Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS JANUARY 11, 2020 | PAGE 1 OF 19 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE
[email protected] Lady A’s Combs, Barrett, Wallen Lead ‘Champagne’ Bubbles >page 4 Country’s Stream Of Hits In 2020 COVID-19 did a lot of damage in 2020, particularly to the con- One particularly notable new development in the COVID- Memorial cert wing of the music industry, but one thing it did not alter 19 era was the emergence of American Idol graduate Gabby Roll Call was the trend lines in the consumption of prerecorded music. Barrett, whose debut single, “I Hope,” snagged the top spot >page 10 On-demand audio streaming increased by double-digit per- on Most Streamed Country Songs and Top-Selling Country centages across the industry, according to MRC Data, with Digital Songs. country’s streams growing at a 6% faster clip than the total busi- The depth of the digital sales drop is eye-popping. “I Hope” ness. Meanwhile, music owner- is the lone single to surpass Brice, Rhett ship continued to decline, with 300,000 downloads, conclud- Drink Up country album sales shrinking ing the year at 513,000 sold. By >page 11 by one-sixth, while both coun- comparison, that sales volume try and the overall business would not have even made the dropped by over 20%. top 10 year-end list a decade Luke Combs’ trend lines ago, when Taylor Swift’s “You Lynn, Moon continued, too, as he built on Belong With Me” occupied the Key New Projects his upward career growth.