bbnews
Page: 169
It’s official: Beatlemania is back in the U.K.
After the Beatles landed their first No. 1 in 60 years with “Now And Then” (via Apple Corps), the Fab Four is on the brink of converting a rare chart double.
Based on sales and streaming data published by the Official Charts Company, reissues of the Beatles’ greatest hits compilations, 1967-1970 (also known as The Blue Album) and 1962-1966 (or The Red Album), are respectively leading the midweek albums chart.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The Blue Album, which is on track to eclipse its No. 2 peak, following its initial release back in May 1973, gathers remastered tracks and rarities, and includes the iconic band’s final single, “Now And Then,” which leads the current U.K. singles chart and is heading for a second week at No. 1.
According to the OCC, just 1,000 chart units separate the two Beatles albums (The Red Album peaked at No. 3 back in 1973). If either of those titles are crowned when the Official U.K. Albums Chart is published this Friday, Nov. 17, it would give the Beatles a 16th leader, extending their leadership in the all-time list of acts with No. 1 LPs (Robbie Williams is in second place with 14).
Despite calling it a day in 1970, the Beatles could dominate the top 10 with a third title. To coincide with the release of “Now And Then,” a composite boxed set of the two LPs is predicted to crack the top 10 for the first time, at No. 9.
In non-Beatles activity, drum ‘n’ bass act Chase & Status could snag a fifth UK top 10 with 2 RUFF, Vol. 1 (EMI), new at No. 3 on the Official Albums Chart Update, while a 10th anniversary edition of Passenger’s All the Little Lights (Cooking Vinyl) is set to arrive at No. 5. The British singer and songwriter’s fourth studio album originally peaked at No. 3 back in 2013 and is one of his six U.K. top 10s, including a No. 1 for 2016’s Young As The Morning Old As The Sea.
New Order’s Substance (Rhino) compilation from 1987 is targeting a No. 6 reentry, following a multi-format reissue, while South Africa-born, London-based alt-pop artist Baby Queen (Quarter Life Crisis at No. 7 via Polydor), and U.S. country star Chris Stapleton (Higher at No. 10 via EMI) are eyeing their first top 10 slots.
The Beatles are set to prove once again why they’re the champions of the U.K., as “Now And Then” (via Apple Corps) takes pole position in the current chart race.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Based on sales and streaming data published by the Official Charts Company, “Now And Then” is the leader at the halfway point, and is forecast to snag a second week at No. 1.
The Fab Four has some work to do. “Now And Then” has the edge over new releases from Jack Harlow (“Lovin’ On Me” at No. 2 via Atlantic) and Dua Lipa (“Kinetic Houdini” at No. 3 via Warner Records) on the Official Chart Update, with roughly 2,000 chart units splitting the top three.
The Fab Four’s “last” song,” “Now And Then” took the elevator to No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, published Friday, Nov. 10, having opened the previous week at No. 42 based on just 10 hours of sales and streams.
On its way to the top, the Beatles busted a string of records. Among them, the track leads the chart some 60 years and six months after the Beatles’ first No. 1, “From Me To You,” marking the longest span between an act’s first and last chart-topping hit, the OCC reports.
Also, “Now and Then” is the Beatles’ 18th U.K. No. 1, extending their record as the British act with the most leaders, and it’s the longest-ever gap between No. 1 singles for any act (54 years).
From tape to the top of the charts, “Now And Then” is the stuff of legend. Originally a demo recorded by the late John Lennon in the 1970s, the project was brought to the studio by the surviving Beatles, then shelved in the mid-1990s due to technical limitations. Led by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the surviving members of the Beatles, the project was recently revived and completed with the help of computer learning software created by Peter Jackson’s team at WingNut Films.
Beatlemania doesn’t end at the singles survey. The legendary band is on track for a U.K. chart double, as the Red and Blue collections dominate the top two spots on the midweek albums tally.
All will be revealed when the Official Charts are published late Friday, Nov. 17.
Though he missed out on top spot, thanks to the juggernauts that are Taylor Swift and Oasis, Jung Kook stakes a claim to U.K. chart history with Golden (via BigHit Entertainment).
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
The BTS star’s solo debut album bowed at No. 3 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart last Friday, Nov. 10, behind Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (via EMI) and Oasis’ The Masterplan (Big Brother), respectively.
With that solid start, Golden becomes the highest-charting album by a Korean solo artist, including the cuts by his BTS bandmates, the Official Charts Company confirms.
