Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' tops Billboard album, digital charts

Singer Robin Thicke performs on NBC's ''Today'' show in midtown New York, July 30, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Carlo Allegri

By Piya Sinha-Roy

LOS ANGELES | Wed Aug 7, 2013 3:55pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - R&B singer Robin Thicke landed his first No. 1 album on Wednesday as his latest record, "Blurred Lines," topped the Billboard 200 album chart, led by the single of the same name that has become one of this summer's biggest hits.

Thicke's sixth studio album sold 177,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. The album features collaborations with rappers Kendrick Lamar, T.I. and singer/producer Pharrell Williams.

The album's lead single, "Blurred Lines," featuring T.I. and Williams, spent seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this summer.

Thicke, 36, son of Canadian actor Alan Thicke, first emerged a decade ago with the album "A Beautiful World" and reached a new level this year with the catchy, raunchy hit "Blurred Lines," which also yielded an eyebrow-raising, nudity-filled video.

The single also climbed back to No. 1 on Billboard's Digital Songs chart this week after being knocked off by One Direction's "Best Song Ever" last week. "Blurred Lines" sold 400,000 downloads this week, bringing its total digital tally to 4.2 million since its release in March.

Rock band Five Finger Death Punch entered the chart at No. 2 this week with its latest album, "The Wrong Side of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell: Volume 1," selling 112,000 copies. It came ahead of rapper Jay Z's "Magna Carta ... Holy Grail," which dropped one spot to No. 3.

Other new entries in the top 10 on this week's Billboard 200 album chart include indie rapper Tech N9ne's "Something Else" at No. 4 and boy band Backstreet Boys at No. 5 with "In A World Like This."

Backstreet Boys, one of the biggest U.S. pop bands of the 1990s, are staging a comeback with all five original members and embarked on a world tour with another 1990s boy band, New Kids on the Block, in 2012.

"In a World Like This" is Backstreet Boys' ninth album to make its debut in the top 10 of the Billboard 200.

Pop rockers Emblem3, one of the runners-up on Fox reality talent show "The X Factor" last year, entered the Billboard album chart at No. 7 with their debut record, "Nothing to Lose."

Overall album sales in the week ending August 4 totaled 5.1 million, down 3 percent from the comparable week in 2012.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Eric Kelsey and Bill Trott)

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Jay Z's million-album Samsung sale unlikely to count for charts

Rapper Shawn ''Jay-Z'' Carter attends 'The Great Gatsby' world premiere at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York May 1, 2013

Credit: Reuters/Andrew Kelly

By Eric Kelsey

LOS ANGELES | Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:01pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rapper Jay Z's upcoming studio album will go to a million users of Samsung smartphones three days before its official release in a promotional deal, but the distribution is unlikely to count toward official sales figures, an industry expert said on Monday.

Jay Z, 43, announced on Sunday in a three-minute television commercial during the telecast of basketball's NBA Finals that his latest album "Magna Carter Holy Grail" will be released on July 4 exclusively to 1 million users of Samsung smartphones who had downloaded a special app. That is three days before its public release.

On Monday, the rapper said the record was "platinum," posting on Twitter, "If 1 Million records gets SOLD and billboard (magazine) doesn't report it, did it happen? Ha...Platinum!!!"

For official counting purposes the answer is "no," said David Bakula, an analyst for Nielsen Entertainment, whose Nielsen SoundScan figures are used to rank Billboard's weekly music chart.

Although the rapper's latest album is expected top the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart in its first week, bulk sales that are given away are not counted in total sales, according to Billboard's policy, even if the rapper and his record label are paid for the records.

"The bottom line is they're getting paid on a million albums," Bakula told Reuters. "From what Billboard considers chart-eligible, we don't count free-to-consumers (albums)."

In the commercial for "Magna Carter Holy Grail," Jay Z is seen in a recording studio discussing the new album, release date and the deal with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

The decision to distribute the album to Samsung users three days before the record becomes available to the general public on July 7 may come as a blow to Samsung's chief smartphone rival, Apple Inc, makers of iPhones and music distribution service iTunes.

This is the first solo album since 2009's "The Blueprint 3" for Jay Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter.

The rapper last collaborated with rapper Kanye West on the 2011 album "Watch the Throne," which topped album charts and was accompanied by a sold-out world tour.

Jay Z will begin a "Legends of Summer" North American stadium tour with pop singer Justin Timberlake on July 17, after featuring on Timberlake's hit song "Suit & Tie."

Samsung holds the largest global market share among smartphone makers with 32.7 percent. Apple is in second with 17.3 percent. Samsung shipped 70.7 million phones in the first quarter this year.

