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Taylor Swift towers over the top 10 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Dec. 9), as she holds a whopping five titles in the region. She is the first living act to have five albums concurrently in the top 10 since the Billboard 200 was combined from its previously separate mono and stereo album charts into one all-encompassing list in August of 1963.

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Swift stands tall in the top 10 with her most recent release, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (returning to the top rising 2-1), and four former chart-toppers: Midnights (6-3), Folklore (9-5), Lover (8-6) and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (17-10).

1989 (Taylor’s Version) was released in October; Midnights, in 2022; Folklore, in 2020; Lover in 2019, and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) in July 2023.

The only other act to hold at least five of the top 10 at the same time was Prince, on the May 14, 2016-dated list, following his death. That week in the top 10, he had The Very Best of Prince (falling 1-2), the Purple Rain soundtrack (with The Revolution, 2-3), The Hits/The B-Sides (6-4), Ultimate (61-6) and 1999 (31-7).

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 Dec. 9, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Dec. 5. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Dec. 9), as the set rises 2-1 for its third total week atop the tally. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Nov. 11-dated chart and spent its second week in the lead, before dipping to No. 2 for the next two weeks and bouncing back to the top on the new chart. The set earned 141,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 30 (up 3%), according to Luminate.

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Swift has a stranglehold on the new Billboard 200’s top 10, as she has five titles concurrently in the region. After 1989 (Taylor’s Version), four more former No. 1s follow: Midnights (rising 6-3), Folklore (9-5), Lover (8-6) and Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) (17-10). Swift’s titles, like many on the entire chart, see sales gains gleaned partially from retail promotions associated with Black Friday and holiday campaigns.

With five titles in the top 10, Swift is the first living act to have five albums concurrently in the top 10 since the Billboard 200 was combined from its previously separate mono and stereo album charts into one all-encompassing list in August of 1963. The only other act to hold at least five of the top 10 at the same time was Prince, on the May 14, 2016-dated list, following his death. That week in the top 10, he had The Very Best of Prince (falling 1-2), the Purple Rain soundtrack (with The Revolution; 2-3), The Hits/The B-Sides (6-4), Ultimate (61-6) and 1999 (31-7).

Also in the top 10 of the new Billboard 200, Michael Bublé’s chart-topping Christmas returns, vaulting 24-9. The set, first released in 2011, spent five weeks at No. 1 in December 2011 and early January 2012 and has returned to the top 10 in every following holiday season.

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 Dec. 9, 2023-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Dec. 5. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram.

With three weeks at No. 1, 1989 (Taylor’s Version) has the most weeks atop the chart of Swift’s four re-recorded projects. The Taylor’s Version releases of Fearless, Red and Speak Now ruled for two, one and two weeks, respectively. Further, Swift’s total weeks at No. 1 – across all 13 of her chart-topping releases – climbs to 66 weeks, just one week from the most for a soloist. Elvis Presley has the most weeks at No. 1 among soloists, with 67, while only The Beatles have more than Swift and Presley, with 132 weeks.

Drake’s chart-topping For All the Dogs falls to No. 2 on the new Billboard 200 with 85,000 equivalent album units earned (down 42%), after its rush back to No. 1 a week ago in the wake of its deluxe reissue with six bonus tracks. Swift’s Midnights rises 6-3 with 65,000 units (up 16%), Morgan Wallen’s former leader One Thing at a Time climbs 5-4 with 63,000 units (down 7%) and Swift’s Folklore flies 9-5 with 60,000 units (up 33%).

Swift’s Lover bumps 8-6 with 53,000 equivalent album units earned (up 4%), SZA’s chart-topping SOS ascends 10-7 with 48,000 units (up 8%), Olivia Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Guts bolts 14-8 with 47,000 units (up 20%), Bublé’s Christmas climbs 24-9 with 46,000 units (up 56%) and Swift’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) flies 17-10 with nearly 46,000 units (up 23%).

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.

