USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
Taylor Swift makes historic debut at No.1
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

As expected, Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department makes a gigantic debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated May 4), securing the superstar her 14th chart

topping album. She ties Jay-Z for the most No. 1s among soloists in the nearly-70-year history of the chart. Only The Beatles, with 19 No. 1s, have more. The Tortured Poets Department launches with 2.61 million equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 25, with traditional album sales (purchases of digital download albums, CDs, vinyl LPs and cassettes) comprising 1.914 million of that sum. Of that sales figure, vinyl sales represent a staggering 859,000. The collected 31 songs on the deluxe edition of the album generated 891.34 million on-demand official streams. With 1.914 million sold, The Tortured Poets Department is instantly the top-selling album of 2024, year-to-date. The second-biggest selling album, counting weekly sales from January through the present, is Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, with 228,000 copies sold in total. With a 14th No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, Swift ties Jay-Z for the most chart-toppers among

soloists. Overall, only The Beatles have more, with 19 leaders. All 14 of Swift’s full-length studio albums and rerecorded projects from 2008’s Fearless (her second album) through 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department have debuted at No. 1. The Tortured Poets Department’s collected 31 songs on its deluxe edition generated 891.37 million on-demand official streams in the week ending April 25 in the U.S. That marks the single-largest streaming week ever for an album, by total combined streams for its songs. The Tortured Poets Department sold 1.914 million copies in traditional album sales in its first week (purchases of digital downloads, CDs, vinyl LPs and cassette tapes). That marks the third-largest sales week for an album in the modern era — since Luminate began electronically tracking music sales in 1991. The Tortured Poets Department’s sales were bolstered by its availability across 19 different physical configurations (nine CDs, six vinyl LPs and four cassettes, with four of the physical configurations exclusively sold by Target stores) and two digital download offerings (the standard 16-song album, and a surprise deluxe 31-song edition that was released two hours after the original album bowed). All of the variants are itemized later in this story. Pearl Jam debuts at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 chart (dated May 4) with its latest studio album, Dark Matter, marking the 13th top 10-charting effort for the band. The set launches with a little over 59,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending April 25, according to Luminate. Of Dark Matter’s first-week sum of 59,000 units, album sales comprise 52,000, SEA units comprise 7,000 (equaling 9.33 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 11 songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. Notably, of its 52,000 sales sum, vinyl sales comprise a little over 24,000, enhanced by its availability across 12 different color vinyl variants. At No. 2 on the new Billboard 200, Future and Metro Boomin’s former leader We Don’t Trust You rises one spot with 69,000 equivalent album units earned (down 17%). Beyoncé’s chart-topping Cowboy Carter slips 2-3 with 66,000 (down 33%), and Morgan Wallen’s former No. 1 One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 4 with 64,000 (down 11%). Future and Metro Boomin’s We Still Don’t Trust You falls 1-6 with 54,000 equivalent album units earned (down 57%), Noah Kahan’s Stick Season slips 5-7 with 45,000 units (down 11%) and Benson Boone’s Fireworks & Rollerblades glides 7-8 with 40,000 units (down 8%). Rounding out the top 10 is a pair of former No. 1s: SZA’s SOS dips 8-9 with 39,000 units (down 2%) and Swift’s Lover climbs 11-10 with 37,000 (down 6%). Already the only artist ever to monopolize the top 10, in 2022, Swift makes more history thanks to her new album, The Tortured Poets Department. Taylor Swift achieves one of the most record-shattering weeks in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart – surpassing unprecedented heights that she previously set – as she claims the top 14 positions on the survey dated May 4. All 14 songs, led by “Fortnight,” featuring Post Malone, are from her new album, The Tortured Poets Department. Among other new chart feats for Swift, “Fortnight” becomes her 12th Hot 100 No. 1, as she ties for the sixth-most leaders in the chart’s archives; she ups her career count of top 10s from 49 to 59, the most among women; and she charts 32 songs – all 31 from the deluxe version of The Tortured Poets Department plus established smash “Cruel Summer” – on the latest list overall, the most ever in a single week by a woman. Swift ranks at Nos. 1 through 14 on the Hot 100, rewriting the record week that she logged on the Nov. 5, 2022-dated chart when she became the first artist to boast the entire top 10 in a single week. “Fortnight,” which arrives as the 1,170th No. 1 in the Hot 100’s 65-year history, drew 76.2 million official streams and 31.1 million radio airplay audience impressions and sold 19,000 in the U.S. April 19-25. The single soars in as Swift’s ninth leader on the Streaming Songs chart, the most among women (and second overall only to Drake’s 20), and her record-extending 29th No. 1 on Digital Song Sales. On the Radio Songs chart, it debuts at No. 14 (Swift’s second-highest entrance, after “Anti-Hero” started at No. 13). Below Swift’s tracks at Nos. 1 through 14 on the Hot 100, Benson Boone charts the highest hit, as his No. 2-peaking “Beautiful Things” falls 3-15. (When Swift claimed the entire top 10 with tracks from Midnights, Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” halted her haul, ranking at No. 11, a week after it reached No. 1.) Hozier’s “Too Sweet,” at No. 16, follows on the newest Hot 100, a week after it rose to No. 1. Future, Metro Boomin and Kendrick Lamar’s former three-week leader “Like That” is pushed down 2-17 and Teddy Swims’ former one-week No. 1 “Lose Control” backtracks 4-18, as it tops Radio Songs for a third week (69.5 million in audience, down 1%).

