USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
Taylor Swift rules still both major charts
Tuesday, November 18, 2025
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Taylor Swift's “The Fate of Ophelia” tops the Billboard Top 100 for a sixth week, encompassing its entire run on the chart so far. Of the superstar’s 13 career Hot 100 No. 1s, “The Fate

of Ophelia” is her third to have led for at least six weeks. It joins “Anti-Hero” (eight weeks, beginning Nov. 5, 2022) and “Blank Space” (seven, Nov. 29, 2014). “The Fate of Ophelia” drew 26.2 million official streams (down 4% week-over-week) and 62.2 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 5%) and sold 25,000 (down 13%) in the United States Nov. 7-13. The single rebounds a spot for a fifth week atop the Streaming Songs chart; rises 5-4 for a new best on Radio Songs; and adds a fifth week at No. 1 Digital Song Sales. Of the song’s sales total, 15,000 were from CD singles (its original and "Alone in My Tower Acoustic Version" mixes, each featuring instrumentals as second cuts) that shipped during the tracking week and 10,000 were downloads. Sombr claims his first Hot 100 top 10 as “Back to Friends” rises 11-10. It drew 10.3 million streams (up 1%) and 29.9 million in radio audience (up 11%) and sold 2,000 (up 169%), combining vinyl

and downloads. The song, which sombr solely wrote and produced, became his first Hot 100 hit in April and he rose to a No. 16 high with his fellow breakthrough single, “Undressed,” in October. “Back to Friends” reaches the top 10 in its 33rd week, completing the longest trip to the tier for a male soloist’s first entry, surpassing Sean Paul’s 29-week ascent with “Gimme the Light” in 2002. Huntr/x’s “Golden,” from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, holds at No. 2 on the Hot 100, following eight weeks at No. 1 beginning in August. Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” which ruled the Hot 100 for 10 weeks starting in May, is steady at No. 3, while topping Radio Songs for a 22nd week (74.3 million in audience, down 4%). Olivia Dean’s “Man I Need” climbs 5-4 for a new Hot 100 high; Swift’s “Opalite,” from The Life of a Showgirl, dips 4-5, after hitting No. 2; and Justin Bieber’s “Daisies” keeps at No. 6, after reaching No. 2. Leon Thomas’ “Mutt” runs 8-7 for a new Hot 100 best. Kehlani’s “Folded” falls to No. 8 from its No. 7 Hot 100 high and Morgan Wallen’s “I Got Better” is steady at No. 9, also after reaching No. 7. Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl spends a sixth consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (dated Nov. 22). The set earned 110,000 equivalent album units in the United States in the week ending Nov. 13 (down 8%), according to Luminate. The Life of a Showgirl is only the second album in 2025 to spend its first six weeks at No. 1, following Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem (which spent its first eight weeks atop the list, of its total 12 at No. 1). Swift’s last album, The Tortured Poets Department, spent its first 12 weeks at No. 1 in 2024, of its total 17 weeks atop the list. Three of her albums have led for their first six chart weeks or more, starting with Folklore, which reigned for its first six weeks in 2020, of eight overall weeks at No. 1. Of The Life of a Showgirl’s 110,000 equivalent album units earned in the latest tracking week, SEA units comprise 88,500 (down 10%, equaling 115.91 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks — it’s No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums for a sixth week), album sales comprise 19,000 (up 7%; it holds at No. 4 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 2,500 (down 32%). At Nos. 2 and 3 on the Billboard 200, Morgan Wallen’s I’m the Problem and the KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack trade places as compared to a week ago. The former chart-toppers earned 76,000 equivalent album units (down 2%) and 75,000 units (down 11%), respectively. Rosalía gets her first top 10 with the No. 4 debut of Lux, as it arrives with a personal-best week of 46,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 27,000 (equaling 34.49 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks — a career-high streaming week for the artist, as it debuts at No. 9 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 19,000 (her best sales week ever; it debuts at No. 4 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving reaches a new peak on the Billboard 200 as it climbs 7-5 with 41,000 equivalent album units earned (up 11%). Four former No. 1s follow Dean: Sabrina Carpenter’s Man’s Best Friend is a non-mover at No. 6 (37,000 equivalent album units, down 5%), SZA’s SOS rises 8-7 (32,000, up 3%), Cardi B’s Am I The Drama? ascends 10-8 (30,000, up 9%), and Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time is stationary at No. 9 (nearly 30,000, up less than 1%). Tomorrow X Together’s Yeonjun sees his debut project, No Lables Part 01, enter at No. 10 with 29,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 27,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 2,000 (equaling 3.24 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. The set’s first-week sales were assisted by its availability across multiple CD iterations, each including collectible paper ephemera (some randomized), alongside a standard digital download edition.

Record Of The Month
As the first salvo from her new album, Lux, Spanish reggaeton and flamenco artist Rosalíá has uncorked a dazzling opus featuring Björk, Yves Tumor and a full-on symphony orchestra.

