USA
Billboard Report (Excerpt)
'Can't Hold Us' remains atop the digital song chart
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
by Keith Caulfield, L.A. & Silvio Pietroluongo, N.Y.

As forecast, Vampire Weekend notches its second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart as "Modern Vampires of the City" debuts atop the list this week. The set sold 134,000 copies in its first week,

according to Nielsen SoundScan, which is a record high sales week for the act. The group's last album, "Contra," previously held the act's one-week sales record when it started at No. 1 in January of 2010 with 124,000. "Modern Vampires of the City" is the 19th independently-distributed album to reach No. 1 since the Billboard 200 chart began using SoundScan sales data in 1991. The set is released on XL Recordings and distributed by Warner Music's indie-distribution arm Alternative Distribution Alliance. The new album is the first indie set to debut at No. 1 this year. The last indie to start at No. 1 was Jason Aldean's "Night Train" on the chart dated Nov. 3, 2012. A few weeks before Aldean, Mumford & Sons' "Babel" opened at No. 1. It then returned to the top this year, after it won the Grammy Award for album of the year. At No. 2 this week is country legend George Strait with his arriving "Love Is Everything." It sold 120,000 in its first frame, which surpasses the start of Strait's last studio release, 2011's "Here For a Good Time" (91,000). "Love Is Everything" is Strait's 18th top 10 album on the Billboard 200, tying him with Paul McCartney for the fourth-most top 10s among male artists in history. Only Frank Sinatra (33), Elvis Presley (27) and Bob Dylan (20) have logged more top 10s among the gents. Over on the Country Albums chart, Strait secures his 25th No. 1 album with "Love Is Everything," extending his record for the most No. 1s on the Country Albums chart in history. In a distant second place are Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, who each have 15 No. 1s. At No. 3 on the Billboard 200 is the third and final debut in the top 10: Demi Lovato's "Demi." The singer/actress' fourth album is her fourth straight set to debut in the top four, and it scores her best sales week yet (110,000). Lovato's last album, 2011's "Unbroken," started at No. 4 with 96,000. She previously opened at No. 1 with her sophomore set, "Here We Go Again," in 2009 (108,000 in its debut -- her previous best sales week). Her first album, 2008's "Don't Forget," debuted and peaked at No. 2 off an 89,000 launch. As for the rest of the top 10 this week, last week's No. 1, Lady Antebellum's "Golden," falls to No. 5 with 56,000 (down 67%). Right above it is the soundtrack to the film "The Great Gatsby," which slips from No. 2 to No. 4 in its second week with 95,000 (down just 30%). The "Now 46" compilation falls 3-6 (52,000; down 43%), Justin Timberlake's "The 20/20 Experience" descends 6-7 (44,000; down 34%) and Michael Buble's "To Be Loved" dips 4-8 (40,000; down 53%). Closing out the top 10: Pistol Annies' "Annie Up" drops 5-9 (30,000; down 64%) and Blake Shelton's "Based On a True Story" steps down 9-10 (28,000; down 26%). Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending May 19) totaled 5.10 million units, down 8% compared with the sum last week (5.55 million) and up less than 1% compared with the comparable sales week of 2012 (5.09 million). Year to date album sales stand at 111.41 million, down 5% compared to the same total at this point last year (117.40 million).
Over on the Digital Songs chart, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Can't Hold Us" is still tops, selling another 231,000 downloads (down 4%). Charging fast right behind is Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," feat. T.I. & Pharrell, which vaults 23-2 with 206,000 (up 204%). Last week, the song was performed on NBC's "The Voice" (May 14) and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" (May 16). P!nk's "Just Give Me a Reason," feat. Nate Ruess, slips 2-3 with 193,000 (down 16%), Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" holds at No. 4 with 189,000 (up 25%) and Selena Gomez's "Come and Get It" climbs 6-5 with 164,000 (up 15%). Falling 3-6 is Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors" with 156,000 (down 7%), while Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" is steady at No. 7 with 141,000 (up less than 1%). Also standing still is Icona Pop's "I Love It," feat. Charli XCX, though it's up by less than 1%. Jumping 19-9 is Lana Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful" with 121,000 (up 57%), thanks to exposure gleaned from its use in the film "The Great Gatsby" and on its soundtrack. Completing the top 10 is Daft Punk's "Get Lucky," feat. Pharrell Williams, which rises 17-10 with 118,000 (up 45%). Digital track sales this past week totaled 24.43 million downloads, up 1% compared with last week (24.26 million) and down 2% stacked next to the comparable week of 2012 (24.95 million). Year to date track sales are at 531.18 million, down 3% compared to the same total at this point last year (545.30 million).  COMPLETE CHARTS

