USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
'Midnights' holds no.1 for fifth week
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Taylor Swift’s Midnights logs a fifth week atop the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Dec. 10), while a flurry of holiday albums jingles in the top 10. Midnights earned 151,000

equivalent album units in the tracking week ending Dec. 1 in the U.S. (down 15%), according to Luminate. The last Swift album with more weeks at No. 1 is Folklore, which notched eight nonconsecutive weeks atop the list in 2020. Since then, she’s claimed four more chart-topping albums: Evermore (four weeks at No. 1 in 2020-21), Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (two weeks, 2021, Red (Taylor’s Version) (one week in 2021) and Midnights (five weeks so far). Of Midnights’ 151,000 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 89,000 (down 24%, equaling 117.93 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 60,000 (up 5%) and SEA units comprise 2,000 (down 6%). Five former No. 1s are Nos. 2-6 on the latest Billboard 200 chart. Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss holds at No. 2 (93,000 equivalent album units earned; down 22%, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti is stationary at No. 3 (52,000 units; down 7%), Bublé’s Christmas

climbs 10-4 (47,000 units; up 55%), Lil Baby’s It’s Only Me falls 4-5 (43,000 units; down 10%) and Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album dips 5-6 (40,000 units; down 3%). The Weeknd’s compilation The Highlights descends 6-7 with 40,000 units (up 2%). Cole’s The Christmas Song rises 18-8 with 36,000 equivalent album units (up 58%). The album, which includes such seasonal favorites like the title track and “O Holy Night,” peaked at No. 6 two holiday seasons ago, on the Jan. 2, 2021-dated chart. Harry Styles’ chart-topping Harry’s House falls 8-9 with 35,000 units (up 5%). Guaraldi Trio’s A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack jumps 17-10 with 33,000 units (up 45). The seasonal set peaked at No. 6 nearly a year ago on the Jan. 1, 2022-dated list. Taylor Swift‘s “Anti-Hero” rules the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart for a sixth week, encompassing its entire run on the ranking so far. The single is just the 10th in the Hot 100’s history to have spent its first six weeks on the chart at No. 1. In the Nov. 25-Dec. 1 tracking week, “Anti-Hero,” released on Republic Records, tallied 68.9 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 6%), 20.9 million streams (down 19%) and 13,000 sold (up 15%), according to Luminate. The single rebounds from No. 2 for a third week at No. 1 on the Digital Song Sales chart; holds at its No. 2 high on Radio Songs; and drops 2-6 after two weeks atop Streaming Songs. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” jingles 5-2 on the Hot 100, with 30.3 million streams (up 41%), 29.8 million airplay audience impressions (up 45%, good for top Airplay Gainer honors on the Hot 100), and 5,000 sold (up 59%). It surges 3-1 for 16th cumulative week atop Streaming Songs, 14-7 on Digital Song Sales and dashes 38-23 on Radio Songs. It also crowns the multi-metric Holiday 100 chart for a 53rd week, of the chart’s 58 total frames since the list launched in 2011; it has topped the ranking for 38 consecutive weeks, dating to the start of the 2015-16 holiday season, and rules as the top title on the Greatest of All Time Holiday 100 Songs chart. Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” originally released in 1958, climbs 6-3 on the Hot 100. It has peaked at No. 2 in each of the last three holiday seasons. The song claims the Hot 100’s top Streaming and Sales Gainer awards, up 51% to 29.9 million streams and 292% to 4,000 sold, while also soaring by 30% to 26.2 million in radio reach. Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” slips 3-4 on the Hot 100, after it topped the Oct. 29-dated chart, as it leads Radio Songs for a third week (77.4 million in audience, up 8%). The late Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock,” from 1957, rises 9-5 on the Hot 100 and the late Burl Ives’ “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” from 1964, advances 10-6. The standards have reached Nos. 3 and 4 respective peaks in each of the last three holiday seasons. Drake and 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex” falls to No. 7 on the Hot 100 after spending its first three weeks on the chart at No. 2 (dating to its debut when Drake placed eight songs in the top 10 and 21 Savage, seven). The collab controls the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, which use the same methodology as the Hot 100, for a fourth week each. Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” descends 4-8 on the Hot 100, following three weeks at No. 1 in October. It concurrently tops the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Hot Rock Songs and Hot Alternative Songs charts for a 15th week each and Hot R&B Songs for a 13th frame. Andy Williams’ 1963 chestnut “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” roars 19-9 on the Hot 100; it hit a No. 5 high in the 2020 holiday season. The song’s latest week in the top 10 extends the late Williams’ record for the longest span of an artist appearing in the tier to 63 years and two months, dating to his first week in the top 10 with “Lonely Street,” on the chart dated Oct. 12, 1959. Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Wham!’s “Last Christmas” jumps 23-10; released in 1984, the song by the duo of George Michael (who died in 2016) and Andrew Ridgeley first reached the top 10 during the 2020 holidays and lifted to a No. 7 high last holiday season.