"Magna Carta Holy Grail" will be released by Universal Music Group's Roc-A-Fella Records. Universal is owned by France's Vivendi SA.

(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

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Psy knocked from top of Korean charts by 63-year-old singer

South Korean rapper Psy poses during a news conference before his concert in Seoul April 13, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Lee Jae-Won

SEOUL | Thu Apr 25, 2013 5:06am EDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean rapper Psy, whose latest video "Gentleman" tracked global megahit "Gangnam Style" by going viral on the Internet, has been knocked from the top of the music charts in his native country by a 63-year-old easy listening pop singer.

"Gangnam Style", which holds the YouTube record for most views with more than 1.5 billion, catapulted the sunglassed Korean with the garish jackets to world stardom and made him one of the best-known faces to grace the growing K-pop music scene.

But Cho Yong-pil, who has been a fixture of Korean pop music since 1975 with his electronic music and ballads, took over the top spot in Korea with "Bounce," according to both the daily and weekly charts on Naver, Korea's top Internet portal.

Fans lined up to buy "Hello," Cho's first album in a decade, when it went on sale earlier this week, and packed a stadium concert on Tuesday with people screaming his nickname of "Oppa" - a word used by Korean women for older men that Psy took to the world with the refrain "Oppa Gangnam Style".

Cho's songs took the top 10 places on the daily charts, pushing "Gentleman" to no. 13, and Psy had to settle for second place on the weekly charts.

But "Gentleman" surged to fifth place on the Billboard Hot 100 this week and has racked up over 220 million views on YouTube after smashing the record for first-day views for songs.

Psy told reporters he had nothing but respect for the veteran crooner, noting that Cho had praised him at a Tuesday news conference.

"I couldn't be happier, although getting on the Billboard chart also makes me really grateful," Psy told reporters on Thursday prior to leaving for the United States.

(Reporting by Ju-min Park; Editing by Elaine Lies)

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London band Bastille storms to top of UK charts

Singer Emeli Sande waves after being presented with the British Female Solo Artist award at the BRIT Awards, celebrating British pop music, at the O2 Arena in London February 20, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Dylan Martinez

LONDON | Mon Mar 11, 2013 8:24am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - British rock band Bastille raced to the top of the charts with debut album "Bad Blood" this week, knocking off Brit award winner Emeli Sande from the top spot.

Sande, who received a major boost by appearing at the London Olympics opening and closing ceremonies last summer, came second with her album "Our Version Of Events", the Official Charts Company said on Sunday.

Welsh band Stereophonics' album "Graffiti On The Train" came third, followed by Bruno Mars, an American singer-songwriter and record producer, with his "Unorthodox Jukebox".

In singles, U.S. singer Justin Timberlake retained his top spot with "Mirrors", followed by Bruno Mars's "When I was your man" and Bastille's "Pompeii" at no. 2 and no.3, respectively.

(Writing by Maria Golovnina; Editing by Jason Webb)

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Conor Maynard storms into UK charts with debut album

LONDON | Sun Aug 5, 2012 2:54pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Pop singer Conor Maynard, hailed as Britain's answer to teen sensation Justin Bieber, charged to the top of the British charts with his debut album "Contrast" on Sunday.

Maynard, 19, shot to fame earlier this year with his debut single "Can't Say No". His first album snatched the top spot from last week's charts leader "Ill Manors", the soundtrack from a crime film of the same title by London singer Plan B.

Also riding high was "Our Version Of Events" by Zambian-British songwriter Emeli Sande, who grew up in Scotland and sang "Abide With Me" during the 2012 London Olympic Games opening ceremony.

Other new album entries included Delilah's "From the Roots Up" at No. 5, legendary British musician Mike Oldfield's greatest hits collection "Two Sides - The Very Best Of Mike Oldfield" and U.S. rapper Rick Ross's "God Forgives, I Don't" in sixth and eighth places, respectively.

The Official Charts Company said Justin Bieber's "Believe" was this week's top climber, jumping 17 places to No. 24.

East London rapper Wiley topped the singles chart with the new song "Heatwave", scooping his first ever solo No.1.

He was followed by "We'll Be Coming Back" by Scottish DJ and songwriter Calvin Harris, featuring Example.

English rock band Florence and the Machine's "Spectrum" - last week's chart topper - slipped to third place, while American pop rockers Maroon 5 were at No. 4 with "Payphone" - the group's lead single from their fourth studio album "Overexposed".

(Writing by Maria Golovnina; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

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Jack White knocks Adele off top of UK album charts

Jack White of the film ''White Stripes: Under the Great White Northern Lights'' speaks at a press conference during the 34th Toronto International Film Festival, September 18, 2009.

