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Luminate is launching a new platform that will house the company’s global data capabilities across music, film, TV and more, the company announced Monday (May 15).
An improvement from the company’s current legacy data platform, Music Connect, the new platform includes the industry-leading music sales, streaming and airplay data that has powered the Billboard charts for over three decades. The design was built to complement the rapidly evolving entertainment industry and allows users to explore a more comprehensive view of music consumption by artist and project at both global and individual country levels. It also provides customers with the ability to extract more in-depth insights.
The news was broken Monday morning at the annual Music Biz conference in Nashville by Luminate CEO Rob Jonas.
“As conversations of uncertainty surrounding AI and other technological advancements begin to inundate the entertainment industry, there’s never been a more pressing time for transparency and objectivity in how data is used across music, film, TV, streaming video content and more,” said Jonas. “Luminate’s new platform is built upon three decades of expertise – the information and content we collate and analyze every day forms a rich data asset on which prediction and recommendation will become commonplace for our customers and partners. We are focused on centralized, unbiased information to help keep creators informed, honest, and united by a singular reference point.”
The platform’s improved benefits and features include a more customizable user interface, allowing for various sorting, filtering and grouping functionality; an improved search, with dedicated page and separation per categories (artist/song/album) for quicker access; and the ability for users to share dashboards with team members by copying and pasting a URL for easier collaboration.
Additionally, the platform boasts upgraded data infrastructure, using a multi-cloud architecture incorporating Amazon Web Services and Snowflake, making it faster and more flexible than any of its predecessors. It is designed to ingest thousands of data sources and present them as valuable insights and trends about consumer engagement and behavior, with data exchange and API support available for customers who require data ingestion into their own systems and platforms.
The platform also incorporates more comprehensive artist metadata, including country of origin, language(s) and label information. Additionally, users can drill down to the ISRC or EAN/UPC level, as well as break out the data by different criteria; they also have the ability to separate all activities from Charts Equivalent by providing a dedicated “charts view.” The platform also includes international market-level data via new global filters — an improvement from Music Connect, which largely represents North America — giving users the ability to drill down to key international data from specific countries.
Lastly, the new platform incorporates support for new forms of consumption, including short-form video and gaming environments.
In the coming quarters, Luminate will integrate its other data offerings into the new platform, including music audience research, film metadata, TV metadata and streaming video analytics. New data provider partners will also be announced in the coming weeks.
“Luminate’s new platform was designed in collaboration with some of our most valued partners across the entertainment industry,” said Luminate chief product officer Arnaud Retureau. “Their feedback was invaluable to our efforts in providing a user experience that is beneficial to the entire music community, especially in creating a central reference point pertaining to baseline consumption metrics and expert insights. We’re looking forward to continuing to engage with that feedback to maintain the most effective and useful product possible.”
Luminate’s team is currently on the ground at Music Biz, where they’re scheduled to participate in featured speaking sessions and curated music data programming and will be offering demos of the new platform for industry professionals. You can learn more about their presence at the conference here.
Luminate rebranded in March 2022 and was previously known as Nielsen Music and P-MRC Data.
Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time logs a 10th consecutive, and total, week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated May 20). The album bowed at No. 1 on the chart dated March 18 and has yet to depart the top slot. It equals the No. 1 run of Wallen’s last release, Dangerous: The Double Album, which also spent its first 10 weeks at No. 1 (Jan. 23-March 27, 2021-dated charts).
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One Thing at a Time earned 141,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending May 11 (up 2%), according to Luminate.
As One Thing at a Time holds at No. 1, Wallen becomes the first male soloist to spend 10 weeks at No. 1 with back-to-back full-length albums, since the Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March of 1956. Only five acts — including Wallen — have notched consecutive No. 1s that ruled for at least 10 weeks. Wallen joins Adele (25, 10 weeks, 2015-16 and 21, 24 weeks, 2011-12), Whitney Houston (Whitney, 11 weeks, 1987 and her self-titled album, 14 weeks, 1986), The Monkees (More of the Monkees, 18 weeks, 1967 and its self-titled album, 13 weeks 1966-67) and The Kingston Trio (String Along, 10 weeks, 1960 and Sold Out, 12 weeks, 1960).
