Ed Sheeran is once again at the top of the charts this week:
A step below Sheeran on the new Billboard 200 is Metallica’s Hardwired… To Self-Destruct, which holds at No. 2 with 102,000 units (up 25 percent) and 100,000 in traditional album sales (up 26 percent). The set continues to profit largely from a concert ticket/album bundle sale redemption promotion with the act’s stadium tour that went on sale on Feb. 17.
David Brooks, writing for Billboard:
At least seven artists hoping to play the annual South by Southwest music festival have been turned away at the U.S. border amid confusion over the type of visa needed to enter the country.
At issue is whether artists can perform at free showcase events like South by Southwest on a B-1 visitor visa, typically issued to tourists who aren’t legally allowed to work during their visit to the U.S. Most artists who enter the country for a tour do so on a performance visa (also known as P-1), but artists performing for free at showcase events like South by Southwest have used B-1 visitor visas in the past to enter the U.S.
Billboard has announced they will start adding in Pandora streaming data to their song charts:
Billboard and Pandora today (Jan. 30) announced an exclusive agreement that will add influential Pandora streaming data to the Billboard Hot 100, the world’s preeminent songs chart. The Hot 100 ranks the week’s most popular songs across all genres, determined by a formula blending track sales, radio airplay and streaming, as measured by Nielsen Music, now along with Pandora’s exclusive streaming data, as well.
Billboard is reporting that Prince’s catalog may becoming back to streaming services after the Grammys:
A likely scenario would see a TV commercial air during the Grammy broadcast following the tribute, which would announce that certain songs are immediately available on Spotify, Apple Music and possibly other services. The source tells Billboard that publishers, performing rights organizations and at least one label have been alerted to an impending deal.
Pentatonix’s Christmas album is once again at the top of the charts:
Pentatonix spends a second week atop the Billboard 200 with A Pentatonix Christmas, as the set earned 101,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Dec. 29, 2016 — the final tracking week of the calendar year.
The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group has purchased SpinMedia’s Spin, Vibe, and Stereogum websites:
“In recent years, we set out to own the topic of music online, and the acquisition of these incredible music assets helps us do just that,” said Media Group co-president John Amato. “By making these storied brands part of our family, The Hollywood Reporter-Billboard Media Group will be able to fully capture the value of millennials and music, and continue to strengthen its leadership position in this critical arena.”
Best of luck capturing all that “millennial value.”