weeks (only 18 songs have managed a run at least that long in the chart’s history), while “Sorry” scored 21 weeks in the region.

At No. 3 on the 2016 year-end Hot 100 roundup is Billboard’s official song of the summer, Drake’s “One Dance” featuring WizKid and Kyla. Drake pops up at No. 4 on the tally as well, as he’s the featured act on Rihanna’s “Work,” while Twenty One Pilots’ “Stressed Out” rounds out the top five. Thus, two artists – Bieber and Drake – place two songs each among the top four songs of the year. That feat last happened in 2009, when The Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling” were Nos. 1 and 4, bookending Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” and “Just Dance” (featuring Colby O’Donis) at Nos. 2 and 3.

Twenty One Pilots lead the year-end top artists–duo/group category thanks to the duo’s Billboard 200-topping success with Blurryface and its smash singles. In fact, Twenty One Pilots became the first rock act to notch three Hot 100 top five hits in a year since INXS back in 1988. Bieber is the year’s top male, and Adele, of course, leads the way for the ladies. R&B/hip-hop artist Bryson Tiller is 2016’s top new artist, fueled by the 23-year-old’s debut studio album Trapsoul, which finishes at No. 11 on the year-end Billboard 200 list.

Billboard’s year-end music recaps are based on chart performance during
the span of Dec. 5, 2015, and Nov. 26, 2016. The year-end top artist category ranks the best-performing acts of the year derived from activity on the Billboard 200 albums tally and the Billboard Hot 100 singles list, as well as streaming, social and Billboard Boxscore data. Data registered before or after a title’s chart run is not considered in these standings. That methodology detail, and the December- to-November time period, account for some of the differences between these lists and the calendar-year recaps that are independently compiled by Nielsen Music.

Source: billboard.com

5 Dec 2016 Music Now!

Rae Sremmurd’s ‘Black Beatles’ Tops Hot 100 for Fab Fourth Week

The track, featuring Gucci Mane, continues to reign, helped again by the Mannequin Challenge.

Rae Sremmurd rules the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Dec. 17) for a fourth week with “Black Beatles,” featuring Gucci Mane.

As we do every Monday when the chart is compiled, let’s run down the top 10 of the Hot 100, which blends sales, airplay and streaming data. Highlights of the Hot 100 post on Billboard.com each Monday, with all charts updated each Tuesday.

“Beatles,” released on Eardrummer/Interscope Records, continues atop the Hot 100 with momentum again from its use in viral Mannequin Challenge videos (although it’s down 24 percent in overall Hot 100 chart points). The first Hot 100 No. 1 for the brother duo of Khalif “Swae Lee” and Aaquil “Slim Jxmmi” Brown (and likewise the first leader for Gucci Mane), is the top-selling and most-streamed song of the week for a fourth week (and is the top gainer in airplay for a third frame).

“Beatles” leads the Digital Song Sales chart with 83,000 downloads sold in the week ending Dec. 1, down 40 percent, according to Nielsen Music, and rules Streaming Songs with 42 million U.S. streams, down 25 percent. Of its streams for the week, 25.6 million were from YouTube and 10.7 million from Spotify. The track dips to No. 2 after three weeks atop the audio subscription services-based On-Demand Streaming Songs chart (16.1 million on-demand streams, down 27 percent).

“Beatles” is also adding airplay, as it soars into the top 10 (14-9) on Radio Songs (73 million in audience, up 25 percent) and holds at No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (34 million in format audience, up 15 percent). The track tops Billboard‘s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts for a fourth week each.

The Weeknd‘s “Starboy,” featuring Daft Punk, returns for a sixth week at its No. 2 Hot 100 peak (from No. 3), as his album of the same name soars in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. The track keeps at No. 2 on Radio Songs (125 million, down 2 percent) and rebounds 3-2 on both Streaming Songs (33.4 million, up 18 percent) and Digital Song Sales (53,000, down 28 percent); in the prior tracking week, it was helped by The Weeknd’s performance of it on the American Music Awards (AMAs) Nov. 20. “Starboy” reverses course (3-1) for a second week atop On-Demand Streaming Songs (20.4 million, up 38 percent), while crowning the Hot R&B Songs chart for a 10th week.

Additionally, all 18 songs from Starboy chart on the Hot 100; with 18 total tracks on the Dec. 17 chart, The Weeknd posts the second-most simultaneous entries in the Hot 100’s 58-year history; only Drake tallied more at the same time: 20 on the May 21 chart. (Drake also charts 18 at once on the June 4 ranking.)

The Chainsmokers‘ “Closer,” featuring Halsey, dips 2-3 on the Hot 100 after spending 12 weeks at No. 1, the longest rule of 2016. “Closer” tops Radio Songs for a 10th week (139 million, down 5 percent), passing OutKast’s “Hey Ya!,” which spent nine weeks at No. 1 in 2003-04, for the longest reign by a duo in the chart’s 26-year history. (Among all acts, Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” has spent the most time atop Radio Songs: 18 weeks, in 1998.) “Closer” is the second song in 2016 to lead Radio Songs for at least 10 weeks: Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” logged an 11-week command in February-May.

“Closer” holds at No. 4 on Streaming Songs (21.9 million, down 17 percent) and slips 4-5 on Digital Song Sales (46,000, down 37 percent; it was also boosted in the prior tracking week by The Chainsmokers and Halsey’s AMAs performance).

“Closer” additionally controls Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a 16th week and tops Pop Songs for an 11th week, tying four other hits for the second-longest domination in the airplay chart’s 24-year history; Ace of Base’s “The Sign” holds the record with 14 weeks at No. 1 in 1994.

Ariana Grande‘s “Side to Side,” featuring Nicki Minaj, returns to its No. 4 Hot 100 highpoint, from No. 6. It remains at No. 5 on Radio Songs (114 million, up 4 percent), while falling 6-7 on Streaming Songs (15.9 million, down 17 percent) and 6-8 on Digital Song Sales (39,000, down 37 percent).

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top five, Bruno Mars‘ “24K Magic” descends to No. 5 on the Hot 100 from its No. 4 peak, highlighted by its 4-3 push on Radio Songs 118 million, up 6 percent). It drops 2-4 on Digital Song Sales (46,000, down 41 percent) and 7-10 on Streaming Songs 13.5 million, down 21 percent). Like “Starboy” and “Closer,” “Side” and “Magic” were both helped in the prior week by Grande and Minaj’s, and Mars’, AMAs performances, respectively).

Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall backtrack to No. 6 on the Hot 100 after reaching No. 5 a week ago with “Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)”; DJ Snake‘s “Let Me Love You,” featuring Bieber, rises 8-7 after peaking at No. 4; Maroon 5‘s “Don’t Wanna Know,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, hits a new No. 8 high, up from No. 10; Twenty One Pilots‘ “Heathens” drops 7-9, after climbing to No. 2, and rules Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart for a 17th week; and D.R.A.M.‘s No. 5-peaking “Broccoli,” featuring Lil Yachty, slips 9-10.