Wallen is now the third solo male artist overall to have at least two albums spend 10 or more weeks at No. 1 each. He joins Elvis Presley and Henry Mancini. The former did it four times with his self-titled album (10 weeks in 1956) and the soundtracks for Loving You (10, 1957), G.I. Blues (10, 1960-61) and Blue Hawaii (20, 1961-62) and the latter did so twice, with the soundtracks The Music From Peter Gunn (10, 1959) and Breakfast at Tiffany’s (12, 1962).
Further, Wallen becomes the only act with at least two country albums to have spent 10 or more weeks at No. 1. (Country albums are those that have charted on, or are eligible for, Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.)
In total, nine acts — including Wallen — have at least two albums that have spent at least 10 weeks at No. 1. Wallen is now among elite company, standing alongside only The Beatles, Presley (four such albums each); Houston, The Kingston Trio (three each); Adele, Mancini, The Monkees and Taylor Swift (two each).
Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, Ed Sheeran achieves his sixth top 10-charting effort as his new studio set, pronounced Subtract, starts at No. 2, while Korean girl group LE SSERAFIM notches its first top 10 (and second chart entry) with the No. 6 bow of Unforgiven.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new May 20, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on May 16. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of One Thing at a Time’s 141,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending May 11, SEA units comprise 134,000 (up 3%, equaling 179.33 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 36 songs), album sales comprise 5,000 (down 6%) and TEA units comprise 2,000 (down 5%).
Sheeran collects his sixth top 10-charting effort on the Billboard 200 as his latest studio album, – (Subtract), debuts at No. 2. The set starts with 112,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 81,000 (making it the top-selling album of the week), SEA units comprise 29,000 (equaling 38.43 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise 2,000.
The album was preceded by its lead single “Eyes Closed,” which debuted and has so far peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 dated April 8. Sheeran’s last three albums (Equals, No. 6 Collaborations Project and Multiply) were each led by top 10-charting singles before the sets dropped: “Bad Habits” (No. 2), “I Don’t Care,” with Justin Bieber (No. 2) and the dual lead singles off Multiply, “Shape of You” (No. 1) and “Castle on the Hill” (No. 6).
Subtract marks Sheeran’s biggest sales week since 2017, thus larger than any week posted by Sheeran’s last two albums (Equals and No. 6 Collaborations Project). Subtract also nets 10th-largest sales week of 2023 for any album, and the fifth-largest for a non-K-pop title.
Subtract’s sales were aided by its availability in both a standard 14-track and 18-track edition (digital download, CD and vinyl). The set was also available in nine vinyl variants (including exclusives for Amazon, Barnes & Noble, independent record stores, Target, Urban Outfitters and Walmart) and multiple CD iterations in collectible packages (including a signed CD, a version with a lenticular cover, a “textured sand” cover and a “Zine” CD package).
A trio of former No. 1s is next on the Billboard 200, as Taylor Swift’s Midnights is a non-mover at No. 3 (60,000 equivalent album units; up 4%), SZA’s SOS is stationary at No. 4 (54,000; down 4%) and Wallen’s Dangerous is steady at No. 5 (49,000; up 4%).
LE SSERAFIM debuts at No. 6 with Unforgiven, marking its first top 10 and second charting effort on the Billboard 200. The Korean pop girl group’s album enters the chart with 45,000 equivalent album units earned (up 691%). Of that sum, 38,500 comprise album sales, 6,500 comprise SEA units (equaling 9.04 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 13 tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum.
The album was released to digital retailers and streaming services on May 1, and earned 6,000 equivalent album units in the week ending May 4 (not enough to debut on the Billboard 200). The set debuts on the chart following the release of its CD edition on May 5.
