• Tyrese Tops Billboard 200 with 'Black Rose,' Beats Meek Mill, Taylor Swift

    Tyrese may be the first musician to both star in a film with a no. 1 soundtrack ('Furious 7') and have a no. 1 album of his own in the same year ('Black Rose'). Although he didn't contribute to the aforementioned soundtrack, his most recent album became his first to top the Billboard 200, moving 86,000 equivalent units.
  • Meek Mill and 'DWMTM' Gets Another Week as Billboard 200 Shifts Dates

    It's an odd span for Nielsen and the Billboard 200, as the international (and official) album release date shifted from Tuesdays to Fridays last week. The next, regular Billboard 200 report should come next Saturday, however Billboard has tried to transition by running a report in the meantime that adds last weeks totals to the four days in-between official release dates. Music Times is trying to run things a little differently, by noting the Top 10 by actual sales during that period. Meek Mill comes out on top again.
  • Meek Mill Dominates Billboard 200; Miguel, Taylor Swift Try to Keep Up

    Things started off big on the Billboard 200, with Meek Mill's 'Dreams Worth More Than Money', but then quickly dropped off. Mill might argue that his ideals have more philosophical value, but he can't argue with the financial results: Dreams opened with 246,000 in equivalent sales, easily marking his best sales week ever, as well as the fourth-largest opening of 2015 (trailing only Drake's 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late,' Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp A Butterfly' and Mumford & Sons' 'Wilder Mind').
  • Breaking Benjamin, Tori Kelly, and Kacey Musgraves Top Albums Chart

    This week's albums chart wasn't too much of a shakeup from the Billboard 200, except that all of the records that dropped in the Top 10 of the latter managed to move up a few places on the former. Breaking Benjamin, Tori Kelly and Kacey Musgraves took the top three spots, respectively, once again.
  • Breaking Benjamin Breaks Sales Mark with New Album; Tori Kelly + Kacey Musgraves Follow

    Apparently the waiting only makes desire stronger, or at least that's what Breaking Benjamin learned with its most recent release, 'Dark Before Dawn.' The band had gone more than six years without a new album but the new release debuted with 141,000 equivalent copies sold (and 135,000 actual copies, marking the group's highest sales week ever). It's also the band's first no. 1 album on the Billboard 200. Kacey Musgraves and Tori Kelly also dropped new albums.
  • James Taylor Finally Hits No. 1, Beating Namesake Taylor Swift

    It's been a long-time-coming for James Taylor as his newest album, Before The World, took the no. 1 spot on the Billboard 200, making it the first record in the songwriter's 45-year career to do so (that span, measuring from the release of Taylor's first album to this one, is the second longest span in chart history, behind only Tony Bennett, who went 54 years without a no. 1). Before The World sold 97,000 copies...far from Taylor's best but plenty enough to take the top spot.
  • Muse 'Drones' Tops Billboard 200 Over The Rolling Stones, Of Monsters and Men

    Muse has long been a major name in the U.K. music scene, and now the "Dead Inside" rockers are seeing their first major success in America. Today (June 17), it was announced that the band's latest album Drones beat out Of Monsters and Men, Taylor Swift, The Rolling Stones and more for the top album in the United States.
  • Carrie Underwood Wins 3 CMT Music Awards; Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean Place

    A good way to win a CMT Music Award might be to just stick Carrie Underwood in your video and run with it...nearly every nomination including the American Idol winner took home a prize on Wednesday night. Underwood herself won for Video of The Year with "Something In The Water" and Female Video of The Year for the same song, while her appearance helped Miranda Lambert to win the Collaborative Video of The Year with "Somethin' Bad." Underwood was also nominated for Female Video for her clip "Little Toy Guns," and alas, she couldn't win twice.
  • Alabama Shakes and Yelawolf Top Albums Charts, Representing Home State

    Alabama Shakes started high up on the Billboard 200 and now they do the same on the Albums charts thanks to the high-volume of full records sold by the band. The band's Sound & Color becomes the first independent label record to top the chart during 2015, thanks to more than 87,000 units moved...making up more than 90 percent of its Billboard 200 total.
  • Alabama Shakes and 'Sound & Color' Becomes First Independent Release Atop Billboard 200 during 2015

    Alabama Shakes and 'Sound & Color' brought an air of independence to the Billboard 200 this week, as the album became the first independent label (ATO) release to top the charts during 2015. It was easily the band's bestselling week ever, moving 96,000 equivalent copies during its first week. Yet it seemed almost inevitable: The band got to no. 6 with its previous release, 'Boys & Girls', but nearly a year after it debuted. Listeners caught on to the band just a hair too late, and made up for it this time around.
  • Trace Adkins' SiriusXM Show 'Throwback Thirty' Launches This Month on Y2Kountry

    Trace Adkins is the next music star to get a SiriusXM show. The weekly "Throwback Thirty" show launches tomorrow, March 15, on Y2Kountry and will have the singer recapping Billboard's Top 30 country songs. In addition to contemporary hits, Adkins will also review tunes from different years of the new millennium, starting with 2000 tomorrow.
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