USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
Taylor Swift's 'Midnights' returns to the summit
Tuesday, June 6, 2023
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Taylor Swift’s Midnights jumps back to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated June 10), for a sixth nonconsecutive week atop the list. The set bumps 3-1 after the May 26 release

of two deluxe editions of the album, along with a new color vinyl variant of the original standard album. Midnights earned 282,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending June 1 (up 389%), according to Luminate – the second-largest week of 2023 for any album. Only the debut frame of Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time posted a bigger week this year, when it launched at No. 1 with 501,000 (chart dated March 18). Of Midnights’ 282,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending June 1, album sales comprise 196,000 (up 1,529% — the largest sales week for any album in 2023 and the biggest since Midnights itself debuted with 1.114 million sold on the Nov. 5-dated chart), SEA units comprise 80,000 (up 79%, equaling 107.6 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs), album sales comprise 6,000 (down 30%) and TEA units comprise 6,000 (up 618%). Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time surrenders the No. 1 slot

after spending its first 12 weeks at No. 1, as the album dips to No. 2 with 126,000 equivalent album units earned (down 2%). Lil Durk notches his sixth top 10-charting effort on the Billboard 200 as Almost Heated debuts at No. 3 with 125,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 122,000 (equaling 167.82 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 2,000 and TEA units comprise 1,000. Notably, the 125,000-unit start marks Durk’s best week, outside of his collaborative set with Lil Baby, which bowed at No. 1 with 150,000 (June 19, 2021, chart). A trio of former No. 1s is next on the Billboard 200: SZA’s SOS dips 2-4 (55,000 equivalent album units earned; down 29%), Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous: The Double Album falls 4-5 (48,000; up 2%) and Taylor Swift’s Lover is a non-mover at No. 6 (38,000; down 1%). Luke Combs’ Gettin’ Old rises one rung to No. 7 with 33,000 (down 4%). Bad Bunny’s chart-topping Un Verano Sin Ti climbs one spot to No. 8 (nearly 33,000 equivalent album units; down 3%), Zach Bryan’s American Heartbreak bumps 10-9 (31,000; down 1%) and Bailey Zimmerman’s Religiously. The Album. climbs back to the top 10, up 11-10 (30,000; down 4%). Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” leads the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart for a ninth week. Released on Big Loud / Mercury / Republic Records, drew 66.3 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 1%) and 32.8 million streams (essentially even week-over-week) and sold 8,000 downloads (down 4%) in the May 26-June 1 tracking week, according to Luminate. The song, which initially led the Hot 100 in March, becoming Wallen’s first leader on the list, notches an 11th week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart; rises 5-4 for a new best on Radio Songs; and dips 5-6 on Digital Song Sales, following a week on top. Swift’s “Karma” soars 27-2 on the Hot 100. After it first logged a week in the top 10, at No. 9, in its debut frame last November (concurrent with the No. 1 Billboard 200 debut of parent album Midnights), the song hits a new Hot 100 best following the May 26 release of its remix with Ice Spice, and the wide premiere of its official video May 27 (at midnight each day). Attendees at Swift’s May 26 concert — as part of her The Eras Tour at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. — saw the clip even earlier at the show, while Ice Spice joined Swift on-stage for a live debut of the remix. The song drew 38.4 million in airplay audience (up 15%) and 22.5 million streams (up 175%) and sold 17,000 (up 744%) May 26-June 1, as it wins top Streaming and Sales Gainer honors on the Hot 100. It bounds 50-4 on Streaming Songs; returns to Digital Song Sales at No. 2; and jumps 18-12 on Radio Songs, hitting new highs on each survey. Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” descends 2-3 on the Hot 100, after eight weeks at No. 1, beginning upon its debut in January. It posts a 16th week atop Radio Songs (86.8 million in audience, down 3%). Lil Durk’s “All My Life,” featuring J. Cole, rebounds 7-4 on the Hot 100, two weeks after it launched at No. 2. Rema and Selena Gomez’s “Calm Down” retreats to No. 5 on the Hot 100, from its No. 4 high. SZA’s “Kill Bill” drops 3-6 on the Hot 100, after it became her first No. 1, for a week in April. Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Sola” slides 6-7 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 4 – the best rank ever for a regional Mexican song. Luke Combs’ cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car” revs to a new No. 8 Hot 100 best, from No. 10, as it claims the chart’s top Airplay Gainer award for a second consecutive week (26.3 million, up 33%). Rounding out the Hot 100’s top 10, Toosii’s “Favorite Song” falls to No. 9 from its No. 5 high and Metro Boomin, The Weeknd and 21 Savage’s “Creepin’ ” backtracks 9-10, after hitting No. 3.

Record Of The Month
Never before in history a regional Mexican song was such a great success globally:
'Ella Baila Sola' by Eslabon Armado with guest vocalist Peso Pluma

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
Lewis Capaldi remains at no.1 on the album list
Monday, June 5, 2023
by Alan Jones, London
 