Jelly Roll’s “Save Me” with Lainey Wilson ascends to No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart (dated Dec. 9). The collaboration increased by 8% to 34.6 million audience impressions Nov. 24-30, according to Luminate.
The song, which Jelly Roll wrote with David Ray, becomes the former’s third total and successive Country Airplay leader, encompassing his output in the format, following “Son of a Sinner,” which led for one week in January, and “Need a Favor,” which dominated for four frames beginning in August.

Wilson banks her fourth Country Airplay leader. Her rookie entry, “Things a Man Oughta Know,” led for one frame in September 2021, followed by “Never Say Never” with Cole Swindell (two weeks starting in April 2022), and “Watermelon Moonshine” (three, this October).

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Notably, with “Save Me” and “Watermelon Moonshine” both reaching the top of Country Airplay in 2023, Wilson is the first woman to net two leaders in a single year since Gwen Stefani in 2020. Both of the latter’s are team-ups with Blake Shelton: “Nobody With You” and “Happy Anywhere.”

Meanwhile, “Save Me” enters the Country Airplay penthouse a mere six weeks after “Watermelon Moonshine” wrapped its reign, giving Wilson the shortest break from No. 1 for a female artist in the chart’s nearly 34-year history. Previously, two women were tied with 11 frames between holding the top spot: Taylor Swift (“Love Story,” “Should’ve Said No”; 2008) and Wynonna Judd (“She Is His Only Need,” “I Saw the Light”; 1992).

Something’s ‘Different’ About the Top 10

Riley Green’s “Different ‘Round Here” featuring Luke Combs rises to No. 10 on Country Airplay (17 million, up 9%). Green adds his fourth top 10, after Thomas Rhett’s “Half of Me,” on which Green is featured, became his first No. 1 in November 2022 (and Rhett’s 18th of 19 leader).

Combs sends his 19th song to the Country Airplay top 10, with 17 having hit No. 1.

It’s been more than half a century, but The Beatles are back at No. 1 on a Billboard airplay chart. “Now and Then” rises 2-1 on the Adult Alternative Airplay tally dated Dec. 9.
It’s The Beatles’ first No. 1 on the survey, which began in 1996. The band previously peaked at No. 11 with “Free as a Bird” that year.

The last time the group notched a No. 1 on a Billboard radio chart was 1970, when “Let It Be” (the Fab Four’s sole other airplay leader) ruled Adult Contemporary for four weeks beginning that April.

Of course, The Beatles boast their share of chart-toppers elsewhere, including a record 20 No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100. Their final ruler to date also came in 1970 with two-week leader “The Long and Winding Road”/“For You Blue” that June. They have also earned a record 19 No. 1s on the Billboard 200 albums chart and rank at No. 1 on Billboard’s Greatest of All Time Artists chart.

The Beatles break the record for the most time between a first appearance on Adult Alternative Airplay and a first No. 1, as “Free as a Bird” ranked on the inaugural chart, dated Jan. 20, 1996.

Concurrently, “Now and Then” jumps 29-25 on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart with 1.4 million audience impressions, up 5%, according to Luminate.

On the most recently published Hot Rock & Alternative Songs list (dated Dec. 2), “Now and Then” placed at No. 14, after reaching No. 2. In addition to its radio airplay, the song earned 2.4 million official streams and sold 18,000 downloads and physical singles combined in the U.S. Nov. 17-23.

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“Now and Then” is billed as The Beatles’ final song. It was recorded as a demo in 1977 by John Lennon and finished at last by surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, among others, after multiple attempts via new technology to extract Lennon’s vocals from the original demo, along with guitar parts from George Harrison. It’s included on the reissues of the group’s 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 compilations, initially released in 1973 and re-released Nov. 10.

As previously reported, “Now and Then” debuted at No. 7 on the Nov. 18-dated multimetric Hot 100, becoming The Beatles’ 35th top 10 – extending their record for the most among groups. It also expanded their span of Hot 100 top 10s to 59 years, nine months and three weeks – the longest excluding holiday fare, dating to their first week in the top 10 with their iconic U.S. breakthrough single “I Want To Hold Your Hand” in 1964.

All Billboard charts dated Dec. 9 will update on Billboard.com on Tuesday, Dec. 5.