Record Of The Month
'Until I Found You' is a fantastic, old-fashioned tune with a lovely voice and an acoustic-guitar, performed by the 19 year-old American newcomer Stephen Sanchez.

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
Rapper Stormzy catapults with third album at no.1
Monday, December 5, 2022
by Alan Jones, London
 
At the end of a titanic battle for chart honours, Stormzy emerges triumphant with third album This Is What I Mean taking pole position – and becoming Britain’s 1,300th No.1 album – ahead of Cliff Richard’s Christmas With Cliff. This Is What I Mean’s first week consumption stands at 27,874 units

(13,977 CDs, 3,316 vinyl albums, 1,139 cassettes, 1,488 digital downloads and 7,954 sales-equivalent streams). Its introductory single, Hide & Seek, matches its No.7 peak this week, and is joined in the Top 20 by second single, Firebabe. Stormzy’s introductory album, Gang Signs & Prayer, sold 68,594 to debut atop the chart in 2017, while second album, Heavy Is The Head, sold 58,201 copies debuting at No.2 in 2019, reaching No.1 three weeks later. To-date consumption of Gang Signs & Prayer stands at 515,995 units, Heavy Is The Head at 432,585 units. Although Stormzy was No.1 in all of the week’s sales flashes, Christmas With Cliff was in touch throughout the week, eventually debuting at No.2 on consumption of 24,358 units – 21,976 CDs, 1,142 vinyl albums, 1,090 digital downloads and 150 sales-equivalent streams. Consisting of 13 new recordings – 10 of familiar Christmas fare and three new songs – Christmas With Cliff is Sir Cliff’s

