USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
SZA's 'SOS' spends seventh straight week at no.1
Tuesday, January 31, 2023
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

SZA’s SOS racks up a seventh consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated Feb. 4) – the entirety of its chart run. The last album by a woman with seven weeks at No. 1 was

Taylor Swift’s Folklore, more than two years ago, as it notched its eighth and final week atop the list on the chart dated Oct. 31, 2020. Of SOS’ 111,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Jan. 26, SEA units comprise 109,500 (down 7%, equaling 148.87 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 1,000 (up 37%) and TEA units comprise 500 units (down 8%). In the last year, only three albums have spent at least seven weeks at No. 1: SOS, Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti (13 nonconsecutive weeks) and the Encanto soundtrack (nine nonconsecutive weeks). The last album by a woman with seven consecutive weeks at No. 1 was Adele’s 25, which spent its first seven weeks at No. 1 in late 2015 and early 2016 (Dec. 12, 2015-Jan. 23, 2016). 25 spent 10 total nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1. At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Taylor Swift’s former No. 1 Midnights is a non-mover with 67,000 equivalent album units

earned (down 8%). It has spent the entirety of its 14 weeks on the chart inside the top two. The last album by a woman to spend its first 14 weeks at either Nos. 1 or 2 was Swift’s own 1989, with its first 15 weeks in the top two (Nov. 15, 2014-Feb. 21, 2015). Trippie Redd notches his seventh top 10-charting effort on the Billboard 200 as Mansion Muzik debuts at No. 3 with 56,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 50,000 (equaling 68.1 million official on-demand streams of the set’s 25 tracks), album sales comprise 5,000 and TEA units comprise 1,000. Mansion Muzik is the hip-hop artist’s seventh consecutive top five-charting effort, stretching back to 2018’s Life’s a Trip, which debuted and peaked at No. 4 (Aug. 25, 2018-dated chart). HARDY hits the top 10 of the Billboard 200 for the first time as his new double album The Mockingbird & The Crow arrives at No. 4 with 55,000 equivalent album units earned – easily his best week ever in terms of units. Of the starting sum, SEA units comprise 34,000 (equaling 44.68 million official on-demand streams of the set’s 17 tracks), album sales comprise 19,500 and TEA units comprise 1,500. The half-country/half-rock project includes guest turns from Jeremy McKinnon (of A Day To Remember), Lainey Wilson and Morgan Wallen. The Mockingbird & The Crow marks the highest-debuting rock album since Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Return of the Dream Canteen entered at No. 3 (Oct. 29, 2022) and highest-bowing country album since Luke Combs’ Growin’ Up started at No. 2 (July 9, 2022). Four former No. 1s are next on the Billboard 200: Metro Boomin’s Heroes & Villains falls 3-5 (53,000 equivalent album units; down 4%), Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss dips 4-6 (46,000; down 4%), Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti falls 6-7 (41,000; down 4%) and Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album descends 7-8 (nearly 41,000; down 2%). Zach Bryan’s American Heartbreak falls 8-9 with 32,000 equivalent album units (though up 2%) and Lil Baby’s former No. 1 It’s Only Me slips 9-10 with 28,000 (down 5%). Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” holds at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, reigning for a second frame a week after it soared in at the summit, as it continues its dominance in both streaming and sales. “Flowers,” released on Smiley Miley / Columbia Records, drew 59.8 million streams (up 14%, good for the Hot 100’s top Streaming Gainer award) and 40.8 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 22%) and sold 65,000 (down 6%) in its second full tracking week, Jan. 20-26, according to Luminate (after it arrived Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. EST). The single spends a second week at No. 1 on both the Streaming Songs and Digital Song Sales charts and surges 18-11 on Radio Songs. Cyrus first announced during her Miley’s New Year’s Eve Party NBC special that “Flowers” would be released Jan. 13, which fans recognized as her ex-husband Liam Hemsworth’s birthday. That narrative and interaction on TikTok have helped grow the profile of the song, which ushers in Cyrus’ eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation, due March 10. Propelled in part by that buzz, “Flowers” boasts the greatest weekly streaming sum since Drake’s “Way 2 Sexy,” featuring Future and Young Thug, totaled 67.3 million (Sept. 18, 2021). “Flowers” is also the first song with consecutive weeks of 50 million or more streams in two years, since Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” arrived with 76.1 million and followed with 59.7 million (Jan. 23, 30, 2021). SZA’s “Kill Bill” ranks at its No. 2 Hot 100 best for a third week, with 38 million in radio reach (up 29%), 34.1 million streams (down 2%) and 2,000 sold (down 17%). It tops Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B Songs, which use the same methodology as the Hot 100, for a seventh week each. The song is from her album SOS, which adds a seventh week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” repeats to No. 3 on the Hot 100, after leading for a personal-best eight weeks; Metro Boomin, The Weeknd and 21 Savage’s “Creepin'” is steady at its No. 4 high, as it wins the chart’s top Airplay Gainer trophy (67.2 million, up 16%); and Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” keeps at No. 5, after it ruled for a week in October. David Guetta and Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue)” holds at No. 6 on the Hot 100 after reaching No. 4, as it ascends to No. 1 on Radio Songs (85 million, up 2%). Guetta claims his first Radio Songs leader (among seven top 10s), while Rexha earns her second (among four top 10s), after “Meant To Be,” with Florida Georgia Line, dominated for five weeks in 2018. (The song that “I’m Good” prominently interpolates, Eiffel 65’s “Blue [Da Ba Dee],” hit No. 6 on Radio Songs in 2000.) The Weeknd’s “Die for You” keeps at No. 7 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 6; Drake and 21 Savage’s “Rich Flex” is a non-mover at No. 8, after it reached No. 2, as it tops the multi-metric Hot Rap Songs chart for an 11th week; and Harry Styles’ “As It Was” rebounds 10-9 on the Hot 100, following 15 weeks at No. 1 beginning last April, the fourth-longest reign in the chart’s history. Rounding out the Hot 100’s top tier, JVKE achieves his first top 10, with his initial entry, as “Golden Hour” climbs 11-10 with 29.1 million in radio reach (up 4%), 14 million streams (essentially even week-over-week) and 2,000 sold (up 2%).