Golden shines with four U.K. top 10 singles – “Seven” featuring Latto (No. 3 peak), “3D” with Jack Harlow (No. 5), “Too Much” with The Kid Laroi and Central Cee (No. 10) and the latest release, “Standing Next to You,” which opens its account at No. 6 on the national singles chart, also published Friday.
That’s four U.K. top tier tracks in just four months, extending Jung Kook’s record as the Korean solo artist with the most U.K. top 10 singles.
As a member of the all-conquering BTS, Jung Kook has five U.K. top 10 albums, including two leaders (2019’s Map of the Soul: Persona and 2020’s Map of the Soul: 7), and four top 10 singles (2020’s “Dynamite” and “Life Goes On”; and 2021’s “Butter” and Coldplay collaboration “My Universe”).
Jung Kook goes one better on Australia’s albums chart, where Golden (via ING/Universal) drops in at No. 2, behind Swift’s latest release. That result matches the record for the highest solo debut LP from a Korean artist in the land Down Under, matching the effort from his BTS bandmate Suga (aka Agust D), who entered at No. 2 on the ARIA Chart with his 2000 D-2 mixtape.
As previously reported, “Standing Next to You” flies in at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Global Excl. U.S. songs charts.
Taylor Swift changes the lyrics to “Karma” and kisses Travis Kelce after her concert in Buenos Aires. The singer also made a speech imploring people not to throw things onstage. Drake announces dates for the ’It’s All A Blur Tour – Big As The What?” with J. Cole. Troye Sivan reacts to an ‘SNL’ sketch […]
Christmas comes early to the U.K. singles chart as perennial hits by Wham and Mariah Carey begin their annual march back up the tally. While the Beatles’ plunder the record books with “Now And Then” (Apple Corps), which blasts to No. 1 on the Official U.K. Singles Chart, 60 years after their last leader, two […]
Despite a challenge from Oasis and BTS’ Jung Kook, Taylor Swift holds onto her U.K. chart crown for a second week with 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (via EMI).
The fourth in Swift’s re-recording projects, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) squeezes past Oasis’ The Masterplan (Big Brother), which enjoys a new chart life thanks to a 25th anniversary.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Originally released in 1998, The Masterplan gathers b-sides from the Britpop era giants’ first three albums, 1994’s Definitely Maybe, 1995’s (What’s The Story) Morning Glory? and 1997’s Be Here Now, and is led-off by “Acquiesce,” a quintessential fan favorite.
The leader at the midweek point, The Masterplan re-enters the chart at No. 2, its original peak position following its release in 1998. It’s the U.K.’s best-seller on wax during the latest chart cycle.
The top new release on the fresh chart, published Friday, Nov. 10 is Jung Kook’s Golden (BigHit Entertainment), which completes the podium at No. 3. Golden becomes the highest-peaking album from a member of BTS, and the best chart position for a solo Korean artist, the Official Charts Company confirms. Album track “Standing Next to You” bows at No. 6 on the national singles chart, his fourth U.K. top 10 this year.
Meanwhile, legendary English pop artist Cliff Richard snags his 48th U.K. top 10 album with Cliff With Strings – My Kinda Life (EastWest/Rhino), new at No. 5, ahead of Johnny Marr’s Spirit Power: The Best Of Johnny Marr (BMG), debuting at No. 7, marking the ex-Smiths guitarist’s fifth solo U.K. top 10 appearance.
It’s Beatlemania once again on the U.K. Singles Chart as “Now And Then” (Apple Corps) powers to No. 1. As fans of the Fab Four feel the rush of nostalgia, the 2000 career retrospective 1 returns to the top 40 at No. 21. The album has logged 444 weeks on the tally, including one week at No. 1 back in 2000.
Finally, titles from Gregory Porter (Christmas Wish at No. 14 via Decca), Caroline Polachek (Desire I Want To Turn Into You at No. 23 via Perpetual Novice) and Van Morrison (Accentuate The Positive at No. 39 via Exile) enter the top 40 for the first time.
The Beatles make history, many times over, with “Now And Then” (Apple Corps) which powers to No. 1 in the U.K.
The Fab Four’s “last” release powers to the summit of the Official U.K. Singles Chart, published Friday, Nov. 10, having opened at No. 42 based on just 10 hours of sales and streams.
The outright leader at the midweek point, when it outpointed the rest of the top 5 combined, “Now And Then” is the Beatles’ 18th U.K. No. 1, extending their record as the British act with the most leaders. The King, Elvis Presley, reigns over that particular list, with 21 No. 1s.
