USA
Billboard Report (excerpt)
'Die With A Smile' scores third week at No.1
Tuesday, January 21, 2025
by Keith Caulfield & Gary Trust, Los Angeles

Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars’ “Die With a Smile” secures a third total and consecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart. The ballad became Gaga’s sixth Hot 100

leader and Mars’ ninth. Gaga ties her second-longest command, as her debut smash “Just Dance,” featuring Colby O’Donis, ruled for three weeks in January 2009. She dominated for six weeks in February-April 2011 with “Born This Way.” Mars runs up his fifth Hot 100 reign of three or more weeks, following his featured turn on Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!” (14 weeks at No. 1, in 2015) and his own “Locked Out of Heaven” (six, 2012-13), “Grenade” (four, 2011) and “Just the Way You Are” (four, 2010). “Die With a Smile,” on Streamline / Interscope / Atlantic, totaled 62 million radio airplay audience impressions (essentially even week-over-week), 29 million official streams (up 4%) and 6,000 sold (up 5%) in the United States Jan. 10-16. The track holds at its No. 2 high on the Radio Songs chart; falls to No. 3 after two weeks atop Streaming Songs; and keeps at No. 3 on Digital Song Sales, which it led for two weeks. Bad Bunny bounds into the Hot 100’s top 10 with

three songs, all from his new album, DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, which ascends 2-1 on the Billboard 200 chart following its first full week of activity (Jan. 10-16; it was released Jan. 5): “DtMF” (38-2), “BAILE INoLVIDABLE” (28-3) and “NUEVAYoL” (27-8). He pushes his total to 15 career top 10s – extending his mark for the most among acts who record primarily Latin music. He also now boasts 13 top 10 hits recorded in Spanish, the most non-English-language top 10s among all artists. “DtMF” concurrently becomes Bad Bunny’s second No. 1 on the Streaming Songs chart, after “I Like It,” with Cardi B and J Balvin, in July 2018. “DtMF” drew 34.9 million official U.S. streams in the tracking week. “BAILE INoLVIDABLE” tallied 26.8 million and “NUEVAYoL,” 23.5 million. Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “Apt.” keeps at its No. 5 Hot 100 high and lifts 2-1 on the Digital Song Sales chart (6,000 sold, up 10%). It becomes Rosé’s first leader as a soloist; Blackpink, with her as a member, has achieved five top 10s, led by the No. 2-peaking “How You Like That” and “Ice Cream,” the latter with Selena Gomez, in 2020. Rosé becomes the first female artist prominent in K-pop (Korean pop) to top Digital Song Sales. Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” slips 2-4 on the Hot 100, following a record-tying 19 weeks at No. 1 beginning last July. It rules Radio Songs for a 25th week (63.2 million in audience, down 5%), moving to within one week of The Weeknd’s record 26-week command with “Blinding Lights” in April-October 2020. Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s “Luther” rises 7-6 on the Hot 100, after hitting No. 3. Billie Eilish’s “Birds of a Feather” falls 3-7 on the Hot 100, after reaching No. 2. Teddy Swims’ “Lose Control,” which led the Hot 100 for a week in March 2024 – and became the year’s top song – descends 6-9 and, rounding out the top 10, Gracie Abrams’ “That’s So True” drops 8-10 after hitting No. 6. Following its first full week of activity, Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos climbs 2-1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Jan. 25), scoring the superstar his fourth leader on the list. Bunny’s album was released on an off-cycle Sunday (Jan. 5), and, thus, it arrived on the chart a week ago with only five days of activity (as the chart’s tracking week runs Friday through Thursday). In the tracking week ending Jan. 16, Debí Tirar Más Fotos earned 203,500 equivalent album units (up 67%) in the U.S., according to Luminate — largely driven by streaming activity. The set was only available as a standard 17-song streaming album, and as a digital download for purchase (widely through all digital retailers, as well as Bunny’s official webstore). Traditional album sales drove just under 8,000 of the album’s activity for the week. Bunny previously led the Billboard 200 with Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana (in 2023), Un Verano Sin Ti (2022) and El Último Tour del Mundo (2020). At No. 2 on the Billboard 200, Taylor Swift’s 2023 album Lover: Live From Paris reenters, with 202,500 equivalent album units earned, all from album sales, following its reissue on vinyl (161,000 sold for the week), as well as its first release as a digital download album. The album was exclusively available only to purchase as either a vinyl LP or download in Swift’s webstore. It marks the 18th top 10-charting effort for Swift and the highest-charting live album in over five years. It’s the top-selling album of the week, and also scores the single-largest sales week for a live album on vinyl since Luminate began tracking sales in 1991. Of Debí Tirar Más Fotos’ 203,500 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Jan. 16, SEA units comprise 195,000 (up 72%, equaling 264.03 million on-demand official streams of the set’s songs; it holds at No. 1 on the Top Streaming Albums chart for a second week), traditional album sales comprise 7,500 (down 3%, falling 6-8 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 1,000 (up 123%). The 264.03 million streams of the album’s songs mark the largest streaming week for any album since Kendrick Lamar’s GNX arrived with 379.72 million (Dec. 7, 2024 chart), and the largest for any Latin music album since Bunny’s own Un Verano Sin Ti debuted with 356.55 million (May 21, 2022 chart). Taylor Swift’s Lover: Live From Paris returns to the Billboard 200, reentering at No. 2 with 202,500 equivalent album units earned (up from nothing the week previous). The eight-song set was recorded in 2019 and had a limited release on vinyl in 2023 (exclusively through Swift’s webstore), and spent one week on the Billboard 200 that March, at No. 58. As for the rest of the top 10 on the latest Billboard 200 chart, four former No. 1s are at Nos. 3-6. SZA’s SOS is steady at No. 3 (102,000 equivalent album units earned; down 10%), Kendrick Lamar’s GNX is a non-mover at No. 4 (64,000; down 4%), Lil Baby’s WHAM falls 1-5 in its second week (55,000; down 60%) and Sabrina Carpenter’s Short n’ Sweet slips 5-6 (48,000; down 6%). Billie Eilish’s Hit Me Hard and Soft is stationary at No. 7 (40,000 equivalent album units earned; down 7%), the Wicked film soundtrack falls 6-8 (39,000; down 15%), Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping One Thing at a Time dips 8-9 (nearly 39,000; down 4%) and Gracie Abrams’ The Secret of Us descends 9-10 (36,000; down 4%).

