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07 Apr 2023

Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon: Live’ Debuts in Top 10 on Album Sales Chart

Pink Floyd’s archival album The Dark Side of the Moon: Live at Wembley, London, 1974 debuts at No. 8 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart (dated April 8). The set also bows in the top 10 of Top Rock Albums (No. 9), Vinyl Albums (No. 5), Tastemaker Albums (No. 3) and Top Current Album Sales (No. 8). It additionally launches at No. 49 on the Billboard 200 chart.

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The Dark Side of the Moon: Live was released on March 23, and was recorded in November of 1974 during the band’s winter tour at Wembley Empire Pool (the original name for Wembley Arena). This marks the first time the recording has been available as a stand-alone album, though performances from the shows were previously included on earlier deluxe reissues of some of the band’s studio albums. In addition, the Live album is also included as a bonus disc within the just-released 50th anniversary boxed set of The Dark Side of the Moon studio album.

Also on Top Album Sales, new albums from Jimin, Lana Del Rey, Fall Out Boy, Luke Combs and Depeche Mode all debut in the top 10.

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.

Top Rock Albums ranks the week’s most popular rock albums by equivalent album units. Vinyl Albums tallies the top-selling vinyl albums of the week. Top Current Album Sales lists the week’s best-selling current (not catalog, or older albums) albums by traditional album sales. Tastemaker Albums lists the week’s top-selling albums at independent record stores.

The Dark Side of the Moon: Live sold 15,000 copies in the United States in the week ending March 30, according to Luminate. Of that sum, vinyl sales comprise 8,500, yielding at No. 5 debut on the Vinyl Albums chart.

Meanwhile, the original The Dark Side of the Moon album was reissued in as both a multi-disc remastered deluxe boxed set and 10-track digital album on March 23rd for its 50th anniversary. The boxed set contains two CDs, two vinyl LPs, two blu-ray audio discs, a DVD audio disc, two hardcover books and two 7-inch singles. The former No. 1 set continues to hold the record for the most charted weeks on the Billboard 200 (977 weeks and counting).

The new deluxe boxed set’s sales are combined with the original studio album (and any later released iterations) for tracking and charting purposes. Combined, all of the versions sold just over 10,000 copies in the week ending March 30 (up 178%) and sends the album 28-11 on Top Album Sales.

On the latest Billboard 200, Dark Side vaults from 172-48 – marking its highest charting week in over eight years. It last placed higher when it zoomed 183-13 on the Dec. 20, 2014-dated chart, following ultra-cheap sale pricing by a digital retailer.

Back on Top Album Sales, the top 10 is flush with debuts, led by BTS’ Jimin, who sees his solo debut FACE open at No. 1. The set sold 124,000 copies in its first week – the third-largest sales week of 2023.

Like many K-pop releases, the CD edition of FACE was issued in collectible CD packages (five total, including exclusives for Target and the Weverse webstore) each containing a standard set of items and randomized elements (photo cards and postcards). It was also available as a standard digital download album, plus two alternative cover digital download variants that were sold exclusively through his official webstore. 79% of FACE’s first-week sales were CDs, while the remaining 21% were digital album downloads. It was not released in any other format (vinyl, cassette, etc.).

Lana Del Rey’s Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales with 87,000 copies sold. Of that sum, physical sales comprise 81,000 (58,500 vinyl LPs, 20,500 CDs and 2,000 cassettes) and digital download album sales comprise 6,000.

The album’s robust vinyl sales mark the largest week for a vinyl album in 2023 and Del Rey’s best sales week on vinyl ever. It debuts at No. 1 on the Vinyl Albums chart.

Did You Know was issued in six vinyl variants: a standard black vinyl, a picture disc and four color vinyl editions (pink, green, red and white) all with different covers, exclusive to Amazon, independent retailers, Target and her webstore, respectively. Did You Know was also issued in nine CD iterations (a standard edition, four with alternative covers, and four deluxe boxed sets exclusive to her webstore containing either a T-shirt and a CD or a hoodie and a CD). Del Rey even dropped the album on cassette tape — in five different color variants (black, white, pink, green and red).

Fall Out Boy’s So Much (for) Stardust starts at No. 3 on Top Album Sales with 49,000 sold. Physical sales comprise 42,000 (21,000 vinyl LPs, 20,000 CDs and 1,000 cassette tapes) and digital download album sales comprise 7,000.

