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Country Update BILLBOARD.COM/NEWSLETTERS JANUARY 13, 2020 | PAGE 1 OF 18 INSIDE BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE [email protected] ‘What If’ Lady A Luke Combs Sails As Country Is No. 1 >page 5 Continues Shift To Streaming In 2019 Blake Shelton Leads Country Country music’s consumers continued the dramatic shift from growth of 29% to 1.147 trillion streams. Equivalent album Grammy Crew traditional consumption avenues to the new streaming model units likewise grew by nearly 15% to 54.6 million units, a >page 10 in 2019, but Luke Combs is a master of both. larger percentage than the total industry’s 11% uptick to Combs’ debut and sophomore albums held two of the top 678 million units. three positions during the last year, Audio ownership continued its according to Nielsen Music, whether decline. Country track sales slid 22% Tanya Tucker, Friends measuring by legacy sales standards to 35.2 million units, a drop that was Bring It At Ryman or by equivalent units, which consider less steep than the industry at large, >page 11 both traditional sales and streams via which slipped 25% to 301 million subscription services. His first album, units. Country album sales similarly This One’s for You, ranks No. 1 on the contracted by 22% to 10.8 million, Reba McEntire On Top Country Albums list while his greater than the overall industry’s 19% A Pedestal second album, What You See Is What dip to 112.8 million units. You Get, logs in at No. 3. Even though Nielsen Music/MRC Data’s 2019 >page 11 the Nov. 8, 2019, release date for What tracking year ran from Jan. 4, 2019, You See Is What You Get meant that it through Jan. 2, 2020. Due to a quirk was in the marketplace for less than two in the calendar, there were 53 weeks Makin’ Tracks: months of the entire calendar year, it in 2018 instead of the usual 52. So for Miranda Lambert’s still tops the sales-only version of Top 2019 volume comparisons to 2018, Resilient ‘Bluebird’ Country Albums, and This One’s for You Nielsen Music used a corresponding >page 15 weighs in at No. 2. COMBS 52-week period for 2018: Jan. 5, Additionally, Combs’ “Beautiful 2018, through Jan. 3, 2019. (Historical Crazy” checks in at No. 2 among the Most Streamed Country references to volume in 2017 and earlier years used the Songs and finishes at No. 3 among Top-Selling Country Digital traditional 52-week period as stated in earlier Billboard Country Coda: Songs. He also hoists “Beer Never Broke My Heart” to No. 6 stories.) Ronnie Milsap’s on the latter list. Blanco Brown’s “The Git Up” reigns as the most streamed ‘World’ Domination Combs worked his magic as the audience further embraced country song of 2019 and comes in at No. 2 among the best- >page 18 such streaming options as Spotify, Pandora and Apple Music. selling country digital songs. Blake Shelton’s “God’s The genre’s on-demand audio and video streams ballooned by Country” rules the track sales chart. Among other significant 35% to 67.821 billion, a pace that topped the overall industry’s individual showings: Dan + Shay and Chris Stapleton BERGMAN DAVID BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 13, 2020 | PAGE 2 OF 18 appear among the top five on three of the four year-end charts, and Morgan Wallen occupies the No. 5 slot on two charts. Following are the top 10 entries for four country consumption lists that Nielsen Music compiled for 2019: Top Country Albums, Total Audio-Equivalent Units, 2019 1) Luke Combs, This One’s for You 1,163,000 2) Dan + Shay, Dan + Shay 759,000 3) Luke Combs, What You See Is What You Get 741,000 4) Chris Stapleton, Traveller 585,000 5) Morgan Wallen, If I Know Me 535,000 6) Kane Brown, Experiment 508,000 Kane Brown met up with new Academy of Country Music CEO Damon 7) Maren Morris, Girl 494,000 Whiteside at a party prior to a Jan. 9 concert at Los Angeles’ Staples 8) Blake Shelton, Fully Loaded: God’s Country 488,000 Center, celebrating its 20th anniversary. From left: Sony Music 9) Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour 480,000 Nashville chairman/CEO Randy Goodman, EFG Management owner 10) Florida Georgia Line, Can’t Say I Ain’t Country 470,000 Martha Earls, Brown and Whiteside. After Jake Hoot (center) won the latest season of NBC’s The Most Streamed Country Songs, 2019 (By Total On-Demand Voice in December, Streaming, Audio and Video Combined) Dailey & Vincent’s Jamie Dailey (left) 1) Blanco Brown, “The Git Up” 461,741,000 invited Hoot during 2) Luke Combs, “Beautiful Crazy” 441,899,000 an interview at WGSQ 3) Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line, “Meant to Be” 398,374,000 Cookeville, Tenn., to 4) Chris Stapleton, “Tennessee Whiskey” 366,442,000 make his Grand Ole 5) Dan + Shay, “Speechless” 364,299,000 Opry debut. They’re 6) Morgan Wallen, “Whiskey Glasses” 335,426,000 joined by WGSQ 7) Kane Brown, “Heaven” 317,961,000 operations manager 8) Dan + Shay, “Tequila” 310,475,000 Philip Gibbons. 