Just beyond the Hot 100’s top 10, Hailee Steinfeld and Grey’s “Starving,” featuring Zedd, rises to a new peak (13-12); Machine Gun Kelly and Camila Cabello‘s “Bad Things” bounds 28-17, becoming the first top 20 entry for Kelly and the second, and highest-charting, for Cabello (apart from Fifth Harmony), following her No. 20-peaking “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” with Shawn Mendes, in January. Plus, Mariah Carey‘s seasonal classic “All I Want for Christmas Is You” re-enters at No. 23, while remaining atop the Holiday 100 chart.

Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly “Hot 100 Chart Moves” column later this week, and visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Dec. 6), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh. The Hot 100 and a host of year-end rankings will appear in the next issue of Billboard magazine, while additional year-end tallies will post on Billboard.com later this week.

4 Dec 2016 Music Now!

The Weeknd’s ‘Starboy’ Bows at No. 1 on Billboard 200 With Third-Biggest Debut of 2016

The Weeknd blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with his new album, Starboy, earning 348,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Dec. 1, according to Nielsen Music. That’s the third-largest debut of 2016, behind only the arrivals of Drake’s Views (1.04 million units) and Beyonce’s Lemonade(653,000). Of the Weeknd’s overall start, 209,000 were in traditional album sales.

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 Dec. 17-dated chart (where The Weeknd bows at No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, Dec. 6.

Starboy, the Weeknd’s second Billboard 200 No. 1, was released on Nov. 25 through XO/Republic Records and is the follow-up to his first leader, Beauty Behind the Madness. The new set was initially released commercially as a download and through streaming services. Its CD release followed three days later on Nov. 28.

Starboy’s debut got a jolt from streaming equivalent album units, as a whopping 117,000 of its total unit sum were driven by streaming units (equaling 175.2 million streams of Starboy’s songs in the week). That’s the second-largest debut streaming week ever, following Drake’s Views, which clocked 163,000 streaming units in its opening frame (equating to 245.1 million streams of songs from the album that week).

Starboy is only the second album to surpass 100,000 streaming equivalent album units in a single week, following Drake’s set. Views actually did it three times: during its debut week, along with its third (124,000) and fourth (111,000) frames.

Previous to Starboy’s release and following its bow, the Weeknd offered some high-profile TV performances on Saturday Night Live (Oct. 1), the MTV Europe Music Awards (Nov. 6), the American Music Awards (Nov. 20), The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (Nov. 24) and The Ellen DeGeneres Show (Nov. 28). He also sat down for interviews with Zane Lowe on Apple Music’s Beats 1 (Nov. 24), The Wall Street Journal (Nov. 2) and The New York Times (Nov. 28). Meanwhile, the set’s title-cut lead single has so far peaked at No. 2 (for five weeks) on the Billboard Hot 100 and led the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for six weeks.

At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Pentatonix’s A Pentatonix Christmas rises two spots with 131,000 units (up 29 percent). Last week’s No. 1 debut, Metallica’sHardwired… to Self-Destruct, dips 1-3 with 75,000 units (down 74 percent) and Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic slips 2-4 in its second week with 73,000 units (down 68 percent).

The Moana soundtrack vaults 16-5 with 66,000 units (up 153 percent), granting Walt Disney Records its highest charting album since the Star Wars: The Force Awakenssoundtrack peaked at No. 5 for one week on the Jan. 9-dated list. Moana’s huge gain is owed to the film’s release in U.S. theaters on Nov. 23, two days before the chart’s latest tracking week began (on Nov. 25).

Another animated film soundtrack, Trolls, holds steady at No. 6 with 53,000 units (down one percent).

Two holiday albums jump back into the top 10, as Pentatonix’s That’s Christmas to Me and Michael Buble’s Christmas return. The former rises 12-7 with 40,000 units (up 38 percent) and the latter vaults 19-8 with slightly less than 36,000 units (up 57 percent). As the two titles join Pentatonix’s latest holiday set at No. 2, there are three Christmas albums in the top 10 for the first time in nearly two years. It last happened on the Dec. 20, 2014-dated list, when That’s Christmas to Me ranked at No. 2, followed by Idina Menzel’s Holiday Wishes at No. 6 and Buble’s Christmas at No. 7.

Rounding out the new top 10 is Miranda Lambert’s The Weight of These Wings, which falls 3-9 with 36,000 units (down 73 percent) in its second week and the original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton, which dips one rung to No. 10 with 34,000 units (down 11 percent).

28 Nov 2016 Music Now!

Rae Sremmurd’s ‘Black Beatles’ Leads Hot 100 for Third Week

The track, featuring Gucci Mane, continues to gain in streams, helped again by the Mannequin Challenge. Plus, Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall’s “Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)” jumps into the top five, powered in part by its own viral challenge.

Rae Sremmurd tops the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Dec. 10) for a third week with “Black Beatles,” featuring Gucci Mane.

As we do every Monday when the chart is compiled, let’s run down the top 10 of the Hot 100, which blends sales, airplay and streaming data. Highlights of the Hot 100 post on Billboard.com each Monday, with all charts updated each Tuesday.

“Beatles,” released on Eardrummer/Interscope Records, continues atop the Hot 100 with momentum again from its use in viral Mannequin Challenge videos. The phenomenon seemingly began with an Oct. 26 tweet showing students at Jacksonville, Florida’s Edward H. White High School in mannequin poses; while that clip didn’t feature music, “Beatles” has found synchs in an onslaught of subsequent videos.

“Beatles,” the first Hot 100 No. 1 for the brother duo of Khalif “Swae Lee” and Aaquil “Slim Jxmmi” Brown (and likewise the first leader for Gucci Mane), is the top-selling and most-streamed song of the week for a third week (and is the top gainer in airplay for a second frame). It leads the Digital Song Sales chart with 138,000 downloads sold in the week ending Nov. 24, down 11 percent, according to Nielsen Music, and rules Streaming Songs with 55.9 million U.S. streams, up 3 percent. Of its streams for the week, 33.5 million were from YouTube clicks and 14.3 million from Spotify. The track also tops Billboard’s audio subscription services-based On-Demand Streaming Songs chart for a third week (22.1 million on-demand streams, down 13 percent).

The total U.S. streams for “Beatles” for the week mark another new high for the track and are the most for a song since Adele’s “Hello” logged 61.6 million upon its debut on the Streaming Songs chart dated Nov. 14, 2015. Meanwhile, until “Beatles” the last two weeks, no title had reached 50 million in consecutive weeks since Baauer’s “Harlem Shake” logged three in a row in March 2013, aided greatly by user-generated clips featuring the song’s audio.

