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Republic Records: Kids & Family announced on Monday the signing of ARIA Hall of Fame inductee, singer, songwriter, actor and performer Sam Moran. His first single is to be released later this month.
“There is no other team that I would rather be working with than Republic Kids. The energy and creativity they are bringing to my debut project is exactly what I was looking for when venturing out on my own,” says Moran. “We have so many surprises in store that I know my fans are going to love so, get ready!”
Moran is an Australian-born performer best known for his work on the Wiggles television show, both as recurring characters and as Yellow Wiggle from 2006 to 2012.
“When launching Republic Kids I knew I had to sign Sam as an artist,” says Bree Bowles, vp of marketing and strategy. “He is the perfect complement to our mission of producing world-class music that can be enjoyed by both kids and their parents. Sam’s musical talents are beloved by so many and these new efforts will help to redefine the future of ‘kids’ music.”
Jonathan Shank from Terrapin Station Entertainment will manage Moran, telling Billboard: “We are so excited to be working alongside Sam and Republic for this release and know it’s the start of magical things to come.”
Moran said some of his material is meant to inspire kids who had a hard time emerging from the pandemic and that “there’s no better way to help them rediscover themselves than through music. I want to give them a voice that reflects how they see the world — with, of course, a bunch of fun along the way!”
BRISBANE, Australia — A brouhaha between Bluesfest and a touring party that includes the Soul Rebels and Big Freedia is entering legal territory after the groups — which also includes Talib Kweli and GZA — has jointly claimed they were canceled by the Australian event “in bad faith and in breach of contract.”
All of those acts were initially slated to perform at the festival this Easter in Byron Bay, in addition to several theater shows on Australia’s east coast promoted by Bluesfest Touring.
And then, they weren’t.
When the second artist announcement for Bluesfest dropped in October 2022, the growing lineup included The Soul Rebels & Friends with special guests Talib Kweli, GZA and Big Freedia.
The bill as it stands for Bluesfest 2023 no longer features the four acts.
A strongly worded statement from the tour’s reps, seen by Billboard, lays all the blame at Bluesfest and its director Peter Noble.
“The artists had fully executed signed contracts with Peter Noble and had already booked travel to Australia and were looking forward to returning to the country to perform for their fans,” the statement reads.
“Peter Noble removed the artists and the tour without further communication or reason from Bluesfest other than him stating his decision to not want to pay the artists.”
Furthermore, it continues, “these are all black artists, and Big Freedia is an LGBTQ icon.”
Bluesfest
Courtesy Bluesfest
The statement then points to the controversial Australian rock group Sticky Fingers, which, after a weeks-long backlash, has been removed from the lineup.
“It appears the tour may have been replaced by other artists including Sticky Fingers,” reads the statement, which was originally distributed to a handful of media outlets in late February, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Double J network. “We are uncertain about who else on Bluesfest may have also been cancelled.”
Noble’s “cancellation of the tour of the aforementioned artists and on Bluesfest has resulted in significant financial loss to the artist,” the statement continues. “Peter’s egregious treatment and disregard of his contractual and moral obligations and disrespect can be completely supported by his actions and written communications.”
Speaking with Billboard on Friday (March 3), Noble read from a prepared statement from Bluesfest’s lawyers.
“The termination of the Soul Rebels contract by Bluesfest has nothing to do with the announcement of Sticky Fingers playing at Bluesfest 2023,” the statement reads. “The Soul Rebels contract was terminated because they did not comply with the contractual terms. By that, we mean, Soul Rebels, Big Freedia, GZA and Talib Kweli.”
Noble declined to go off script.
The impresario and his long-running festival have rolled with many punches these past few years, from the pandemic to floods, to the border closures and public health orders which saw the 2021 edition nixed just hours before showtime.
In the new year, a new problem.
King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard and Sampa The Great recently bailed from the bill, a boycott to the booking of Sticky Fingers, whose frontman has a well-publicized and controversial past.
On Thursday of this week, after a weeks-long backlash on social media, Noble and Bluesfest announced that Sticky Fingers “is to step off the Bluesfest 2023 line-up.”
The 2023 edition of Bluesfest is set for April 6-10 at Byron Events Farm, with headliners including Gang of Youths, Paolo Nutini, Tash Sultana, Bonnie Raitt, the Doobie Brothers and more. Last year’s event reported more than 100,000 attendees.
Harry Styles is king of the road, and king of the charts as Harry’s House returns to No. 1 in Australia.