Cher makes a merry move to No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary radio airplay chart (dated Dec. 9) with “DJ Play a Christmas Song.” The single surged by 31% in plays in the Nov. 24-30 tracking week, according to Luminate. The carol is the 29th holiday No. 1 on the AC chart since 2000, around […]

Taylor Swift enters the home straight of 2023 in a familiar place – at No. 1 on Australia’s albums chart.
The most popular artist of the year on Spotify, TayTay enters a fifth week atop the ARIA Chart with 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (via Universal), and completes a “Swift Sweep” of the top four with Midnights (up 5-2), Folklore (up 6-3) and Lover (up 10-4), respectively. Swift collects two more top 10 appearances, as Speak Now (Taylor’s Version) climbs 15-8 and Reputation lifts 12-9.

At times this year, Swift has dominated the tally like no one else. In July, she completed an unprecedented sweep of the top 5. The following week, she replaced herself at No. 1, becoming the first artist to do so since the ARIA Charts began in 1983.

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Christmas is nearly upon us, proof of which can be seen on the ARIA Charts. A raft of Christmas-themed albums storm the tallies, including Jimmy Barnes’ Blue Christmas (reentering at No. 14 via Bloodlines/ Universal), Michael Buble’s two-time diamond certified Christmas (up 92-45 via Reprise/Warner) and Mariah Carey’s Merry Christmas (Columbia/Sony) enters at No. 74.

Over on the ARIA Singles Chart, Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas Is You” returns at No. 15. The modern yuletide favorite peaked at No. 2 following its release in 1994, and finally went to No. 1 in 2018 — returning to the summit Christmas every year since for a total of seven combined weeks, ARIA reports.

Also marching into the ARIA Chart, published Friday, Dec. 1, is Wham’s “Last Christmas” (Sony), reentering at No. 30, and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree” (Warner/Universal) returns at No. 42.

At the pointy end of the ARIA Singles Chart, is Jack Harlow’s “Lovin On Me” (Atlantic/Warner), now in its third week at the top, marking the Louisville rapper’s longest-running leader in Australia.

Finally, Ocean Alley’s “Confidence” continues to flow, after the 2018 release went viral on TikTok. “Confidence” returned to the top 40 last week at No. 40, and rises to No. 16. Now, more than five years after its release, “Confidence” is the best-seller on the Australian Singles Chart. Independently-released, with distribution through the Orchard, “Confidence” originally peaked at No. 9 on the ARIA Chart and went on to win triple j’s Hottest 100 countdown in January 2019.

Mitski remains at No. 1 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50, while Mariah Carey draws ever closer to the top on the Dec. 2-dated survey.
The TikTok Billboard Top 50 is a weekly ranking of the most popular songs on TikTok in the United States based on creations, video views and user engagement. The latest chart reflects activity Nov. 20-26. Activity on TikTok is not included in Billboard charts except for the TikTok Billboard Top 50.

Mitski’s “My Love Mine All Mine” rules for a sixth week, extending its standing as the TikTok Billboard Top 50’s longest running No. 1 since its September inception. The song drew 11.8 million official U.S. streams on platforms that report to the Billboard Hot 100 through Nov. 17-23, according to Luminate.

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Lil Mabu and Chrisean Rock’s “Mr. Take Ya B-tch” ranks at No. 2 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 for a third straight week, while a newcomer in the top three is Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” which rises two spots to No. 3, becoming the first holiday song to reach the tally’s top three. It’s one of four such hits on the latest survey; Wham!’s “Last Christmas” shoots 17-14 and Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” jumps 25-18, while The Ronettes’ “Sleigh Ride” debuts at No. 46 – specifically the PhatCap! trap remix of the classic holiday tune.

Even Thanksgiving gets in on the action on the latest chart, with DJ Suede the Remix God’s “Beans Greens Potatoes” bowing at No. 49. The song is a remixed version of a sermon by gospel singer Shirley Caesar during a performance of her song “Hold My Mule”; better known as the You Name It challenge, the performance went viral in 2016 and resurfaces each Thanksgiving due to its mention of popular food items often served for the holiday. Multiple uploads using “Beans Greens Potatoes” yielded significant numbers on TikTok in 2023, including one from popular account Olive.and.Gus, which featured dog Olive patiently waiting for Thanksgiving dinner.

