Blog Posts by Paul Grein

George Strait’s new album Love Is Everything enters The Billboard 200 at #2, just behind Vampire Weekend’s Modern Vampires Of The City. It’s Strait’s 18th top 10 album, which puts him in the top five among male solo artists since 1955. The other four men who have reached this plateau constitute a veritable Mount Rushmore of pop. Frank Sinatra leads with 34, followed by Elvis Presley with 27, Bob Dylan with 20 and Paul McCartney, also with 18. (Sinatra’s total includes a collabo with Count Basie. Dylan’s tally includes three collabos with The Band. McCartney’s total includes an album with his late wife Linda McCartney and eight albums with his band Wings.)

It’s remarkable that Strait has tied McCartney, who is probably the most famous musician on the planet. It’s even more remarkable when you consider that Strait has piled up all of these top 10 albums since November 1992, when the Pure Country soundtrack became his first top 10 album.

Since May 1991, when Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for Billboard, Strait has amassed more top 10 albums than any other artist—male or female. Mariah Carey is in second place with 16. (Carey’s tally includes her debut album, which appeared in the top 10 both before and after the start of the Nielsen SoundScan era.) Tim McGraw and Dave Matthews are in third place with 15.

“#Beautiful” by Mariah Carey featuring Miguel enters the Hot 100 at #24, lower than I expected. I bet it’s lower than Carey expected, too. The ideal outcome for Carey would have been for Ryan Seacrest to grandly announce on tonight’s American Idol that Carey’s song entered the Hot 100 at #1. Carey has accomplished that chart miracle three times (more often than any other artist) with “Fantasy,” “One Sweet Day” (a collabo with Boyz II Men) and “Honey.”

But it wasn’t to be. The song is easily the week’s highest new entry, but it’s only the eighth highest entry so far this year. Baauer’s “Harlem Shake” debuted at #1 in February. “The Way” by Carey sound-alike Ariana Grande featuring Mac Miller debuted at #10 in March. Other songs to have debuted at #24 or higher so far this year are Demi Lovato’s “Heart Attack” (#12 in March), PSY’s “Gentleman” (#12 in April), Luke Bryan’s “Crash My Party” (#18 in April), “Get Lucky” by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams (#19 in April) and Justin Timberlake’s “Mirrors” (#24 in February).

Music From Baz Luhrmann’s Film The Great Gatsby enters The Billboard 200 at #2, just behind Lady Antebellum’s Golden. Gatsby sold 137K copies, about 50% more than initially forecast. This is the biggest one-week sales tally for a soundtrack since The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 And Beyond sold 175K in its first week in March 2012.

This is the third soundtrack to a film directed by Luhrmann to reach the top three. Romeo + Juliet hit #2 in January 1997. Music From Baz Luhrmann’s Film Moulin Rouge hit #3 in June 2001. All three of these albums have spawned hit songs. Romeo + Juliet featured the Cardigans’ “Lovefool” and Garbage’s “#1 Crush.” Moulin Rouge yielded a chart-topping remake of LaBelle’s 1975 smash “Lady Marmalade” by Christina Aguilera, Lil’ Kim, Mya and P!nk. The Great Gatsby has spawned Lana Del Rey’s “Young & Beautiful” and “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)” by Fergie, Q-Tip & GoonRock.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis this week becomes the first duo in the nearly 55-year history of the Hot 100 to reach #1 with its first two chart entries. They achieve the feat as “Can’t Hold Us” (featuring Ray Dalton) moves up to #1. “Thrift Shop” (featuring Wanz) held the top spot for six weeks earlier this year. Among all acts, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis is the first act to reach #1 with its first two chart hits since Lady Gaga scored in 2009 with “Just Dance” (featuring Colby O’Donis) and “Poker Face.”

