NF Has the Number One Album

NF has the number one album in the country this week:

The set was released on Oct. 6 through NF Real Music/Capitol/Caroline and starts with 55,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Oct. 12, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 38,000 were in traditional album sales — NF’s best sales week yet.

Shania Twain Debuts at Number One

Shania Twain has the number one album in the country this week:

Of that sum, 134,000 were in traditional album sales — the third-largest sales week for a country album in 2017, and the largest for a woman in nearly two years. Now, which was released on Sept. 29 through Mercury Nashville, is Twain’s second No. 1 album and the first chart-topping country set by a female artist in over three years.

Tom Petty returns to the charts at number two:

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ Greatest Hits re-enters at No. 2 with 84,000 units (up 2,231 percent) earned in the week ending Oct. 5, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 52,000 were in traditional album sales (up 3,407 percent). Greatest Hits initially peaked at No. 5 in February of 1994, following its release the previous year.

2017 Music Sales Are Up

Peter Kafka, writing for Recode:

Music streaming is big, and getting bigger fast. Digital downloads are falling off a cliff.

Oh, and one more familiar refrain: The music industry loves the money it’s getting from subscription services like Spotify and Apple Music, but it wants YouTube to pay them much more. […]

More than 30 million people are now paying for a subscription streaming service in the U.S., which pushed streaming revenue up 48 percent, to $2.5 billion, in the first half of the year. Streaming now accounts for 62 percent of the U.S. music business.

And that’s pushing the overall music business back up again, after a fall that started in 1999, with the ascent of Napster, and didn’t stop until a couple years ago. Retail sales were up 17 percent, to $4 billion, and wholesale shipments were up 14.6 percent, to $2.7 billion.

Thomas Rhett Tops the Charts

Thomas Rhett has the number one album in the country this week:

The set — which brings country back to No. 1 for the first time in exactly one year — earned 123,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Sept. 14, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 94,000 were in traditional album sales, Rhett’s best sales week and the third largest sales week of 2017 for a country effort.

LCD Soundsystem Earn First Number One Album

LCD Soundsystem have the number one album in the country this week:

The set earned 85,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Sept. 7, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 81,000 were in traditional album sales. The album was released on Sept. 1 and is the act’s first new studio effort in more than seven years, and first for Columbia Records.

And, because everyone always asks: it looks like Brand New added another 2k to their total.

Lil Uzi Vert Tops the Charts

Lil Uzi Vert has the number one album in the country this week:

Rapper Lil Uzi Vert bows at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with his debut studio album, Luv Is Rage 2, starting with 135,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 31, according to Nielsen Music. The album was released on Aug. 25 through Generation Now/Atlantic Records, and follows two earlier charting efforts for the artist.

It looks like PVRIS sold around 11k copies in their first week. Brand New did another 4k (a 94% drop from their chart-topping first week).

Brand New Top the Charts

Brand New

It’s official: Brand New have the number one album in the country.

Rock band Brand New nabs its first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as Science Fiction starts atop the tally with 58,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. 24, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 55,000 were in traditional album sales. The set was released Aug. 18 through the band’s own Procrastinate! Music Traitors label, and is the first album from the band in nearly eight years.

What an absolute delight to see. I told the story on the last podcast about when I first started writing about this band and I truly never thought I’d see them top the charts like this. Incredible. Congratulations to the band and their team. If this ends up being their last album, the years of building a hyper-dedicated fanbase and releasing fantastic music pays off with this special honor.

Kendrick Lamar Tops the Charts

Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick Lamar once again has the number one album in the country:

Lamar’s Damn. climbs 2-1 on the latest Billboard 200, clocking a fourth nonconsecutive week at No. 1, and its first since the May 20-dated tally. The set earned just under 47,000 equivalent album units (down less than 1 percent) in the week ending Aug. 10, according to Nielsen Music. Of that sum, 11,000 were in traditional album sales. The bulk of Damn.’s figure comes from SEA units — 31,000. (The album is the week’s most-streamed title on the Billboard 200, with 46.2 million on-demand audio streams generated by its songs.)