“Beatles” is also growing quickly in airplay, as it bounds 28-14 on Radio Songs (58 million in audience, up 43 percent) and holds at No. 1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (29 million in format audience, up 25 percent). The track tops Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and Hot Rap Songs for a third week each.

The Chainsmokers‘ “Closer,” featuring Halsey, holds at No. 2 on the Hot 100 after 12 spending weeks at No. 1, the longest domination of 2016. Following their performance of the song on the American Music Awards (AMAs) Sunday, Nov. 21, “Closer” boasts a 25 percent gain to 73,000 downloads sold (although it slips 3-4 on Digital Song Sales), while drawing 26.4 million streams (up 1 percent; it dips 2-4 on Streaming Songs).

Meanwhile, “Closer” controls Radio Songs for a ninth week (146 million, essentially even week-over-week), tying OutKast’s “Hey Ya!,” which spent nine weeks on top in 2003-04, for the longest rule by a duo in the chart’s 26-year history. (Among all acts, Goo Goo Dolls’ “Iris” has spent the most time atop Radio Songs: 18 weeks in 1998.)

“Closer” additionally tops Pop Songs for a 10th week, joining Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” featuring T.I. and Pharrell (10 weeks at No. 1, 2013), as the only songs to lead the mainstream top 40-based airplay chart for double-digit weeks since Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together” (10 weeks) in 2005; Ace of Base’s “The Sign” holds the record for the longest Pop Songs reign: 14 weeks in 1994. “Closer” also passes “Hey Ya!” (nine weeks at No. 1) for the longest run at No. 1 for a duo ever on Pop Songs.

“Closer” also logs a 15th week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart.

The Weeknd‘s “Starboy,” featuring Daft Punk, is stationary at No. 3 on the Hot 100, after peaking at No. 2 for five weeks. The song, also performed on the AMAs, gains by 14 percent to 28.3 million streams, as it holds at No. 3 on Streaming Songs. It keeps at No. 2 on Radio Songs (127 million, essentially on par with the prior week’s total) and drops 2-3 on Digital Song Sales (75,000, down 11 percent; in the previous tracking week, it was helped by 69-cent iTunes Store sale-pricing). “Starboy,” which crowns the Hot R&B Songs chart for a ninth week, is the title cut from The Weeknd’s new album, released Friday (Nov. 25) and due on next week’s charts.

Bruno Mars‘ “24K Magic” rises 6-4 on the Hot 100, reaching a new peak (passing its prior No. 5 high first set upon its debut six weeks ago). Mars performed the song on the AMAs (the night’s first performance), helping spur its 4-2 lift on Digital Song Sales (79,000, up 38 percent; good for the top digital sales gainer award on the Hot 100) and 10-7 trek on Streaming Songs (17 million, up 40 percent). On Radio Songs, it climbs 5-4 (112 million, up 4 percent). The song is the lead single and title track from Mars’ third LP, which debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 (231,000 equivalent album units).

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top five, Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall zoom 8-5 on the Hot 100 with “Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem),” hitting a new peak and reaching the top five for the first time (and earning the top streaming gain on the chart). Leading the way, the track pushes 4-2 on Streaming Songs, up by 46 percent to 35.1 million, fueled by a rise in user-generated TZ Anthem Challenge videos featuring the song’s audio, with notable spikes on Thanksgiving (Nov. 24). Also adding buzz, the day before (Nov. 23), the Detroit duo performed “Juju” at halftime of the Detroit Pistons’ NBA game; the pair then performed it the next day (Nov. 24) during halftime of the Detroit Lions’ annual NFL Thanksgiving game (although the performance was not televised).

On Digital Song Sales, the track retreats 13-16, but with a 10 percent gain to 36,000; it continues to bubble under Radio Songs (17 million, down 2 percent).

Ariana Grande‘s “Side to Side,” featuring Nicki Minaj, falls from its No. 4 Hot 100 high to No. 6, although it, too, gains following their AMAs performance of the song. The song increases by 14 percent to 19.2 million streams (and holds at No. 6 on Streaming Songs) and 20 percent to 61,000 sold (slipping 5-6 on Digital Song Sales), while rising 6-5 on Radio Songs (109 million, up 13 percent).

Twenty One Pilots‘ “Heathens” drops 5-7 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2, and rules Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart for a 16th week; DJ Snake‘s “Let Me Love You,” featuring Justin Bieber, falls 7-8 after peaking at No. 4; D.R.A.M.‘s No. 5-peaking “Broccoli,” featuring Lil Yachty, keeps at No. 9; and Maroon 5‘s “Don’t Wanna Know,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, stays at No. 10 after reaching No. 9. “Heathens” (45,000, up 7 percent), “Let” (48,000, up 12 percent) and “Know” (72,000, up 64 percent) all gain in sales following AMAs performances.

Just beyond the Hot 100’s top 10, Hailee Steinfeld and Grey’s “Starving,” featuring Zedd, rises to a new peak (15-13; helped by a 69-cent sale tag in the iTunes Store); Alessia Cara‘s “Scars to Your Beautiful” climbs 17-15; and X Ambassadors‘ “Unsteady” reaches the top 20 (21-20) in its 28th week on the chart.

Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly “Hot 100 Chart Moves” column later this week, and visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Nov. 22), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh. The Hot 100 and other rankings will also appear in the next issue of Billboard magazine, on sale Friday (Dec. 2).

Source: billboard.com

28 Nov 2016 Music Now!

Metallica Rocks With Sixth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart

Metallica scores its sixth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart with the arrival of Hardwired… to Self-Destruct. The set debuts atop the list with 291,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Nov. 24, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 282,000 were in traditional album sales. Hardwired was released on Metallica’s own Blackened Records on Nov. 18.

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 Dec. 10-dated chart (where Metallica launches at No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, Nov. 29.

Hardwired’s start is the third-largest debut of 2016 — both in terms of overall units and traditional album sales — behind only the arrivals of Drake’s Views(1.04 million units; 852,000 in sales) and Beyonce’s Lemonade (653,000 units; 485,000 sales).

Further, Hardwired sold more in its first week than any rock album in two-and-a-half years. The last rock album to sell more in a single week was Coldplay’s Ghost Stories, which bowed with 382,000 copies sold on the chart dated June 7, 2014.

Hardwired is Metallica’s first studio album since 2008’s Death Magnetic, which also bowed at No. 1, with 490,000 copies sold in its first week. Metallica’s last six studio albums, stretching back to its self-titled album (usually referred to as The Black Album) in 1991, have debuted at No. 1. Before Death Magnetic, the band topped the chart with St. Anger (in 2003), Reload (1997), Load (1996) and Metallica (1991).