9) Blake Shelton, “God’s Country” 308,610,000 10) Lee Brice, “Rumor” 274,903,000 New RECORDS artist Chris Bandi (center) visited the Top-Selling Country Albums, 2019 Billboard Nashville office on Jan. 8 while 1) Luke Combs, What You See Is What You Get 196,000 promoting his debut 2) Luke Combs, This One’s for You 163,000 single, “Man Enough 3) Kacey Musgraves, Golden Hour 156,000 Now.” He’s flanked 4) Chris Stapleton, Traveller 155,000 by Billboard country 5) George Strait, Honky Tonk Time Machine 140,000 correspondent 6) Zac Brown Band, The Owl 131,000 Annie Reuter and 7) Carrie Underwood, Cry Pretty 130,000 Nielsen director of 8) Blake Shelton, Fully Loaded: God’s Country 113,000 client solutions John 9) Jason Aldean, 9 112,000 Murphy. 10) Florida Georgia Line, Can’t Say I Ain’t Country 104,000 Chris Janson (center) hung with WUSN Top-Selling Country Digital Songs, 2019 Chicago assistant PD/music director 1) Blake Shelton, “God’s Country” 513,000 Marci Braun and 2) Blanco Brown, “The Git Up” 451,000 PD Kenny Jay when 3) Luke Combs, “Beautiful Crazy” 325,000 he performed at a 4) Dan + Shay, “Speechless” 321,000 benefit promoted by 5) Morgan Wallen, “Whiskey Glasses” 320,000 the station. 6) Luke Combs, “Beer Never Broke My Heart” 300,000 7) Luke Bryan, “Knockin’ Boots” 255,000 8) Marshmello and Kane Brown, “One Thing Right” 247,000 9) Lee Brice, “Rumor” 239,000 10) Old Dominion, “One Man Band” 235,000 BROWN: CHASE HENTGES CHASE BROWN: BILLBOARD COUNTRY UPDATE JANUARY 13, 2020 | PAGE 5 OF 18 ON THE CHARTS JIM ASKER [email protected] Lady Antebellum Lands First Country Airplay No. 1 Since 2014 With ‘What If I Never Get Over You’ Lady Antebellum notches its 10th No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Airplay chart “What” is Lady A’s first Country Airplay leader since “Bartender,” which (dated Jan. 18) as “What If I Never Get Over You” (Big Machine Label Group/ reigned for a week in September 2014. The group logged four top 20 entries BMLG Records) rises 3-1 in its 35th frame, up by 8% to 38.4 million audience on the list in between, including the No. 4-peaking “You Look Good” in impressions in the week ending Jan. 12, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data. September 2017. On the airplay-, streaming- and sales-powered Hot Country Songs chart, The band’s five-year-and-four-month break between Country Airplay No. 1s “What” — which also sports 6.3 million U.S. streams and 3,000 sold in the week marks the chart’s longest since another group, Eli Young Band, ended a five- ending Jan. 9 — holds at its No. 5 high. year, five-month wait last May with “Love Ain’t.” The track, written by Sam Ellis, Jon Green, Plus, as “What” sprints across the Country Ryan Hurd and Laura Veltz, is the lead single Airplay finish line in its 35th frame, it completes from Lady A’s album Ocean. It became the act’s Lady A’s longest journey to the top. Initial leader “I 10th top 10 on Top Country Albums when it arrived Run to You” (26 weeks) spent a week at the summit. at No. 2 on the survey dated Nov. 30, 2019. The act’s other No. 1s, their number of weeks “What” is the launch single on BMLG Records taken to reach the summit and total weeks on (under the umbrella of the Big Machine Label top are: “Need You Now” (14 weeks to No. 1; five Group) for Lady A, the trio comprising Charles at No. 1, beginning Nov. 28, 2009); “American Kelley, Hillary Scott and Dave Haywood. The Honey” (17; two, starting April 24, 2010); “Our group signed with BMLG in September 2018 after Kind of Love” (17; two, starting Sept. 25, 2010); departing Capitol Nashville. “Just a Kiss” (14; two, starting Aug. 20, 2011); “We “The feeling of having a No. 1 song on country Owned the Night” (15; two, starting Dec. 10, 2011); radio never gets old,” Scott tells Billboard. “We “Downtown” (12; two, starting April 27, 2013); knew ‘What’ was special the first time we heard “Compass” (23; one week, March 22, 2014); and it, and we’re so grateful for the passion and hard “Bartender” (16; one, Sept. 13, 2014).