Back to the upper reaches of the TikTok Billboard Top 50, Darell’s “Lollipop” vaults 46-4 – a new peak for the song, which previously reached No. 28 in October. The track has benefited from dance challenges using it that took off in early fall (after the song’s July 2023 release), with Darell himself taking part. Some of the more recent high-performing uploads of the challenge feature users from different countries squaring off with their own takes on the dance.

Rounding out the top five, JID’s “Surround Sound,” featuring 21 Savage and Baby Tate, surges 13-5 for its first week in the top 10. The leap is concurrent with the song’s return to the Hot 100 for the first time in nearly two years; after debuting at No. 90 in January 2022, it re-enters at No. 95 on the Dec. 2 ranking. The song is achieving new life thanks to a trend in which users mount or tape a phone to the ceiling and record what happens below, often a choreographed dance. In the Nov. 17-23 Billboard chart tracking week, the tune jumped 41% to 5.7 million streams.

One of the high-profile debuts of the week is Olivia Rodrigo’s “Can’t Catch Me Now,” which starts at No. 32. The song bows concurrent with the premiere of the movie The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (Nov. 17), on whose soundtrack it’s featured. Many uploads spotlighting the song soundtrack content from the Hunger Games franchise both old and new, whether it’s ranking characters based on attractiveness or acting as a music bed for pivotal scenes from the series’ initial four films.

See the full TikTok Billboard Top 50 here, also featuring debuts from Kanye West, SZA and more. You can also tune in each Friday at 3 p.m. ET to SiriusXM’s TikTok Radio (channel 4) to hear the premiere of the chart’s top 10 countdown, with reruns airing throughout the week.

A decade ago, the top eight acts on the 2013 Billboard Boxscore Top Tours chart each took in more than $100 million in ticket sales. Of those, Taylor Swift and Rihanna were young superstars; Pink and Beyoncé were each in their second decade as solo performers; and three — Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and The Rolling Stones — were legacy rock acts. (The eighth was Cirque du Soleil’s Michael Jackson show.) Those results were typical for the time, which was why concert industry executives feared for years that their business wouldn’t have a steady supply of superstars that could fill stadiums and arenas after acts like the Stones and Elton John retired.

Now in 2023, the second full year of post-pandemic touring, 17 acts reached the $100 million mark (and 13 hit the inflation-adjusted equivalent of $132 million). Of those, nine released a debut album after 2010: Harry Styles, Morgan Wallen, Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd, BLACKPINK, Karol G, Drake, Luke Combs and Post Malone.

They look and sound differently, too. Unlike the rock acts that dominated the Boxscore charts in 2013 and for many of the years before and after, this new generation of headliners leans more toward pop, either in terms of genre (Styles, Sheeran, BLACKPINK), radio airplay (The Weeknd, Post Malone) or both. They’re more diverse, both personally and in terms of audience appeal, and more likely to score hits on the Billboard Hot 100. And they have enough drawing power to charge as much or more than legacy rock acts that appeal to an older, and presumably wealthier, audience.

To understand why so many newer acts can now gross more than $100 million, it helps to look at how that happens. To score those kinds of results, an act needs to not only sell a lot of tickets — it needs to sell them for a fairly high price. For years, most stadium acts had their roots in classic rock, and they alone could break the $100 mark for per-ticket pricing, at least partly because their audience tends to have more money and partly because fans knew they wouldn’t tour forever.

Some younger top acts use elaborate productions and cultural cachet to create that same sense of event — the fear of missing out — that makes fans willing to part with more money. That’s at the heart of the year’s top outing, Swift’s The Eras Tour, which Billboard Boxscore estimates brought in $920 million. (Swift and her team opted not to report attendance or ticket sales to Billboard Boxscore, which disqualifies her from the chart. Swift, who has previously reported her ticket sales, is not the first act to opt out, but she’s the first who would have been a contender for the top spot.)