Following Death Magnetic, the group released a collaborative album with Lou Reed (Lulu in 2011, which peaked at No. 36), an EP (Beyond Magnetic in 2012, No. 29) and the soundtrack to the documentary Metallica: Through the Never(2013; No. 9).

Hardwired was led at radio by its title track, which became the band’s eighth No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Songs airplay chart (Oct. 8). The track also hit No. 9 on the Hot Rock Songs chart.

Hardwired also bows at No. 1 on the Independent Albums chart, as the set is distributed by Alternative Distribution Alliance, the indie distribution arm of Warner Music Group. Metallica had previously released its music through Warner Music’s Elektra Records (beginning in 1984) and then later through Warner Bros. Records. The band renegotiated its contract with Warner Music in 1994, and that contract expired in 2012. As part of that deal, the act walked away from Warner Music with its master recordings — like their mega-selling 1991 self-titled album — which the group has since reissued on Blackened Records.

At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Bruno Mars’ 24K Magic debuts with 231,000 units (194,000 in traditional album sales — Mars’ best sales week yet). It’s his third studio album, and all three have debuted in the top three on the chart.

24K Magic follows 2012’s Unorthodox Jukebox, which opened at No. 2 with 192,000 in sales and reached No. 1 the following year. Before that, Mars’ debut full-length set, 2010’s Doo-Wops & Hooligans, bowed and peaked at No. 2 (55,000 in its first week, later seeing its best frame over Christmas of that year: 84,000). The albums have sold 2.51 and 2.54 million copies, respectively, to date.

24K Magic’s title track (and lead single) gave Mars his 13th top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and has so far peaked at No. 5.

As Metallica and Mars both bow with more than 200,000 units for their respective albums, it marks the first time two albums have simultaneously launched with at least 200,000 in a year. (We’ve had a number of albums bow with 200,000 or more in 2016 — like Drake’s Views and Beyonce’s Lemonade — but they all arrived in separate weeks.) It last happened on the Dec. 5, 2015-dated chart, when Justin Bieber‘s Purpose bowed at No. 1 with 645,000 (522,000 in sales) and One Direction‘s Made in the A.M. debuted at No. 2 with 459,000 (402,000 in sales).

Next up on the new Billboard 200, Miranda Lambert notches the highest charting country album from a female artist in more than a year, as her new The Weight of These Wings debuts at No. 3 with 133,000 units (122,000 in traditional album sales). The last woman to rank higher on the chart with a country album was Carrie Underwood, who saw her Storyteller album spend its first two weeks on the chart at No. 2 (Nov. 14-21, 2015). It was also the last country album by a woman to launch with a bigger unit total and sales start: 177,000 units and 164,000 copies sold.

The Weight of These Wings, a double album, is Lambert’s sixth studio effort. It’s her fifth consecutive top 10-charting album, following Platinum (No. 1 in 2014), Four the Record (No. 3, 2011), Revolution (No. 8, 2009) and Crazy Ex-Girlfriend(No. 6, 2007). Her first album, Kerosene, debuted and peaked at No. 18 in 2005.

The new album’s first single, “Vice,” reached No. 2 on the Hot Country Songs chart back in August, marking Lambert’s 13th top 10 hit.

As Metallica, Mars and Lambert all launch with more than 100,000 copies sold of their albums, it’s the first time in a year that three titles have each concurrently debuted with 100,000 sold. It last happened on the Dec. 5, 2015-dated chart, when Bieber’s Purpose and One Direction’s Made in the A.M. bowed at Nos. 1 and 2 with 522,000 and 402,000 copies sold, respectively, followed by Logic’s The Incredible True Story, which bowed at No. 3 with 118,000 sold.

Back on the new Billboard 200, Pentatonix’s A Pentatonix Christmas dips 2-4 with 101,000 units (though it’s up 80 percent) and A Tribe Called Quest’s We Got it From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service falls 1-5 in its second week (59,000 units, down 56 percent). The soundtrack to Trolls moves 3-6 with 53,000 units (up 12 percent) while Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood’s collaborative holiday album, Christmas Together, rises 11-7 with 39,000 units (up 84 percent). The latter set gives Brooks his 17th top 10 album, and Yearwood her third (and first since 2005’s No. 4-peaking Jasper County).

Rounding out the top 10 are Rae Sremmurd’s Sremmlife 2 (4-8 with a little more than 38,000 units, down 11 percent), the original Broadway cast recording of Hamilton (6-9 with 38,000 units, up 24 percent) and Drake’s Views (5-10 with 34,000 units, up 8 percent). Hamilton likely rises thanks to publicity generated by the brouhaha over vice president-elect Mike Pence’s visit to the show on Nov. 11.

Source: billboard.com

21 Nov 2016 Music Now!

Rae Sremmurd’s ‘Black Beatles’ Tops Hot 100 for Second Week

The track, featuring Gucci Mane, gains in sales and streams, helped again by the Mannequin Challenge. Plus, Ariana Grande’s “Side to Side,” featuring Nicki Minaj, hits the top five.

Rae Sremmurd rules the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Dec. 3) for a second week with “Black Beatles,” featuring Gucci Mane. Meanwhile, Ariana Grande ascends to the top five with “Side to Side,” featuring Nicki Minaj.

As we do every Monday when the chart is compiled, let’s run through the top 10 of the Hot 100, which blends sales, airplay and streaming data. Highlights of the Hot 100 post on Billboard.com each Monday, with all charts updated each Tuesday.

“Beatles,” released on Eardrummer/Interscope Records, continues atop the Hot 100 with another major assist from its use in viral Mannequin Challenge videos. The phenomenon appears to have begun in an Oct. 26 tweet showing students at Jacksonville, Florida’s Edward H. White High School in mannequin poses; while that clip didn’t feature music, “Beatles” has found synchs in a mass of subsequent videos.

“Beatles,” the first Hot 100 topper for the brother duo of Khalif “Swae Lee” and Aaquil “Slim Jxmmi” Brown (and likewise the first leader for Gucci Mane), is the top-selling and most-streamed song of the week for a second week and is the top gainer in streaming and airplay. It leads the Digital Song Sales chart with a 7 percent gain to 154,000 downloads sold in the week ending Nov. 17, according to Nielsen Music, and rules Streaming Songs with 54.1 million U.S. streams, up 25 percent. Of its streams for the week, 28.4 million were from YouTube clicks and 15.4 million from Spotify. The track also tops Billboard’s audio subscription services-based On-Demand Streaming Songs chart with 25.3 million on-demand streams, up 13 percent.

Another way to gauge the high streaming sum for “Beatles”? Its 54.1 million U.S. streams for the week mark the most for any song since Adele‘s “Hello” logged 61.6 million upon its debut on the Streaming Songs chart dated Nov. 14, 2015. (No title had cracked 50 million since then until “Beatles” this week.)

