USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
'Like That' holds atop Hot 100
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar’s “Like That” lands a third total and consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, two weeks after it soared to the summit.

Released on Boominati / Freebandz / Republic / Epic Records, drew 40 million streams (down 13%) and 14 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 39%) and sold 3,000 (down 56%) April 5-11. The single adds a third week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart; drops 8-14 on Digital Song Sales; and debuts at No. 41 on Radio Songs. Notably, “Like That” is the first song to clear 40 million in streams in its first three weeks, after it registered 46.1 million the week before and 59.6 million in its debut week, since Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” began with 52.6 million, 59.7 million and 48 million consecutively in January-February 2023. Further, “Like That” is the first song to log any three consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in over nine months, since Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” linked 10 frames in a row on top (of 16 total) in May-July 2023. Hozier’s “Too Sweet” ascends 4-2 on the Hot 100, winning top Streaming Gainer honors (36.7 million, up 15%).

The singer-songwriter ties his prior best rank on the chart, as his breakthrough hit “Take Me to Church” peaked at No. 2 for three weeks in December 2014-January 2015. Benson Boone’s “Beautiful Things” holds at No. 3 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2, as it earns the chart’s top Airplay Gainer award for a third consecutive week (57.4 million, up 14%). Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control” rises 5-4 on the Hot 100, three weeks after becoming his first No. 1. The single likewise becomes his first leader on Radio Songs (69.7 million, up 6%). Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” slides 2-5 on the Hot 100, after it reigned for two weeks in early March. J. Cole’s “7 Minute Drill” debuts at No. 6 on the Hot 100, led by 23.4 million streams. The song is his 13th top 10 and first since Drake’s “First Person Shooter,” on which he’s featured, debuted at No. 1 in October 2023, becoming his first leader. On “7 Minute Drill,” J. Cole is widely interpreted as responding to Kendrick Lamar’s apparent disses directed at himself and Drake in Future, Metro Boomin and Lamar’s “Like That.” Days after releasing “7 Minute Drill,” J. Cole publicly apologized for the track’s arrival, explaining that it doesn’t “sit right with my spirit.” The song was removed from the streaming edition of his album Might Delete Later on April 12, one day after the end of the latest charts’ tracking week. (As of April 15, the song is still available on the set’s digital download edition.) Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Jack Harlow’s “Lovin on Me” rebounds 8-7, following, as noted above, six nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1, beginning last December; Ariana Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)” climbs 9-8, after it debuted at No. 1 in March; Future, Metro Boomin, Travis Scott and Playboi Carti’s “Type Shit” lifts 10-9, after it arrived at its No. 2 best; and Noah Kahan’s first top 10, “Stick Season,” returns to the region and its highest rank (15-10). Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter holds atop the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated April 20), after debuting at No. 1 a week ago, as the set earned 125,500 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending April 11 (down 69%), according to Luminate. Of Cowboy Carter’s second-week unit sum of 125,500, SEA units comprise 103,000 (down 54%, equaling 132.69 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), traditional album sales comprise 20,500 (down 88%) and TEA units comprise 2,000 (down 70%). While Cowboy Carter’s CD and vinyl editions were available to purchase only via Beyoncé’s official webstore in the set’s first two weeks of release, those physical configurations became widely available to all retailers beginning on April 12. (The album has also been purchasable as a digital download, widely, since its release on March 29.) At No. 2 on the Billboard 200, J. Cole’s surprise-release album Might Delete Later arrives with 115,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 105,000 (equaling 137.95 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 songs), album sales comprise 9,000 and TEA units comprise 1,000. The album was only available to stream or to purchase as a digital download. Might Delete Later was issued on April 5 without warning, and boasts collaborations with Gucci Mane, Cam’ron, Bas, Central Cee, Ari Lennox and Young Dro, among others. Might Delete Later is J. Cole’s seventh album to reach the top two rungs on the Billboard 200, after he notched six earlier No. 1s in 2011-21. He has logged one other entry on the list, with the Forest Hills Drive: Live, which hit No. 71 in 2016. Tomorrow X Together notches its fifth top 10-charting album on the Billboard 200, as Minisode 3: Tomorrow debuts at No. 3 with 107,500 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 103,500 (making it the top-selling album of the week), SEA units comprise 4,000 (equaling 5.54 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The album’s sales were supported by its availability across 17 collectible CD editions (including exclusive editions sold by Barnes & Noble, Target and the act’s webstore), all containing randomized paper merchandise (but with the same audio tracklist). With the Nos. 1-3 titles on the Billboard 200 each earning at least 100,000 equivalent album units, it’s the first time we’ve had as many albums clear 100,000 in a week since the Dec. 2, 2023-dated list. That week, Drake’s For All the Dogs jumped 4-1 with 145,000, Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) held at No. 2 with 137,000 and Dolly Parton’s Rockstar debuted at No. 3 with 128,000. Future and Metro Boomin’s chart-topping We Don’t Trust You falls 2-4 in its third week on the list, earning 99,000 equivalent album units (down 24%). The set’s sequel album, We Still Don’t Trust You, was released on April 12 and will impact next week’s chart dated April 27. Morgan Wallen’s former leader One Thing at a Time is pushed down 3-5, despite a 4% gain, with 72,000 equivalent album units earned. Benson Boone’s debut full-length studio album, Fireworks & Rollerblades, skates in at No. 6 with 58,000 equivalent album units earned. It’s the first chart entry for the singer-songwriter. Of the set’s starting sum, SEA units comprise 52,000 (equaling 70.21 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), album sales comprise 4,000 (largely from its digital download, as the set’s only physical availability was through a limited release on CD) and TEA units comprise 2,000. The album was led by the hit single “Beautiful Things” (the most-streamed song on the set), which has spent the last nine weeks inside the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart (through the list dated April 13), peaking at No. 2. Ariana Grande’s chart-topping Eternal Sunshine falls 4-7 on the Billboard 200 with 48,000 equivalent album units earned (down 17%), Noah Kahan’s Stick Season slips 7-8 (though up 2%) with 45,000 units, Olivia Rodrigo’s former No. 1 Guts dips 6-9 with 43,000 (down 13%) and SZA’s chart-topping SOS drops 9-10, though with a 1% gain, to 40,000 units.

