USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
'Die With A Smile' spends second week at No.1
Tuesday, January 14, 2025
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” notches a second week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. A week earlier, the ballad about flashing pearly whites just before reaching the

pearly gates became Gaga’s sixth Hot 100 leader and Mars’ ninth. With the coronation, Gaga joined the elite company of Janet and Michael Jackson as the only artists with multiple Hot 100 No.1s in three distinct decades, with Gaga now boasting two leaders each in the 2000s, ‘10s and ‘20s. “Die With a Smile,” on Interscope /Atlantic, totaled 61.8 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 4% week-over-week), 28 million official streams (up 3%) and 5,000 sold (down 8%) in the United States Jan. 3-9. The track tallies a second week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart, holds at its No. 2 high on Radio Songs and lifts 4-3 on Digital Songs Sales, which it led for two weeks. Notably, “Die With a Smile” is Lady Gaga’s second Hot 100 No. 1 duet ballad, following “Shallow,” with Bradley Cooper. The latter, from the movie A Star Is Born, starring the pair, led for a week in March 2019. Gaga is just the second artist to top the Hot 100 with two duet

ballads between a male and female soloist and no other billed acts. Ariana Grande initiated the honor via “Stuck With U” with Justin Bieber, in May 2020, and “Die for You” with The Weeknd (after she joined for its remix), in March 2023. Morgan Wallen’s “Smile” surges 27-4 in its second week on the Hot 100, following the first full week of tracking for the song, which arrived on Dec. 31. It drew 24.7 million streams and 2.7 million in airplay audience and sold 7,000 Jan. 3-9. “Smile” becomes Wallen’s 12th Hot 100 top 10. It’s his third consecutive stand-alone top 10, after “Love Somebody” launched at No. 1 in November and “Lies Lies Lies” debuted at its No. 7 high last July. Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” holds at No. 2 on the Hot 100, following a record-tying 19 weeks at No. 1 beginning last July. It rules Radio Songs for a 24th week (66.2 million in audience, down 3%). Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” repeats at No. 3 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2. Rosé and Bruno Mars’s “Apt.” keeps at its No. 5 Hot 100 high; Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control,” which led the Hot 100 for a week in March 2024 – and became the year’s top song – slips 4-6; and Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” is steady at No. 7, after hitting No. 3. Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Gracie Abrams’ “That’s So True” dips to No. 8 from its No. 6 best; Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” featuring Wallen, backtracks 8-9, following six weeks at No. 1 beginning upon its debut last May; and Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” descends 9-10, after reaching No. 3. Lil Baby collects his fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart, all tallied consecutively, as Wham opens atop the chart dated Jan. 18. The set earned 140,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Jan. 9, according to Luminate. The rapper previously topped the list with his last three releases: It’s Only Me (2022), The Voice of the Heroes (with Lil Durk, 2021) and My Turn (2020). Of Wham’s 140,000 first-week equivalent album units, SEA units comprise 90,000 (equaling 119.77 million on-demand official streams of the streaming version of the album’s songs; the set debuts at No. 3 on the Top Streaming Albums chart), album sales comprise 50,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS starts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 122,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 113,500 (equaling 152.16 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 17 songs; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 8,000 and TEA units comprise 500. The album was only available as a standard 17-song set via streaming services and to purchase as a digital download (also discounted to $4.99 in Bad Bunny’s official webstore and the iTunes Store). Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS is his seventh top 10-charting set. Bunny’s album was released on an off-cycle Sunday (Jan. 5) and, thus, it arrives on the chart with only five days of activity (as the chart’s tracking week runs Friday through Thursday). The album’s release date was announced on Dec. 25. DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS was preceded by a pair of entries from the album on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart: “EL CLúB” and “PIToRRO DE COCO.” Three former No. 1s follow on the Billboard 200: SZA’s SOS falls 1-3 on the (113,000 equivalent album units earned; down 13%), Kendrick Lamar’s GNX moves 2-4 (67,000; down 4%) and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet slips 3-5 (51,000; down 9%). The Wicked film soundtrack dips 4-6 (45,000 equivalent album units; down 7%); Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft falls 5-7 (43,000; down 5%); Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 8 (40,000; down 1%); Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us is steady at No. 9 (38,000; down 5%); and Tyler, The Creator’s former leader Chromakopia is stationary at No. 10 (37,000; down 3%).

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)
Gracie Abrams keeps the number one spot
Monday, January 20, 2025
by Alan Jones, London
 
In the tightest top three in more than two years, That’s So True by Gracie Abrams is No.1 for the third week in a row, and the eighth week in total, with consumption rising 2.98% week-on-week to 50,584 units (536 digital downloads and 50,048 sales-equivalent streams) – its highest level for eight weeks.

It continues to be followed by Apt (2-2, 49,759 sales) by Rosé & Bruno Mars and Messy (3-3, 49,468 sales) by Lola Young, both of which register double digit percentage increases in consumption to new highs. The margin of 1,116 units between No.1 and No.3 is the smallest since 9 December 2022 (110 weeks ago), when All I Want For Christmas Is You (44,797 sales) by Mariah Carey led from Escapism (43,895 sales) by Raye feat. 070 Shake and Last Christmas (43,685 sales) by Wham!. The Top 3 range that week was thus 1,112 units, the smallest since 2007. Nine weeks after it debuted and peaked at No.12, Nice To Meet You becomes the second Top 10 hit thus far for Bedfordshire singer/songwriter Myles Smith, powering 13-6, with consumption growing 36.11% to 22,839 units, after he performed it and chatted on BBC1’s Graham Norton Show last Friday (January 10). Meanwhile, Sabrina Carpenter’s Bed Chem – which peaked at No.6 –