Like many K-pop releases, the CD edition of Unforgiven was issued in collectible CD packages (11 total, including exclusives for Target, Walmart and the Weverse webstore), each containing a standard set of bonus items and randomized photocards. Effectively all of Unforgiven’s first-week album sales were CDs, with a negligible sum generated by digital download album sales. The set was not available in any other retail format (such as vinyl or cassette).
While LE SSERAFIM has yet to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, the album’s title track — with Nile Rodgers — debuted at No. 61 on the Billboard Global 200 and No. 39 on the Global 200 Excluding U.S. chart (both dated May 13).
Swift’s chart-topping Lover rises 10-7 on the Billboard 200 (37,000 equivalent album units earned; up 8%), Bad Bunny’s former leader Un Verano Sin Ti jumps back to the top 10, climbing 11-8 (36,000; up 8%), Luke Combs’ Gettin’ Old falls 7-9 (nearly 36,000; down 3%) and Metro Boomin’s former No. 1 Heroes & Villains dips 9-10 (34,000; down 1%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
A few of our Billboard Latin Women In Music presenters, and honorees reveal the songs that remind them of their moms.
EVALUNA: “Looks like we made it.” What’s the name of it? “Look how far we’ve come my baby.” ‘Still The One’! “Still the one, you’re still the one.” That one.
MARIA BECERRA: Tengo varias canciones con las que recuerdo a mi madre. Con las que más la recuerdo siempre son con las canciones de Marco Antonio Solís, porque ella es súper fan y hay una canción que dice “¿Dónde estará mi primavera?” Esa canción es preciosa y la recuerdo siempre a mi mamá con esa canción.
GOYO: Una canción que me recuerda a la etapa de ser mamá es una canción africana que tiene el nombre muy cercano a mi hija, que es que dice, “Saba, saba, saba le. Saba, saba, saba le”. Porque yo siempre quería estar como muy feliz y como que transmitir eso a mi hija en el embarazo.
EVALUNA: The song that reminds me of my motherhood would have to be ‘índigo’, the song I sing with my husband because that was obviously the song that we dedicated to her and its kind of the song that we played for her during my whole Pregnancy and when she was born. So it’s like a special, it’s a special one. And with my mom, I’d have to say Shania Twain… “Looks like we made it.” What’s the name of it? “Look how far we’ve come my baby.” ‘Still The One’! “Still the one, you’re still the one.” That one.
ELENA ROSE: A song that reminds me of my mom, is any Chayanne song. Big fan. Any Chayanne song is like, oh, it’s my mom, right there.
GREEICY: Recuerdo que cuando niña, cuando empecé a hacer música, la primera canción que me aprendí en guitarra, que recuerdo mi madre y mi padre viéndome tocarla, yo tenía seis años, ni siquiera sé cómo se llama, es una canción que en Colombia se canta en todos los cumpleaños, es una canción viejísima que dice como “Apagué la luz porque va sin luz esta nochecita, en la oscuridad con seguridad se oyen más bonitas”. Entonces, siempre que canto o escucho esa canción, me recuerda a ellos.
NICOLE ZIGNAGO: Hay una canción que me hace acordar a mi mamá, se llama ‘De Sol a Sol’. Es una salsa que me cantaba ella cuando yo era chiquita. “De sol a sol te tengo presente en mi mente”. That song.
JACKY BRACAMONTES: ¿Qué canción me hace recordarme de mi mamá o de valorar el hecho de ser mamá, que es lo más hermoso que me ha regalado en la vida? “My Beautiful Mommy”, que es así con la voz tiernita de mis niñas. Es una canción muy linda, escúchenla y van a ver que todos se van a acordar de su mamá.
SEVENTEEN keeps up its perfect track record on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated May 13) as the act’s SEVENTEEN 10th Mini Album: FML debuts atop the list – the 13-member Korean pop ensemble’s fifth consecutive No. 1, of five total entries. All have also bowed at No. 1. The title sold 132,000 copies in the United States in the week ending May 4, according to Luminate – the fourth-largest sales week for an album in 2023 and SEVENTEEN’s best sales week yet.