“Beatles” is also quickly adding airplay, as it jumps 44-28 on Radio Songs (41 million in audience, up 63 percent). It rockets 10-1 on R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay, the biggest vault to the top in the chart’s history (24 million in format audience, up 39 percent), and enters the Pop Songs airplay chart at No. 35.

“Beatles” also leads Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and Hot Rap Songs for a second week each.

The Chainsmokers‘ “Closer” ranks at No. 2 on the Hot 100 for a second week, after 12 weeks at No. 1, the longest reign of 2016. It keeps at No. 2 on Streaming Songs (26.2 million, down 4 percent) and rebounds 4-3 on Digital Song Sales (58,000 downloads sold, essentially even from last week). Still, it rules Radio Songs for an eighth week (147 million, down 2 percent); that’s the longest No. 1 run on Radio Songs for a duo or group since Maroon 5‘s “One More Night” also led for eight weeks in 2012. No duo or group has ruled Radio Songs longer since OutKast‘s “Hey Ya!” spent nine weeks on top in 2003-04.

“Closer” paces Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a 14th week, and becomes The Chainsmokers’ and Halsey‘s first No. 1 each on the Adult Pop Songs airplay chart (2-1); it leads Pop Songs for a ninth week, the chart’s longest command since Robin Thicke‘s “Blurred Lines,” featuring T.I. and Pharrell, dominated for 10 weeks in 2013.

The Weeknd‘s “Starboy,” featuring Daft Punk, is steady at No. 3 on the Hot 100 after five weeks at its No. 2 peak. The track is the top gainer in sales, rising 3-2 on Digital Song Sales (84,000, up 34 percent), helped by 69-cent iTunes sale-pricing during the tracking week (it’s now back up to $1.29). It holds at No. 2 on Radio Songs (127 million, even week-over-week) and lifts 4-3 on Streaming Songs (24.8 million, up 6 percent). The song is the title cut from The Weeknd’s new album, due Friday (Nov. 25).

Grande’s “Side to Side,” featuring Minaj, surges into the Hot 100’s top five (7-4). It pushes 7-5 on Digital Song Sales (51,000, up 10 percent) and holds at No. 6 on Streaming Songs (16.8 million, up 5 percent; and roars 8-6 on Radio Songs (97 million, up 18 percent). Grande, the newly crowned artist of the year at the American Music Awards (AMAs) last night (Nov. 20), earns her first Hot 100 top five from her album Dangerous Woman; the title cut lead single hit No. 8 and follow-up “Into You” reached No. 13. Grande and Minaj’s last time in the top five? Also together: two years ago (Nov. 22, 2014) on their prior collab, the No. 3-peaking “Bang Bang,” also with Jessie J.

(Looking ahead, songs performed at the AMAs, including “Side by Side” and “Closer,” are likely to see sales gains on next week’s charts, dated Dec. 10, reflecting the tracking week ending Nov. 24.)

Twenty One Pilots‘ “Heathens” slips 4-5 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2, and rules Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart for a 15th week; Bruno Mars‘ No. 5-peaking “24K Magic” is stationary at No. 6 (with his album of the same name having arrived Friday, Nov. 18, and due on next week’s album charts); and DJ Snake‘s “Let Me Love You” featuring Justin Bieber(another song performed, by Bieber, on the AMAs) drops 5-7 after reaching No. 4.

Rounding out the Hot 100’s 10, three songs hold in place: Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall’s “Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem),” at No. 8, its peak; D.R.A.M.‘s No. 5-peaking “Broccoli,” featuring Lil Yachty (No. 9); and Maroon 5‘s “Don’t Wanna Know,” featuring Kendrick Lamar (No. 10), a live version of which closed the AMAs.

Just beyond the Hot 100’s top 10, notable moves include Amine advancing to a new high with “Caroline” (18-13); Hailee Steinfeld and Grey’s “Starving,” featuring Zedd, returning to its No. 14 peak (from No. 19); and Alessia Cara scoring her second top 20 hit with “Scars to Your Beautiful” (22-17). Cara’s debut track “Here” hit No. 5 on the Hot 100 in February.

(Also notably, this week’s Hot 100 and all charts, dated Dec. 3, mark the first lists of Billboard’s 2017 chart year. Billboard’s 2016 chart year, covering activity on rankings dated Dec. 5, 2015, through Nov. 26, 2016, will be recapped in our annual year-end charts menu, set to be unveiled the week of Dec. 5 on Billboard’s platforms, and in the 2016 year-end issue of Billboard magazine.)

Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly “Hot 100 Chart Moves” column later this week, and visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Nov. 22), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh.

Source: billboard.com

20 Nov 2016 Music Now!

A Tribe Called Quest Returns to No. 1 on Billboard 200 Chart After 20-Year Wait

Hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest tops the Billboard 200 albums chart for the first time in more than 20 years, as the act’s new album, We Got It From Here… Thank You 4 Your Service, debuts at No. 1. The set, which was released on Nov. 11 through Epic Records, earned 135,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Nov. 17, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 112,000 were in traditional album sales.

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 Dec. 3-dated chart (where A Tribe Called Quest starts at No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, Nov. 22.

We Got It From Here is A Tribe Called Quest’s second No. 1, following Beats, Rhymes and Life, which topped the list for one week on the chart dated Aug. 17, 1996 — 20 years and three months ago. That gap between No. 1s is the longest for a hip-hop act in the chart’s history. Previously, Jeezy —just two weeks ago — held the longest wait between No. 1s among hip-hop acts, with eight years and two months between The Recession in September of 2008 and Trap or Die 3 this month.

The last act — among all genres of music — to wait longer between No. 1s was Lionel Richie in 2012. That year, he reached No. 1 with Tuskegee, 25 years and six months after he last topped the chart with 1986’s Dancing on the Ceiling. (The longest wait overall between No. 1s — among living acts — belongs to Bob Dylan, who went 30 years and six months between Desire in 1976 and Modern Times in 2006. The longest wait among all acts, living or dead, is owned by Ray Charles. There was a 42-year and four-month gap between Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music in 1962 and Genius Loves Company in 2005.)

It’s worth noting that the first rap/hip-hop album to lead the Billboard 200 was Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill, which reached No. 1 almost 30 years ago, on March 7, 1987. Beastie Boys also clocked the 10th No. 1 rap album, Ill Communication, in 1994. A Tribe Called Quest’s previous No. 1, Beats, Rhymes and Life, was the 20thhip-hop album to top the Billboard 200.

We Got It From Here is billed as A Tribe Called Quest’s final album. It is the group’s first studio release since 1998’s The Love Movement and the first since the death of the act’s Phife Dawg in March.