rebounds 12-10 (19,772 sales), returning to the Top 10 after an absence of eight weeks, with 1,371 of those sales coming from its newly released 7-inch vinyl format. Increasing consumption for the 10th week in a row to its highest level yet, Chrystal’s debut hit The Days bounces 6-5 (30,987 sales), returning to the peak it first scaled a fortnight ago. Teddy Swims continues to have two Top 10 hits, with The Door (7-7, 21,887 sales) and Bad Dreams (9-9, 20,999 sales). Lose Control (23-27, 12,583 sales) completing his trio of concurrent hits under primary artist rules, meaning that Swims is in the unfortunate and unusual position of having his brand-new track, Are You Even Real – a soulful collaboration with Giveon, and the first taste of his upcoming I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy Part 2 album – being starred-out between No.47 and No.48 (9,055 sales). Completing a Top 10 in which seven songs are static and every track increased consumption: Sailor Song (4-4, 33,228 sales) by Gigi Perez and Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars’ duet, Die With A Smile (8-8, 21,304 sales). After returning to the Top 10 last week, Who now dips 5-13 (18,599 sales) for BTS star Jimin, while Defying Gravity (10-11, 19,488 sales) also exits the top tier for Cynthia Erivo feat. Ariana Grande. Overall singles consumption is up 8.13% week-on-week to 29,389,252 units, 5.10% above same week 2024 consumption of 27,962,332 units. Paid-for sales are up 12.88% week-on-week at 244,394, 9.03% below same week 2024 sales of 268,664. Some 23 weeks after it first topped the chart, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess returns to No.1 for Chappell Roan. Home to the hits Hot To Go!, Red Wine Supernova, Pink Pony Club and Casual – but not Roan’s breakthrough hit Good Luck, Babe! – the 2023 release is 26-year-old Roan’s only album to date and got off to a slow start, taking nearly six months to make the Top 75 and nine months to make the Top 10. Roan was announced as the winner of the annual BBC Sound Of… award last week. Her election to that prestigious title, and Pink Pony Club’s elevation to Tune Of The Week on BBC Radio 1 and B-list on BBC Radio 2 add up to a heap of help from the corporation, driving a 63.44% increase in consumption of The Rise And Fall…, which consequently jumps 7-1 (10,191 sales, including 556 CDs, 4,238 vinyl albums, 42 cassettes, 167 digital downloads and 5,188 sales-equivalent streams) on its 31st consecutive appearance in the Top 10. The biggest factor in its success this week, however, was the release of a new blue ‘crushed splatter’ vinyl edition, which accounted for 2,265 sales. Leading all of the week’s sales flashes, Franz Ferdinand’s first album of new material in nearly seven years, The Human Fear, was on target to earn the Glasgow-based quintet its second No.1, more than 19 years after their second album, You Could Have It So Much Better topped the chart. However, it has to settle for a No.3 debut on consumption of 8,999 units, being overtaken at the death not only by The Rise And Fall… but also by Short M’ Sweet, which is No.2 (10,087 sales) for the fourth week in a row, and the 15th time in 21 weeks since its release for Sabrina Carpenter. The Rise And Fall’s return to No.1 was despite it achieving the lowest consumption for a No.1 album for 54 weeks, and its lead over Short N’ Sweet – 104 sales - was the smallest for a No.1 over a No.2 in more than seven years – since, in fact, Michael Ball & Alfie Boe’s Together Again trumped Stereophonics’ Scream Above The Sounds 43,795 to 43,760 in the 6 November 2017 chart, 376 weeks ago. Returning to Franz Ferdinand, The Human Fear is their sixth studio album, and consists entirely of original songs penned by their 52-year-old lead singer and lead guitarist Alex Kapranos – some of them with other band members – and although its bid for No.1 ends in valiant failure, its first week consumption was 17.31% higher than the 7,671 units their last studio album, Always Ascending, registered on debut in 2018. The Human Fear is Franz Ferdinand’s seventh straight Top 10 album – their entire studio output plus 2022 compilation Hits To The Head. Contrary to the title of their last album, overall consumption of their studio albums is always descending. Their eponymous 2004 debut peaked at No.3 and has consumption of 1,314,892 copies; 2005 chart-topper You Could Have Is So Much Better has consumption of 517,437 units; 2009 No.2 set, Tonight, has consumption of 124,388 units; 2013 No.6 set Right Thoughts Right Words Right Action has consumption of 51,081 units and Always Ascending, No.6 on debut in 2018, has consumption of 19,251 units. Hits To The Head, which reached No.7, included a couple of new tracks, and has to-date consumption of 25,579 units. The rest of the Top 10: SOS (3-4, 8,644 sales) by SZA, +-=÷× Tour Collection (4-5, 7,431 sales) by Ed Sheeran, The Highlights (5-6, 7,217 sales) by The Weeknd, Diamonds (1-7, 7,056 sales) by Elton John, 50 Years: Don’t Stop (10-8, 5,920 sales) by Fleetwood Mac, Hit Me Hard And Soft (6-9, 5,776 sales) by Billie Eilish and Stick Season (9-10, 5,760 sales) by Noah Kahan. Brat – which became Charli XCX’s first platinum album last week – exits the Top 10 for the fourth time, falling 8-11, with sales of 5,555 copies raising its cume to 307,929. Overall album sales are up 7.06% week-on-week at 2,417,907 units, 4.86% above same week 2024 sales of 2,305,766. Physical product accounts for 273,119 sales, 11.30% of the total.