USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
Mariah Carey returns at No. 1
Tuesday, December 10, 2024
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Lamar joins only Taylor Swift, Drake and The Beatles in having ranked at Nos. 1-5 in a single week. As Kendrick Lamar’s new LP, GNX, blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart,

Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” on Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings, drew 38.2 million streams (up 42%) and 24.4 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 56%) and sold 3,000 downloads (up 81%) in the U.S. Nov. 29-Dec. 5, according to Luminate. The single soars 10-1 on Streaming Songs for a 19th week on top (tying Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” for the second-longest rule in the chart’s history; Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, led for 20 weeks in 2019). “All I Want for Christmas Is You” also reenters Digital Song Sales at No. 6, following four weeks at the summit, and pushes 35-21 on Radio Songs, where it has hit a No. 11 best. Holiday hits decorate half the Hot 100’s top 10. Below Carey, Brenda Lee dances 15-2 with “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” which spent three weeks at No. 1 last holiday season, reaching the top for the first time following its 1958 release. The song totaled 35.7 million streams

(up 52%), 19.8 million in airplay audience (up 39%) and 1,500 sold (up 84%) Nov. 29-Dec. 5. Wham!’s “Last Christmas” vaults 18-3 on the Hot 100, as the 1984 single hits a new Hot 100 high, surpassing its prior No. 4 peak. It tallied 34.3 million streams (up 57%), 17.9 million in radio reach (up 20%) and 2,000 sold (up 75%) in the tracking week. Six of Wham!’s seven top 10s have now reached the top three, with the duo of George Michael (who died in 2016) and Andrew Ridgeley having previously hit the top three in 1984-86 with “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go,” “Careless Whisper” (each No. 1 for three weeks), “Everything She Wants” (No. 1, two weeks), “Freedom” and “I’m Your Man” (each No. 3); plus, the pair’s “The Edge of Heaven” hit No. 10 in 1986. Two other classic carols return to the Hot 100’s top 10: Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” (19-5) and Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas” (33-10); they have peaked at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively. The former, released in 1957, drew 33.5 million streams (up 55%) and 19.9 million airplay audience impressions (up 35%) and sold 1,000 (up 67%) in the tracking week. The latter, from 1964, collected 25.5 million streams (up 60%) and 18.7 million in airplay audience (up 30%) and sold 1,000 (up 85%). Taylor Swift's TTPD was initially released on April 19 as a standard 16-song digital download album, as well as an in array of 17-song physical configurations. Two hours after the album dropped, Swift issued an expanded 31-song edition of the album, dubbed The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology, which added 15 additional songs. However, the Anthology edition was only available as a digital download and streaming set until Nov. 29, when its CD and vinyl editions became available for purchase exclusively through Target. The Target CD and vinyl additionally boasted four bonus acoustic tracks (which were previously released in other alternative versions of the album). The announcement of Poets’ return to No. 1 comes on the same day (Dec. 8) that Swift closes her globe-trotting, stadium-filling The Eras Tour in Vancouver, after 149 dates. The retrospective trek launched in March 2023 and visited 21 countries across five continents. Of The Tortured Poets Department’s 405,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Dec. 5, traditional album sales comprise 368,000 (up 4,377%; it surges 17-1 on Top Album Sales for a ninth nonconsecutive week on top), SEA units comprise 37,000 (up 6%; equaling 48.19 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it holds at No. 9 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum (down 21%). Of TTPD’s 368,000 album sales for the week, vinyl sales comprise 191,000 (up 3,284%) and CD sales comprise 177,000 (up 7,738%), largely driven by sales from the exclusive editions sold at Target. (Digital download and cassette sales comprise a negligible sum for the week.) Poets spent its first 12 weeks on the Billboard 200 at No. 1 (charts dated May 4-July 20), fell to No. 4 for two weeks, returned to No. 1 for three more weeks (Aug. 10-Aug. 24 charts) and then departed the top slot until the latest chart. With a 16th week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, The Tortured Poets Department now solely has the third-most weeks at No. 1 among albums by women (since the list began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956). It steps past Carole King’s Tapestry, which registered 15 weeks at No. 1 in 1971. Only Adele’s 21 (24 weeks in 2011-12) and the Whitney Houston-led soundtrack to The Bodyguard (20 weeks in 1992-93) have more weeks at No. 1 among women. Kendrick Lamar’s GNX falls 1-2 on the Billboard 200 in its second week with 165,000 equivalent album units earned (down 48%). The Wicked film soundtrack dips 2-3 in its second frame, with 108,000 units earned (down 22%). The late Juice WRLD collects his sixth top five (and top 10) charting effort — the entirety of his charting releases — as The Party Never Ends debuts at No. 4. The set bows with 86,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 84,000 (equaling 123.43 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks; it debuts at No. 2 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 2,000 and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The new album was preceded by the Billboard Hot 100 chart hit “AGATS2 (Insecure)” (with Nicki Minaj), which reached No. 68 on the Nov. 30-dated chart. On the Hot Rap Songs chart, it debuted and peaked at No. 11. The Party Never Ends is the third posthumously released charting effort for Juice WRLD, who died on Dec. 8, 2019. Since his passing, he’s notched Billboard 200 entries with Legends Never Die (two weeks at No. 1 in 2020), Fighting Demons (No. 2 in 2021) and now The Party Never Ends. Sabrina Carpenter’s chart-topping Short n’ Sweet falls 3-5 on the Billboard 200 with 68,000 equivalent album units earned (down 1%), while Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft slips 5-6 with 59,000 units (though up 18%). Michael Bublé’s chart-topping Christmas returns to the Billboard 200’s top 10, jumping 12-7 with 56,000 equivalent album units earned (up 53%). 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. In the latest tracking week, of its 56,000 units, SEA units comprise 48,000 (up 59%; equaling 63.79 million on-demand official streams of its songs; it climbs 13-5 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 8,000 (up 23%; it falls 27-30 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. Chappell Roan’s The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess rises 10-8 on the Billboard 200 with 52,000 equivalent album units earned (up 23%). The legendary Bing Crosby is back in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 for the first time in nearly 64 years, as his new holiday compilation Ultimate Christmas climbs 18-9. The set earned 50,000 equivalent album units in the week ending Dec. 5 (up 59%). Of that sum, SEA units comprise 46,000 (up 62%; equaling 61.37 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks; it jumps 16-6 on Top Streaming Albums). Crosby, who died in 1977, was last in the top 10 on the Billboard 200 with his classic Merry Christmas album, which ranked at No. 9 on the Dec. 31, 1960-dated chart. It had previously spent a week at No. 1 on Jan. 6, 1958-dated chart. Rounding out the top 10 of the latest Billboard 200 is Tyler, The Creator’s chart-topping Chromakopia, falling 4-10 with 49,000 equivalent album units earned (down 19%).