As he winds his way around the country for a run of stadium shows, Styles’ third studio album returns to No. 1 on the national chart for a ninth non-consecutive week, ARIA reports.
Harry’s House first summited in May 2022 and stayed there for three weeks. Then, a four-week block at No. 1 in July and August, and another week-long stint in late August 2022.
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Styles seven-show Love On Tour lap of Australia and New Zealand, produced by Live Nation, has also put heat on his sophomore album Fine Line, up 7-5, and a string of singles.
Gorillaz swing in at No. 2 on the ARIA Albums Chart, published March 3, with Cracker Island.
The album, which features collaborations with Perth, Australia producer and Tame Impala leader Kevin Parker, plus Bad Bunny, Stevie Nicks, Adeleye Omotayo, Thundercat and others, is the virtual band’s eighth studio set and second leader after Plastic Beach, which reached the penthouse in 2010.
Also new to the latest albums survey is The Twin Set’s Tines of Stars Unfurled, the solo debut from You Am I frontman Tim Rogers. It’s new at No. 4. Also, U.S. pop artist Adam Lambert debuts at No. 7 with High Drama.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Miley Cyrus’ ”Flowers” locks down a seventh consecutive week at No. 1, equaling the reign of Miley’s dad Billy Ray Cyrus, with 1992’s “Breaky Heart.”
Following the release of fresh cut with Ariana Grande, The Weeknd’s 2016 track “Die For You” finds new life, blasting 41-3 to the national chart, for a new peak position.
The top debut on the latest tally belongs to Harry Styles’ former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan, with “Heaven,” opening at No. 30, while homegrown house producer Dom Dollar marks his first appearance on the ARIA Top 50 with “Rhyme Dust.” A collaboration with U.S. electronic producer MK, “Rhyme Dust” bows at No. 32.
BRISBANE, Australia — KFC is cooking up a campaign with Australian artist Shannon “Nollsie” Noll that plays into two codes of football with a special menu item and a new “anthem,” fresh out the frier.
Noll, runner-up of the first season of Australian Idol in 2003, is the face and voice of an Australia-wide project with KFC, announced Wednesday (March 1).
First up, Noll and punk outfit DZ Deathrays have cut the collaborative track “Fried Night Footy,” which will soundtrack KFC advertising throughout the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australia Football League (AFL) seasons, kicking off Friday, March 3.
Then comes the food.
KFC is dishing up the exclusive “Shannon Dinner Roll,” which combines hot & crispy boneless chicken with chilli relish, cheese, lettuce and “supercharged sauce” on a dinner roll, and will be available at a number of NRL and AFL games throughout the season.
Freebies will be handed out during the NRL expansion franchise Dolphins’ first home game, March 11 at Kayo Stadium in Redcliffe, north of Brisbane.
“I’m super happy to be working with KFC and DZ Deathrays on this anthem,” says Noll in a statement. “It’s a definite earworm and you’re gonna catch yourself singing it in the shower, the car and maybe even in your sleep. Plus, working with KFC to create the Shannon Roll, talk about a dream come true.”
Though an unusual pairing with Noll and DZ Deathrays occupying different spaces on the music spectrum, both acts command sizeable fanbases in Australia. Since coming to prominence with his run in Australian Idol, Noll has bagged two ARIA No. 1 albums and three chart-topping singles. The title track from his 2005 No. 1 album Lift won an APRA Music Award for most performed Australian work.
Meanwhile, DZ Deathrays own a brace of ARIA Awards in the best hard rock/heavy metal album category for 2012’s Bloodstreams, and 2014’s Black Rat.
Adds Sally Spriggs, chief marketing officer for KFC Australia: ”The anthem alongside the bespoke footy snack, the Shannon Dinner Roll, sets us up for an exciting season of footy ahead.”
“Fried Night Footy” will also be available to stream on KFC Australia’s Spotify page.
It’s not the first time KFC has teamed-up with Australian music talent for a tasty campaign. In 2022, the restaurant chain tapped ARIA Award-winning EDM duo Peking Duk for the “Peking Cluk Burger” and a one-off live event in Sydney, Feastival.
What’s TikTok without music? That’s the central question at the heart of debates between major rights holders and the Bytedance-owned social media platform negotiating rates for their content, and a group of Australian users have been pulled into the middle to try to find out.
