USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
Taylor Swift rules still both major charts
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Helping the song’s continued Hot 100 command, Swift released its *Alone In My Tower Acoustic Version" for digital purchase Oct. 28, just after 4:30 p.m. ET, ahead of the tracking week’s

close at the end of Oct. 30. “The Fate of Ophelia” drew 29.1 million official streams (down 13%) and 54.5 million radio airplay audience impressions (up 10%) and sold 22,000 (up 236%) in the United States Oct. 24-30. The single scores a fourth week at No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart and a third week atop Digital Song Sales and is steady at its No. 5 high on Radio Songs. “The Fate of Ophelia” became Swift’s 13th career Hot 100 No. 1, tying her for the fourth-most in the chart’s archives. Swift stacks three songs in the top 10 of the latest Hot 100, all from The Life of a Showgirl, following her four top 10s a week ago, eight the week before that and all 10 songs in the region in their debut week: No. 1 this week, “The Fate of Ophelia”, No. 4, “Opalite” and No. 8, “Elizabeth Taylor” Kehlani collects her first Hot 100 top 10 as “Folded” bounds 14-7, with 13 million streams (up 35%), 32.9 million in airplay audience (up 11%) and 3,000 sold (up 74%) in the

tracking week. It also becomes Kehlani’s first top 10 on Streaming Songs (28-10) and Radio Songs (11-8). Helping propel “Folded,” six remixes were released Oct. 24 as an “Homage Pack,” one each with Toni Braxton, Brandy, JoJo, Mario, Ne-Yo and Tank. (All versions except for the one with Tank contribute to the song’s singular chart listing; that mix does not due to Kehlani’s vocals being much more minimized than on the others. Meanwhile, Kehlani remains the only artist credited on the song on the Hot 100, as none of its remixes outperformed the original in consumption for the week.) Huntr/x’s “Golden,” from Netflix’s KPop Demon Hunters, is steady at No. 2 on the Hot 100, following eight weeks at No. 1 beginning in August. Alex Warren’s “Ordinary,” which led the Hot 100 for 10 weeks starting in May, keeps at No. 3, while topping Radio Songs for a landmark 20th week (78.5 million in audience, down 1%). Only two other songs have reached 20 or weeks atop the airplay tally: Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” (27, beginning in August 2024) and The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” (26, starting in April 2020). Olivia Dean’s first Hot 100 entry, “Man I Need,” becomes her first top five hit, climbing 8-5, and Justin Bieber’s “Daisies” pushes 7-6, after reaching No. 2. Morgan Wallen’s “I Got Better” holds at No. 9 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 7. Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl spends its first month atop the Billboard 200 chart, as it racks up its fourth straight week at No. 1 (on the chart dated Nov. 8). It earned 146,000 equivalent album units (down 25%) in the United States in the week ending Oct. 30, according to Luminate. The Life of a Showgirl is only the second album in 2025 to spend its first month 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 own The Tortured Poets Department spent its first 12 weeks at No. 1 in 2024, of its total 17 weeks atop the list. With The Life of a Showgirl spending a fourth week at No. 1, Swift adds her 90th career week at No. 1 on the chart, extending her record among soloists. Elvis Presley has the second-most among soloists, with 67. The total encompasses her 15 No. 1 albums, the most among soloists. Only The Beatles have more weeks at No. 1 (132) and more No. 1 albums (19) among all artists. Of The Life of a Showgirl’s 146,000 equivalent album units earned in the latest tracking week, SEA units comprise 121,000 (down 22%, equaling 157.82 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks — it’s No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums for a fourth week), album sales comprise 22,000 (down 41%; it falls 1-3 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 3,000 (up 411%). The chart-topping KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack is a non-mover at No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200 (84,000 equivalent album units earned, down 12%), while I’m the Problem is also stationary at No. 3 (76,000, down 8%). Daniel Caesar collects his first top 10 album as Son of Spergy debuts at No. 4 with 43,000 equivalent album units earned — his best week by units ever. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 26,000 (equaling 34.11 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks, marking his best streaming week ever; it debuts at No. 10 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 17,000 (his best sales week ever; it debuts at No. 4 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. Sabrina Carpenter’s former leader Man’s Best Friend holds at No. 5 on the latest Billboard 200 (42,000 equivalent album units earned, down 3%), while Olivia Dean’s The Art of Loving rises 7-6 (39,000 units, up 5%). Brandi Carlile captures her fifth top 10 album on the Billboard 200 as Returning to Myself debuts at No. 7 with 35,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 32,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 3,000 (equaling 4.31 million on-demand official streams of the album’s tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. Cardi B’s former No. 1 Am I The Drama? falls 6-8 with 32,000 equivalent album units earned (down 20%). Demi Lovato scores her 10th top 10 album on the Billboard 200 as It’s Not That Deep debuts at No. 9 with 31,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 24,000 (it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 7,000 (equaling 9.78 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise a negligible sum. Closing out the new top 10 on the latest Billboard 200 is SZA’s former No. 1 SOS, which falls 8-10 with nearly 31,000 equivalent album units earned (down 2%).