Record Of The Month
24-year old British / Cypriote singer-songwriter Artemas Diamandis lands his first global smash
with the retro-futuristic sound collage 'I Like The Way You Kiss Me'.

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
Hozier climbs to number one
Monday, April 15, 2024
by Alan Jones, London
 
How sweet it is: Bouncing Beyonce?’s Texas Hold ‘Em (1-3, 45,999 sales) from pole position, and blocking Benson Boone’s Beautiful Things (2-2, 51,533 sales) from reclaiming it, Too Sweet becomes the first ever No.1 for Hozier. Taken from Hozier’s Unheard EP, Too Sweet jumps 4-1 with consumption

surging 46.35% week-on-week to 61,030 units (1,004 digital downloads, 60,026 sales-equivalent streams), to surpass the No.2 peak of his 2014 debut smash, Take Me To Church. A 34-year-old singer/songwriter from County Wicklow, Hozier is the first act from the Republic Of Ireland to have a No.1 single since 2006, when Westlife topped for the 14th and last time with The Rose. Before Hozier, the last Irish solo act to have a No.1 was Ronan Keating, who topped in 2002 with Tomorrow Never Comes. Full name Andrew John Hozier-Byrne, Hozier is one of seven writers of Too Sweet. Surprisingly, he is only the third solo artist born in Ireland to have a hand in writing their own No.1. The first was Gilbert O’Sullivan, who topped with Clair and Get Down – both of which he wrote in their entirety – within a 21-week purple patch at the end of 1972 and the start of 1973. The second was Enya who co-penned her 1988 No.1, Orinoco Flow. Cheers!: Too Sweet is the second