“Thrift Shop” tops the 6 million mark in digital sales this week. It’s the 20th song to reach that plateau. It’s the third by an ongoing duo, following a pair of LMFAO hits: “Party Rock Anthem” (featuring Lauren Bennett and GoonRock, 7,653,000) and “Sexy And I Know It” (6,102,000). “Thrift Shop” raced to 6 million in just 36 weeks, a pace topped by only one song in digital history. “Somebody That I Used To Know” by Gotye featuring Kimbra got there in just 30 weeks. Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Call Me Maybe” also took 36 weeks. (That smash tops 7 million this week. Details below.)

Kenny Chesney lands his seventh #1 album on The Billboard 200 with Life On A Rock. Only one other country artist, Garth Brooks, has topped the chart seven or more times. Brooks lassoed eight #1 albums between 1991 and 2001. Chesney has amassed all seven of his #1 albums since Brooks released his most recent studio album, Scarecrow.

Chesney pulls ahead of Brooks in one respect: His #1 albums span a longer period of time (a little more than 11 years). Chesney first topped the chart in April 2002 with No Shoes, No Shirt, No Problems. Brooks’ #1 albums spanned 10 years and two months, from Ropin’ The Wind in September 1991 to Scarecrow in November 2001.

“Stay” by Rihanna featuring Mikky Ekko jumps to #1 on the all-format Radio Songs chart, displacing Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” which had ruled for five weeks. It’s Rihanna’s 11th #1 on the chart, which puts her in a tie with Mariah Carey for the most #1s in the chart’s 22-year history. (This isn’t the Hot 100, but rather the key radio chart that is a component of the Hot 100.) On the Hot 100, “Stay” rebounds from #6 to #3, which matches its highest ranking to date.

Wanna know the rest of the artists with the most #1 hits on the Radio Songs chart? Billboard’s Gary Trust notes that Usher is in third place with seven #1 hits, followed by Ludacris and Kanye West, with six each. 50 Cent, Beyonce, Boyz II Men, Bruno Mars and Katy Perry have each had five.

Carey and Usher are both reality TV stars this season (on American Idol and The Voice, respectively). It’s precisely these Radio Songs smashes that gave them the credibility to land these lucrative TV gigs. (Imagine what kind of money the networks would throw at current radio titans, such as Rihanna, Mars or Perry. Of course, those artists are a little busy just now.)

Snoop Dogg’s reincarnation as Snoop Lion is off to a less than “roaring” start. Snoop’s 12th studio album, the reggae-influenced Reincarnated, enters The Billboard 200 at #16. It’s only his third studio album to fall short of the top 10. Paid Tha Cost To Be Da Boss peaked at #12 in 2002. Malice N Wonderland peaked at #23 in 2009.

It’s hard for veteran artists to remain on top, especially in the fast-changing world of hip-hop. Nearly 20 years have elapsed since Snoop debuted with Doggy Style in November 1993. Two other rappers of roughly the same vintage are still on top. Nas, who debuted in 1994, hit #1 in July with his most recent album, Life Is Good. Jay-Z, who debuted in 1996, has hit #1 with 12 albums.

The iTunes Store, which opened for business 10 years ago on Sunday (April 28), has had a revolutionary impact on the music industry. It gave fans the opportunity to buy the one song from an album they most wanted, a simple but vital thing that fans hadn’t been able to do since the era of physical singles came to a virtual halt in 2000.

“Apple made music ubiquitous in a way it never was before,” Jeff Price, founder of TuneCore and co-founder of spinART Records, told Billboard. “…That ubiquitous-ness has driven a consumption of music that is unparalleled in the history of the world.”

That’s not just music business hyperbole. iTunes’ growth has been phenomenal. The service sold its 25 billionth song on Feb. 6, just seven years after it sold its billionth song (Feb. 23, 2006).

iTunes has been the leading music vendor in the U.S. since April 2008, when it surpassed Wal-Mart. It has been the leading music vendor in the world since February 2010. Last October, it was reported that iTunes represents 64% of the online music market.

A whopping 186 songs have sold 3 million or more digital copies (through all services, not just iTunes). 40 have sold 5 million. Four have sold 7 million.