Credit: Reuters/Mark Blinch

LONDON | Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:10pm EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Former White Stripes frontman Jack White's debut solo album 'Blunderbuss' knocked Adele's '21' off the top of Britain's charts on Sunday, and Carly Rae Jepsen managed to keep a new single from Calvin Harris from the No. 1 spot.

Soul singer-songwriter Adele's album has been a fixture near the top of Britain's charts for more than a year, and U.S. magazine Time recently named her among the world's 100 most influential people in 2011 - an accolade not received by Britain's prime minister, David Cameron.

However, she lost the top spot this week to the blues-influenced 'Blunderbuss' by Jack White, who found fame with the White Stripes until the band split in February 2011, the Official Charts Company said.

Singers Lana Del Rey and Nicki Minaj traded places to stand third and fourth respectively, while Rufus Wainwright's album 'Out of the Game' was a new entry at No. 5.

In the singles chart, Canadian Idol talent show contestant Carly Rae Jepsen remained at No. 1 with 'Call Me Maybe', which has sold 434,000 copies to date and is on track to be one of 2012's top-selling records.

Scottish singer-songwriter Calvin Harris, who produced Rihanna's 'We Found Love', was in second place with 'Let's Go', which features U.S. R&B singer Ne-Yo. It was the only new entry in this week's top 40 singles chart.

(Reporting by David Milliken Editing by Maria Golovnina)

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Evanescence back on top of U.S. album charts

Amy Lee of Evanescence performs at the Rock in Rio Music Festival in Rio de Janeiro October 2, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Ricardo Moraes

LOS ANGELES | Wed Oct 19, 2011 2:21pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Grammy-winning gothic rock band Evanescence topped the Billboard 200 chart on Wednesday with their latest self-titled album, "Evanescence."

The latest album sold 127,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, sending the band straight to the number 1 spot for the second time in their career.

"What You Want", the lead single off "Evanescence," climbed the Rock Songs airplay chart this week from 15 to 13, Billboard said.

Evanescence previously debuted at the top spot with their 2006 album "The Open Door," which sold 447,000 copies in its first week.

Evanescence knocked "American Idol" winner Scotty McCreery's debut album "Clear As Day" from the top spot to the number 4 position.

British singer Adele held on to the number 2 spot with "21" while rockers Five Finger Death Punch entered the charts at number 3 with their new album "American Capitalist."

Evanescence, led by singer Amy Lee, first entered the Billboard charts in 2003 with their debut album "Fallen," which featured the hit singles "Bring Me To Life" and "My Immortal."

The band are currently on a 15-city tour around the U.S. which will be wrapping in New York on November1.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Evanescence back on top of U.S. album charts (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Grammy-winning gothic rock band Evanescence topped the Billboard 200 chart on Wednesday with their latest self-titled album, "Evanescence."

The latest album sold 127,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan, sending the band straight to the number 1 spot for the second time in their career.

"What You Want", the lead single off "Evanescence," climbed the Rock Songs airplay chart this week from 15 to 13, Billboard said.

Evanescence previously debuted at the top spot with their 2006 album "The Open Door," which sold 447,000 copies in its first week.

Evanescence knocked "American Idol" winner Scotty McCreery's debut album "Clear As Day" from the top spot to the number 4 position.

British singer Adele held on to the number 2 spot with "21" while rockers Five Finger Death Punch entered the charts at number 3 with their new album "American Capitalist."

Evanescence, led by singer Amy Lee, first entered the Billboard charts in 2003 with their debut album "Fallen," which featured the hit singles "Bring Me To Life" and "My Immortal."

The band are currently on a 15-city tour around the U.S. which will be wrapping in New York on November1.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Music Charts: Jay-Z & Kanye fall short

By Chris Willman

Wed Aug 17, 2011 3:55pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Does nearly a half-million copies sold constitute the glass being half-full or half-empty? That's the question with Jay-Z and Kanye West's enormously ballyhooed joint project, "Watch the Throne," which debuted with first-week sales of 436,000, a strong but less-kingly-than-expected tally.

But the news was much better for Katy Perry: She finally assumed a throne she's had her eye on for a while.

The take for "Watch the Throne" will be spun in different ways, taking into account the peculiarities of its release. For the first four days of the week, the Jay-Z/West album was an iTunes exclusive, so you could argue a mere three days of brick-and-mortar sales isn't enough to tell the tale.

On the other hand, because of the unusual lack of advance leaks, anticipation for the project should have been at enough of a fever pitch to make for a day-one blockbuster.

But even strong reviews and word-of-mouth didn't add up to "Throne" debuting as mightily as either of the rappers' most recent solo efforts.

