CHART STORY: TAY TAY CAN’T BE HELD BACK
With nearly 110k, Taylor Swift’s reputation (Big Machine) spends its fourth non-consecutive week at #1 on the Sales Plus Streaming (SPS) Chart, interrupted only by U2. It seems the release of vinyl was enough to push her ahead of Capitol Nashville’s Luke Bryan, as the records have proved to perform strongly at key retailers, including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. This week brings Taylor even closer to the 2m mark, as her RTD number hovers around 1.85m.
Bryan has the highest-charting new release, as his sixth studio album, What Makes You Country, bows at #2 with just north of 108k.
Two stream-heavy releases, Quality Control’s Control the Streets, Vol. 1 (Quality Control/Motown/Capitol) and Big Sean & Metro Boomin’s Double or Nothing (G.O.O.D./Def Jam/Boominati/Republic) appear at #5 and #6 with north 54.5k and 53.7k, respectively. And that’s all for the debuts in the Top 40, folks.
Meanwhile, Ed Sheeran returns to the Top 3 with Divide (Atlantic), as current single “Perfect” glides #4-1 on our Song Revenue Chart. At press time, the track was #2 at iTunes.
Since we’re already roughly halfway through December, most things Santa-related enjoy boosts. RCA’s Pentatonix, also known as Candy Cane Lane royalty, see their A Pentatonix Christmas hop #5-4, while their That’s Christmas to Me rejoins the Top 10. Michael Buble’s Christmas (Reprise) also makes a Top 10 return, moving #11-9. Gwen Stefani’s You Make It Feel Like Christmas (Interscope) leaps #26-16, Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas (Columbia) rises #21-19 and Josh Groban’s Noel (Reprise) jumps #31-24. Further down on the chart, Reba McEntire’s My Kind of Christmas (Rockin’ R/BMLG) goes #49-34, while Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song (Capitol) and Frank Sinatra’s Ultimate Christmas (Capitol) both re-enter the Top 50 at #40 and #41, respectively.
As for other notable moves, TDE/Aftermath/Interscope’s Kendrick Lamar, who’s nominated for seven Grammy awards, busts back into the Top 15, with the critically acclaimed DAMN., which lands at #13. Disney’s Moana soundtrack—you know, the music from the perfect family-friendly movie to put on for the kiddos while you whip up a new batch of spiked eggnog—re-enters the chart at #42. The ST is also up for a Grammy, namely Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.
Then there’s the SPS marketshare: UMG 57%, SME 20%, WMG 19%, Indies 4%.
Streeting this week are albums from Shady/Aftermath/Interscope’s Eminem, BPG/Revels Group/RCA’s G-Eazy, N.E.R.D/Columbia’s N.E.R.D, YJ Music/Def Jam’s Jeezy, Atlantic’s Boosie Badazz, as well as Disney’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi score soundtrack and a live set from Warner Bros.’ Linkin Park.