The rest of the new top 10 on the Billboard 200 is scheduled to be announced later today (Nov. 20).

Source: billboard.com

14 Nov 2016 Music Now!

Rae Sremmurd’s ‘Black Beatles’ Blasts to No. 1 on Hot 100

The track, featuring Gucci Mane, dethrones The Chainsmokers’ “Closer,” featuring Halsey, after 12 weeks at No. 1.

Rae Sremmurd rockets from No. 9 to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Nov. 26) with “Black Beatles,” featuring Gucci Mane, the first Hot 100 leader for both acts. The track unseats The Chainsmokers “Closer,” featuring Halsey, after 12 weeks at No. 1.

As we do every Monday when the chart is compiled, let’s run down the top 10 of the Hot 100, which blends sales, airplay and streaming data. Highlights of the Hot 100 post on Billboard.com each Monday, with all charts updated each Tuesday.

“Black Beatles,” released on Eardrummer/Interscope Records, has received a big boost from its usage in viral Mannequin Challenge videos (including one by a Beatle himself, Paul McCartney, who joined in on the phenomenon Nov. 10 via a video posted to his Twitter account with the text, “Love those Black Beatles #MannequinChallenge”). The Mannequin Challenge appears to have begun in an Oct. 26 tweet showing students at Jacksonville, Florida’s Edward H. White High School in mannequin poses; while that clip didn’t feature music, “Black Beatles” has found synchs in a vast array of subsequent videos. Rae Sremmurd then staged its own version of the challenge in concert Nov. 3; the new Nov. 26-dated Hot 100 reflects the sales and streaming tracking week of Nov. 4-10.

“Black Beatles” bounds to No. 1 on the Hot 100 as the newly-crowned top-selling and most-streamed song of the week (and is the top gainer in both metrics). It vaults 16-1 on the Digital Song Sales chart, up 320 percent to 144,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen Music, and 5-1 on Streaming Songs (43.3 million U.S. streams, up 122 percent). Of its streams for the week, 20.8 million are from YouTube plays (up from 8.7 million) and 12.1 million are from Spotify clicks (up from 5.8 million). The track also roars 5-1 on Billboard’s audio subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart with 22.4 million on-demand streams, up 108 percent.

“Black Beatles” is more steadily building in airplay, as it debuts on Radio Songs at No. 44 (25 million in audience, up 57 percent). The last song with a lesser airplay showing while atop the Hot 100? On Feb. 20, Zayn’s “Pillowtalk” debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 with nearly all its chart points from sales and streaming, along with 17 million airplay impressions; it entered Radio Songs two weeks later.

“Black Beatles,” the 1,058th No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 58-year history, also crowns the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (4-1) and Hot Rap Songs (3-1).

Other fab fun facts about “Black Beatles”: the song’s 9-1 jump on the Hot 100 is the greatest to the top since Taylor Swift‘s “Bad Blood,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, hurtled 53-1 on June 6, 2015 (following the premiere of the song’s official video on the Billboard Music Awards). The last song to jump to No. 1 with a greater leap within the top 10 was Wiz Khalifa‘s “See You Again,” featuring Charlie Puth, which charged 10-1 on April 25, 2015.

Not only is “Black Beatles” the first Hot 100 topper for both brother duo Rae Sremmurd (Khalif “Swae Lee” Brown, 21, and Aaquil “Slim Jxmmi” Brown, 22) and Gucci Mane, it’s also the first for the song’s producer and co-writer Mike WiLL Made-It, who, among three prior top 10s, had risen as high as No. 2 in 2013 via Miley Cyrus‘ “We Can’t Stop.” (As artists, Rae Sremmurd had previously peaked at a No. 16 high with “No Type” in 2014, while Gucci Mane had hit a No. 14 best as featured, with Sean Garrett, on Mario‘s “Break Up” back in 2009.

As “Black Beatles” dethrones “Closer,” songs by duos reign back-to-back on the Hot 100 for the first time since OutKast‘s “The Way You Move” (featuring Sleepy Brown) succeeded its own “Hey Ya!” on Feb. 14, 2004. The last set of different duos to lead consecutively? You have to jitterbug back to Dec. 8, 1984, when Daryl Hall and John Oates’ “Out of Touch” replaced Wham!‘s “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go.”

Meanwhile, the “Beatles” are atop the Hot 100. The actual Fab Four tallied their record 20 Hot 100 No. 1s in 1964-70, from “I Want to Hold Your Hand” to “The Long and Winding Road.” Adding to their legend, The Beatles are the first act to have both topped the Hot 100 and had a song that namechecks them in its title lead the list. Honorary mention goes to The Rolling Stones, who, after earning eight No. 1s, had frontman Mick Jagger feted in Maroon 5‘s “Move Like Jagger” (featuring Christina Aguilera).

Beyond The Beatles, the Rae Sremmurd brothers share a connection with more rock royalty: as insightful chart-watcher Pablo Nelson notes (thankyouverymuch), they’re from Tupelo, Mississippi, just like the King, Elvis Presley.

As “Black Beatles” takes over atop the Hot 100, “Closer” halts its 12-week reign, four weeks shy of tying Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men‘s record 16-week domination in 1995-96 with “One Sweet Day.” “Closer” drops to No. 4 after a record-tying 13 weeks atop Digital Song Sales (59,000 downloads sold, down 18 percent) and to No. 2 after 12 weeks at No. 1 on Streaming Songs (27.4 million, down 4 percent). Still, it rules Radio Songs for a seventh week (151 million, down 1 percent). It also tops Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a 13th week.

Meanwhile, no next single from The Chainsmokers has yet been announced; Columbia Records plans to release a follow-up to “Closer” in early January. As previously reported, the duo debuts at No. 6 on the Billboard 200 with its new EP, Collage (which features “Closer”).

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top five, The Weeknd‘s “Starboy,” featuring Daft Punk, slips to No. 3 after five weeks at its No. 2 peak (and descends to No. 2 after six weeks in charge of Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs); Twenty One Pilots‘ “Heathens” backtracks to No. 4 (after reaching No. 2), although it logs a 14th week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart; and DJ Snake‘s “Let Me Love You,” featuring Justin Bieber, retreats to No. 5 from its No. 4 Hot 100 peak.

Bruno Mars‘ No. 5-peaking “24K Magic” rebounds 7-6 on the Hot 100 (while pushing 4-2 on Digital Song Sales, up by 26 percent to 68,000), swapping spots with Ariana Grande‘s “Side to Side,” featuring Nicki Minaj, which drops to No. 7 from its No. 6 high, although it claims top Airplay Gainer honors, pushing 9-8 on Radio Songs (82 million, up 14 percent); Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall’s “Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)” holds at its No. 8 Hot 100 peak; and D.R.A.M.‘s “Broccoli,” featuring Lil Yachty, slides to No. 9 from its No. 5 highpoint.