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

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
Rapper Dave bows with his third no.1 album
Monday, November 3, 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

Man I Need, which falls into ACR (2-6, 30,914 sales) but would have been overtaken anyway, with unadjusted consumption of 61,072 units. Dean’s Nice To Each Other is also an ACR casualty, tumbling 8-22 (14,535 sales), while her Sam Fender collaboration Rein Me In also exits the Top 10 (10-14, 20,304 sales). With schools’ half-term break in full swing, streaming of Kpop Demon Hunters is on the rise, and propels all three of the Huntr/X, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami & KPop Demon Hunters Cast tracks to increased consumption. High profile debuts higher in the chart encumber How It’s Done (9-10, 23,222 sales) and What It Sounds Like (13-13, 20,474 sales), despite their percentile gains of 2.24% and 3.72% respectively, but Golden is not to be denied, with a 5.26% increase in consumption to 65,982 units (8 CDs, 201 vinyl, 1,709 digital downloads and 64,064 sales-equivalent streams) – its highest for five weeks – earning it its ninth week at No.1.

All 10 tracks from Dave’s chart-topping third album, The Bow Who Played The Harp, debut inside the Top 50 of the Top 200 Combined Tracks chart, but under primary artist rules, only three are eligible for the main Top 75 chart. Tems collaboration Raindance leads the way (No.5, 34,935 sales), followed by James Blake collaboration History (No.9, 25,119 sales) and Kano collaboration, Chapter 16 (No.11, 22,415 sales). Where Is My Husband! Is up one notch for the third week in a row, and revisits its earlier No.3 peak (42,869 sales) for Raye. The rest of the Top 10: Opalite (5-4, 35,868 sales) by Taylor Swift, So Easy (To Fall In Love) (6-7, 30,454 sales) by Olivia Dean and Elizabeth Taylor (7-8, 25,743 sales) by Taylor Swift. Overall singles consumption is up 1.70% week-on-week to 30,984,457 units, 3.21% above same week 2024 consumption of 30,021,156 units. Paid-for sales are up 11.80% week-on-week at 279,507, 3.07% below same week 2024 sales of 288,372. Dave becomes the first homegrown British rap act to have three albums debut at No.1, with The Boy Who Played The Harp racking up first week consumption of 73,779 units (20,612 CDs, 15,561 vinyl albums, 15,636 cassettes, 368 digital downloads and 21,602 sales-equivalent streams). The third full-length album by the 27-year-old from Streatham, it emulates the chart-topping starts made by his debut release, Psychodrama in 2019, and follow-up We’re All Alone In This Together in 2021. Its first week consumption far eclipses the former’s 26,390 units and almost matches the latter’s 74,191 units. Seventy-two weeks after Bon Jovi’s 16th studio album, Forever, debuted and peaked at No.3 on consumption of 22,812 units – becoming their 18th Top 10 and 21st Top 75 entry in total - an expanded ‘legendary’ version of the set, sees all 12 of its songs reimagined as duets with artists like Bruce Springsteen, Jelly Roll, Ryan Tedder and Robbie Williams. Also adding new Bon Jovi anthem Red, White And Jersey, it exceeds the original in both metrics, debuting at No.2, on consumption of 27,999 units. It is a standalone release, not combined with the original Fearless, which racks up further consumption of 683 units this week, to raise its career tally to 35,474 units. A candid concept album addressing her marital woes with ‘artistic licence’, Lily Allen’s fifth studio album, West End Girl, emulates its predecessors by making the Top 10. Opening at No.4 on consumption of 20,402 units, despite not yet being available physically, West End Girl was recorded in just 16 days, and Allen co-wrote all of its songs, three of which simultaneously make their Top 20 singles chart debuts this week. Allen’s first two albums are both quadruple platinum, with 2006 debut Alright, Still on 1,210,017 units and 2009 follow-up It’s Not Me, It’s You on 1,242,106 units. In America, The Life Of A Showgirl (TLOAS) will this weekend become the sixth album by Taylor Swift to start its chart campaign with four or more weeks at No.1 – it’s something she has yet to do here. Last week, TLOAS equalled Swift’s personal best opening of three weeks at No.1 set by Folklore in 2020 and matched by 1989 (Taylor’s Version) in 2023 but it now slips to No.3 (23,561 sales) – the highest consumption for an album in that position for 60 weeks. Swift has spent a grand total of 90 weeks at No.1 on the album chart in America, a total surpassed only by The Beatles (132 weeks), whilst her UK tally of 35 weeks is surpassed by eight acts, with The Beatles again leading the way (176 weeks). The rest of the Top 10: The Art Of Loving (3-5, 16,989 sales) by Olivia Dean, Man’s Best Friend (5-6, 11,115 sales) by Sabrina Carpenter, The Highlights (6-7, 8,218 sales) by The Weeknd, , +-=÷× Tour Collection (7-8, 7,469 sales) by Ed Sheeran, 50 Years: Don’t Stop (8-, 7,187 sales) by Fleetwood Mac and Time Flies: 1994-2009 (10-10, 6,292 sales) by Oasis. Overall album sales are up 3.08% week-on-week at 2,658,710 units, 5.16% above same week 2024 sales of 2,528,150. Physical product accounts for 396,212 sales, 14.90% of the total.