CHART STORY: THE TABLE IS SET

This week’s charts are split, as alternative R&B songstress Solange takes top honors on the Sales Plus Streaming (SPS) Chart and the indie alt/folk trailblazers of Bon Iver rule on the Album Sales Chart.

Solange’s A Seat at the Table (Columbia) debuted at #1 at SPS with 72k, while Bon Iver’s 22, A Million (Jagjaguwar) followed at #2 there with 69k.

The tables are turned on the Album Sales Chart, however, where a 57k bow puts 22, A Million at #1, and with 46k, A Seat at the Table takes #2.

Two other new ones—by veteran artists—made the SPS Top 15, as Van Morrison’s Keep Me Singing (Caroline) bowed at #8 with 26k and Bob Weir’s Blue Mountain (Legacy/Columbia) bowed at #15 with 20k. Harvest’s BANKS debuted just outside at #16 with 19k for The Altar.

However, the Album Sales Chart’s Top 15 saw a total of nine debuts, with Van Morrison at #4, Bob Weir at #5, Oh Boy’s John Prine’s at #6, Sire’s Regina Spektor at #9, BANKS at #11, ATO’s Drive-By Truckers at #12 and Nuclear Blast’s Opeth at #14.

Getting back to SPS, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ The Getaway (Warner Bros.) soared up the chart, going #19-4 with approximately 45k (a 506% spike), thanks in large part to ticket-bundle redemptions. On a loosely related note, over at HITS, we’ve been soaring up and down the hallway in our office chairs, thanks in large part to weed.

Sale pricing also sparked a lot of chart movement this week. Discounted to $6.99 at iTunes, Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman (Republic) went #9-7 and Sia’s This Is Acting (Monkey Puzzle/RCA) went #20-13. Also priced at $6.99 by the DSP giant, Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams (Parlophone) jumped #44-36 and Panic! at the Disco’s Death of a Bachelor (Crush/DCD2) jumped #39-37.

blink-182’s California (BMG) re-entered the chart at #24, powered by a $7.99 iTunes sale and a 99-cent Google Play look.

The Lumineers’ Cleopatra (Dualtone) also re-entered the chart. Following a talked-about Kimmel performance, a sold-out Hollywood Bowl show and the launch of second single “Cleopatra,” the album saw a 51% SPS bump and returned at #48.

Streeting this week are albums from Warner Bros.’ Green Day, Blue Note’s Norah Jones, Republic’s Phantogram, Interscope’s OneRepublic and Hopeless’ Sum 41.

Speaking of hopeless, does anyone know how many tequila shots it takes before this whole “Lyor as YouTube Head of Music” thing makes sense? Just wondering.