Earlier this month, it was revealed that that TikTok is running tests in Australia that limits the amount of licensed music some users can encounter on the platform. The test impacts fewer than half of Australia-based accounts, and it doesn’t affect everyone in the same way, according to a person familiar with the situation. The test puts people into multiple cohorts and provides them with different libraries of sounds to use in video creation. So, not everybody in the test will have the same catalog to choose from. Likewise, users in the test cohorts have different encounters with audio. Some people in test cohorts will encounter muted music on other users’ videos. This allows TikTok to compare and measure the different ways people interact with the app.
The results may inform TikTok’s licensing strategy, but evidence that some Australians are unhappy members of the test cohort can be seen on Twitter. “Tiktok really ruining its own app with all this ‘sound removed’ garbage,” one Australian user tweeted last week. Another echoed the sentiment: “wtf is up with tiktok removing like half the sounds??? like i swear ive seen SO many tiktoks where the sound has been removed.”
The risk of upsetting users and creators isn’t lost on TikTok. “We appreciate it’s disappointing if a certain track is unavailable or if a sound is muted on a previous video,” the company said in a statement. “This change will not be in place for long and not all music is affected.” The test will run from a month to a month and a half, according to a source familiar with the situation, meaning it should conclude by mid-March.
Why would TikTok degrade its user experience even in a relatively small market like Australia? A source familiar with the company’s thinking said TikTok is using the experiment to study what is trending, how users are accessing the platform through different entry points and how they are enjoying it. It is not a negotiating tactic, the person said. Nonetheless, the company is gathering the data during a year when most, if not all, of TikTok’s agreements with music rights owners come up for renewal. The source said it is predictable that TikTok would gather this information ahead of high-stakes negotiations, like those ongoing with major labels and other stakeholders.
Around the music industry, there are different interpretations for TikTok’s actions. One explanation is that TikTok is doing what tech companies do all the time: run tests, collect data and analyze the results. That narrative fits with what’s known. Australia, an important yet small and isolated English-speaking market, is a popular place for tech companies — Spotify, Facebook, Google, Tinder and others — to test new products. Much like these other companies, TikTok is an engineering-led company with engineers who want to take data-driven approaches to making decisions on how much time and resources should be invested in projects, building systems and, yes, even licensing rights. Sometimes, as history has shown with most of those other companies, too, a different mindset puts them at odds with creative industries.
“I don’t think they truly understand music at these tech companies,” says a record label executive. “It just doesn’t resonate with them.”
Negotiating tool?
TikTok, of course, has numerous people from the music world on staff: Ole Obermann, global head of music, and Tracy Gardner, head of licensing and partnerships, are former Warner Music Group executives. Jordan Lowy, head of music publishing licensing and partnerships, previously worked at Universal Music Group and Disney Music Group, and dozens if not hundreds of other music industry alums work at TikTok in editorial and artist partnerships. But the company looks and acts like a social media company, not a music company.
A less benign view of the test is that TikTok is looking for a rationale to argue music is not important to the platform – or not as important as labels believe. Annabelle Herd, the CEO of ARIA, the trade body for the Australian record industry, said TikTok “seeks to rationalize cutting artists’ compensation” and “downplay the significance of music on its platform.” Another industry executive believes the test is meant to lower expectations going into discussions with rights holders. “They’re looking to anchor their negotiating position near zero,” says a music industry source.
TikTok has spent years playing up music’s importance to creators, users and artists. “Music is at the heart of the TikTok experience,” Obermann stated in the opening words of the TikTok 2021 Music Report. That year, around 430 songs surpassed 1 billion views, up 200% from the previous year, and over 175 songs that trended that year charted on the Hot 100. In the company’s 2022 year-end report, Obermann reiterated TikTok’s value to artists, saying the platform “continues to unlock real-world opportunities for artists and labels, helping talent to secure record deals, brand collaborations, chart success, or be re-discovered decades later.”
And while the platform has certainly evolved beyond lip-syncing videos – book reviews and finance advice abound, for example – much of the recent news coming out of the company still involves music: StemDrop, an interactive, collaborative songwriting platform led by Max Martin, Syco Entertainment, Universal Music Group and Samsung; a Calvin Harris virtual reality concert; and welcomes to The Rolling Stones and Dolly Parton for joining the platform.
Anecdotally, exactly how important records labels’ music is to TikTok is debatable. Its top three trending songs of 2022 were independent releases, and the No. 1 song, “Sunroof” by Nicky Youre & Dazy, was originally released independently through SoundOn, TikTok’s music distribution business that’s been known to add promotion to music uploaded through its service. In all, only five of the top 10 of 2022 were signed to major labels. Major label music is arguably more important to on-demand streaming platforms and radio stations. By contrast, all the top 10 tracks of Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 and Radio Songs charts were released through major labels.
