USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
'The Fate Of Ophelia' tops an eighth week
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Taylor Swift's “The Fate of Ophelia” rules the Billboard Hot 100 for an eighth week, tying “Anti-Hero” as her longest-leading hit. “The Fate of Ophelia” has been No. 1 in each of its weeks

on the Hot 100 so far, dating to its mid-October debut; “Anti-Hero” began its reign upon its arrival in November 2022. “The Fate of Ophelia” drew 21.6 million official streams (down 8% week-over-week) and 62.1 million radio airplay audience impressions (down 1%) and sold 25,000 (up 30%) in the United States Nov. 21-27. The single adds a seventh week at No. 1 on the Streaming Song chart; rises 3-2 for a new high on Radio Songs; and rebounds a spot for a sixth week atop Digital Song Sales. Helping its totals: its remix with the Chainsmokers, released digitally Nov. 25. Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” returns to the Hot 100’s top five (8-5), with 22.2 million streams (up 41%), 16.4 million airplay audience impressions (up 68%) and 2,000 sold (up 28%). Wham!’s “Last Christmas” rises 11-6 on the Hot 100 (20.5 million streams, up 41%; 15.9 million in radio reach, up 65%; and 1,000 sold, up 30%). The 1984 release hit a No. 3 best over last year’s

holidays. Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” climbs 13-7 on the Hot 100, with 19.3 million streams (up 41%) and 15.4 million in airplay audience (up 78%). It led for three weeks in the 2023 holiday season — 65 years after its release. Plus, Bobby Helms’ “Jingle Bell Rock” hops 14-8 on the Hot 100 (17.8 million streams, up 35%; 15.9 million airplay audience impressions, up 88%). Released in 1957, it has reached a No. 3 high in each of the past five holiday seasons. Leon Thomas’ “Mutt” drops to No. 9 from its No. 6 Hot 100 best — and takes over at No. 1 on Radio Songs, where it lifts one spot (64.4 million, down 1%). It completes the longest ride to the top of Radio Songs, 35 weeks, for a title by a male soloist; overall, only Dua Lipa’s “Levitating” took longer, 37 weeks, to lead in 2021, while Gabby Barrett’s “I Hope,” featuring Charlie Puth, now shares second place via its 35-week trek in 2020. Huntr/x’s “Golden,” from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, keeps at No. 2 on the Hot 100, after eight weeks at No. 1 beginning in August. Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” which ruled the Hot 100 for 10 weeks starting in May, holds at No. 3 and Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” is steady at its No. 4 high. Bookending the Hot 100’s top 10, Swift falls 5-10 with “Opalite,” which hit No. 2. Stray Kids claim their eighth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart as Do It debuts atop the ranking dated Dec. 6. The set earned 295,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending Nov. 27, according to Luminate. Of that sum, traditional album sales comprise 286,000. All eight of the group’s Billboard 200 chart entries have debuted at No. 1, beginning with Oddinary in 2022. In September of this year, when Karma opened atop the list, Stray Kids became the first act to debut at No. 1 with their first eight entries in the 69-year history of the chart. With Do It’s debut, they extend that record. The Billboard 200 began publishing on a regular, weekly basis in March 1956. Of Do It’s 295,000 first-week equivalent album units, album sales comprise 286,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart), SEA units comprise 9,000 (equaling 13.98 million on-demand official streams of the sets songs) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. In traditional album sales, Do It logs the fourth-largest week of 2025 (debut or otherwise). The four biggest sales weeks in 2025 are the opening frames of: The Life of a Showgirl (3.48 million), Hurry Up Tomorrow (359,000), Karma (296,000) and DO IT (286,000). The Wicked: For Good film soundtrack, led by Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, debuts at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 (the highest debut for a soundtrack in 2025) with 122,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 85,000 (it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales, aided by seven vinyl variants and four CD variants, including one signed by Erivo and Grande), SEA units comprise 36,000 (equaling 47.27 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it debuts at No. 6 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise 1,000. Wicked: For Good premiered in movie theaters on Nov. 21 and has earned over $270 million at the U.S. and Canada box office. It follows the first Wicked film, which was released in 2024. The first Wicked soundtrack also debuted (and peaked) at No. 2 on the Billboard 200, launching with 139,000 equivalent album units. After seven straight weeks at No. 1, Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl falls from the top, dipping 1-3 in its eighth week on the list (86,000 equivalent album units earned, down 5%). Two former No. 1s trail Swift, as Morgan Wallen's I’m the Problem descends 3-4 (75,000, down less than 1%) and the Kpop Demon Hunters soundtrack is stationary at No. 5 (67,000, down 2%). Tate McRae’s chart-topping So Close to What surges 21-6 with 64,000 equivalent album units earned (up 202%) following its deluxe reissue on Nov. 21 with five additional tracks added to the set’s digital download and streaming editions. Among the new cuts: “Tit for Tat,” which peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 (dated Oct. 11). Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving is a non-mover in the top 10 on the latest Billboard 200, holding at No. 7 (49,000 equivalent album units earned, down 2%). The Hazbin Hotel: Season Two soundtrack flies 70-8 on the Billboard 200 after its first full week of chart activity, marking the first top 10 from the popular Prime Video animated series. The set zooms up the list with nearly 46,000 equivalent album units earned (up 250% from its debut at No. 70 with 13,000 units from only two days of activity). The soundtrack was released on Wednesday, Nov. 19; most albums are released on Friday. The tracking week for the Billboard 200 runs Friday through Thursday each week. In the tracking week ending Nov. 27, the Hazbin Hotel: Season Two album tallied 32,000 SEA units (equaling 46.58 million on-demand official streams for its tracks; it debuts at No. 8 on Top Streaming Albums), 13,500 in traditional album sales (it jumps 32-8 on Top Album Sales) and 500 TEA units. Aerosmith and Yungblud team up for a No. 9 debut with their collaborative project One More Time. It’s the 10th top 10 for Aerosmith and first for Yungblud. The set earned 39,000 equivalent album units. Album sales comprise 37,000 (it debuts at No. 3 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 2,000 (equaling 2.32 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. Closing out the top 10 on the latest Billboard 200 is Summer Walker’s Finally Over It, which falls 2-10 in its second week (37,000 equivalent album units earned, down 52%).