Explore
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Also, “Now And Then” tops the weekly tally a full 60 years and six months after the Beatles’ first No. 1, “From Me To You,” marking the longest gap between an act’s first and last chart-topping hit, the Official Charts Company reports.
For the record, the Beatles’ first single “Love Me Do,” the b-side to “Now And Then,” peaked at No. 17 back in 1962.
The impressive numbers behind the latest No. 1 are worth a closer a look.
“Now And Then” chalks up 78,200 combined chart units in the U.K., including 48,600 sales (physical and download) – making it the fastest selling single of 2023.
It’s 38,000 physical sales are the most by a single in almost a decade. The last record to top it was “Something I Need,” by The X Factor 2014 champion Ben Haenow, which raked in 47,000 physical sales. It’s the fastest-selling vinyl single of the century so far with 19,400 copies sold on wax in the U.K., and it’s easily the group’s most-streamed single (5.03 million plays) and video (2.15 million plays) in a seven-day cycle.Also, the Beatles are the act with the longest gap ever between No. 1 singles (54 years), and the oldest band to top the national singles chart. Surviving members Ringo Starr (83) and Paul McCartney (81) are the second and third oldest chart-topping artists, respectively, after Sir Captain Tom Moore, who was 99 when the charity fundraiser “You’ll Never Walk Alone” (Decca/Universal) with entertainer Michael Ball and the NHS Voices of Care Choir led the tally in April 2020.
“If there were ever any doubts that the Beatles are the greatest band of all time,” comments Martin Talbot, CEO of the Official Charts Company, “they have surely consigned them to history this week.”
Read more here.
It’s Taylor Swift‘s week, again, on Australia‘s charts as Jung Kook arrives at No. 2 with Golden (via ING/Universal), the BTS star’s debut solo album.
That result matches the record for the highest solo debut LP from a Korean artist in Australia, equaling the effort from his BTS bandmate Suga (aka Agust D), who started at No. 2 on the ARIA Chart with his D-2 mixtape in 2020.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Golden carries previously-released collaborations with 3D and Seven and the new single “Standing Next To You,” new at No. 33 on the latest ARIA Chart.
As a member of BTS, Jung Kook has led the ARIA Albums Chart on three occasions: with Map Of The Soul: Persona (from 2019), Map Of The Soul: 7 (2020) and Proof (2022).
At the top of the ARIA Albums Chart, published Friday, Nov. 10 is Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (via Universal), now entering its second consecutive week at No. 1.
Completing the top 3 on the national albums tally is another Swift hit, Midnights, up lifts 4-3 in its 55th week. There’s no denying her domination of the charts, as Swift logs five of the top 10 albums and nine of the top 40. Over on the singles survey, Swift’s “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” is unmoved from No. 1. According to ARIA, the U.S. pop superstar has accumulated 24 total weeks at No. 1, across 10 songs, starting with 2008’s “Love Story”.
Swift will perform seven dates across two Australian cities early next year on the Australian leg of her The Eras Tour, produced by Frontier Touring.
Finally, the “last” Beatles song “Now And Then” (Capitol/Universal) debuts at No. 6 on the ARIA Singles Chart.
The track began life as a demo written and sung by John Lennon, was later developed and worked on by Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, and now completed by Paul and Ringo (and some help from artificial intelligence), more than 40 years after the group began work on it.
A rough mix for “Now And Then” was recorded with producer Jeff Lynne back in 1994, but was ultimately shelved because Lennon’s vocals and piano couldn’t be uncoupled from the recording. Two unearthed demos were completed at the time and released as part of the Beatles’ Anthology project, “Free As A Bird” and “Real Love.” The second of those, “Real Love,” hit No. 6 back in 1996, and was the Beatles’ last top 50 single in Australia until now, ARIA reports.
The Beatles have 26 No. 1s in Australia, from 1962 to 1970 when the Fab Four officially split (that run includes a stretch of 14 consecutive leaders from 1966-1970). Elvis Presley is second on the all-time list of leaders with 14.
The Beatles also own the record for most weeks at No. 1 on the ARIA Singles Chart, at 130 weeks.
Beartooth reaches No. 1 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Airplay chart for the first time, as “Might Love Myself” rises to the top of the Nov. 18-dated survey.
The song is the Columbus, Ohio, band’s 11th entry on Mainstream Rock Airplay. The Caleb Shomo-fronted act first reached the chart in 2015 with “Beaten In Lips,” which peaked at No. 33 that February. Prior to “Might Love Myself,” Beartooth snagged a pair of top 10s: “Hated” (No. 6, April 2017) and “Disease” (No. 9, December 2018).