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Like many K-pop releases, the CD edition of FML was issued in collectible CD packages (14 total, including exclusives for Barnes & Noble, Target and the Weverse webstore), each containing a standard set of items and randomized elements (postcards, mini posters, bookmarks and stickers).
FML was also available as a standard digital download album, as well as via 17 digital download variants that were sold exclusively through the act’s official webstore, each with alternate cover art. Four of them have two bonus tracks – one instrumental track and a voice memo from certain group members – that are different on each album. The remaining 13 alternate digital albums all have the album’s standard tracklist, just with a different cover (one for each of the group members). Of FML’s first-week album sales, 98% were CDs, while the remaining 2% were digital album downloads. The set was not available in any other retail format (such as vinyl or cassette).
Also in the top 10 of the new Top Album Sales chart, The National, Grateful Dead and ILLENIUM arrive with their latest releases.
Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart ranks the top-selling albums of the week based only on traditional album sales. The chart’s history dates back to May 25, 1991, the first week Billboard began tabulating charts with electronically monitored piece count information from SoundScan, now Luminate. Pure album sales were the sole measurement utilized by the Billboard 200 albums chart through the list dated Dec. 6, 2014, after which that chart switched to a methodology that blends album sales with track equivalent album units and streaming equivalent album units. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Agust D’s D-Day falls to No. 2 (25,000; down 79%) after debuting at No. 1 a week ago.
The National’s First Two Pages of Frankenstein starts at No. 3 with a little over 24,000 copies sold (with a little more than 15,000 of that sum powered by vinyl sales). It’s the fifth top 10-charting effort for the act.
Grateful Dead’s Dave’s Picks, Volume 46: Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, CA – 9/9/72 bows at No. 4 with 21,000 sold. It’s the latest in the group’s long-running archival concert series.
A trio of former No. 1s is next on Top Album Sales, as Metallica’s 72 Seasons falls 3-5 (13,000; down 49%), Taylor Swift’s Midnights dips 5-6 (11,000; down 30%) and Melanie Martinez’s Portals shifts 6-7 (just over 7,000; down 47%).
ILLENIUM’s self-titled album debuts at No. 8 with 7,000 sold, largely from vinyl sales (nearly 6,000). It’s the second top 10 for the dance/electronic act.
Rounding out the top 10 on the new Top Album Sales chart is TWICE’s former leader Ready to Be: 12th Mini Album (rising 22-9 with nearly 7,000; down 10%) and Swift’s Folklore (14-10 with 6,500; down 26%).
In the week ending May 4, there were 1.827 million albums sold in the U.S. (down 37.5% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.482 million (down 42.6%) and digital albums comprised 344,000 (down 1.6%).
There were 712,000 CD albums sold in the week ending May 4 (down 6.3% week-over-week) and 762,000 vinyl albums sold (down 57.9%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 11.936 million (up 5% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 17.058 million (up 27.3%).
Overall year-to-date album sales total 35.534 million (up 10.3% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 29.181 million (up 17%) and digital album sales total 6.353 million (down 12.7%).
“The Official ACM Awards Red Carpet Show – hosted by Amber Anderson, Priscilla Block, BRELAND, Elaina Smith, and Kelly Sutton – is streaming live here on Thursday, May 11 at 7pm ET I 4pm PT. This year’s top ACM Awards nominees include HARDY, Lainey Wilson, Kane Brown, Luke Combs, Miranda Lambert and Cole Swindell. The […]
Evaluna chatted with Billboard at Billboard Latin Women in Music and talked about some of her favorite Venezuelan slang! Hi, my name is Evaluna. And my favorite Venezuelan slang is Cayendo y corriendo como la iguana. I don’t know why, I love it. It’s just like it means like, we’re doing this fast. Like we […]
Ice Spice talks about some of the biggest collaborations in her career so far, working on ‘Princess Diana’ with her idol Nicki Minaj, how she teamed up with PinkPantheress for ‘Boy’s a Liar’ and the success of the song, making TikToks with Kim Kardashian’s daughter North West and more!