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)
The Reytones landing their first no.1 album
Monday, January 30, 2023
by Alan Jones, London
 
They have never had a hit single but The Reytons’ third entry to the album chart in less than 2 years, What’s Rock And Roll?, becomes their first No.1, debuting at the top on consumption of 12,252 units. The proudly independent (‘No backing. No label. All Reytons’) quartet from South Yorkshire’s coronation, the

first by an unsigned act since Central Cee’s 23 last March, follows the No.27 peak of their February 2021 EP, May Seriously Harm You And Others Around You, and their first full length album, Kids Off The Estate, which reached No.11 in November 2021. Although clearly very popular, the success if What’s Rock And Roll? is also a triumph of marketing, with headline sales of 4,131 CDs, 5,430 vinyl albums, 894 cassettes, 1,039 digital downloads and 758 sales-equivalent streams being the sum total of a plethora of variants, probably the most ever for a No.1 album. Encompassing signed editions, exclusive artwork, colour variations, gatefold sleeves and a deluxe ‘podcast’ edition of the album with commentaries on every track, there are 32 versions of the set - 16 CD, nine vinyl, five cassette and two digital. The Reytons are fronted by 37-year-old Jonathan ‘Jonny’ Yerrell, who had a No.124 single in 2011, Chasing Rainbows, as Jay Mya. Yerrell was born in Rotherham but