Stardust was supported by a hefty number of physical formats – one standard CD, two cassettes, nine stand-alone vinyl LPs in assorted colors, eight deluxe vinyl boxed sets (each containing a different color vinyl LP and branded merchandise) and 11 deluxe CD boxed sets (seven containing a CD edition of the album and branded merch — and four consisting of an autographed CD along with merch).

Luke Combs’ Gettin’ Old bows at No. 4 on Top Album Sales with a little over 32,000 sold. It was available in eight physical editions – two CDs (a standard version and a signed edition exclusive to his webstore), five vinyl LPs (standard black, a deluxe black edition containing a slipmat [either signed or unsigned, exclusive to his webstore], an opaque white-colored edition exclusive to Amazon and a blue-colored edition exclusive to Walmart), and a red-colored cassette tape.

Depeche Mode’s new Memento Mori rounds out the all-debuts top five on Top Album Sales, as the veteran band’s latest studio set enters at No. 5 with 29,000 copies sold. Physical sales comprise 21,000 of that sum (11,500 CDs, 9,000 vinyl LPs and about 500 cassette tapes) and digital download album sales comprise 8,000. The album was available in three vinyl variants (a standard black edition as well as a clear version and red-colored pressing), two CD editions (a version with enhanced packaging, as well as a standard edition) and one cassette tape.

Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time is pushed down 4-6 on Top Album Sales, though with a gain, as it sold 17,000 (up 36%) – following the release of its vinyl LP. It sold 8,000 copies on vinyl during the tracking week. TWICE’s former No. 1 Ready to Be: 12th Mini Album falls 2-7 with 16,000 sold (down 46%).

Two former chart-toppers close out the top 10, as Taylor Swift’s Midnights drops 3-9 with 12,000 (down 1%) and TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: Temptation dips 6-10 with 11,000 (up 1%).

In the week ending March 30, there were 2.197 million albums sold in the U.S. (up 19.9% compared to the previous week). Of that sum, physical albums (CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, etc.) comprised 1.803 million (up 20.8%) and digital albums comprised 394,000 (up 15.7%).

There were 791,000 CD albums sold in the week ending March 30 (up 26.1% week-over-week) and 997,000 vinyl albums sold (up 16.7%). Year-to-date CD album sales stand at 8.343 million (up 2.5% compared to the same time frame a year ago) and year-to-date vinyl album sales total 11.529 million (up 26.4%).

Overall year-to-date album sales total 24.638 million (up 8.7% compared to the same year-to-date time frame a year ago). Year-to-date physical album sales stand at 20 million (up 15.1%) and digital album sales total 4.639 million (down 12.2%).

06 Apr 2023

Billie Eilish Dishes the Assist on Labrinth’s ‘Never Felt So Alone’: Stream It Now

Billie Eilish, the superstar, alternative pop-phenomenon, is on featured-artist duty for Labrinth‘s latest release, “Never Felt So Alone.”

Dropping at the stroke of midnight, the single credits Eilish and her producer brother Finneas as composer and lyricists.

Eilish’s unmistakable dreamy vocals flow in the background of this mid-to-slow tempo track, as she recites the track’s title.

Labrinth, the British artist and producer (real name: Timothy McKenzie), had teased the tune earlier in the week, with a trailer that had many wondering if it could really, truly, actually be Billie Eilish on the mic.

It is.

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“Never Felt So Alone” was featured in Euphoria‘s second season, but had remained unreleased since the show’s latest installment dropped on HBO Max last year.

The collaboration didn’t appear from out of nowhere. Labrinth was one of Eilish’s special guests during one of her hometown shows at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles last December. The two teamed up that night for a live performance of, you guessed it — “Never Felt So Alone.”

Eilish is anything but a vocal gun-for-hire. The Labrinth collaboration is just her third guest appearance, after 2018’s “Sirens” with Denzel Curry and JID; and 2020’s “Sunny” with her own brother.

The “Bad Guy” singer has two full length albums to her name, 2019’s When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?, and 2021’s Happier Than Ever, both of which reigned over albums charts everywhere. Along the way, she became just the the second artist in Grammy Awards history to win all four of the Big Four categories, and became the youngest artist to write and perform a James Bond theme, “No Time to Die,” aged just 18.

Stream “Never Felt So Alone” below.

06 Apr 2023

Suga Unveils ‘People Pt.2’ Featuring IU: Listen

It’s finally here! Fans are getting their first taste of Suga‘s upcoming album D-Day with “People Pt. 2,” featuring IU, released on Friday (April 7).