If Swift had reported her numbers, she would certainly come in ahead of the official No. 1, Beyoncé’s Renaissance world tour, which took in $570.5 million from 55 shows during the tracking period. (Beyoncé played a final show on Oct. 1, which added $9.3 million to the tour’s overall haul.) That’s the highest single-year gross ever reported to Boxscore. Some of that success was due to pent-up demand — Beyoncé hadn’t performed as a solo artist since the 2016 Formation World Tour — and some resulted from more aggressive pricing. Many acts have raised ticket prices, apparently in order to capture more value that might otherwise go to scalpers.

Like Beyoncé’s shows, Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres world tour, which came in at No. 2 with $342.5 million from 55 concerts, had an elaborate visual component. So did Styles’ arena outing, which took in $338.2 million from 69 concerts, including nine at the Los Angeles Forum. Rounding out the top five were Wallen ($260.4 million from 44 shows) and Sheeran ($256.9 million from 46). Filling out the top 17 tours that grossed over $100 million were P!nk, John, The Weeknd, Depeche Mode, BLACKPINK, Karol G, Drake, Combs, Metallica, Dead & Company, Post Malone and George Strait.

The concert business isn’t only reacting to this trend toward younger and more diverse artists — it has played a role in making it happen. Over the last decade, the industry has shifted its focus from breaking individual acts as top touring attractions to creating a venue network that can identify artists with growth potential.

AEG and Live Nation have both adopted this strategy, and each has its own club and theater network that it uses to court artists like Wallen, Karol G, Combs and Post Malone. From there, artists can be steered into the company’s other divisions, including festivals or specialty promoters like The Messina Group, which is half-owned by AEG and this year produced tours by Swift, Strait, Eric Church and others.

This approach to developing artists as live acts focuses on boosting them to a certain level of popularity before moving on to the next. It’s paying off. The total gross of the top 10 tours is up 22% from 2022, to $2.7 billion, while the total for the top 100 is up 17%, to $7.5 billion. (These figures undercount industry growth because the time period that Boxscore used is a month shorter than in previous years — Nov. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023, rather than the previous period of Nov. 1 to Oct. 31.) That means 36% of the money taken by the top 100 tours went to the top 10 — and 51% went to the top 20.

That sharp rise in revenue partly comes from increased ticket prices, especially for younger artists. In fact, in a break with long-standing industry practice, younger acts are now charging more for some tickets than veterans. This year, it cost an average of $33 less to see the oldest of the top 10 touring acts, 76-year-old John (average: $166), than the youngest, 29-year-old Wallen (average: $199).

That might not last. The average price for the top 100 tours is now around $122, and fans may not be able to pay much more. A recent Peak Performance study by UTA Intelligence and Variety surveyed 1,500 concertgoers and found that over 62% said the biggest impediment to seeing more shows was the price, while 38% said the sole reason they didn’t go to a concert they wanted to attend was the expense.

Another year, another Boxscore recap. After Ed Sheeran scored consecutive wins in 2018-19, Elton John and The Rolling Stones led abridged COVID-flanked charts in 2020-21, and Bad Bunny broke ground in 2022, Beyoncé rules the 2023 year-end Top Tours ranking.
According to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore, the Renaissance World Tour grossed $570.5 million during the 2023 tracking period – Nov. 1, 2022-Sept. 30, 2023 – and another $9.3 million on its final show on Oct. 1. But the tour didn’t even begin until May 10 – and now, you can take a look at how the Top Tours chart took shape, from start to finish.

For the first month, Coldplay and Elton John dominated the race. John began ahead with $7.8 million on Nov. 1 from a show at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium. The final shows of Coldplay’s 10-night run in Buenos Aires gave them the lead by Nov. 2, but a week later, John resumed his reign.

After dominating the 2022 year-end charts, Latin music reigned in December and into the new year. Bad Bunny took over first, before ceding to Daddy Yankee, whose farewell La Ultima Vuelta World Tour grossed $72.5 million between early November and its late December finish.

The Brits returned to the top in January, as John reclaimed the No. 1 spot, followed by Harry Styles.

Notably, figures for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour have not yet been reported to Boxscore. While that disqualifies her from appearing on year-end charts, Billboard’s projections place her at the center of the year’s biggest touring acts.