No.1 in a row with ‘whiskey’ in its lyrics, following Texas Hold ‘Em – and the Top 10’s only new entry Austin by Dasha, also mentions whiskey. After three straight weeks at No.15 – something that (appropriately) 15 songs have done before with none of them making it to four weeks – Austin takes a big upwards lurch, jumping to No.8, its consumption increasing for the seventh week in a row to 29,213 units. I Like The Way You Kiss Me continues to grow for Artemas, climbing 6-5 (41,449 sales). The 24-year-old from Oxfordshire lands his second Top 40 hit as earlier release If U Think I’m Pretty jumps 52-39 (10,339 sales). The rest of the Top 10: Lose Control (3-4, 43,909 sales) by Teddy Swims, End Of Beginning (7-6, 34,125 sales) by Djo, We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love) (5-7, 32,363 sales) by Ariana Grande plus re-entries Scared To Start (12-9, 25,415 sales) by Michael Marcagi and Stick Season (11-10, 23,745 sales) by Noah Kahan. Overall singles consumption is up 1.80% week-on-week to 28,394,107 units, 15.16% above same week 2023 consumption of 24,656,954 units. Paid-for sales are down 2.89% week-on-week at 268,313 – 0.35% below same week 2023 sales of 269,247. The Libertines’ first album in more than eight years, All Quiet On The Eastern Esplanade, is also their first No.1 for nearly 20 years, debuting atop the chart on first week consumption of 21,706 units (10,183 CDs, 8,601 vinyl albums, 370 cassettes, 1,371 digital downloads and 1,181 sales-equivalent streams). The follow-up to Anthems For Doomed Youth – which debuted and peaked at No.3 (23,620 sales) in 2015 – it returns them to the top of the chart for the first time since their eponymous second album sold 72,189 copies to open at No.1 in 2004. Their other studio set, 2002 debut Up The Bracket, sold 7,576 copies debuting and peaking at No.35. All four members of The Libertines – Carl Barât (45), Pete Doherty (45), John Halsall (43) and Gary Powell (54) – have been with the group since pre-fame, although they have disbanded and reformed on two separate occasions. That self-titled 2004 album achieved sales of 183 units in the latest frame, enough for it to become their first album to pass the half million sales mark, with to-date consumption of 500,140 units. Nearly seven years after the release of their first single, Sarajevo, indie/rock/punk band The K’s, from Earlestown in Merseyside, have finally got round to releasing an album, specifically I Wonder if The World Knows?, which makes a strong debut at No.3 (12,546 sales). The K’s members are Ryan Breslin (30, lead guitar), James Boyle (28, vocals and guitar), Dexter Baker (28, bass) and Nathan Peers (23, drums). Californian singer/songwriter Conan Gray, 25, has his highest charting album yet, debuting at No.4 (9,505 sales) with third release, Found Heaven, having reached No.30 with 2020 debut Kid Krow and No.8 with 2022 follow-up Superache. Kid Krow has to-date consumption of 76,609 units, and Superache 70,392. Gray’s only hit single, Heather – from Kid Krow - reached No.17 in 2020, and has achieved to-date consumption of 796,840 units. Rapper J Cole scores his seventh Top 40 and fourth Top 10 album with Might Delete Later (No.7, 7,933 sales). It follows consecutive No.2 albums with 2018’s KOD and 2021’s The Off-Season, both of which topped 20k first week sales here - KOD opening with 20,749 and The Off-Season with 21,050. Feeder’s 12th studio release, Black/Red, is their 15th chart album, and 11th Top 10 entry, debuting at No.8 (7,358 sales). Originally a quartet, they are currently a duo, comprising Welshman Grant Nicholas (who also writes all the songs) and Japanese colleague Taka Hirose, who have both been members of the band for more than 29 years. The rest of the Top 10: Cowboy Carter (1-2, 14,879 sales) by Beyonce, Guts (2-5, 8,669 sales) by Olivia Rodrigo, The Highlights (3-6, 8,665 sales) by The Weeknd, Eternal Sunshine (4-9, 7,182 sales) by Ariana Grande and Stick Season (5-10, 7,019 sales) by Noah Kahan. Overall album sales are up 2.11% week-on-week at 2,384,366, 15.28% above same week 2023 sales of 2,068,404. Physical product accounts for 330,121 sales, 13.85% of the total.