Capping the Hot 100’s top tier, Maroon 5‘s “Don’t Wanna Know,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, returns to the top 10 (11-10) after rising to No. 9 three weeks ago. “Know” lifts 11-9 on Radio Songs (78 million, up 9 percent), becoming Maroon 5’s 12th top 10 on the chart, extending the band’s record for the most top 10s among groups since Radio Songs began in December 1990; Destiny’s Child is second among groups with 10 top 10s on the tally.

Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly “Hot 100 Chart Moves” column later this week, and visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Nov. 15), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh. The Hot 100 and other rankings will also appear in the next issue of Billboard magazine, on sale Friday (Nov. 18).

Source: billboard.com

13 Nov 2016 Music Now!

Bon Jovi Earns Sixth No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart

Bon Jovi’s new album This House Is Not for Sale debuts atop the Billboard 200chart, giving the rock band its sixth No. 1. The set earned 129,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Nov. 10, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 128,000 were in traditional album sales.

The title was released on Nov. 4 through Island Records.

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 Nov. 26-dated chart (where Bon Jovi bows at No. 1) will be posted in full to Billboard’s websites on Tuesday, Nov. 15.

This House Is Not for Sale is the group’s 13th top 10-charting album, and follows the group’s previous No. 1s: What About Now (in 2013), The Circle (2009), Lost Highway(2007), New Jersey (1988) and Slippery When Wet (1986).

A handsome amount of the sales of the new album are driven by a concert ticket/album sale promotion. The group has employed a similar offer for previous releases, as have artists ranging from Justin Bieber and Josh Groban to Shawn Mendes and Barbra Streisand.

The opening sales frame of This House Is Not for Sale is the largest for a rock album in three months, since the Suicide Squad soundtrack bowed with a handful of sales more on the Aug. 27-dated list. (The last rock act to score a larger week was Blink-182, four months ago, with the bow of its California album. It started at No. 1 with 186,000 units and 172,000 in album sales.)

At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200 is Alicia Keys’ new studio effort, Here, which starts with 50,000 units (42,000 in traditional album sales). It’s Keys’ seventh top 10 album, and all six of her studio sets have reached the top two on the list. She bowed at No. 1 with her first album, 2001’s Songs in A Minor, and then followed it with The Diary of Alicia Keys (No. 1 in 2003), the live album Unplugged (No. 1 in 2005), As I Am (No. 1 in 2007), The Element of Freedom (No. 2 in 2010) and Girl on Fire (No. 1 in 2012). She charted one further title, 2013’s VH1 Storytellers, which peaked at No. 108.

The Trolls film soundtrack flies from No. 39 to a new peak of No. 3 with 47,000 units (up 293 percent) and 36,000 in album sales (up 449 percent). The movie bowed in U.S. theaters on Nov. 4, the first day of the chart’s latest tracking week.

Trolls is the fifth soundtrack to visit the top 10 in 2016, following Suicide Squad, Prince and the Revolution’s Purple Rain, the TV soundtrack The Passion: New Orleansand Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Pentatonix’s A Pentatonix Christmas rises two rungs to No. 4, with 46,000 units (up 13 percent) and 41,000 in album sales (up 13 percent). Meanwhile, the group’s previous holiday effort, That’s Christmas to Me, jumps 87-36 with 13,000 units (up 73 percent) and 10,000 copies sold (up 85 percent).

Rae Sremmurd’s Sremmlife 2 hits a new peak, catapulting 21-5 with 39,000 units (up 126 percent), but just 3,000 sold (up 65 percent). The album originally debuted and peaked at No. 7 on the Sept. 3-dated chart. Nearly 21,000 units of the album’s total in the latest tracking frame was driven by streaming equivalent album units, powered by the set’s gone-viral hit “Black Beatles.” The track has gained in popularity in the past two weeks, thanks largely to consumers discovering the song through its use in Mannequin Challenge videos. The song is challenging The Chainsmokers’ “Closer” for the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated Nov. 16.

The top 10 of the list is scheduled to be revealed Monday (Nov. 14).

Speaking of The Chainsmokers, the duo’s five-song EP Collage bows at No. 6 with 39,000 units (9,000 in traditional album sales). The set acts as a mini-greatest hits package, as four of the five songs are previously released hits, including the smashes “Closer” and “Don’t Let Me Down.”

The Now 60 compilation starts at No. 7 with 36,000 units (all from traditional album sales), extending the Now That’s What I Call Music compilation series’ hot streak on the chart. All 60 of the brand’s main, numbered albums have reached the top 10, and Nos. 2-60 have all debuted in the region.

Rounding out the new top 10 is Drake’s Views (which falls 7-8 with 32,000 units; down 10 percent), the Hamilton Broadway cast recording (holding at No. 9 with 30,000 units; up 16 percent) and Kenny Chesney’s Cosmic Hallelujah (2-10 with 29,000 units; down 68 percent).

Source: billboard.com

7 Nov 2016 Music Now!

The Chainsmokers’ ‘Closer’ Tops Hot 100 for 12th Week, Rae Sremmurd & Drake Hit Top 10

“Closer” becomes one of just 17 songs ever to lead for at least 12 weeks. Plus, Rae Sremmurd’s Black Beatles,” featuring Gucci Mane, and Drake’s “Fake Love” hit new heights.

The Chainsmokers rule the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Nov. 19) for a 12th week with “Closer,” featuring Halsey, Meanwhile two songs enter the top 10: Rae Sremmurd‘s “Black Beatles,” featuring Gucci Mane (up from No. 13 to No. 9), which gains in part from reaction to its usage in videos spreading the new viral obsession the Mannequin Challenge, and Drake‘s “Fake Love” (24-10).

As we do every Monday when the chart is compiled, let’s run down the top 10 of the Hot 100, which blends sales, airplay and streaming data. Highlights of the Hot 100 post on Billboard.com each Monday, with all charts updated each Tuesday.

With its 12th week atop the Hot 100, “Closer,” released on Disruptor/Columbia Records, scores the chart’s longest command since Wiz Khalifa‘s “See You Again,” featuring Charlie Puth, also led for 12 weeks in April-July 2015. Including “Closer,” only 17 No. 1s, of 1,057 total, in the Hot 100’s 58-year history, have ruled for at least 12 weeks.

“Closer” remains the top-selling, most-streamed and most-heard radio song in the U.S. It leads the Digital Song Sales chart for a record-tying 13th week (72,000 downloads sold, down 15 percent, in the week ending Nov. 3, according to Nielsen Music; more on both the song matching the longevity mark at No. 1 and its latest sales total in a moment). It tops Streaming Songs for a 12th week (28.7 million U.S. streams, down 10 percent) and Radio Songs for a sixth frame (153 million in airplay audience, down 1 percent, in the week ending Nov. 6).