“People Pt.2” serves as the follow-up to Suga’s “People,” which originally appeared on the BTS rapper’s second mixtape, D-2. It’s also hardly the first time the BTS superstar has teamed up with IU, who released her track “Eight” in 2020 with Suga on vocals and song production.

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The new song also serves as the lead single from Suga’s debut solo album, D-DAY, which arrives on April 21 under the name Agust D.

D-DAY marks the final release of the rapper-dancer’s mixtape trilogy. Suga’s debut mixtape, Agust D, arrived in 2016, highlighting his hardcore rap and underground influences with help from writer-producers Slow Rabbit, June, Pdogg and Supreme Boi. The BTS star followed up with 2020’s D-2 mixtape, which charted at No. 9 on the Top Rap Albums chart and No. 11 on the Billboard 200.

Listen to “People Pt. 2” below.

06 Apr 2023

Drake Unleashes ‘Search & Rescue’: Listen

Drake surprised fans on Thursday (April 6) by revealing that his newest track, “Search & Rescue,” will be arriving just a day later. On Friday (April 7), he delivered the spicy track.

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Drake teased a portion of the song — which was then thought to be titled “Rescue Me” — during The Fry Yiy Show on his SiriusXM Radio station Sound 42 late last week. The track features audio of Kim Kardashian talking about her relationship with ex-husband Kanye West in the E! series finale of Keeping Up With the Kardashians in 2021. “I didn’t come this far, just to come this far and not be happy, remember that,” she says in the sample.

Drizzy teamed up with two producers for “Search & Rescue”: BNYX, who has worked with Coi Leray and Yeat on recent tracks, and Sadpony, who produced Drake’s “Jumbotron Sh– Poppin” collaboration with 21 Savage, which appeared on 2022’s Her Loss.

Listen to “Search & Rescue” below.

06 Apr 2023

Kanye West Sued by Ex-Donda Academy Teachers for Wrongful Termination, Racial Discrimination

Running a school is no walk in the park — a lesson Kanye West is learning the hard way.

Former Donda Academy teachers Cecilia Hailey and her daughter, Chekarey Byers, are suing West (now known as Ye) and his Simi Valley private school for wrongful termination, discrimination and unlawful withholding of wages, among other allegations, according to a complaint filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday (April 5).

According to a press release put out by the plaintiffs’ law firm, West Coast Employment Lawyers, the Christian school allegedly “violated education, health and safety codes, terminated educators based on race and retaliation, and failed to fully pay teachers.” Donda Academy directors Brianne Campbell, Allison Tidwell and Chris Julian are also named as defendants.

The complaint, obtained by Billboard and filed by attorneys Ronald L. Zambrano and Melineh Jingozian, claims the pre-K through 12th-grade school boasted a number of unusual rules and restrictions, allegedly demanded by West. They include not allowing common items such as crossword puzzles, coloring sheets, eating utensils, colorful clothing, dinnerware, jewelry, chairs and Nike or Adidas branded clothing. Students were also allegedly not allowed on the second floor of the school because West was “reportedly afraid of stairs” and also not allowed outside, instead forced to spend their lunch/recess time indoors.

The complaint further alleges that the only meal available to students was sushi and that they were not allowed to bring food from home. Byers and Hailey additionally accuse the school of turning a blind eye to “severe bullying,” including physical violence.

In the complaint, Hailey and Byers are identified as the only female African-American teachers at the school — something they say led to stereotyping and coded language from Donda Academy administrators. “I’m just tired of the rhetoric being that Black women who are competent are seen as aggressive,” Hailey said in a statement.

The complaint goes on to state that when Hailey expressed interest in reaching out to West, she was told not to. Both teachers also claim that their paychecks were “untimely or inaccurate,” with some never arriving and others reportedly short by up to $2,700.

“No action was taken to remedy plaintiffs’ complaints regarding sanitation, health, safety or education standard pursuant to local and state law, which plaintiffs made throughout the entirety of their employment,” the complaint reads. Hailey and Byers were ultimately terminated from the school in March, allegedly without explanation.

Hailey and Byers are asking for damages including unpaid wages, loss of earnings, deferred compensation and other employment benefits; general damages, including for “emotional distress”; other special damages, including “reasonable medical expenses”; punitive damages; prejudgment interest on lost wages and benefits; and costs of bringing the suit.

“We’re standing up because it’s the right thing to do,” Hailey continued in her statement. “This is not about trying to defame a celebrity. This is about the right thing to do for these children.”