But major label music is everywhere on TikTok. Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” was the No. 4 trending song of 2022. Pharrell Williams’ “Just a Cloud Away” was No. 5. Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill” was No. 10. And TikTok’s ability to give unknown artists a large audience increases its need to license music from labels. “Sunroof” was so successful that Youre signed with Colombia Records and reached No. 4 on the Hot 100.
What’s past is prologue
TikTok has ample motivation to reduce what it pays music rights holders. Licensing costs eat up more than 70% of a music subscription service’s revenue with little left over after paying operating expenses. Social networks, on the other hand, generate huge sums of free cash flow. Facebook, for example, had an operating margin of 25% in 2022 and 40% in 2021.
Services that once butted heads with music rights holders decided it was wiser to build partnerships that enriched both sides. Like TikTok, YouTube began as an ad-supported platform built on user-generated content and characterized by minuscule royalties. Over time, YouTube attracted better advertisers, built a strong on-demand premium service and became a major source of revenue for labels and publishers. In the 12-month period ended June 30, 2022, YouTube paid music rights holders $6 billion through YouTube advertisements and fees from the YouTube Music subscription service.
Now, YouTube has “a phenomenal partnership” with rights owners after it “decided that music is important to us forever,” Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s former chief business officer, said during WMG’s Feb. 9 earnings call. It invested in music “holistically” by building a copyright management platform, Copyright ID, launching the YouTube Music subscription service and taking on TikTok with its short-form video platform, YouTube Shorts.
TikTok appears to share YouTube’s ambitions to offer a multitude of services that segment the market into ad-supported and paying customers. Parent company Bytedance already has an on-demand music service, Resso, operating in Brazil, Indonesia and India, and a separate on-demand service, Qishui Yinyue, in China. But in major markets like the U.S., TikTok users that want to listen to an entire track and explore an artist’s catalog end up going – in large numbers – to on-demand services like Spotify and Apple Music. Pairing its short-form video platform with an on-demand service would give TikTok a “significant opportunity” to leverage data and manage customers across multiple platforms, says one of the music industry sources. “Why would they not want to capture that demand themselves?”
“TikTok needs to do that [also],” Kyncl said during Warner’s earnings call. “It’s the right decision for them to evaluate.”
Additional reporting by Liz Dilts Marshall
BRISBANE, Australia — Three-piece Australian pop outfit Blusher is the latest signing to Atlantic Records, Billboard can exclusively reveal.
Hailing from Melbourne and formed in 2021, Blusher made all the right noises with their debut, the independently-released “Softly Spoken.”
The 2022 tune, a slice of euphoric pop, got support from national youth network Triple J and its Unearthed sister station, and it’s edging towards one million plays on Spotify, where it landed on several playlists, including New Pop Picks and Fresh Finds.
Carrie West, Atlantic senior director of A&R, admits she was “blown away” when she caught the band live. “Blusher embodies the next generation of empowered female artists – a self-contained force of nature who write and produce all of their music,” she comments, lauding their “riveting” stagecraft.
“I look forward to standing alongside them as we continue to channel that irresistible creativity and energy into great records for a global audience.”
Atlantic Records chairman & CEO Craig Kallman welcomes the group into the “Atlantic family.”
They’re among “those rare artists that you know from day one are destined for the world stage, and we’re proud to give this amazing trio the platform to amplify their unique voices and bring their personal visions to life on a global scale,” Kallman notes in a statement.
“From their voracious appetite for creation to their fastidious work ethic, they’re everything we look for in an Atlantic artist.”
Blusher’s career is guided by Powerhouse Management’s Jamie-Rose Fowler (George Alice, Japanese Wallpaper, INXS, ex-YUNGBLUD) and Charlotte Ried (Polish Club, Gretta Ray, Matt Corby, ex-Vera Blue).
The new Atlantic signing is comprised of Miranda Ward, Lauren Coutts and Jade Ingvarson-Favretto, all solo artists before forming the act during the pandemic.
They produce and write together, share vocals on many of their songs and swap instruments during live outings, which have included showcases at the Bigsound conference in Brisbane.
“We’re happy to partner with (Warner Music Australasian president) Dan Rosen and the entire Warner Australia crew to give Blusher the launching pad for what we have no doubt will be a long and successful career,” adds Atlantic’s Kallman.