Record Of The Month
'Tu Boda' is the second collab between Mexican musician Óscar Maydon and American
regional Mexican band Fuerza Regida and it's a massive success in Latin America.
It was met with criticism for its lyrics, specifically the lyric reading, "Quiero manchar el vestido
blanco de rojo" ("I want to stain the white dress red"), which were suspected to promote femicide.

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
Five weeks at the top for Gracie Abrams
Monday, December 9, 2024
by Alan Jones, London
 
Band Aid and Wham! both topped sales flashes but Gracie Abrams unexpectedly fought a successful rearguard action and is No.1 for the fifth straight week with That’s So True on consumption of 48,176 units (308 digital downloads, 47,868 sales-equivalent streams). In so doing, it further extends to

31 weeks (out of 48) in 2024, and 15 weeks in a row that the No.1 song has been by a female soloist. On the Top 200 Combined Tracks, where ACR is not a thing, Christmas songs occupy the top five positions, with That’s So True ranking sixth. With a new 2024 Ultimate Mix marking the 40th anniversary of its first release, Do They Know It’s Christmas explodes 45-8 (28,289 sales) for Band Aid. The original version of Do They Know It’s Christmas topped the chart in 1984, as did a Band Aid II version in 1989, Band Aid 20 in 2004 and Band Aid 30 in 2014 The physical and digital EP versions of the new release include the 40th anniversary edition, and all of the others apart from Band Aid II. Selling 4,990 CDs, 2,438 12-inch vinyl singles, Do They Know It’s Christmas tops their individual format charts this week. Elsewhere in the Top 10, Christmas-related repertoire fills a further five places, with climbs for Last Christmas (8-2, 42,921 sales) by Wham!, All I Want For