“While his vision for the school sounds great on paper, it’s just pure chaos and mutiny,” Byers added.

Representatives for West and Donda Academy did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s requests for comment.

Donda Academy — named after West’s late mother, Donda West — was founded last year. In October, there were reports of the school shutting down, but it is now accepting applications for the 2023-24 school year.

06 Apr 2023

Quinn XCII Says His Imposter Syndrome Was Real During ‘Corden’ Performance: ‘Why Are You Guys Here for Me?’

Even those who appeared to have “made it” often feel like they don’t belong amid the spoils of their success.

Indeed, imposter syndrome is something many artists grapple with, and singer/songwriter Quinn XCII is no different. The artist (whose name is pronounced “Quinn 92”) recently sat down with Billboard News to discuss the phenomenon and more.

“I definitely had it at Corden, for sure,” he says of his appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden earlier this year. “I think Corden was a moment where I was really self-reflective of like ‘Why are you guys here for me?’ … But I think it’s beautiful, though, because you have those sort of stop-and-smell-the-roses moments of reflection, and I think we need more of that.”

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The Michigan-born, Los Angeles-based artist also discusses his latest album, The People’s Champ, his fifth album in six years, released Jan. 27 via Republic Records.

“I’ve noticed quite a bit more that strangers have been put on to my music,” he says. “I don’t know if that’s just persistence in making five albums, but it’s been great seeing the fans who have been with me since day one liking it, but also these new people who are coming to my music for the first time.”

He says the reason behind such a prolific numbers of albums over a short period of time is the therapeutic qualities that making music has for him. “Even if i’m just off the heels of a recent album, I’m ready to get back into album-making mode,” he says, “simply because it’s good for me.”

Four of Quinn XCII’s albums have charted on the Billboard 200, with From Michigan With Love reaching No. 90 in 2019, A Letter to My Younger Self hitting No. 56 in 2020, Change of Scenery II going to No. 69 in 2021 and The People’s Champ hitting No. 180 this past February.

06 Apr 2023

A Taylor Swift Cardboard Cutout In the U.K. Is Getting Auctioned for Charity

A life-sized cardboard cutout of Taylor Swift became a popular fixture in Cornbrook, England, as it was on display of an apartment building near the Metrolink stop since 2017.

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However, the apartment owner Red Redmond is moving out and now auctioning the affectionately called “Tram Taylor,” for a good cause. In memory of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey, a transgender girl who was stabbed to death in February in Culcheth Linear Park, proceeds for the sale will go to Mermaids, a British charity and advocacy organization that supports gender variant and transgender youth.

Redmond told BBC that Ghey’s death had a “big impact” on them, which is what inspired the decision to auction the cut-out.

Swift hasn’t publicly revealed if she’s aware of the auction, but the star is known for responding to fans. Last week, the superstar made a young Swiftie’s dream come true during The Eras tour stop in Las Vegas, when a seven-year-old named Bella set out on a mission to send her favorite singer a letter.

Her mother, Gina Lanzino, detailed the situation on TikTok. Upon arriving to the venue, Lanzino explained that Bella got an opening to have her letter delivered to Swift when she approached an usher, who agreed to try his best and deliver the note. Then, during the show, Bella and her mother receive a major update.

“We were about halfway through the show when some people came to our box and they were asking for Bella. I had actually forgot about the letter by that time, and I said, ‘That’s my daughter, what’s going on?’ And they say, ‘We wanted to give this to you,’ and it was the letter Bella gave to Taylor and she [Taylor] signed it. She [Bella] did write her section number on the back, but I really didn’t ever in a million years think that this was going to get returned to her. They filmed my daughter getting the letter back because they wanted to pass it back to Taylor.”

06 Apr 2023

Troy Ave “Real Eyes Recognize Real Lies,” Reason “At It Again” & More | Daily Visuals 4.6.23

HipHopWired Featured Video

Sprinklez New York Takeover

Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty

For the past few days Troy Ave and Maino have unexpectedly been going back-and-forth on social media and while Troy continues to get slandered for taking the stand in the Taxstone case as well he’s decided to address all the situations in his latest drop.

In his new visuals to “Real Eyes Realize Real Lies,” Troy imagines himself as both a courtroom judge and prisoner of the state as he talks about the hate and betrayal he’s received from his old friends and rap peers without naming names on the record. Only reason we know who he’s talking about is because he put their names next to the title of the song on YouTube. Go figure.