Irv Lichtman, for decades one of Billboard’s most respected and beloved editors and columnists and an advocate for songwriters who chiseled out a niche as the go-to expert in music publishing, has died at the age of 87.Lichtman passed peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday (May 2), his son David Lichtman confirms to Billboard.
Born May 21, 1935, Lichtman worked at Cashbox right out of college, from 1956 until 1975.
He went on to work for NY Times Music Publishing for roughly a year, before joining Audio Fidelity Records. From there, Lichtman made the leap to Billboard, joining the music trade in late 1978.
It proved a perfect fit.
Former executive editor Ken Schlager remembers Lichtman as a “genuinely warm and funny man,” whose columns Inside Track and Words & Music were a “must-read.” “When I joined Billboard as managing editor in 1985, Irv as deputy editor unselfishly guided me every step of the way, from putting out the weekly magazine to learning my way around the business,” Schlager says. “I could not have asked for a more generous or knowledgeable mentor. It was, as Bogie would say, the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” An “incredibly sensitive soul,” Lichtman cared deeply about his colleagues and the music industry, notes Schlager, especially the publishing business, and, “through his deep and wide network of sources, served the industry well as a conduit for scoops they couldn’t find anywhere else.”His joyful trait was always close to the surface, recounts Linda Moran, CEO/president of Songwriters Hall of Fame. “Irv was one of the wittiest guys I have ever known with a great sense of humor,” she says. “For many years he was the face of Billboard because he knew everyone and he was respected for his encyclopedic knowledge of music while exuding trustworthiness which is a tremendous asset for any journalist.”As a Songwriters Hall of Fame Board member he represented the SHOF on the Library of Congress’s National Recording Preservation Board due to his extensive knowledge of music, from decades before his birth through to contemporary. Those who knew him well remember Lichtman’s love for show tunes, and “he could always be counted on to be the champion, fighting for the Broadway songwriters on the [SHOF] induction ballot because he felt they were under-appreciated,” recounts Moran.
But his love for music went far beyond show tunes, as he stayed up with contemporary artists. “I recall a moment walking on Broadway when we encountered the rapper M.C. Hammer. Irv bubbled over with enthusiasm, greeting Hammer like an old friend. I don’t believe they had ever met,” Schlager recalls.After retiring from Billboard in February 2001, Lichtman devoted much of his time to the Friedberg Jewish Community Center, where he remained an active participant in the Current Events Club. His favorite charity was Feeding America, the largest hunger-relief organization in the country.
He never lost his love for the Yankees or that famous, “if corny,” sense of humor, remarks Schlager. The pair frequently lunched together. “Invariably, when the waiter or waitress first approached out table, Irv would greet the server with his patented line: ‘We’re in a hurry. Can we please get the check?’ Some got it, some didn’t. We lunched for what I didn’t know would be the final time last fall. On that occasion I noticed he didn’t use his usual line. His explanation: ‘I can’t. They know me here.’ Amazingly, he had come up with a fresh punchline.”Fellow former Billboard Pro Audio editor Paul Verna has similarly fond memories. “It’s telling that on my first day at Billboard, no one thought to tell me where the bathrooms were. Irv literally showed me the way, and then would proceed to show me the ropes of the music industry and our role in covering it,” he comments. “To say he was a mentor is an understatement. I’ll always cherish having had the guiding hand of someone who had seen so much. But as we all know, the best thing about Irv wasn’t his industry experience — it was his humor, his generosity, and his always cheerful spirit.”
Lichtman is survived by his wife Phyllis, sons Steven and David and grandchildren, Kate, Jane, Emma, Jack, Frank and Ben. He was preceded in death by his son, Robbie.
His funeral will take place Friday (May 5) on Long Island. Details are to come.
Taylor Swift puts an impressive stamp on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated May 6), as the superstar has 10 albums on the list at the same time. And all of them are in the top 100 of the 200-position tally, which ranks the most popular albums of the week in the United States.