Christmas Is You (10-5, 36,274 sales) by Mariah Carey, Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree (20-6, 31,258 sales) by Brenda Lee, Merry Christmas (31-9, 25,593 sales) by Ed Sheeran & Elton John and Jingle Bell Rock (30-10, 24,649 sales) by Bobby Helms. While Merry Christmas is in the Top 10 for the fourth year in a row since release for John & Sheeran, the latter’s new Christmas song – Under The Tree from the new Netflix Christmas fantasy That Christmas – is reluctant to take off. On its first full week on release, it secures consumption of 7,707 units, enough only for No.92. Completing the Top 10: Apt (3-3, 39,574 sales) by Rosé & Bruno Mars, Sailor Song (2-4, 36,765 sales) by Gigi Perez and Defying Gravity (7-7, 30,753 sales) by Cynthia Erivo & Ariana Grande. It is the fifth week in a row that Apt has ranked third, and the third week in a row its consumption has reached a new high. Overall singles consumption exceeds 31m. units for the first time, climbing 4.17% week-on-week to 31,379,348 units, 8.25% above same week 2023 consumption of 28,987,143 units. Paid-for sales are up 7.57% week-on-week at 288,143, 2.78% above same week 2023 sales of 280,347. Thirty-two weeks after it debuted at No.1, and 22 weeks after it last topped the charts, The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) surges 16-1 for Taylor Swift, with a 320.95% increase in consumption week-on-week to 23,047 units, following the first-time release of physical formats of its The Anthology edition. With 35 tracks, including four acoustic bonus songs not hitherto released physically, The Anthology edition accounted for the vast majority of the 7,497 CDs and 10,622 vinyl albums that TTPD sold in the latest frame, the remainder of its consumption coming from 27 digital downloads and 4,901 sales-equivalent streams. Achieving its highest weekly consumption for 28 weeks, TTPD extends its already huge lead atop the year-to-date album rankings, raising its cume to 744,761 units – more than its nearest two rivals (The Highlights By The Weeknd [383,038 Units]and Short n’ Sweet by Sabrina Carpenter [330,115 units]) combined. It is way ahead on vinyl and sales-equivalent streams but trails on both CD and digital downloads to Coldplay’s Moon Music. For the 2020s, TTPD ranks 20th, with The Highlights by The Weeknd at No.1 (1,214,021 sales). Never charting lower than No.18 so far, TTPD has racked up nine weeks at No.1, three more than any album in the 2020s, making the largest single contribution to Swift’s 25 weeks at the summit (9.69% of 258 that have elapsed) this decade. This Sunday (December 8), it will be five years since Chicago rapper Juice Wrld’s death. He had released three studio albums at the time (including a mixtape collaboration with Future), but that total rises to six with his latest posthumous release, The Party Never Ends, which debuts at No.5 on consumption of 9,422 units, despite being released only digitally. Including after the fact collaborations with Nicki Minaj, Eminem, Kid Laroi and Offset, among others, it is his third Top 10 album. Juice Wrld’s first album, 2018’s Goodbye & Good Riddance, made its first appearance in the Top 75 for 79 weeks last week, and now climbs to its highest position for 178 weeks, at No.53 (2,851 sales). Despite being his joint lowest-peaking album – No.23, same as Future collaboration Wrld On Drugs – Goodbye & Good Riddance is his most-consumed title, with a to-date tally of 509,847 units. Michael Bublé’s perennial Christmas has been a seasonal visitor to the top tier ever since being released in 2011, only falling short of the Top 10 in 2015, when it stopped at No.12. No such impediment this year, as it surges 17-4 (10,001 sales) to achieve its 59th week in the Top 10. Six of those weeks have been at No.1 – three in 2011 and one apiece in 2020, 2022 and 2023. The rest of the Top 10: Short n’ Sweet (3-2, 13,619 sales) by Sabrina Carpenter, GNX (1-3, 13,473 sales) by Kendrick Lamar, Brat (5-6, 9,375 sales) by Charli XCX, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess (6-7, 8,279 sales) by Chappell Roan, +--=÷× Tour Collection (7-8, 8,203 sales) by Ed Sheeran, The Highlights (8-9, 7,039 sales) by The Weeknd and From Zero (4-10, 7,018 sales) by Linkin Park. Overall album sales are up 6.54% week-on-week at 2,823,031 units, their highest level thus far in the 2020s, and 9.65% above same week 2023 sales of 2,574,496. They were last higher nearly six years ago, in week 51 of 2018 (311 weeks ago) when they were 3,228,818. Physical product accounts for 584,336 sales, their highest level for 53 weeks, and 20.70% of the total.