United Kingdom
Music Week Report (Excerpt)
Rod Stewart lands first no.1 album since 1979
Monday, May 20, 2013
by Alan Jones, London

David Bowie did it at 66, Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond all did at the age of 67 but Rod Stewart becomes the oldest recording artist to have a number one album with new material,

topping the chart for the eighth time in his career with Time, four months after his 68th birthday. Amazingly, it is Stewart's first number one album since he was 34 - his first seven number one albums came in a rush between 1971 and 1979. The only male solo artists to have morenumber ones than Stewart are Elvis Presley (11), Robbie Williams (10), David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson (nine apiece). With more than 33 years elapsing since Stewart's last number one album overall (Greatest Hits Volume 1) and almost 37 years passing since his last studio number one album (A Night On The Town), Stewart's return to number one comes after a record absence for a British act - eclipsing the near 32 year pause between Tom Jones' turns at the top with Delilah in 1968 and Reload in 2000. However, American folk legend Bob Dylan - who was the previous holder of the title for oldest artist to have a number one with an album of new material - still holds the overall record for biggest gap between number ones, with more than 38 years elapsing between New Morning topping the chart in 1970 and Together Through Life doing likewise in 2009. Stewart co-wrote 11 of the 12 tracks on the regular edition of Time (12 of the 15 on the deluxe edition), making it the first album on which he has written more than a single track since 1991, when he co-wrote half of the tracks on Vagabond Heart. Of 11 albums Stewart released between then and Time, three were regular rock albums, five comprised American standards, one was made up of rock covers, a second majored on R&B and another on Christmas songs. Although it is so long since Stewart had a number one album, he has been one of the chart's most reliable performers - Time is his 13th straight Top 10 album. In fact, of 26 studio albums Stewart has released since his 1971 breakthrough Every Picture Tells A Story, 25 have made the Top 10, with the solitary exception - 1988's Out Of Order - reaching number 11. Stewart's overall chart span is more than 40 years which means he was a veteran even when the 21st century started. Even so, he has had 11 Top 10 albums this century, a tally beaten only by Irish acts Daniel O'Donnell (13, including a Mary Duff collaboration) and Westlife (12). All of Stewart's recent albums have been fourth quarter releases and have benefitted from the higher sales climate that exists at that time of the year but Time's first week sales (57,628) still exceed the opening tallies of any of his 21st century albums, of which his most recent - November 2012's Merry Christmas Baby - had the biggest opening week, selling 54,860 copies. After scoring three Top 20 singles in six months, Gabrielle Aplin turns her attention to the album chart, and lands a number two debut (35,203 sales) for introductory release English Rain. 20 year old Aplin topped the singles chart last December with her remake of Frankie Goes To Hollywood's The Power Of Love, and reached number six with Please Don't Say You Love Me in February. Her third hit, Panic Cord, opened at number 19 last week, and now slips to number 28 (10,853 sales). New York alt. rock band Vampire Weekend are set to debut atop the US chart with third album, Modern Vampires Of The City, later this week. It earns them their third straight Top 20 album here, debuting at number three (27,805 sales). Their self-titled 2008 debut opened at number 22 (7,246 sales) and eventually peaked at number 15, while 2010 follow-up Contra debuted and peaked at number three on first week sales of 42,806. Abba legend Agnetha Faltskog scores her highest charting album as a solo artist, with her fifth English language studio album A, debuting at number six (19,206 sales). It is 63 year old