Among those 10 albums, nine are in the top 50, eight sit in the top 40, and three are in the top 10.
Since the Billboard 200 was combined from its previously separate mono and stereo LP charts into one all-encompassing list in August 1963, Swift is:
the first living female artist with at least three albums simultaneously in the top 10
the only act to have at least eight albums simultaneously in the top 40
the only act with at least nine albums simultaneously in the top 50
the only living artist with at least 10 albums simultaneously in the top 100
On the Billboard 200 dated May 6, Swift charts the following titles:No. 3 – Folklore: The Long Pond Studio SessionsNo. 4 – MidnightsNo. 10 – LoverNo. 12 – FolkloreNo. 21 – 1989No. 22 – reputationNo. 27 – Red (Taylor’s Version)No. 29 – EvermoreNo. 41 – Fearless (Taylor’s Version)No. 66 – Speak Now
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions debuts at No. 3 with 75,000 equivalent album units earned (all from vinyl LP sales) in the week ending April 27, according to Luminate, following its buzzy release on vinyl for the first time, for Record Store Day 2023 (April 22).
The May 6-dated Billboard 200 chart reflects the tracking week of April 21-27 – a little over a month after Swift launched her career-spanning The Eras Tour on March 17. The stadium-filling trek has aided exposure of her catalog of music, as she performs dozens of hits songs from most of her albums each night of the tour. Below Long Pond in the top 10, Midnights, her most recent studio album, ranks at No. 4, followed by Lover at No. 10. The latter was released in 2019 and, due to the pandemic, is now being spotlighted by Swift on tour for the first time. (She had planned to tour in support of Lover in 2020, but COVID-19 forced her to cancel the shows.)
While the Billboard 200 has ranked the country’s most popular albums each week for decades, dating back to its March 1956 inception, the chart’s rules have changed dramatically over the years – making it easier for some albums to linger on the tally in recent years than in decades past.
For example, older albums (known as catalog albums, generally regarded as those at least 18 months old) were mostly barred from charting on the Billboard 200 from mid-1991 through the end of 2009. Then, at the end of 2014, the chart transitioned from a pure-album sales formula to a multimetric methodology – and adding streaming activity. Because of the changes in the chart’s methodology (primarily the inclusion of streaming data) and the ability for catalog albums to chart, many albums now continue to rank on the list (including Swift’s bevy of titles) for a much longer time than albums in previous… eras (pun intended), when the chart was effectively a sales-only chart for current and/or new releases.
Three in the top 10: The last act with at least three albums in the top 10 at the same time before Swift this week was Prince, following his death, when he had five albums in the top 10 on the May 14, 2016, chart (he also placed three in the top 10 on the May 7, 2016 chart). Before Prince, Led Zeppelin had three in the top 10 on the June 21, 2014, chart with a trio of deluxe reissues of the band’s first three albums. And before that, Whitney Houston did it, after her death, on the March 17 and March 10, 2012-dated charts (three in the top 10 on each chart). And prior to Houston, one must scroll all the way back to Herb Alpert on the Dec. 24, 1966-dated list, when he had three in the top 10 (a feat he achieved more than a dozen times that year, led by four for a week that April; he and Prince are the only acts with more than three top 10s in a single week since August 1963).
10 in the Top 100: In terms of 10 albums in the top 100, that’s been done only twice since August 1963 – Swift on the latest chart, and Prince with 15 albums on the May 14, 2016, chart.
10 Albums on the Billboard 200 at the Same Time: Swift has now placed at least 10 albums on the Billboard 200 chart at the same time – twice. She did it earlier this year on the March 4-dated chart. The last act before Swift to notch 10 albums on the list at the same time was Prince, following his death in 2016, including a one-week record 19 (May 14, 2016).
