USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
'Man's Best Friend' at No.1 on Billboard Top 200
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Sabrina Carpenter scores her second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart as Man’s Best Friend debuts atop the list dated Sept. 13. It launches with 366,000 equivalent album units

earned in the United States in the week ending Sept. 4, according to Luminate. Of that sum, traditional album sales comprise 224,000. Both figures mark career-high weeks for the singer-songwriter. Man’s Best Friend also collects 2025’s biggest week, by units and by album sales, for an album by a woman. It logs the third-biggest week of the year among all albums, by units and by album sales. Of Man’s Best Friend’s 366,000 first-week equivalent album units, album sales comprise 224,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on the Top Album Sales chart), SEA units comprise 141,000 (equaling 184.11 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 songs; it also debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums) and TEA units comprise 1,000. In 2025, the three largest weeks for albums, by units, are the opening frames of Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem (493,000), The Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow (490,000) and Man’s Best Friend (366,000). In traditional album

sales, the three biggest weeks of 2025 belong to the bows of Hurry Up Tomorrow (359,000), Stray Kids’ Karma (296,000) and Man’s Best Friend (224,000). As Man’s Best Friend’s first-week SEA units total 141,000, that equates to 184.11 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 songs in its first week. That’s the largest streaming debut for an album by a woman in 2025, as well as Carpenter’s best streaming week yet. Man’s Best Friend is the lone debut in the top 10 on the latest Billboard 200. Holding at No. 2 is the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, which logs its seventh nonconsecutive week in the runner-up slot (its peak), with 120,000 equivalent album units earned (down 5%). Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping I’m the Problem is a non-mover at No. 3 (105,000, down 10%), Stray Kids’ Karma falls 1-4 in its second week (61,000, down 80%) and Alex Warren’s You’ll Be Alright, Kid climbs 8-5 (38,000, down 1%). Wallen’s former leader One Thing at a Time jumps 10-6 with 35,000 equivalent album units earned (down 6%), Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet skips 15-7 (34,000, up 17%), Gunna’s The Last Wun rises 9-8 (34,000, down 11%) and SZA’s chart-topping SOS ascends 12-9 (34,000, down 1%). BigXthaPlug’s I Hope You’re Happy falls 7-10 in its second week to close out the top 10 (30,000, down 37%). Couch, couch, couch will have to wait, as Huntr/x works its way to a fourth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Golden,” from the soundtrack to the smash animated Netflix film KPop Demon Hunters. Upon the original ascent to No. 1 for “Golden,” Huntr/x — the singing trio of Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami (in the roles of the film’s characters Rumi, Mira and Zoey) — became the first female group associated with Korean pop to crown the Hot 100. “Golden,” on Visva/Republic Records, tallied 34.5 million official streams (down 2% week-over-week), 22.1 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 13%) and 9,000 sold (up 4%) in the United States Aug. 29-Sept. 4. The track secures a seventh week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart; rises 29-24 on Radio Songs — as it hits the top 10, lifting two spots to No. 10, on the Pop Airplay chart; and adds a second week at No. 1 on Digital Song Sales. Sabrina Carpenter scores two songs in the Hot 100’s top five: “Tears” debuts at No. 3 and former chart-topper “Manchild,” which led in its debut week in June, surges 7-4. Both cuts are from her new album, Man’s Best Friend, which arrives atop the Billboard 200. “Tears” starts with 26.3 million streams (good for a No. 2 premiere on Streaming Songs), 11.9 million in airplay audience and 2,000 sold. Carpenter collects her fifth Hot 100 top 10, all since April of last year. “Manchild” drew 19.5 million streams (up 86%) and 49.3 million in radio reach (up 2%) and sold 2,000 (up 129%). It charges 25-5 on Streaming Songs, which it led for one week, and climbs 5-3 for a new high on Radio Songs. Elsewhere in the Hot 100’s top 10, Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” holds at No. 2, after 10 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 beginning in June. It tallies a 12th week at No. 1 on Radio Songs (73 million, down 1%). Below Carpenter and Saja Boys’ two Hot 100 top 10s apiece, Morgan Wallen’s “What I Want,” featuring Tate McRae, slides 3-7, after it debuted in May as Wallen’s fourth No. 1 and McRae’s first. Ravyn Lenae’s “Love Me Not” falls 6-8 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 5. Below Huntr/x’s “How It’s Done,” which remains at No. 9, Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control,” which led the Hot 100 for a week in March 2024, and went on to become the year’s No. 1 song, drops 8-10. It logs a record-extending 107th week on the chart overall and a record-furthering 77th week in the top 10.

Record Of The Month
'Back To Friends' became the breakout hit of the 20-year-old American singer / songwriter
Shane Michael Boose, known professionally as Sombr. The song entered many charts
around the world after going viral on the video-sharing app Tik Tok.