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
Florence + The Machine achieve the fifth no.1 album
Monday, November 10, 2025
by Alan Jones, London
 
The Golden era has returned: Five weeks after it was last at the apex, Golden jumps back to No.1 for Huntr/X, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast. No.3 for the last fortnight, it overwhelms three-week topper, The Fate Of Ophelia (1-2, 61,228 sales) by Taylor Swift and Olivia Dean’s

Florence + The Machine cruise to their fifth No.1 studio album from six releases, with latest release, Everybody Scream, opening atop the list on consumption of 31,369 units (15,476 CDs, 8,504 vinyl albums, 1,724 cassettes, 1,370 digital downloads and 4,295 sales-equivalent streams) – a marginally higher (0.58%) start than its 2022 predecessor, Dance Fever. The only Florence + The Machine studio album not to reach No.1 – fourth album High As Hope – came off second best to Drake’s Scorpion, opening at No.2 on sales of 40,304 in 2018. Debut album, Lungs, sold 63,032 copies on debuting at No.2 in 2009; follow-up, Ceremonials, sold 94,050 copies to debut at No.1 in 2011; How Big, How Bold, How Beautiful sold 68,788 copies debuting at No.1 in 2015; and Dance Fever sold 31,187 copies debuting at No.1 in 2022. No.2 for five weeks in a row at the start of its chart career, Lungs eventually reached No.1 on its 28th week on the chart, and is by far the

group’s most-consumed release, with a to-date tally of 2,015,109 units, followed by Ceremonials (1,061,271 units), How Big… (440,141 units), High As Hope (165,647 units) and Dance Fever (122,981 units). Their 2012 MTV Unplugged set, which reached No.27, has sold 48,094 copies, while a digital ‘best of’, Under Heaven Over Hell, has racked up consumption of 149,795 units since its 2023 release, without ever charting higher than No.105. West End Girl (4-2, 18,253 sales) by Lily Allen, The Life Of A Showgirl (3-3, 18,057 sales) by Taylor Swift, The Art Of Loving (5-4, 15,796 sales) by Olivia Dean and Man’s Best Friend (6-6, 10,259 sales) by Sabrina Carpenter are joined by How To Be Human which debuts at No.5 (12,808 sales) for Cat Burns, duplicating the position in which she finished yesterday in her profile-raising appearances on BBC1’s The Celebrity Traitors. It is the 25-year-old London singer/songwriter’s second full-length album, and eclipses 2024 debut, Early Twenties, which debuted at No.7 (7,722 sales), and has to-date consumption of 34,661 units. Within that top six, it is noticeable that West End Girl reaches a new peak on its second week, albeit with 10.55% lower sales, becoming the first of Lily Allen’s five albums not to peak on debut. Still available only digitally – physicals follow next year – it is home to three tracks climbing the singles Top 20 and has to-date consumption of 38,655 units, suggesting it will eclipse as early as next week, the to-date sales of its immediate predecessor, 2018 No.8 album, No Shame, which currently stands at 47,668 units. The Charlatans’ first album of new material since 2017 and their 14th studio album in all, We Are Love debuts at No.8 (8,411 sales) for the veteran quartet – 58-year-old singer Tim Burgess, 61-year-old bassist Martin Blunt, 60-year-old guitarist Mark Collins and 61-year-old keyboards player Tony Rogers, all of whom have been with the band since the 1990s. 35 years since their debut, Some Friendly, delivered the first of their three No.1s, We Are Love is their 19th Top 75 and 11th Top 10 entry, including compilations and live sets. The rest of the Top 10: The Boy Who Played The Harp (1-7, 9,422 sales) by Dave, The Highlights (7-9, 7,733 sales) by The Weeknd and +-=÷× Tour Collection (8-10, 7,364 sales) by Ed Sheeran. Overall album sales are down 3.76% week-on-week at 2,558,737 units, 5.75% above same week 2024 sales of 2,419,705. Physical product accounts for 364,850 sales, 14.26% of the total. It’s another banner week for Golden, which simultaneously racks up its 10th week at No.1 and cumulative consumption in excess of a million units for Huntr/X, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast. Although dipping 9.85% week-on-week to an 11-week low of 59,485 units (25 CDs, 131 7-inch vinyl, 1,525 digital downloads and 57,804 sales-equivalent streams), its overall consumption climbs to 1,019,012 units. It has reached that level in just 20 weeks – an average in excess of 50,000 a week – and has thus far spent 17 consecutive weeks in the Top 10. It is, however, only the eighth most-consumed track of 2025, and the 1,764th track to achieve consumption in excess of a million units this century. Only two songs have spent longer at No.1 than Golden in the 2020s – Ed Sheeran’s Bad Habits was No.1 for 11 weeks in 2021, and Alex Warren’s Ordinary was No.1 for 12 weeks earlier this year. Golden’s continued occupation of the top spot this week was not a forgone conclusion – Taylor Swift’s The Fate Of Ophelia, which it toppled to return to No.1 last week, cut its deficit from 7.20% to 2.83% despite its own consumption falling 5.60% to 57,802 units as it holds at No.2. With consumption of 409,618 units in 35 days, it becomes the 68th track by Swift to qualify for gold certification. For multiple entries from a new album to register improved chart placings on their second week is very rare – but that’s just what Lily Allen achieves this week with P*ssy Palace (12-8, 22,935 sales), West End Girl (17-15, 17,454 sales) and Madeline (19-16, 17,245 sales), from her West End Girl album, all doing so. Her highest-charting song for 11 years, P*ssy Palace becomes her 11th Top 10 hit. It is also the only new song to make the Top 10 this week – though Thriller catapults 33-9 (20,529 sales) for Michael Jackson, surpassing the peak position of No.10 it achieved when first released in 1983. Where Is My Husband! remains at its peak position of No.3 (41,056 sales) for Raye. The rest of the Top 10: Opalite (4-4, 30,864 sales) by Taylor Swift, Man I Need (6-5, 29,019 sales) and So Easy (To Fall In Love) (7-6, 27,944 sales) by Olivia Dean, Raindance (5-7, 25,339 sales) by Dave & Tems and Elizabeth Taylor (8-10, 20,499 sales) by Taylor Swift. Overall singles consumption is down 1.43% week-on-week to 30,540,759 units, 4.76% above same week 2024 consumption of 29,152,282 units. Paid-for sales are down 0.89% week-on-week at 277,030, 8.55% above same week 2024 sales of 255,200.