Record Of The Month
As the first salvo from her new album, Lux, Spanish reggaeton and flamenco artist Rosalíá has uncorked a dazzling opus featuring Björk, Yves Tumor and a full-on symphony orchestra.

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
'Where Is My Husband!' climbs back at no.2
Monday, December 1, 2025
by Alan Jones, London
 
The charmed life of The Fate Of Ophelia continues with the track earning its sixth overall (third consecutive) week at No.1 for Taylor Swift on consumption of 49,524 units (2,080 digital downloads, 47,444 sales-equivalent streams). Although Where Is My Husband! is now its nearest challenger - rising 3-2 for

Raye – it is also losing support – down 4.11% to 44,992 units – and both tracks are about to be swamped by Christmas songs. The Fate of Ophelia’s consumption is the lowest in the eight weeks that have elapsed since its release – despite the release on Wednesday (November 25) of a Chainsmokers remix priced briefly at 59p – and the lowest for a No.1 single for 17 weeks, but enough for it to join 2022’s Anti-Hero as the Swift song to spend most weeks at No.1. It wasn’t the most-consumed song of the week, however – that was Olivia Dean’s Man I Need, which rises 5-4 with consumption capped at 28,571 units by ACR, compared to its unadjusted tally of 56,581 units. Meanwhile, Dean’s So Easy (Fall In Love) climbs one notch for the fourth week in a row, establishing a new peak (4-3, 30,274 sales), while her Sam Fender collaboration, Rein Me In (7-5, 24,069 sales), climbs for the fifth straight week, and surpasses the No.6 peak it occupied on debut