Faltskog's first album since 2004, when My Colouring Book - the most successful of her previous solo albums - debuted and peaked at number 12, on slightly lower first week sales of 18,386. Elsewhere in the Top 10, Caro Emerald's The Shocking Miss Emerald dips 1-4 (21,431 sales), Rudimental's Home falls 2-5 (20,436 sales), Passenger's All The Little Lights climbs 8-7 (12,479 sales), Emeli Sande's Our Version Of Events rallies 9-8 (12,060 sales), Michael Buble's To Be Loved descends 4-9 (11,559 sales) and the motion picture soundtrack recording of Les Miserables improves 12-10 (11,108 sales). Overall album sales are up 8.13% week-on-week at 1,417,372 - 5.09% above same week 2012 sales of 1,348,711.
Daft Punk continue to whip up a storm on the singles chart, with Get Lucky enjoying an easy fourth week atop the list. Now sharing with Charles Aznavour's 1974 hit She the record for longest stay at number one for a record by a French act, Get Lucky is the first single to spend four straight weeks at number one by any act since Carly Rae Jepsen's Call Me Maybe in April 2012. Get Lucky sold 113,883 copies last week - only 7.50% less than the week before - becoming only the second number one single to sell upwards of 100,000 copies four weeks in a row in the 21st century, emulating Band Aid 20's Do They Know It's Christmas?. With cumulative sales - after just 30 days on release - of 606,011, Get Lucky vaults 4-2 on the year-to-date rankings, and will surpass Thrift Shop by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis (Feat. Wanz) to become the biggest seller of 2013 in the next couple of days. Thrift Shop has thus far sold 625,419 copies in 2013 (634,014 copies cumulatively). Today sees the release of Daft Punk's new album, Random Access Memories, which is itself a shoe-in for a number one debut, although the effect its release will have on Get Lucky remains to be seen. Ahead of its release, Daft Punk's 2001 album Discovery rebounds 42-29 (3,550 sales). No match for Daft Punk but climbing for the seventh straight week, Passenger's debut hit Let Her Go closes 3-2. Its sales climbed 11.00% to 70,918 - raising its cumulative tally to 245,824. Demi Lovato has placed seven songs on the Top 200 but always fell short of the Top 30...until now. The 20 year old former Disney starlet breaks the mould in spectacular style, debuting at number three (47,339 sales) with Heart Attack, the introductory single from her fourth album, Demi, which is released today (20th). Wretch 32 opened his chart career in 2011 with a trio of top five smashes culminating in the number one hit Don't Go but has also had problems hitting the Top 30 since with six straight no-shows (four of them, admittedly, singles on which he wasn't the primary artist). He's back with a vengeance this week, debuting at number six (44,852 sales) with Blackout (feat. Shakka), the first single from his upcoming but still untitled and unscheduled third album. Alex Clare has yet to successfully follow-up his 2011 singles Too Close, which exploded to number four when picked up for use in a TV commercial by Microsoft in 2012, but he has leant his vocals to a couple of hits since then, namely Rudimental's Not Giving In, which got to number 14 last December, and Endorphins, which becomes the highest charting single to date by Sub Focus, debuting at number 10 (29,622 sales) this week. Too Close, incidentally, topped the 600,000 sales mark last week, with 1,124 sales raising its overall 115 week tally to 600,239. In the Top 10 but not mentioned above, Can't Hold Us rallies 5-4 (46,836 sales) for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Ray Dalton, swapping places with Waiting All Night by Rudimental feat. Ella Eyre (45,260 sales), while Chris Malinchak's So Good To Me slides 2-7 (42,770 sales), Armin Van Buuren's This Is What It Feels Like dips 6-8 (35,534 sales) and David Guetta's Play Hard (feat. Ne-Yo & Akon) falls 7-9 (32,536). Overall singles sales are up 3.03% week-on-week at 3,351,769 - 6.15% above same week 2012 sales of 3,157,515.  COMPLETE CHARTS