Beartooth becomes the first act to score a first Mainstream Rock Airplay No. 1 since Avatar, whose “The Dirt I’m Buried In” led in September. Three acts in all have nabbed their premiere rulers in 2023, with Beartooth and Avatar joined by Bad Omens with “Just Pretend” in March. Four such acts, via three songs, accomplished the feat as lead artists in 2022: Nita Strauss and David Draiman (both on “Dead Inside,” that January), Jelly Roll (“Dead Man Walking,” May) and Motionless in White (“Masterpiece,” October).
Concurrently, “Might Love Myself” holds at its No. 11 high on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 2.5 million audience impressions, up 6%, Nov. 3-9, according to Luminate. The song is Beartooth’s top-ranking career hit on the ranking.
On the most recent multi-metric Hot Hard Rock Songs chart (Nov. 11), “Might Love Myself” ranked at its No. 9 best. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 495,000 official U.S. streams Oct. 27-Nov. 2.
The track is the second single, following “Riptide,” from The Surface, Beartooth’s fifth studio album. The set started at No. 1 on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart dated Oct. 28 and has earned 53,000 equivalent album units to date.
All Billboard charts dated Nov. 18 will update on Billboard.com on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
Releases by Travis Scott, SZA, Harry Styles and Luke Combs, along with continued paid subscription growth, helped Sony Music Entertainment revenues hit a record 408 billion yen ($2.83 billion at the quarter’s average exchange rate) in its fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, up 13.7% from the prior-year period, parent company Sony Corp. announced Thursday.
The company’s previous high for quarterly revenue was 363.7 billion yen ($2.57 billion) in the third quarter of fiscal 2022 (the quarter ended Dec. 31, 2022).
Adjusted operating income grew 10.9% to 97 billion ($672 million). Adjusted OI excludes the impact of a $41.2 million one-time benefit recognized in the prior-year quarter related to settlements of copyright infringement lawsuits. The appreciation of the yen contributed some of the revenue growth in the quarter. Of the 49.4 billion yen ($342 million) revenue increase, foreign exchange accounted for a 12.7 billion yen ($88 million) gain — about a quarter of the improvement.
Recorded music revenues grew 13.3% to 253.8 billion yen ($1.76 billion) on the strength of subscription streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music. Streaming revenue grew 14.4% to 173.9 billion yen ($1.2 billion), accounting for 69% of recorded music revenues. Other revenues, which encompass merchandise, licensing and live performances, jumped 51.6% to 50.9 billion yen ($352 million). Physical revenues dropped 14.4% to 20.8 billion yen and download sales fell 42.2% to 8.2 billion yen ($57 million), although the two categories combined accounted for only 11.4% of recorded music sales.
Miley Cyrus’s Endless Summer Vacation, Beyoncé’s Renaissance, Lil Durk’s Almost Healed, Doja Cat’s Scarlet and Luke Comb’s This One’s For You were also among Sony Music’s top ten recorded music releases ranked by revenue. In Japan, Sony Music Entertainment’s top title was Social Path, a Japanese-language EP by K-pop group Stray Kids released with JYP Entertainment. Social Path hit No. 1 on the Billboard Japan Hot Albums chart for two weeks in September.
In the music publishing division, a 14.8% increase in streaming revenue helped total publishing revenue increase 12.6% to 82.7 billion yen ($573 million). Other publishing revenue, which includes mechanical, performance royalties and synch licensing, grew 9.6% to 34.3 billion yen ($237 million).
The visual media and platform division rose 5.7% to 62.9 billion yen ($436 million) and accounted for 15.7% of Sony Music’s total revenue. The division includes mobile games, software for PCs and game consoles, and sales related to software development contracts.
Sony Music increased its full-year guidance for revenue by 5%, or 70 billion yen ($485 million), and adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization by 4%, or 15 billion yen ($104 million). The upward revisions were due to the impact of foreign exchange, increased streaming revenues in the music publishing division and higher mobile game sales in the visual media and platform division.
Financial metrics for Sony Music’s second fiscal quarter ended Sept. 30, 2023:
Revenue of 408.7 billion yen ($2.83 billion), up 13.7% year over year.
Adjusted operating income of 97 billion yen ($672 million), up 10.9% year over year.
Recorded music revenue of 253.7 billion yen ($1.76 billion), up 13.3% year over year.
Music publishing revenues of 82.7 billion yen ($573 million), up 12.6% year over year.
Visual media and platform revenue of 62.9 billion yen ($436 million), up 5.7% year over year.