CHART STORY: FUTURE IS #1, AND ALSO #2
Future has dethroned Future. What we mean to say is the A1/Freebandz/Epic artist’s Hndrxx has gone #1 on the HITS Sales Plus Streaming (SPS) Chart, earning approximately 117k, as his eponymous album (released a week prior) slides to #2. The latter tacks on an additional 62k this week.
Capitol Nashville’s Little Big Town, meanwhile, debuts at #4 with 52k for their seventh studio album, The Breaker. That said, it did turn out to be the #1 country album at SPS.
Two other debuts made the Top 15, as Aaron Watson’s Vaquero (Big Label) comes in at #11 with around 36k and John Mayer’s The Search For Everything: Wave Two (Columbia)—the second batch of songs from his seventh studio album, released as an EP—appears at #13 with 33k.
What about those post-Oscars bumps? RCA’s Trolls soundtrack—also affected by a $5.99 iTunes pricing—goes #9-5 with 51k, Disney’s Moana soundtrack jumps #15-8 with 39k, and the Interscope soundtrack for La La Land (you know, that movie that was Best Picture for about 180 seconds) leaps #19-9 with 16k.
When it comes to SPS marketshare, UMG leads with 45%. Then there’s SME at #2 with 34%, WMG at #3 with 18% and indies at #4 with 4%.
Over on the Album Sales Chart, the battle turned out to be much more of a nail-biter. Future edged out LBT in a squeaker, pulling in 44,019 (versus their 43,790). There, the Trolls soundtrack is #3 with 35k, Watson’s Vaquero is #4 and Mayer’s Search is #7. There’s also an additional debut in this Top 15—Prince Royce’s Five (Sony Music Latin), which earned north of 13k and can be found at #13.
Westbury Road/Roc Nation’s Rihanna, who was just named Harvard University’s Humanitarian of the Year, can also celebrate her ANTI surging #50-38. We’re jealous; the only thing we can imagine a place like Harvard awarding us with is a restraining order…
The results from the Album Sales marketshare battle look similar to the SPS rankings. There, UMG is #1 with 40%, SME is #2 with 38%, WMG is #3 with 16% and the indies follow at #4 with 7%.
Streeting this week are albums from WMG’s Ed Sheeran and RCA’s Khalid.
In political news, attorney general Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III has recused himself from the investigation of his alleged meetings with Russian officials, and has offered to serve the press corps some delicious borscht, a popular Alabama delicacy.