Here are the acts who have placed at least 10 albums on the Billboard 200 chart at the same time (since August 1963):
Taylor Swift – May 6, 2023 (10 albums)Taylor Swift – March 4, 2023 (10)Prince – May 28, 2016 (13)Prince – May 21, 2016 (10)Prince – May 14, 2016 (19)David Bowie – Jan. 30, 2016 (10)The Beatles – March 1, 2014 (13)Whitney Houston – March 10, 2012 (10)The Beatles – Dec. 4, 2010 (14)The Beatles – Jan. 9, 2010 (11)
Prince, Bowie and Houston’s achievements came shortly after they died, following a surge of interest in their respective catalogs from music fans.
The Beatles placed 13 titles on the March 1, 2014, chart thanks in large part to gains reaped from the CBS-TV concert special The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles, which aired that Feb. 9 (and repeated Feb. 12). The special celebrated 50 years of The Beatles’ success in the U.S., specifically commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Fab Four’s first live American TV performance on The Ed Sullivan Show (Feb. 9, 1964).
The Beatles also logged 14 and 11 titles, respectively, on the Dec. 4 and Jan. 9, 2010-dated charts. On the Dec. 4, 2010, list, The Beatles logged 12 re-entries and two debuts, following the band’s belated bow in the iTunes Store. (The group had been a holdout to selling digital downloads of its albums and songs on the service until Nov. 16, 2010.)
As for The Beatles’ feat on the Jan. 9, 2010, chart, that week came shortly after the Billboard 200 began allowing older (catalog) albums to appear, beginning with the Dec. 5, 2009-dated chart. It was also not long after the band’s catalog was digitally remastered for CD reissues in September 2009.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time clocks an eighth consecutive and total week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated May 6). The set earned 149,000 equivalent album units in the week ending April 27 (down 10%) in the United States, according to Luminate. The album opened at No. 1 on the chart dated March 18 and has yet to cede the summit.
The last album to notch eight consecutive weeks at No. 1 was the Encanto soundtrack. It logged eight weeks in a row, of its total nine nonconsecutive frames at No. 1, between the Jan. 29-March 19, 2022-dated charts. Meanwhile, the last album to spend its first eight weeks at No. 1, like One Thing at a Time, was Wallen’s last release, Dangerous: The Double Album, which spent its first 10 weeks at No. 1 (its total run atop the list), from the Jan. 23-March 27, 2021-dated charts.
Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, Agust D (an alias of BTS’ Suga), Taylor Swift and YoungBoy Never Broke Again all arrive with new releases.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new May 6, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on May 2. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of One Thing at a Time’s 166,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending April 20, SEA units comprise 151,000 (down 5%, equaling 201.71 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 36 songs), album sales comprise 12,000 (up 102% following the release of a new vinyl edition of the set) and TEA units comprise 3,000 (up 7%).
If One Thing at a Time can spend 10 weeks at No. 1 – matching Dangerous’ No. 1 run – Wallen will become the only act with at least two country albums to have spent 10 or more weeks at No. 1. (Country albums are those that have charted on, or are eligible for, Billboard’s Top Country Albums chart.)
Further, if One Thing at a Time nets a 10th week at No. 1, Wallen would become only the third solo male artist overall to have at least two albums spend 10 or more weeks at No. 1 each, since the Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March of 1956. He would join Elvis Presley and Henry Mancini. The former did it four times (his self-titled album [10 weeks in 1956] and the soundtracks for Loving You [10, 1957], G.I. Blues [10, 1960-61] and Blue Hawaii [20, 1961-62]) and the latter did so twice (the soundtracks The Music From Peter Gunn [10, 1959] and Breakfast at Tiffany’s [12, 1962]).
Suga’s solo debut studio effort D-Day, under the alias Agust D, debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, with 140,000 equivalent album units earned. It’s the first top 10 for the artist, thus making him the third member of BTS to score a solo top 10 on the Billboard 200. Earlier this year, Jimin also bowed at No. 2 with his solo debut, FACE (April 8-dated chart), while in December, RM peaked at No. 3 with Indigo (Dec. 31). BTS itself has clocked seven top 10s, of which six hit No. 1.