A week after recording the biggest week’s sales of any album in 2023, Lewis Capaldi’s second release, Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent, secures a second week at No.1 on consumption of 12,187 units. In the space of seven days, it has gone from recording the highest weekly sale of any No.1 album

for 30 weeks to the lowest for seven weeks, and the second lowest for 18 weeks. Comprising 3,115 CDs, 592 vinyl albums, 123 cassettes, 958 digital sales and 7,399 sales-equivalent streams, that total is 87.29% down week-on-week. In percentage terms, that’s the type of decline more usually associated with fanbase acts, and even exceeds the 85.55% second week dip that saw Ellie Goulding’s Higher Than Heaven plummet 1-84 seven weeks ago. Although Broken By Desire… had a 7.12% bigger first week than Capaldi’s 2019 debut, Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent, its second week decline is greater and its second week sale is lower than its illustrious predecessor, which followed up its opening frame of 89,506 with a 55.60% dip to 39,741. Its two-week tally of 129,263 (including 16 early sales) was thus 19.60% higher than Broken By Desire…, which had pre-release leakage of 12, and a to-date tally of 108,081. The highest of just four debuts

this week is by Sparks. Formed by siblings Ron & Russell Mael in 1968, and originally called Halfnelson, their 25th studio album, The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte (No.7, 6,652 sales), is their fifth Top 10 and 10th Top 75 entry in a chart career spanning more than 49 years. Comprising 14 new songs all written and produced by the brothers, it is the follow-up to A Steady Drip Drip Drip, which debuted and peaked at No.7 on sales of 5,151 in 2020. Their only previous back-to-back Top 10 albums were Kimono My House and Propaganda, both released in 1974. Twenty-two year-old London singer/songwriter Arlo Parks debuts at No.9 (5,999 sales) with her second studio album, My Soft Machine. It is the follow-up to her critically-acclaimed 2021 debut, Collapsed In Sunbeams, which won the coveted Mercury Prize that year and was nominated for a Grammy. It debuted and peaked at No.3 on sales of 11,576 units, and has to-date consumption of 85,901 units. After falling to its lowest position to date last week, Midnights dashes 10-2 (11,085 sales) for Taylor Swift, securing an 18-week high in its 32-week chart career, stimulated by the release of The Til Dawn Edition (see also singles analysis) last Friday. Harry Styles’ UK tour continues to boost his chart fortunes, with a trio of climbers in both singles and albums listings. In the latter, latest album 2022’s Harry’s House jumps 5-3 (9,791 sales), while 2019 release Fine Line improves 16-13 (5,184 sales) and his eponymous 2017 solo debut jumps 89-56 (2,161 sales), recording their highest chart placings for 15, 49 and 38 weeks, respectively. Touring is also the stimulus for Beyonce’s Renaissance, which climbs for the fifth week in a row, and also reaches a 38-week high, improving 7-6 (6,793 sales). The rest of the Top 10: Subtract (2-4, 8,183 sales) by Ed Sheeran, The Highlights (6-5, 7,500 sales) by The Weeknd and Diamonds (11-10, 5,987 sales) by Elton John. Retreating from a 128-week high of 2,382,921, overall album sales are down 4.66% week-on-week at 2,271,992. That is 4.84% above same week 2022 sales of 2,167,079. Physical product accounts for 265,342 sales, 11.68% of the total. Miracle by Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding continues to defy less blessed chart campaigners, and racks up its sixth week in a row at No.1, with consumption climbing 2.81% to 45,536 units (1,399 digital downloads, 44,137 sales-equivalent streams) – its highest level for four weeks. In all, Miracle has spent eight of its 12 weeks in the chart thus far at No.1, accumulating to-date consumption of 534,234 units, becoming the 24th track by Harris and the 13th by Goulding to surpass the half million mark. Of 51 new No.1 hits thus far in the 2020s, it has spent longer at No.1 than any collaboration, its reign only being exceeded by solo singles Bad Habits by Ed Sheeran (11 weeks), As It Was by Harry Styles and Flowers by Miley Cyrus (both 10 weeks), and Drivers License by Olivia Rodrigo (9 weeks). Daylight is No.2 for the fifth time in total, and second week in a row for David Kushner, despite its consumption falling for the fifth consecutive week to 30,959 units That’s the lowest tally for a No.2 song since Kid Laroi’s Without You (29,309 sales), 122 weeks ago. On its 22nd consecutive week in the Top 10 – 24th in total – and 40th straight week in the Top 75, Afrobeat monster Calm Down reaches a new peak for 23-year-old Nigerian singer/rapper Rema. In the whole of chart history, only six tracks have had longer Top 10 tenures. Of those, two spent more consecutive weeks in the Top 10, the first being I Believe by Frankie Laine in 1953 and the second being Secret Love by Doris Day in 1954, which endured for 35 and 27 weeks in a row, respectively. Climbing 5-3 in the current frame, with sales up 3.22% to 28,673 units, Calm Down has had higher consumption on five occasions, most recently four weeks ago. It has been tremendously stable, particularly over the last 21 weeks, during which it has had a median sale of 27,922 and an average sale of 27,881, never going above 29,872 nor below 26,183. First released in February 2022, it took 29 weeks to chart, and has to-date consumption of 979,743 units. There are also new peaks for React (6-5, 27,959 sales) by Switch Disco & Ella Henderson and Giving Me (8-6, 27,780 sales) by Jazzy. Currently on the European leg of his tour – but back here for gigs at Wembley and Cardiff’s Principality Stadium later this month – Harry Styles continues to strengthen his grip on the chart, with April 2022 chart-topper As It Was surging 10-4 (28,392 sales), June 2022 No.2 hit Late Night Talking jumping 37-31 (13,879 sales) and latest single, Satellite, advancing 49-36 (12,298 sales) to become his 30th Top 40 hit, including 19 with One Direction. The rest of the Top 10: Wish You The Best (3-7, 25,734 sales) by Lewis Capaldi, Eyes Closed (7-8, 24,965 sales) by Ed Sheeran, Cupid (11-9, 23,767 sales) by Fifty Fifty and Tattoo (4-10, 23,111 sales) by Loreen. Overall singles sales are down 0.77% week-on-week from their all-time peak to 28,093,513 units – 13.32% above same week 2022 consumption of 24,791,712 units. Paid-for sales are up 2.47% week-on-week at 297,375 – 20.18% below same week 2022 sales of 372,580.