Based on estimates, Swift would have ended the Styles era around mid-April, becoming the first artist in 2023 to gross $200 million, $300 million, $400 million, and beyond. By the end of August, The Eras Tour played its last shows of the tracking period, with more than $800 million in the bank.

Based on official figures, Styles and John continued to flip the top spot well into the summer, until Beyoncé broke through in August. The Renaissance World Tour brought her to the top 10 within a month of launching, with $85.8 million by June 5 and $141.8 million by the end of its first leg (June 28).

Kicking off the North American leg on July 8, Beyoncé kicked into high gear, averaging nearly double the nightly grosses of her European shows. Her three shows at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Aug. 11-12 and 14 charged the tour’s overall gross from $324.8 million to $364.6 million, pushing the Renaissance World Tour to No. 1, where it’d stay through the end of the tracking period.

Ultimately, at $570.5 million, Beyoncé enjoys a 67% lead over Coldplay, which snuck by Styles at the last minute to land at No. 2.

Though they never occupied the top spot, BLACKPINK and Ed Sheeran were among the top 10 throughout most of the year. The K-pop girl-group spent the first four months of the tracking period in the top five, before dipping off the graph and returning to the top 10 for year’s end. Sheeran took the early months off from touring, and then shot onto the list by late February. For his part, Morgan Wallen blossomed in the late months with stadium shows in support of One Thing at a Time, ultimately yielding the biggest year-end gross for a country tour ever.

Click here to see the full year-end 2023 Boxscore charts.

From K-pop to Latin and beyond, Billboard’s Boxscore charts are undergoing a facelift, spotlighted by a diverse crop of artists crowding the 2023 year-end report. While pop and rock have long dominated the touring space, the two central genres’ combined market share has dropped from 69% in 2019, to 59% in 2022, and now to 48% in 2023.

Traditionally, the common threshold for a stadium tour is that the artist in question should be generally ubiquitous: recognizable by face and name, with a handful-plus of sing-along hooks, and accessible across generations, genres and cultures. That explains the sustained success of veteran acts such as Elton John, Madonna and The Rolling Stones.

But even without discographies that date back to the 20th century, contemporary acts have infiltrated the stadium space while still operating as current hitmakers. Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift have broken ground with record-breaking global tours that eschew past notions that underestimated young audiences. Those acts, though still building their own legendary discographies, pass the various tests mentioned above, with widespread recognition and iconic hits.

In the post-pandemic era, the goal posts have shifted once again. Beyond the slew of mainstream stars that fit the established mold – generally from mainland U.S., Canada or the U.K., performing in English, and catering to pop or an adjacent radio format – stadium stages, and therefore the upper reaches of the year-end Boxscore charts, have some fresh faces.

Rounding out the top 10 of the 2023 Top Tours chart, BLACKPINK grossed $148.3 million and sold 703,000 tickets from 29 reported shows in the eligibility window. Next, Karol G is No. 11 with $146.9 million and 843,000 tickets sold from just 19 dates. Side by side, they lead genre rankings for K-pop and Latin, respectively.

Next to artists such as The Weeknd, P!nk and Luke Combs, BLACKPINK and Karol G stand out as stadium stars and Boxscore chart-toppers. The nine acts that ranked higher on Top Tours have, on average, 12 top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. BLACKPINK and Karol G, on the other hand, have spent a combined total of one week in the top 10, when Karol G’s “TQG,” with Shakira, hit No. 7 earlier this year.

This puts both acts at odds with the presumed criteria for stadium acts. Neither artist has conquered the Hot 100, nor have they been nominated for a general-field Grammy award, hosted Saturday Night Live, or made hyped-up cameos or supporting turns in a major film or television series. To boot, their careers are young. Karol G released her first album in 2017 and BLACKPINK did so in 2020. Depeche Mode – the only other act in the top 10 without a No. 1 hit on the Hot 100 – has been building its fan base for more than 40 years.

Both BLACKPINK and Karol G have, however, reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, perhaps signifying a deep, passionate fan base ready to pay top-dollar for concert tickets, even without the wider-spread recognition that often accompanies hit singles.