To celebrate their introduction to major label-world, the trio today (Feb. 24) releases “Dead End,” just their second single — and first with Atlantic.
It’s a crystal-clear pop experience with a chewy bassline and dreamy melodies.
Stream “Dead End” and watch the official music video below.
Pink blasts to No. 1 on Australia’s chart with Trustfall (via RCA/Sony), the U.S. pop superstar’s ninth studio album.
With Trustfall debuting at the summit of the ARIA Chart, published Feb. 24, Pink bags a seventh leader in the parts, bringing her total number of weeks at the top to 44, ARIA reports.
Pink is considered an “honorary Aussie,” and she’s certainly spent enough time here to earn it.
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On her 2009 Funhouse Tour, she criss-crossed the country for an astounding 59 shows, an epic adventure that took three months and saw her sell 650,000 tickets. Not bad for a country of less than 25 million at the time.
For her Truth About Love Tour in 2013-14, Pink completed 46 dates; and for the Australasian leg of her Beautiful Trauma World Tour in 2018, she spent over two months on these shores, nailing 42 arena dates.
According to Billboard Boxscore, Pink is the highest-grossing act of the 2010s in Oceania with about $135 million. She even has her own ladies’ toilet block at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, where she has smashed attendance records.
Her albums are also surefire hits. Among Pink’s leaders, three have logged more than eight weeks at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart: Funhouse from 2008 (nine weeks), Greatest Hits… So Far!!! from 2010 (13 weeks) and The Truth About Love from 2012 (10 weeks).
The Philly native also ruled the national chart with I’m Not Dead (2006), Beautiful Trauma (2017) and Hurts 2B Human (2019).
Meanwhile, the title track from Trustfall flies 34-19 on the ARIA Singles Chart, for Pink’s 44th top 20 hit in Australia, a feat that includes 37 top 10 appearances.
As Ed Sheeran winds his way around the country for his latest stadium tour in support of = (equals via Atlantic/Warner), two of the Brit’s LPs return to the top 10. His latest release from 2021, equals, rises 17-6, while divide (÷) from 2017 is up 15-8.
Another English superstar pop artist is currently touring Australia, and enjoying sales bumps for his recordings. Harry Styles, who is working his way around the country for the domestic leg of his Love On Tour trek, sees his global hit single “As It Was” (Columbia/Sony) gain 9-5, while its parent album Harry’s House holds at No. 2.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” (Columbia/Sony) beds down for a sixth consecutive week at No. 1.
If it returns for a seventh week at the penthouse, “Flowers” will equal the reign of Miley’s dad Billy Ray Cyrus, with his 1992 smash “Achy Breaky Heart.”
Finally, another pink-tinged artist is making a statement on Australia’s charts. The English singer, songwriter and producer PinkPantheress’s “Boy’s A Liar” (Parlophone/Warner) lifts 3-2, a new peak, thanks to a viral cut featuring rising U.S. rapper Ice Spice.
With their first album in six years, This Is Why (via Atlantic/Warner), Paramore powers all the way to No. 1 in Australia.
This Is Why becomes Paramore’s third leader on the ARIA Chart, following Brand New Eyes (in 2009) and Paramore (2013). It’s their sixth studio album and the followup to 2017’s After Laughter, which peaked at No. 3 in these parts.
The reunited pop-rock trio of Hayley Williams, Taylor York and Zac Farro can boast another neat feat this week; This Is Why is the only new release to impact the ARIA Top 50.
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Completing the podium on the latest ARIA Albums Chart, published Feb. 17, is Harry Styles’ Harry’s House (Columbia/Sony), up 3-2 following his triumphant nights at the BRITs and Grammy Awards; and Taylor Swift’s Midnights (Universal), down 1-3.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Miley Cyrus makes it five weeks in a row with “Flowers” (Columbia/Sony), a record that just seems to grow on fans.
The pop star’s reign could face a challenge from “Boy’s A Liar” (Plg/Warner) by PinkPantheress, the hotly-tipped British singer, songwriter and producer. “Boy’s A Liar” roars 25-3, following the release of a remix featuring U.S. rising star Ice Spice.
Also on the move up is Miguel’s 2010 release “Sure Thing” (Sony), which lifts 11-7 after getting the viral treatment on TikTok. That’s well-up on the original No. 11 peak for “Sure Thing” back in 2011, and it marks the U.S. R&B artist’s second top 10 appearance (his 2013 collaboration with Mariah Carey on “Beautiful” went to No. 6). “Sure Thing” is now three-times platinum certified.