“Closer” leads the Hot 100 and all three of its main component charts (Digital Song Sales, Streaming Songs and Radio Songs) simultaneously for a sixth week; only Mark Ronson‘s “Uptown Funk!,” featuring Bruno Mars, led all the surveys at the same time for more weeks (nine, in 2015). (“Funk” also logged the last longer reign atop the Hot 100 before “See You Again” and “Closer”: 14 weeks. Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men‘s “One Sweet Day” holds the all-time record: 16 weeks at No. 1 in 1995-96.)

As for its latest sales week, “Closer” ties the record for the most weeks spent at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales, matching two songs that previously led for 13 weeks each: “Funk” (2015) and Flo Rida‘s “Low,” featuring T-Pain (2007-08). Now, the dimmer side of the feat: the latest sales frame for “Closer” (72,000) is the lowest for a No. 1 on the chart in nearly 11 years, since Beyonce’s “Check On It,” featuring Slim Thug, led the Jan. 28, 2006, list with 61,000 sold.

“Closer” additionally tops Billboard’s Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart for a 12th week.

The Weeknd‘s “Starboy,” featuring Daft Punk, ranks at its No. 2 high on the Hot 100 for a fifth week. It keeps at No. 2 on Streaming Songs (23.7 million, down 4 percent) and Digital Song Sales (70,000, down 6 percent) and No. 3 on Radio Songs (127 million, up 3 percent). “Starboy” additionally tops the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for a sixth week.

After five consecutive weeks of “Closer” and “Starboy” ranking at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, on the Hot 100, “Starboy” gets, um, closer, to the top; “Closer” is down by 8 percent in overall points on the latest chart, a greater erosion than that of “Starboy” (3 percent), potentially setting the stage for a change at No. 1, perhaps even as soon as next week.

Twenty One Pilots‘ “Heathens” is stationary at No. 3 on the Hot 100 after peaking at No. 2 for four weeks. It holds at No. 2 on Radio Songs (135 million, down 4 percent) and dips 3-5 on Digital Song Sales (53,000, down 12 percent) and 5-7 on Streaming Songs (16.3 million, down 9 percent). It posts a 13th week at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs chart.

DJ Snake‘s “Let Me Love You,” featuring Justin Bieber, keeps at its No. 4 Hot 100 peak, while D.R.A.M.‘s “Broccoli,” featuring Lil Yachty, likewise stays at its No. 5 high. “Broccoli” tops the Hot Rap Songs chart for a ninth week.

Chart déjà vu: the Hot 100’s top five has sported the same five songs in the same order for three weeks running (on the Nov. 5, 12 and 19-dated charts). That’s the longest such run since the region showed the same five songs at the same ranks for four consecutive weeks in April 2014. (Those five, in order from Nos. 1 to 5: Pharrell Williams‘ “Happy”; John Legend‘s “All of Me”; Katy Perry‘s “Dark Horse,” featuring Juicy J; Jason Derulo‘s “Talk Dirty to Me,” featuring 2 Chainz; and IdinaMenzel‘s “Let It Go.”)

Ariana Grande‘s “Side to Side,” featuring Nicki Minaj, rises 7-6 on the Hot 100, hitting another new high. It also becomes Grande’s seventh Radio Songs top 10 and Minaj’s 13th, soaring 14-9 on the airplay chart (72 million, up 12 percent).

Bruno Mars‘ No. 5-peaking “24K Magic” descends 6-7 on the Hot 100 and Zay Hilfigerrr & Zayion McCall’s “Juju on That Beat (TZ Anthem)” pushes 9-8 in its second week in the top 10. “Juju” jumps in all metrics, climbing 4-3 on Streaming Songs (20.5 million, up 5 percent) and 12-9 on Digital Song Sales (43,000, up 5 percent). It also gains by 20 percent to 12 million in radio audience.

Rae Sremmurd and featured artist Gucci Mane each earn their first trips to the Hot 100’s top 10 as “Black Beatles” bounds 16-9. It surges 7-5 on Streaming Songs (19.5 million, up 31 percent, with YouTube clips accounting for its greatest share of clicks: 44 percent) and 27-16 on Digital Song Sales (34,000, up 58 percent). The collab also increases by 32 percent to 16 million airplay impressions.

Helping the chart movement of “Beatles”? An online challenge in which people don’t make a move at all, aka, the song’s usage in viral videos soundtracking the Mannequin Challenge, which seemingly originated in an Oct. 26 tweet showing students at Jacksonville, Florida’s Edward H. White High School in mannequin poses. While that clip didn’t feature music, “Beatles” has found synchs in a multitude of subsequent clips. Rae Sremmurd then staged its own version of the challenge in concert Nov. 3 (the last day of the latest charts’ sales and streaming tracking week).

Meanwhile, from a new online movement back to rock’s early days: “Black Beatles” is the first-ever Hot 100 top 10 to namecheck The Beatles. It bests the No. 12 peak of “The Beatles’ Movie Medley,” by The Beatles themselves, in 1982; counting only songs by acts other than the Fab Four, the next-highest-peaking such song is The Carefrees’ No. 39 ode “We Love You Beatles” (1964).

(When had the word “Beatles” last appeared in the Hot 100’s top 10 in any form? In January 1996, the actual Beatles tallied the last of their 34 top 10s, a sum second only to Madonna‘s 38, with “Free as a Bird,” which flew to No. 6.)

Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Drake‘s “Fake Love” vaults 24-10 in its second chart week. Following its first full week of tracking, the song zooms 28-6 on Streaming Songs (17.2 million, up 121 percent), although it slips 5-10 on Digital Song Sales (43,000, down 25 percent). It also crowns the audio subscription services-based On-Demand Songs streaming chart, bolting 8-1 (17.1 million on-demand clicks, up 120 percent) to become his record-breaking fifth No. 1 on the tally (which launched in March 2012); he passes Bieber, with four.

Drake premiered “Fake” (along with “Sneakin’,” featuring 21 Savage, up 38-28 on the Hot 100, and “Two Birds, One Stone,” new at No. 73) on Oct. 23 on Apple’s Beats 1 OVO Sound Radio, and announced that they preview a project titled More Life, expected in December.

“Fake” is Drake’s 18th Hot 100 top 10, the third-most among rappers. Jay Z leads with 21, followed by Lil Wayne with 19; Ludacris also boasts 18. (Drake breaks a tie with Eminem, who’s earned 17 top 10s.)

Find out more Hot 100 news in the weekly “Hot 100 Chart Moves” column later this week, and visit Billboard.com tomorrow (Nov. 8), when all charts, including the Hot 100 in its entirety, will refresh.

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