Notably, neither are the first of their respective genres to hit the jackpot. Bad Bunny broke ground for Latin artists last year when he ruled the 2022 year-end chart. In doing so, he broke BTS’ record for the highest year-end finish for an act that primarily performs in a non-English language, after the K-pop boy band finished 2019 at No. 3.

If there’s a constant with non-English-language acts playing stadiums, it’s that with the minor exceptions of Bad Bunny and BTS, they’ve been outliers with vast fan bases that sometimes aren’t represented in the mainstream. Initially, Karol G’s team booked six stadiums in “safe” markets. Those dates quickly blossomed to nine when Los Angeles, Miami and New York shows sold out and second dates were added. When all was said and done, she played 19 shows in 16 cities.

“She was the one who insisted on playing the stadium, not a 360 arena,” says her sister, Jessica Giraldo, who oversees Karol G’s businesses. “She was the one who wanted to do a stadium tour. She said, ‘Believe in my vision.’”

When reflecting on the growth of regional Mexican music in 2023 at Billboard’s Latin Music Week, Live Nation’s Jorge Garcia noted, “These are the same people that are buying Drake tickets. They’re also the fans buying the Fuerza Regida ticket.” Once impenetrable lines that divided artists by genre and culture are fading away, quickly.

The 2023 achievements by BLACKPINK and Karol G do a few things. For one, their collective triumph means that Bad Bunny and BTS’ banner years were not anomalies. More than that, both genres have deeper benches than ever. K-pop girl-group TWICE also played U.S. stadiums, while BTS member SUGA conquered arenas as a soloist. Both grossed more than $50 million this year.

Further, 14 artists who primarily perform in Spanish find themselves among the year-end top 100, representing a mix of legacy acts and newcomers; reggaeton, pop and regional Mexican; and artists from Colombia, Mexico, Puerto Rico and more. Latin music’s share of the top 100’s total gross dipped from 12.1% in 2022 to 11.5%, but considering the absence of Bad Bunny’s $373.5 million gross from last year, Latin’s steady hold points toward more growth over the coming years.

The Boxscore arrival of BLACKPINK and Karol G is also a win for gender representation. Women doubled their share of the top 100 tours from last year. Of just 12 woman-identifying acts in the top 100, the genres of K-pop and Latin claim four (TWICE and Ana Gabriel, in addition to BLACKPINK and Karol G).

They’re also skewing the Boxscore charts younger. The members of BLACKPNIK range from 26 to 28 years old, and Karol G is 32, all well below the top 100’s average of 46.6. The two youngest acts in the top 100 are both K-pop groups (ENHYPEN averages 20 and TOMORROW X TOGETHER averages 22). The next youngest are Latin acts (the group Fuerza Regida averages 23 and soloist Peso Pluma is 24). Members of Grupo Firme, SEVENTEEN and Bad Bunny himself are all in their 20s, among others from both genres.

In all, genre diversity helps make 2023 one of the youngest years in Boxscore history. It’s the youngest top 100 since 2014, when One Direction (average age of 21 at the time) was No. 1, and the youngest top 10 since 2001, when *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys paired up in the top five.

Legacy acts from pop, rock and R&B continue to do stellar business at the box office, proven by the presence of Rod Stewart, Lionel Richie and Journey, among many others. But the push of younger artists from diverse genres only points to the touring industry, and specifically the slate of artists capable of selling out stadiums, being able to replenish itself with fresh faces well into the next decade.

With K-pop and Latin genres leading the charge, the reshaping of the U.S. touring circuit continues. Late last year, Belgium’s Stromae — mixing French-language pop, rap and electronic — played a brief North American tour, including two nights at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Hailing from Nigeria, Asake sold out the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Sept. 8, while Burna Boy launched a full North American arena tour in early November. If Bad Bunny and BTS blew the door open, then BLACKPINK, Karol G and a growing list of international artists are breaking down the wall.

Click here to see the full year-end 2023 Boxscore charts.

Dating back almost 40 years, all Boxscore rankings are based on figures reported to Billboard. Data is reported from a variety of official industry sources, from artist managers and agents to promoters and venue executives.

All reported shows, worldwide, between Nov. 1, 2022 – Sept. 30, 2023, are eligible for year-end 2023 consideration.