Finally, American rapper and singer Coi Leray’s catchy number “Players” (Universal) is on the rise. It’s up 18-10.
Shania Twain’s long-overdue return to music has been warmly received in Australia, where Queen of Me cracks the top 5 on debut.
Queen of Me is Twain’s six studio LP and first album of new material since Now in 2017, and 2002’s Up before that.
With its No. 5 debut on the ARIA Chart, published Feb. 10, the Canadian country star bags her sixth top 20 in the land Down Under, a feat that includes three leaders — Come On Over (1997), Up, and Now.
The national albums chart is led by Taylor Swift’s Midnights, up 2-1; with SZA’s SOS (up 3-2) and Harry Styles’ Harry’s House — which enjoys a post-Grammys lift (up 6-3) — filling the podium positions respectively.
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Meanwhile, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ recent stadium tour of these parts has seen fans tune in to the California rockers’ classics, and latest. RHCP’s Greatest Hits from 2003 vaults 22 places to break into the top 10 at No. 10, while 2022’s Return Of The Dream Canteen roars 152-31.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” beds down for a fourth consecutive week at No. 1, ahead of SZA’s “Kill Bill” (unchanged at No. 2), and Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy,” which enjoys a post-Grammy Awards bump, up 5-3. Also noteworthy is Harry Styles’ “As It Was,” which climbs 15-9 after his winning ways at the Grammys.
The Kid Laroi makes a chart leap with “Love Again,” up 14-6 in its second week. It’s the Sydney-raised singer and rapper’s sixth top 10 single in Australia, a tally that includes leaders “Stay” and “Without You.”
“Love Again” is lifted from his forthcoming debut studio album, The First Time, due out later this year.
Finally, British producer Fred Again created a lot of frenzy in Australia in recent days with a string of “secret” shows which sold out in minutes and had fans scrambling for tickets. The buzz behind those gigs have translated to a new chart peak for “Delilah (pull me out of this),” up 69-37.
Sam Smith is on top in the land Down Under, as Gloria (via Capitol/Universal) bows at No. 1 on the ARIA Chart.
Gloria is Smith’s fourth consecutive top 10 album in Australia, and second No. 1 after In The Lonely Hour hit the summit in 2014.
The latest LP enjoyed a lift from Smith’s recent visit to Australia, a brief summer break during which the British singer performed for competition winners and VIPs at the d’Arenberg vineyards at McLaren Vale, outside of Adelaide.
It’s not Smith’s first time atop the leaderboard in Australia this year. “Unholy” featuring Kim Petras, the hit song from Gloria, returned to No. 1 last month on the ARIA Singles Chart for a sixth non-consecutive week.
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Smith will return to Australia in October and November 2023 for a run of arena dates, produced by Frontier Touring.
Gloria is one of just three new arrivals on the latest ARIA top 40, published Feb. 3.
Further down the list, Bob Dylan’s Fragments—Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997) The Bootleg Series, Vol. 17 (via Columbia/Legacy) bows at No. 26. The legendary songsmith’s album isn’t quite a new entry, but rather the latest in a series that revisits his Grammy Award-winning 1997 album Time Out of Mind, with a remix of the original set and bonus outtakes, alternate versions and live cuts.
Meanwhile, Lil Yachty sails in at No. 37 on the ARIA Chart with Let’s Start Here (Capitol/Universal), the Atlanta rapper’s fifth album, and a sonic pivot to psychedelic space rock.
Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” (Columbia/Sony) continues to bloom, for a third consecutive week at No. 1.
Australia-bred singer and songwriter The Kid LAROI returns to the national tally, this time with “Love Again” (Columbia/Sony), new at No. 14. It’s the second taste off the Kid’s forthcoming debut album, The First Time, set for release later this year.
After catching fire on TikTok, Coi Leray’s “Players” (Universal) completes the crossover with a top 40 chart appearance in Australia. The Grandmaster Flash-sampling single, a modern-day spin on the 1982 seminal hit “The Message,” arrives at No. 31.
Finally, a raft of tracks enjoy a lift on the national chart following last Saturday’s (Jan. 28) Hottest 100 countdown on triple j. The winner of the poll, Flume and MAY-A’s “Say Nothing” (Future Classic) returns at No. 4, easily eclipsing its peak of No. 16 from February 2022, while tracks from Spacey Jane, Eliza Rose, Steve Lacy and others enjoy a post-Hottest 100 bump.