The New York Post reported that Jay-Z spent $95,000 on a single bottle of champagne at a Miami party celebrating the album's launch last week. Until next week's results offer a better picture of the album's legs, he may want to switch to sparkling cider for a few days.

As for Perry, her "TGIF (Last Friday Night)" song finally hit No. 1 on the Billboard 100, marking the first time a female artist has had five singles from one album reach that mark. Leaving gender out of it, she's now tied with Michael Jackson, whose "Bad" album generated five No. 1 hits back in the day.

It had seemed like Perry had missed her chance at being able to thank God for a fifth chart-topper, since "TGIF" was showing signs of fading last week. But her label, Capitol, had some tricks up its sleeve, goosing the tune by releasing a Missy Elliott-helmed remix, sales of which were counted together with the old version.

iTunes also put the different versions of the song on sale for 69 cents. It also happened that the previous long-time No. 1, LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem," finally shed a little momentum at an opportune moment for Perry.

Decamping far away from any kind of throne room was the soundtrack to "Glee 3D," which entered the album chart at No. 16 with a shockingly modest 20,000 copies. All eight previous full-length "Glee" TV soundtracks had entered in the top 5, and three of them bowed at No. 1 (including last year's "Journey to Finals" disc, which had first-week sales of 152,000, more than seven times as many as this one managed). Maybe Sue Sylvester's warning in the trailer was taken literally by music consumers as well as moviegoers.

Luke Bryan has plenty to be gleeful about, coming in at No. 2 with his sophomore album, "Tailgates & Tanlines."

Bryan's is the second-best country bow of 2011, trailing only Brad Paisley's. He sold 145,295 copies, beating the opening tally for Eric Church three weeks ago by just 300 units.

Country men are well represented on the album chart right now, claiming six of the top 20 spots. Church moved down three positions to No. 5, still ahead of Jason Aldean at No.6, Blake Shelton at No. 14, the Zac Brown Band at No. 19, and Trace Adkins, who took a 17-spot tumble to No. 20 in his second week.

Putting the lie to the idea that 45 million viral-video views are a predictor of album sales, 13-year-old web phenom Greyson Chance fell to No. 65 in his second frame, selling 7,000 of his Ellen DeGeneres-mentored album for a two-week total of 21,000.

Although Perry rules the roost on this week's Billboard 100 song chart, "TGIF" didn't top the digital singles sales chart. That honor belonged to the Maroon 5/Christina Aguilera collaboration "Moves Like Jagger," which picked up plenty of steam from finally having a video released. It sold 219,000 downloads, generating the kind of upward chart movement even Jagger could envy.

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Beyonce, others enjoy "Glastonbury effect" in UK charts (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) – Beyonce heads the British album charts at the midweek stage, with "4" outselling its nearest rival by three to one boosted by her weekend appearance at Glastonbury, sales data showed on Wednesday.

According to the Official Charts Company (OCC), the 29-year-old R&B star is set to top the ranking by the end of the week, which would be her second British number one.

She was one of several acts to enjoy the "Glastonbury effect," where media exposure of one of the world's biggest music festivals boosts performers who appear.

The event ran from Wednesday to Sunday, with U2, Coldplay and Beyonce grabbing most of the limelight with their headline slots on the final three days.

Besides her new album, Beyonce's single "Best Thing I Never Had" was on course to enter at number six, one of seven tracks by the singer in the Top 75.

Among others to benefit from Glastonbury with big gains in the album rankings were Chase & Status, Mumford & Sons, Aloe Blacc, Noah & The Whale, Plan B, Elbow and Coldplay.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Beyonce, others enjoy "Glastonbury effect" in UK charts

Beyonce performs on the Pyramid stage on the last day of the Glastonbury Festival in Somerset June 26, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

LONDON | Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:39am EDT

LONDON (Reuters) - Beyonce heads the British album charts at the midweek stage, with "4" outselling its nearest rival by three to one boosted by her weekend appearance at Glastonbury, sales data showed on Wednesday.

According to the Official Charts Company (OCC), the 29-year-old R&B star is set to top the ranking by the end of the week, which would be her second British number one.

She was one of several acts to enjoy the "Glastonbury effect," where media exposure of one of the world's biggest music festivals boosts performers who appear.

The event ran from Wednesday to Sunday, with U2, Coldplay and Beyonce grabbing most of the limelight with their headline slots on the final three days.

Besides her new album, Beyonce's single "Best Thing I Never Had" was on course to enter at number six, one of seven tracks by the singer in the Top 75.

Among others to benefit from Glastonbury with big gains in the album rankings were Chase & Status, Mumford & Sons, Aloe Blacc, Noah & The Whale, Plan B, Elbow and Coldplay.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

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