some 22 weeks ago. Scouse rapper EsDeeKid continues to blossom, with his first three hits all rising yet again to new peaks. The only new song in the Top 10 this week, Century achieves both its and his highest chart placing (16-10, 18,763 sales), while Phantom (feat, Rico Ace) moves 15-12 (17,883 sales) and 4 Raws 35-27 (12,288 sales). Last Christmas (19-9, 19,226 sales) by Wham! leaps into the Top 10 for the 10th advent season in a row. Rounding out the Top 10: Golden (2-6, 22,950 sales) by Huntr/X, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast, Opalite (6-7, 22,965 sales) by Taylor Swift and Raindance (8-8, 19,944 sales) by Dave & Tems. Overall singles consumption is up 0.58% week-on-week to 31,121,463 units, 3.31% above same week 2024 consumption of 30,124,352 units. Paid-for sales are down 1.30% week-on-week at 253,575, 5.34% below same week 2024 sales of 267,869. The combination of old blood and Yungblud is a potent one, propelling One More Time to debut atop the album chart this week, on consumption of 22,394 units (11,054 CDs, 10,088 vinyl albums, 220 cassettes, 662 digital downloads and 370 sales-equivalent streams). A collaboration between legendary American rock band Aerosmith and Yorkshire cult favourite Yungblud, the set – technically an EP – consists of just five songs, and has a playing time of less than 20 minutes. It thus becomes the shortest of the 1,418 albums that have topped the chart since its inception more than 69 years ago, replacing Elvis Presley’s King Creole soundtrack, a 1958 No.1 that crammed 11 songs into a 22-minute LP. In recent years, the shortest No.1 has been Blackpink’s 2023 topper, Born Pink, which had eight songs, and a playing time of around 24 minutes. Aerosmith have been together since 1970, with founder members – vocalist Steven Tyler, bassist Tom Hamilton, drummer Joey Kramer and guitars Joe Perry – still in harness alongside guitarist Brad Whitford, who joined the following year. One More Time is their first No.1 album, their previous best placing coming in 1993, when their 11th studio album, Get A Grip, debuted and peaked at No.2 behind Cliff Richard’s The Album. With an average age of nearly 75, they are the second oldest group to have a No.1 album, trailing only the Rolling Stones. By contrast, Yungblud is just 28, and has already topped the chart with Weird! (2020), Yungblud (2022) and, just 22 weeks ago, Idols (2025). He has therefore now had four No.1 albums in the 2020s – a figure beaten only by Taylor Swift (10) and Ed Sheeran (five). Chart regulars for nearly 40 years, esteemed Manchester rock/indie band James – fronted by enigmatic vocalist Tim Booth – return with their most ambitious and comprehensive career retrospective, Nothing But Love: The Definitive Best Of. Debuting at No.6 (10,517 sales), it includes the brand-new songs Wake Up Superman and Hallelujah Anyhow amongst its 58 tracks, and it is the band’s first release since their 18th studio album, Yummy, reached No.1 in April 2024. Like James, Madness have had a long and storied career and finally had a No.1 studio album with their last release (2023’s Theatre Of The Absurd Presents C’est La Vie). Also like James, they have previously topped the chart with a compilation – two, actually (Complete Madness in 1982 and Divine Madness in 1992) – and return to the top tier with yet another ‘best of’ this week. Opening at No.8 (9,226 sales), Hit Parade houses 45 Madness singles originally released between 1979 and 2024, including 32 of their 33 hits (I Pronounce You, No.44 in 1988, seems to be missing in action). It is their 12th Top 10 and 24th Top 75 album, the latter tally including no fewer than nine compilations. Debuting at No.9 (8,808 sales) with Anthology 4, The Beatles are in the Top 10 for the first time since November 2023, when their 1973 compilations 1967-1970 and 1962-1966 – aka The Blue Album and The Red Album – simultaneously returned at No.2 and No.3 after being released in remastered, expanded editions. Contact (No.10, 8,027 sales) is the fifth consecutive chart entry – his entire studio output – but the first Top 10 album for 43-year-old DJ and producer Nicolaas Dowe Douwma from Surrey, as Sub Focus. No.2 on debut 39 weeks ago, So Close To What has remained in the Top 40 ever since for Canadian singer/songwriter Tate McRae, but sprints 24-4 (11,962 sales) to make its first Top 10 appearance for 24 weeks after being released digitally in an expanded edition, which adds five new songs. The rest of the Top 10: The Art Of Loving (2-2, 18,241 sales) by Olivia Dean, The Life Of A Showgirl (3-3, 12,534 sales) by Taylor Swift and Man’s Best Friend (5-7, 9,491 sales) by Sabrina Carpenter. Overall album sales are up 4.69% week-on-week at 2,767,043 units, 4.42% above same week 2024 sales of 2,649,822. Physical product accounts for 479,526 sales, 17.33% of the total.