highest-charting set since 1993, when The Album was his seventh No.1. Of course, Christmas Is Cliff may yet rise, just as his last new Christmas album, Cliff At Christmas did in 2003, when it opened at No.38 (17,454 sales), then moved to No.18 (40,051 sales) and No.10 (63,466 sales) before peaking at No.9 (82,175 sales). Cliff has now had 47 Top 10 albums, and 72 Top 75 albums over eight different decades, and was last on the chart in 2020 when Music…The Air That I Breathe, which included some new recordings and some that were previously released, debuted and peaked at No.3 on sales of 17,515 copies. The Cure are back in the Top 10 for the first time since 2004, with a newly remastered and significantly expanded 30th anniversary version of their ninth studio album and only No.1, Wish, helping the classic set to resume its chart career for the first time since 1992, re-entering at No.9 (6,541 sales). While Christmas With Cliff is the seasonal spearhead, two other albums of Christmas fare are in the Top 10 – A Family Christmas bounces 11-4 (9,961 sales) to achieve a new peak for Andrea, Matteo & Virginia Bocelli, while Silver Bells dips 4-8 (7,063 sales) for Andre Rieu & The Johann Strauss Orchestra. The rest of the Top 10: Midnights (2-3, 21,279 sales) by Taylor Swift, Only The Strong Survive (3-5, 7,430 sales) by Bruce Springsteen, = (9-6, 7,245 sales) by Ed Sheeran, Harry’s House (10-7, 7,200 sales) by Harry Styles and Diamonds (7-10, 6,515 sales) by Elton John. Overall album sales are up 5.55% week-on-week at 2,228,280, 1.39% below same week 2021 sales of 2,259,645. Physical product accounts for 551,812 sales, 24.76% of the total. Its sales consistently down every week since its debut, Anti-Hero nevertheless racks up a comparatively easy sixth week at No.1 for Taylor Swift on consumption of 44,473 units (1,573 digital downloads, 42,900 sales-equivalent streams). That is the lowest tally for a No.1 for 13 weeks. Although it has now spent three times as long at No.1 as her only previous chart-topper – 2017’s Look What You Made Me Do – Anti-Hero still ranks only 26th among Swift’s most consumed tracks with a to-date tally of 347,155. With Anti-Hero’s only runner-up hitherto – Unholy by Sam Smith & Kim Petras – tumbling 2-16 (19,169 sales) after entering ACR, Meghan Trainor’s Made You Look is able to rise for the fifth straight week, climbing 3-2 (34,756 sales). It is the first chart 1-2 for female solo vocalists since 14 January 2022 – 45 weeks ago – when Gayle and Adele held the top two slots, and the first 1-2 for US female solo vocalists since 4 December 2020 – 104 weeks ago – when Ariana Grande led from Mariah Carey. Raye’s 21st Top 75 hit, Escapism surges 31-6 (27,972 sales) on its second frame to become the 25-year-old Londoner’s fourth Top 10 entry. The track also features US rapper/singer 070 Shake on her first chart excursion. There are also new peaks within the Top 10 for Messy In Heaven (5-3, 32,904 sales) by drum & bass duo Venbee & Goddard and Psycho, which advances 6-5 (29,237 sales) for Anne-Marie & Aitch, 10 weeks after it debuted at No.16 and six weeks after first reaching its prior peak of No.6. The annual takeover of the chart by Christmas songs is now well under way, with 1994’s All I Want For Christmas Is You (18-8, 26,466 sales) by Mariah Carey and 1984’s Last Christmas (23-9, 24,690 sales) by Wham! moving into the Top 10, while a further 24 seasonal songs are in the Top 75. It is the seventh year in a row that they have made the Top 10 – but both are tracking a little behind this week last year, when Carey was already at No.3 and Wham! at No.4. Both, of course, are hampered by being on ACR – on the Top 200 tracks chart, where ACR doesn’t exist they are already No.1 and No.2, respectively, with unadjusted consumption of 52,270 units and 48,900 units. Many other Christmas tracks are also lower than they were a year ago, which suggests that they might not quite reach the heights they did last year when – at their peak - they accounted for 52 positions within the Top 75. After stalling last week at No.26, Firebabe explodes to No.11 (23,555 sales) for Stormzy. Now just shy of becoming his 14th Top 10 hit, it was helped by his performance of the track on the Graham Norton Show on BBC1 last Friday (25th November) and the streaming of newly released parent album This Is What I Mean. Stormzy’s Top 10 hit, Hide & Seek, also enjoys an updraft, rising 8-7 (27,752 sales) to return to the peak it achieved on debut six weeks ago and for the next two weeks. The album’s title track completes his triumvirate of hits eligible under primary artist rules, debuting at No.32 (12,881 sales) to become his 28th Top 40 and 41st Top 75 entry. Completing this week’s Top 10, Miss You holds at No.4 (30,697 sales) for Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz, while Rich Flex dips 7-10 (24,177 sales) for Drake & 21 Savage. Overall singles consumption is up 1.75% week-on-week at 24,473,847 units, 3.60% above same week 2021 consumption of 23,623,094 units. Paid-for sales are up 6.56% week-on-week at 299,491 – 14.66% below same week 2021 sales of 350,956.