Of D-Day’s 140,000 units, album sales comprise 122,000 (it’s the top-selling album of the week and claims the fourth-largest sales week of 2023), SEA units comprise 12,500 (equaling 17.9 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise 5,500.
Like many K-pop releases, the CD edition of D-Day was issued in collectible CD packages (seven total, including exclusives for Target, Walmart and the Weverse webstore) each containing a standard set of items and randomized elements (in this case, photo cards). It was also available as a standard digital download album, as well as three alternative cover digital download variants that were sold exclusively through the artist’s official webstore. Of D-Day’s first-week sales, 90% were CDs, while the remaining 10% were digital album downloads. The set was not available in any other retail format (such as vinyl or cassette).
Taylor Swift makes a splash in the top 10 of the Billboard 200, as her buzzy new Record Store Day-exclusive vinyl release Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions launches at No. 3 with 75,000 equivalent album units earned – all from sales of its vinyl LP. (It’s the single-largest sales week for an album on vinyl in 2023.)
The live acoustic album, which was previously available only as bonus tracks on a deluxe digital and streaming edition of her Folklore studio album (released in 2020), was issued on vinyl LP (its first physical release of any kind) for Record Store Day (April 22) at participating independent record stores. It was previously announced that Long Pond’s production run for Record Store Day would be 75,000 copies in the United States, and the set sold out instantly. (It’s typical for many albums and singles to garner unique and limited edition runs exclusively for the annual independent record store day celebration.)
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions is the companion album to the Disney+ documentary film of the same name, released in November 2020 about the making of the Folklore album.
Typically, high-profile Record Store Day-exclusive titles might have a production run of 10,000 to 20,000 in the United States. For Record Store Day 2022, there were 10 titles that had pressings ranging from 10,000 to 18,000, but nothing larger. For Record Store Day 2023, Swift’s Long Pond title had by far the largest production run of any RSD title. Pearl Jam’s live concert album Give Way had the second-biggest production run, with 15,500 vinyl LPs pressed.
Swift is no stranger to Record Store Day festivities, as she was the Global Ambassador for Record Store Day in 2022 and has released titles exclusively for Record Store Day in previous years.
Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions marks Swift’s 14th top 10-charting album on the Billboard 200.
Plus, with the Long Pond debut, Swift has three albums in the top 10 concurrently for the first time, as former No. 1s Midnights and Lover are Nos. 4 and 10, respectively. The last act to have at least three albums in the top 10 at the same time was Prince in 2016, following his death. That year, there were two weeks when Prince placed at least three weeks in the top 10: the chart dated May 14 (with five titles at Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7) and the May 7 chart (three titles at Nos. 1, 2 and 6). Before Prince, Led Zeppelin had three albums in the top 10 on the June 21, 2014-dated chart, when reissues of its self-titled album, Led Zeppelin II and Led Zeppelin III re-entered the chart at Nos. 7, 9 and 10, respectively, following the release of expanded deluxe editions of the albums.
Swift’s Midnights is a non-mover at No. 4 on the new Billboard 200 with 62,000 equivalent album units earned (though up 3% in activity).
YoungBoy Never Broke Again notches his 14th top 10-charting album on the Billboard 200 (and second of 2023) as his 33-track Don’t Try This at Home bows at No. 5 with 60,000 equivalent album units earned. Streaming activity powers the bulk of the album’s debut, as SEA units comprise 59,000 of that sum (equaling 87.71 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks). Album sales comprise 1,000 units while TEA units comprise a negligible sum.
SZA’s former No. 1 SOS falls 3-6 on the Billboard 200 with 59,000 equivalent album units earned (down 10%), while Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album drops 5-7 with 48,000 (down 2%). Luke Combs’ Gettin’ Old falls 6-8 with 39,000 units (down 9%), Metro Boomin’s former leader Heroes & Villains dips 7-9 with 37,000 units (down less than 1%) and Swift’s Lover descends 9-10 with 36,000 units (though up 8%).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.