moved to the nearby city of Doncaster, from which The Reytons, who formed in 2017, are the third act to have a No.1 album in less than five months, following Yungblud’s eponymous September 2022 release, and Louis Tomlinson’s November 2022 set, Faith In The Future. Italian rock band Måneskin make their maiden entry into the Top 10 with third album Rush! debuting at No.5 (6,681 sales). The group previously reached No.49 with second album Teatro D’Ira Volume 1 in 2021, after one of its tracks, Zitti E Buoni, won the Eurovision Song Contest. As far as I can recall, they are the first Italian rock group to have a Top 10 album – though Milan metal band Lacuna Coil placed six albums on the chart between 2006 and 2019, all peaking in a very narrow band between No.42 and No.48. Anglo-American rock quartet Black Star Riders’ fifth album, Wrong Side Of Paradise, is their second to reach the Top 10, after 2017 third release Heavy Fire, and equals its peak, debuting at No.6 (6,346 sales). All of their albums to date have made the Top 30, with their 2013 debut, All Hell Breaks Loose, being their lowest charter (No.25) but their biggest seller (33,593 units). The rest of the Top 10: Midnights (2-2, 8,393 sales) by Taylor Swift, SOS (3-3, 8,343 sales) by SZA, The Highlights (5-4, 8,221 sales) by The Weeknd, Curtain Call: The Hits (7-7, 5,634 sales) by Eminem, = (8-8, 5,351 sales) by Ed Sheeran, Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent (10-9, 4,972 sales) by Lewis Capaldi and Diamonds (12-10, 4,822 sales) by Elton John. Overall album sales are up 1.14% week-on-week at 2,118,110, 2.14% above same week 2022 sales of 2,073,745. Physical product accounts for 281,133 sales, 13.27% of the total. Flowers continues to blossom atop the singles chart for Miley Cyrus, increasing consumption by 32.07% to 121,151 units (12,010 downloads, 109,141 sales-equivalent streams) on its second week at No.1. Her only previous No.1s – 2013’s We Can’t Stop and Wrecking Ball – each spent only one week at the summit. Bringing to an end a run of seven straight weeks in which leadership of the chart has changed hands, Flowers has the highest consumption of any track since LadBaby’s Sausage Rolls For Everyone sold 163,445 copies on debut 56 weeks ago, and is the first to record a six-figure sale since then. Flowers’ first two weeks' tally of 212,882 is the highest since Adele’s Easy On Me racked up 320,411 sales in its initial fortnight in October 2021. Easy On Me’s second week contributed 103,194 to that total, so Flowers has the highest sale for a single on its second week at No.1 since Ed Sheeran’s Shape Of You (139,595), six years ago this very week. A well-spaced Top 5 finishes in exactly the same positions as last week with Escapism by Raye (feat. 070 Shake) at No.2 (59,082 sales), Kill Bill by SZA at No.3 (44,278 sales), Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift at No.4 (34,376 sales) and Messy In Heaven by Venbee & Goddard at No.5 (29,450 sales). It is the first time there has been no movement in this portion of the chart for 14 weeks, with Andrew Goddard of the latter act the only male interloper in an otherwise all-female top five. It is the second week in a row that the top four have been all female, last week’s being the first such configuration in 216 weeks. All of the top five increase sales week-on-week. The highest by far of five debuts on this week’s Top 75 is Martin’s Sofa (No.9, 26,452 sales), a new track from London rapper Headie One. His 25th hit, it arrives four years and a week after his debut hit, 18Hunna (feat. Dave), and is already higher on the chart than any of his last 11 hits. Miguel’s viral 2010 track Sure Thing enjoys a 13.54% increase in consumption as it (and he) reaches the Top 10 for the first time (11-10, 25,548 sales). After calming down and cooling its heels at its previous peak of No.8 for three weeks, Nigerian Afrobeats star Rema’s Calm Down advances to No.6, securing its highest weekly consumption yet (28,002 units), after 39 weeks on release, 22 weeks in the Top 75 and 20 weeks in the Top 40. The rest of the Top 10: Let Go (6-7, 27,335 sales) by Central Cee and Creepin’ (7-8, 26,904 sales) by Metro Boomin feat. The Weeknd & 21 Savage. Overall singles consumption is up 1.28% week-on-week at 25,793,345 units - their highest ever level, and 7.38% above same week 2022 consumption of 24,020,119 units. Paid-for sales are up 2.95% week-on-week at 297,807 – 17.96% below same week 2022 sales of 363,016.