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's 'Too Sweet' sails to the runner-up slot
Monday, April 29, 2024
by Alan Jones, London
 
Taylor Swift simultaneously registers her 12th No.1 album, The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD), and fourth No.1 single, with lead track Fortnight (feat. Post Malone). It is her third chart double. Far out pacing the chasing pack – including all 30 of the other tracks on the album – Fortnight enjoys a terrific first

week, achieving consumption of 93,451 units (1,534 digital downloads, 91,917 sales-equivalent streams), the highest figure for a No.1 single this year. It is also the highest of Swift’s career, replacing the debut week of her introductory (2017) No.1, Look What You Made Me Do (88,247 sales). Swift’s fourth No.1, Fortnight is the second No.1 and 34th hit in all for rapper Malone, who previously reached the summit in 2017 with 21 Savage collaboration, Rockstar. Swift also bags a No.3 debut with the TTPD’s title track (60,243 sales) and a No.4 debut (59,225 sales) with Down Bad. Under primary artist rules, only the top three are allocated chart positions – but the 28 other tracks on TTPD are ‘starred-out’ between No.4 and No.32, while all are among the top 65 titles in the Top 200 Combined Tracks chart, where neither VAR or primary artist rules are in operation. Of those missing the cut, the top titles are: I Can Do It With A Broken Heart (58,271 sales), So Long