Record Of The Month
'Tu Boda' is the second collab between Mexican musician Óscar Maydon and American
regional Mexican band Fuerza Regida and it's a massive success in Latin America.
It was met with criticism for its lyrics, specifically the lyric reading, "Quiero manchar el vestido
blanco de rojo" ("I want to stain the white dress red"), which were suspected to promote femicide.

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (excerpt)
Gracie Abrams keeps the number one spot
Monday, January 20, 2025
by Alan Jones, London
 
In the tightest top three in more than two years, That’s So True by Gracie Abrams is No.1 for the third week in a row, and the eighth week in total, with consumption rising 2.98% week-on-week to 50,584 units (536 digital downloads and 50,048 sales-equivalent streams) – its highest level for eight weeks.

It continues to be followed by Apt (2-2, 49,759 sales) by Rosé & Bruno Mars and Messy (3-3, 49,468 sales) by Lola Young, both of which register double digit percentage increases in consumption to new highs. The margin of 1,116 units between No.1 and No.3 is the smallest since 9 December 2022 (110 weeks ago), when All I Want For Christmas Is You (44,797 sales) by Mariah Carey led from Escapism (43,895 sales) by Raye feat. 070 Shake and Last Christmas (43,685 sales) by Wham!. The Top 3 range that week was thus 1,112 units, the smallest since 2007. Nine weeks after it debuted and peaked at No.12, Nice To Meet You becomes the second Top 10 hit thus far for Bedfordshire singer/songwriter Myles Smith, powering 13-6, with consumption growing 36.11% to 22,839 units, after he performed it and chatted on BBC1’s Graham Norton Show last Friday (January 10). Meanwhile, Sabrina Carpenter’s Bed Chem – which peaked at No.6 –