Meanwhile out in the West Coast, Reason looks to put TDE on his back and in his clip for “At It Again” rolls through the streets of LA while checking in on his peoples and stopping for a minute to get a quick shapeup by a thick young lady on a stoop. She must be good to not need a barber’s chair. Just sayin.’

Check out the rest of today’s drops including work from Money Man & Peezy, MadeinTYO, and more.

TROY AVE – “REAL EYES REALIZE REAL LIES”


https://youtube.com/watch?v=GNub_Z9G-cw&version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en-US&autohide=2&wmode=transparent

REASON – “AT IT AGAIN”



MONEY MAN & PEEZY – “LATEST GEN”



MADEINTYO – “JAZZY”



MOZZY – “FREE ALL THE LIFERS”



BIG BOOGIE – “MIND FRAME”



SCAR LIP – “THIS IS NEW YORK”



SUTTON – “WRONG”



06 Apr 2023

HARDY Leads 2023 AIMP Nashville Country Awards Winners

The Association for Independent Music Publishers celebrated the 2023 AIMP Nashville Country Awards on Wednesday at Music City’s Ryman Auditorium. Songwriting luminaries Bob DiPiero and Craig Wiseman hosted the Spotify-sponsored event, which honored Nashville’s independent songwriters and music publishers.

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“It is great to gather the independent publishing community once again at the Ryman,” Ree Guyer, President, AIMP Nashville Chapter, said via a statement. “We are fortunate to feel the love and support for one another in the room.”

The coveted song of the year honor went to Chris Stapleton’s “You Should Probably Leave,” written by Stapleton, Ashley Gorley and Chris DuBois. Round Hill Music was named publisher of the year, while Michael Hardy (HARDY) was a double winner, picking up artist-writer of the year and songwriter of the year.

Meanwhile, the rising songwriter of the year honor went to SMACKSongs’ Ryan Beaver and the rising artist-writer of the year honor went to Big Loud Publishing’s ERNEST.

The most-streamed song of the year honor went to “Wasted on You” (writers: Morgan Wallen, Ernest Keith Smith, Josh Thompson, Charlie Handsome), while the 2023 publisher pick of the year was a tie between “Don’t Think Jesus” (writers: Mark Holman, Jessi Alexander, Chase McGill) and “Reverse Cowgirl” (writers: Jared Scott, Joe Fox, Zak Dyer).

Warner Music Nashville co-chair/co-president Cris Lacy was honored with the 2023 song champion award, while Jody Williams, of Jody Williams’ Songs, was honored with the 2023 AIMP independent spirit award, which recognizes his significant contributions to the independent publishing and songwriting community.

“Nashville’s independent publishers are usually the first to take a chance on fresh, groundbreaking talent,” Williams said via a statement. “I’m proud to be a part of this effort and thrilled to be honored by my AIMP peers.”

This year’s performers included Jon Pardi, Tenille Arts, Corey Kent, Pillbox Patti, Meg McRee, Ashley Cooke, Jackson Dean, HARDY, Ruston Kelly, Jordan Davis, and ERNEST.

06 Apr 2023

Maggie Rogers Is Selling Tickets for Her Tour at the Box Office: ‘We’re Going Old School’

Maggie Rogers has a new plan for her upcoming tour: selling tickets in person at the box office on Friday (April 7).

“F–k bots + f-k fees. come buy a ticket in person. tomorrow only,” the indie-pop artist wrote on Instagram before directing her fans to the link in her bio for more information.

In the accompanying video, the “That’s Where I Am” singer explained the rationale for her decision. “Come buy a concert ticket like it’s 1965…Presale starts tomorrow and we’re doing things a little bit differently this time. Over the last few months, there’s been a lot of conversation about how intense ticketing fees are and how insane bot activity is, and how tough it is to just get tickets into the hands of fans.

“A lot of people, including me, are frustrated and concerned,” she continued, “and I’ve been thinking about a way to sort of give people another option. So we’re going old school. Tomorrow, you can go to your local box office and buy a ticket in person. Seems a little obvious but it’s a way to get rid of some of the fees and get tickets directly into your hands.

Rogers then added that to celebrate what she’s coined “Box Office Day,” she’ll be at New York City’s Music Hall of Williamsburg to personally sell tickets for her upcoming show at Forest Hills Stadium on July 27.

The Summer of ’23 Tour, which kicks off July 24 in Charlotte, North Carolina, will also include openers Soccer Mommy and Alvvays, which Rogers referred to as “two of my favorite bands.”

Watch Rogers’ announcement of her box office-only presale below.