London (57,946 sales) and My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys (54,959 sales). The least popular track is Robin (14,590 sales). They all help to massively increase Swift’s already incredible career singles consumption, which rises 1,426,710 units week-on-week to 76.689,117. Although all of Swift’s albums suffer reduced consumption as TTPD takes precedence, her career album consumption is up 298,209 units week-on-week to 9,105,235 units. Its two-week run at No.1 rudely curtailed, Too Sweet slips to No.2 (66,073 sales) for Hozier. Espresso became Sabrina Carpenter’s first ever Top 10 hit last week, and continues to grow, advancing 6-5 (58,053 sales). The rest of the Top 10: Beautiful Things (2-6, 49,161 sales) by Benson Boone, I Like The Way You Kiss Me (3-7, 48,067 sales) by Artemas, Lose Control (4-8, 42,174 sales) by Teddy Swims, Texas Hold ‘Em (5-9, 36,133 sales) by Beyonce and Austin (7-10, 35,050 sales) by Dasha. Their chart positions negatively impacted by Taylor Swift’s Top 10 triple, the tracks by Boone, Artemas and Dasha nevertheless increase consumption. Overall singles consumption is up 2.22% week-on-week to 29,802,552 units - their highest ever level, and 11.72% above same week 2023 consumption of 26,677,015, units. Paid-for sales are up 15.25% week-on-week at 305,776 – 1.05% below same week 2023 sales of 309,006. Swift’s Swiftest: Exploding to a No.1 debut on consumption of 270,091 units, The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD) is off to the fastest start of any album for more than seven years, and the fastest of Taylor Swift’s career. Securing the best opening of the 2020s, it opens 32.07% above Swift’s own personal best hitherto which came in 2022, with her last album of new material, Midnights, debuted with 204,501 sales. The last album to make a bigger first impression was Ed Sheeran’s ÷ (Divide), which attracted 671,542 sales on debut in 2017. It also sold more copies than TTPD on its second week (303,520). The last album by an American act to have a bigger first week sale was Scissor Sisters’ second album, Ta-Dah, which sold 288,167 copies on debut in 2006. The previous highest weekly sale achieved by an American female solo artist in the 21st century was 245,911, set by Madonna’s 2000 release Music on its 14th week in the chart in 2000. Swift’s 15th album (including four ‘Taylor’s Versions’ re-recordings of earlier releases), TTPD is her 12th No.1. Drawing level with Madonna as the female solo artist with most No.1 albums, she is only the seventh act in chart history to have 12 No.1 albums, and the fifth solo artist. She went from 0 to 12 quickest – a little under 11 years and six months – eclipsing the 14 years and one month that elapsed between the Beatles first (Please Please Me) and 12th (At The Hollywood Bowl). She has had eight No.1 albums in the 2020s, twice as many as nearest challengers, Drake and Liam Gallagher; more in the last 10 years than any other act (11); and more in the 21st century (12) than all but Robbie Williams (13, including one with Take That). All of her No.1 albums have been studio sets, in which category, in all of chart history, she was previously tied for pole position with The Beatles, Robbie Williams, Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones, but now reigns supreme. 2024 is the sixth year in a row in which she has had at least one No.1 – a record of consistency previous only achieved by the Beatles, who did it eight years in a row (1963-1970). The role of runners-up to Swift falls to Pearl Jam, whose 12th studio album in a career spanning more than 30 years, Dark Matter (No.2, 9,835 sales), matches their previous highest chart placing as achieved by their second album, Vs in 1993 and their 10th, Lightning Bolt in 2013. In total, Dark Matter is Pearl Jam’s 16th Top 75 and 10th Top 10 entry. Celebrating 45 years of UB40, the Birmingham reggae veterans’ new album, UB45, is a blend of new songs and fresh recordings of some of their best-loved hits. Debuting at No.5 (7,381 sales), it is the 17th Top 10 and 34th Top 75 album chart entry credited to UB40. However, there are two versions of the band. This is the one with direct lineage to the original, with charter members Robin Campbell, Jimmy Brown, Norman Hassan and Earl Falconer. Their last new album prior to UB45 was Bigger Baggariddim, which reached only No.137 in 2021. The rival UB40, set up by disaffected members Ali Campbell (brother of Robin), Mickey Virtue and Astro, reached No.8 in 2022 with most recent album Unprecedented, eight months after Astro’s death. A feature of the calendar since 2008, Record Store Day (RSD) made its usual impression on the charts, most notably returning Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (36-9, 5,459 sales) to the Top 10 after a gap of 69 weeks, following its release on picture disc (1,863 sales) for the first time. Rumours still trails the band’s compilation 50 Years: Don’t Stop, which rebounds 15-8 (5,607 sales) despite having no new RSD edition, and suffering a 0.62% dip in sales to 5,607 in the frame. It appears that Taylor Swift’s new album stole streams from many other artists, but most notably impacted her own back catalogue, with all of her albums suffering reduced consumption of at least 7.83% week-on-week while migrating to lower chart positions. The rest of the Top 10, all with falling consumption: Cowboy Carter (2-3, 8,885 sales) by Beyonce?, The Highlights (6-4, 8,344 sales) by The Weeknd, Guts (7-6, 6,843 sales) by Olivia Rodrigo, Stick Season (9-7, 6,508 sales) by Noah Kahan and Gold: Greatest Hits (14-10, 5,291 sales) by Abba. Overall album sales are up 12.78% week-on-week at 2,702,211, 16.86% above same week 2023 sales of 2,312,355. The last time overall album consumption was higher was in Christmas week 2019 when it was 2,798,545, although consumption was higher in a further 196 earlier weeks in the 20th century, exceeding 10m. on three occasions. Physical product accounts for 558,880 sales, 20.68% of the total. With RSD and Taylor Swift’s new album providing a massive boost to vinyl, sales of that format grew 160.61% week-on-week to 269,134 units – their highest level since their Kantar (Millward Brown) era (1994 onwards) record of 276,935 set last Christmas.