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
Olivia Dean holds still the runner-up slot
Monday, September 15, 2025
by Alan Jones, London
 
Its consumption is down week-on-week for the first time, but Golden is No.1 for the fifth week in a row and sixth time in all for Huntr/X, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast. Achieving consumption of 68,222 units (2,207 digital downloads, 66,015 sales-equivalent streams),

it weakens 1.59%. Its 17.20% lead over nearest challenger Man I Need by Olivia Dean, shrinks to 10.41% as the latter track continues to strengthen, improving 4.46% to 61,789 units – the highest for a No.2 so far this year, as it secures its third straight week as runner-up. The last No.2 to have higher consumption was Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, which racked up 94,170 units (187,566 without ACR) in the last week of 2024. The two other songs from the Netflix movie soundtrack in the Top 10 – credited to Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee & KPop Demon Hunters Cast – both climb a place but remain below earlier peaks with Soda Pop recovering 5-4 (38,247 sales) and Your Idol rallying 8-7 (31,812 sales). Like Golden, Your Idol suffers its first dip in consumption but Soda Pop grows for the 11th week in a row, albeit by a minuscule 0.62%. Three songs from Sabrina Carpenter’s new album, Man’s Best

Friend, are in the Top 10 again this week, with Tears (3-3, 40,638 sales) and Manchild (4-6, 32,328 sales) both present and correct but My Man On Willpower, which debuted at No.7 last week is now ‘starred-out’ (23,668 sales), losing out to When Did You Get Hot?, which completes Carpenter’s trio under primary artist rules, debuting at No.9 (28,520 sales) to become her 22nd hit in all, and 11th Top 10 entry. Sombr scores his third Top 10 hit, as 12 To 12 climbs 12-10 (26,756 sales). No Broke Boys (6-5, 35,306 sales) by Disco Lines & Tinashe and Nice To Each Other (9-8, 29,791 sales) by Olivia Dean both climb but are below their peak positions, and have declining consumption. Overall singles consumption is up 0.60% week-on-week to 29,861,948 units, 2.80% above same week 2024 consumption of 29,048,172 units. Paid-for sales are down 5.47% week-on-week at 268,097, 13.11% below same week 2024 sales of 308,549. Man’s Best Friend’s dogged resistance earns Sabrina Carpenter the accolade of consecutive weeks at No.1 for the first time in her career. Despite its consumption falling 61.79% week-on-week to 32,591 units (3,156 CDs, 2,197 vinyl albums, 421 cassettes, 178 digital downloads and 26,639 sales-equivalent streams), the album mounted a steadfast defence of pole position, leaving previous chart-toppers Suede, Tom Odell and Faithless’ new albums trailing in its wake. Its repeat performance ends a run of 38 consecutive weeks in which leadership of the chart has changed – the second longest run in chart history, behind the 41-week run assembled in 2020/2021. Although Carpenter’s 2024 blockbuster Short N’ Sweet has accumulated five weeks at No.1, it has done so only one week at a time. Carpenter’s overall tally of seven weeks at the summit puts her equal with Lewis Capaldi and behind only Taylor Swift (28 weeks) and Ed Sheeran (nine weeks) for most time spent at No.1 in the 2020s. Partly because Spotify data was unavailable for the first four of the week’s sales flashes, Suede – whose sales are largely physical – held a handsome lead in early snapshots, and might have fancied their chances of achieving their fourth No.1 album in all and their first since 1999 with their 10th studio album, Antidepressants. In the final rankings, it ends up well beaten – but its No.2 debut on consumption of 16,091 units is 14.62% greater than the opening frame of 14,038 that earned their last album, Autofiction, the same position in 2022, and secures the 10th Top 10 and 14th Top 75 entry for the veteran alt-rock quintet fronted, as always, by Brett Anderson. Antidepressants is, however, by far the biggest album physically this week, with 7,978 CD, 5,965 vinyl album and 265 cassette sales together contributing 88.29% of its tally. It is also the biggest seller digitally (1,113 sales), with only streaming (770 units) letting it down. It provides Suede’s best tally since 1999, when their fourth album, Head Music, debuted at No.1 on sales of 32,884. Eclectic indie sextet Red Rum Club have had a busy few months, headlining at Aintree Racecourse, touring as support for fellow scousers The Wombats, and gigging at multiple festivals, including Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds. It seems to have paid off as they maintain their record of charting higher with each successive release. Introductory album Matador reached No.158 in 2019, with follow-up The Hollow Of Humdrum peaking exactly 100 places higher the following year, while How To Steal The World reached No.34 in 2021 and Western Approaches reaching No.8 last year. The fifth album and second Top 10 entry for the Liverpool lads – vocalist Fran Doran (32), guitarists Tom Williams (30) and Michael McDermott (32), bassist Simon Hepworth (32), trumpeter Joe Corby (33) and drummer Neil Lawson (33) – Buck gallops to a No.7 debut (7,229 sales). Thirty-four years to the week since they released first album Foxbase Alpha, veteran chart campaigners Saint Etienne’s 12th and final studio album, International, debuts at No.8 (7,100 sales). Far surpassing their 11th studio set, The Night, which peaked at a lowly No.191 last December, International is an excellent swansong from the trio – Sarah Cracknell, Bob Stanley & Pete Wiggs – with guest vocalists and guest co-writers making it a perfect pop celebration, which duly earns them their 14th Top 75 entry, their third Top 10 album and their highest chart placing since 1994. No.4 on debut eight weeks ago, Justin Bieber’s latest studio album, Swag, rockets 87-10 (6,781 sales), after the original 21 track-set was expanded to 44 tracks as Swag II, which is subsumed into the original for chart purposes, hence its revival. The rest of the Top 10: Time Flies 1994-2009 (4-3, 8,315 sales) by Oasis, +-=÷× Tour Collection (9-4, 7,613 sales) by Ed Sheeran, 50 Years: Don’t Stop (7-5, 7,574 sales) by Fleetwood Mac, The Highlights (12-6, 7,308 sales) by The Weeknd and You’ll Be Alright, Kid (6-9, 7,052 sales) by Alex Warren. The Weeknd’s best chart placing for 14 weeks and The Highlights’ highest consumption for 30 weeks follow the announcement of his 2026 UK tour. Overall album sales are down 1.79% week-on-week to 2,432,779 units, 1.34% above same week 2024 sales of 2,400,521. Physical product accounts for 265,194 sales, 10.90% of the total.