rebounds 12-10 (19,772 sales), returning to the Top 10 after an absence of eight weeks, with 1,371 of those sales coming from its newly released 7-inch vinyl format. Increasing consumption for the 10th week in a row to its highest level yet, Chrystal’s debut hit The Days bounces 6-5 (30,987 sales), returning to the peak it first scaled a fortnight ago. Teddy Swims continues to have two Top 10 hits, with The Door (7-7, 21,887 sales) and Bad Dreams (9-9, 20,999 sales). Lose Control (23-27, 12,583 sales) completing his trio of concurrent hits under primary artist rules, meaning that Swims is in the unfortunate and unusual position of having his brand-new track, Are You Even Real – a soulful collaboration with Giveon, and the first taste of his upcoming I’ve Tried Everything But Therapy Part 2 album – being starred-out between No.47 and No.48 (9,055 sales). Completing a Top 10 in which seven songs are static and every track increased consumption: Sailor Song (4-4, 33,228 sales) by Gigi Perez and Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars’ duet, Die With A Smile (8-8, 21,304 sales). After returning to the Top 10 last week, Who now dips 5-13 (18,599 sales) for BTS star Jimin, while Defying Gravity (10-11, 19,488 sales) also exits the top tier for Cynthia Erivo feat. Ariana Grande. Overall singles consumption is up 8.13% week-on-week to 29,389,252 units, 5.10% above same week 2024 consumption of 27,962,332 units. Paid-for sales are up 12.88% week-on-week at 244,394, 9.03% below same week 2024 sales of 268,664. Some 23 weeks after it first topped the chart, The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess returns to No.1 for Chappell Roan. Home to the hits Hot To Go!, Red Wine Supernova, Pink Pony Club and Casual – but not Roan’s breakthrough hit Good Luck, Babe! – the 2023 release is 26-year-old Roan’s only album to date and got off to a slow start, taking nearly six months to make the Top 75 and nine months to make the Top 10. Roan was announced as the winner of the annual BBC Sound Of… award last week. Her election to that prestigious title, and Pink Pony Club’s elevation to Tune Of The Week on BBC Radio 1 and B-list on BBC Radio 2 add up to a heap of help from the corporation, driving a 63.44% increase in consumption of The Rise And Fall…, which consequently jumps 7-1 (10,191 sales, including 556 CDs, 4,238 vinyl albums, 42 cassettes, 167 digital downloads and 5,188 sales-equivalent streams) on its 31st consecutive appearance in the Top 10. The biggest factor in its success this week, however, was the release of a new blue ‘crushed splatter’ vinyl edition, which accounted for 2,265 sales. Leading all of the week’s sales flashes, Franz Ferdinand’s first album of new material in nearly seven years, The Human Fear, was on target to earn the Glasgow-based quintet its second No.1, more than 19 years after their second album, You Could Have It So Much Better topped the chart. However, it has to settle for a No.3 debut on consumption of 8,999 units, being overtaken at the death not only by The Rise And Fall… but also by Short M’ Sweet, which is No.2 (10,087 sales) for the fourth week in a row, and the 15th time in 21 weeks since its release for Sabrina Carpenter. The Rise And Fall’s return to No.1 was despite it achieving the lowest consumption for a No.1 album for 54 weeks, and its lead over Short N’ Sweet – 104 sales - was the smallest for a No.1 over a No.2 in more than seven years – since, in fact, Michael Ball & Alfie Boe’s Together Again trumped Stereophonics’ Scream Above The Sounds 43,795 to 43,760 in the 6 November 2017 chart, 376 weeks ago. Returning to Franz Ferdinand, The Human Fear is their sixth studio album, and consists entirely of original songs penned by their 52-year-old lead singer and lead guitarist Alex Kapranos – some of them with other band members – and although its bid for No.1 ends in valiant failure, its first week consumption was 17.31% higher than the 7,671 units their last studio album, Always Ascending, registered on debut in 2018. The Human Fear is Franz Ferdinand’s seventh straight Top 10 album – their entire studio output plus 2022 compilation Hits To The Head. Contrary to the title of their last album, overall consumption of their studio albums is always descending. Their eponymous 2004 debut peaked at No.3 and has consumption of 1,314,892 copies; 2005 chart-topper You Could Have Is So Much Better has consumption of 517,437 units; 2009 No.2 set, Tonight, has consumption of 124,388 units; 2013 No.6 set Right Thoughts Right Words Right Action has consumption of 51,081 units and Always Ascending, No.6 on debut in 2018, has consumption of 19,251 units. Hits To The Head, which reached No.7, included a couple of new tracks, and has to-date consumption of 25,579 units. The rest of the Top 10: SOS (3-4, 8,644 sales) by SZA, +-=÷× Tour Collection (4-5, 7,431 sales) by Ed Sheeran, The Highlights (5-6, 7,217 sales) by The Weeknd, Diamonds (1-7, 7,056 sales) by Elton John, 50 Years: Don’t Stop (10-8, 5,920 sales) by Fleetwood Mac, Hit Me Hard And Soft (6-9, 5,776 sales) by Billie Eilish and Stick Season (9-10, 5,760 sales) by Noah Kahan. Brat – which became Charli XCX’s first platinum album last week – exits the Top 10 for the fourth time, falling 8-11, with sales of 5,555 copies raising its cume to 307,929. Overall album sales are up 7.06% week-on-week at 2,417,907 units, 4.86% above same week 2024 sales of 2,305,766. Physical product accounts for 273,119 sales, 11.30% of the total.