International
Olivia Rodrigo Stays on Top In Australia With ‘Drivers License’
Also, British psychedelic pop outfit Glass Animals are on the climb, as “Heat Waves” improves 17-11 in its seventh week in the Top 50. “Heat Waves” was on fire earlier this week as it took out Triple J’s Hottest 100 countdown, one of the band’s three entries. Over on the national albums survey, Illy earns his second No. 1 with The Space Between. It’s the Melbourne rapper’s sixth album and the first since Two Degrees, which ruled the chart in November 2016. Also impacting the chart this week is The Good Times And The Bad Ones by American band Why Don’t We. It’s new at No. 2. Finally, Zayn returns to the Top 10 for the first time in nearly five years as Nobody Is Listening starts at No. 10. The third solo album from the former One Direction singer is the follow-up to 2018’s Icarus Falls, whi...
Warner Music Makes a Play for India’s Regional Music Market
The partnership with Sky Digital is part of Warner Music’s mandate of “taking the Indian sound global,” Jay Mehta, Warner Music India managing director, tells Billboard. The tie-up follows a similar distribution deal with Bollywood label Tips Music and a licensing agreement with Punjabi music aggregator Ziiki Media, which were announced in May and October 2020, respectively. In addition to running an in-house label whose roster includes such Punjabi singing stars as Sunanda Sharma, Sky Digital currently serves as the aggregator for over 40 Punjabi music labels as well as several Hindi, Haryanvi and Bhojpuri ones. Sky Digital also manages a suite of regional music YouTube channels in those languages that collectively have over 15 million subscribers. Among the recent big Punjabi hits distri...
Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Drivers License’ Fast-Tracks to No. 1 In Australia
Rodrigo is all that stands in the way of The Kid Laroi bagging his first No. 1. The Sydney-raised rapper’s “Without You” holds at No. 2 on the singles survey. Also soaring on the national singles survey this week is Tones And I’s “Fly Away,” up 8-7 for a new chart peak. It’s the multiple ARIA Award-winner’s joint second-highest chart entry, equaling the best for 2019’s “Never Seen The Rain.” Tones’ breakout hit “Dance Monkey” is by far the longest No. 1 in the history of the ARIA Singles Chart, at 24 non-consecutive weeks, and it finished 2020 as the best-selling homegrown tune, ARIA reports. Meanwhile, Barry Gibb leads the ARIA Albums Chart as a solo artist for the first time with Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers’ Songbook, a collection of Bee Gees classics performed as country ...
Olivia Rodrigo’s ‘Drivers License’ on Track For Another Week at No. 1 In U.K.
It’s early days, but there is a challenge from Anne-Marie, KSI and Digital Farm Animals‘ “Don’t Play,” which opens at No. 2 on the chart blast and is on track to be this week’s highest new entry, at No. 2. If it holds its momentum, it would become Anne-Marie’s highest-charting single as a lead artist, following a No. 3 best for “2002,” and the best for both KSI and Digital Farm Animals. Another track that’s hit overdrive is Ariana Grande’s “34+35,” which is on course for a new peak. “34+35” rockets 11-3 following a new cut released last Friday featuring Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat. The Official U.K. Singles Chart is published late Friday local time. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begi...
The Weeknd, Harry Styles, Tame Impala Light up Australia’s 2020 Year-End Charts
Released in November 2019, “Blinding Lights” ruled the weekly ARIA Singles Chart for a full 10 weeks in 2020, longer than any other record during the year, earning him an ARIA Award nomination for best international act. When Aussies were keen to extend the mood, their album of choice was Harry Styles‘ Fine Line, which rules the 2020 ARIA Albums Top 10. The former One Direction star’s sophomore album spent just one week atop the weekly ARIA Albums Chart during the year, but critically, it had staying power. By year’s end, the LP had logged 48 weeks in the Top Ten, and Styles took out fan-voted best international act at the 2020 ARIA Awards. Aussies also loved Taylor Swift’s folklore, the No. 2 ranked album of the year, while collections from Billie Eilish (When We All Fall Asleep, Wh...
Apple Music’s Africa Strategy Is Starting to Pay Off
“Africa has birthed a lot of special talents that have been creating amazing music for a long time and we’re happy to finally have the platforms and the means to share our music across the continent and to the rest of the world,” Tems tells Billboard. “[The Africa Rising program] allowed my music to reach new listeners and [has] also given my supporters and myself something to be excited about in these tough times.” ALL EYES ON AFRICA Over the past several years, labels, distributors and industry trade groups have turned their focus towards the African music market, and Apple Music is not the only streaming service making inroads on the continent, or supporting its local artists. (Tems, for example, was also included as part of the latest class of YouTube’s Foundry program, whi...
Rights group urges lifting Ugandan social media ban
Amnesty International is calling for Ugandan officials to lift bans on social media imposed ahead of Thursday’s election. Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni announced on Tuesday that the government had shut down social media. On Jan. 9, Facebook deleted dozens of pro-Ugandan government accounts, saying they were “fake.” Museveni characterized Facebook’s action as arrogant. “It is alarming that the Ugandan authorities have suspended social media networks including Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp and restricted people’s right to freedom of expression and access to information,” said Sarah Jackson, Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for East Africa, the Horn and the Great Lakes, in a press release. Amnesty International said the move was intended to silence journalists, election o...
The Wiggles Sign Exclusive, Global Deal With Universal Music Publishing Group
To celebrate their third decade of lighting up kids’ faces, The Wiggles kick off a year-long national tour of Australia this April, featuring current members Emma Watkins (The Yellow Wiggle), Lachlan Gillespie (Purple) and Simon Pryce (Red) and co-creator Anthony Field (Blue). “This is going to be such a monumental year for The Wiggles,” Field comments in a statement issued Wednesday, “and we couldn’t be happier to be celebrating it with Universal Music Publishing.” The founding members formed The Wiggles, having met while studying Early Childhood Education at Sydney’s Macquarie University. Field, he later recounted, had the thought of recording an album of children’s music, the idea being that it might help him land a job as a teacher. It turned out to be a bright idea. With a...
(G)I-DLE Releases New Mini-Album ‘I Burn’: Stream It Now
K-pop girl group (G)I-DLE released its highly anticipated mini-album I burn via Republic Records on Monday (Jan. 11). The sextet’s six-song project threads together musical arrangements and Eastern instrumentation to collect the pieces of a broken heart, as I burn describes the aftermath of a painful breakup through the motif of a blazing fire and the sequential triumph like a blooming flower. The South Korean group’s leader Soyeon earns writing credits on three songs, while Minnie scores two and Yuqi has one. (G)I-DLE reworked their 2018 single “HANN” for the EP’s opener, titled “HANN (Alone in the winter).” I burn‘s proper lead single “HWAA” ignites one’s inner-fire to avoid the cold feelings broug...
Barry Gibb Set for U.K. No. 1 With ‘Greenfields’
The Bee Gees, who were inducted into the Rock Hall back in 1997, have ruled the U.K. albums chart just once, with 1979’s Spirits Having Flown, though the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, which features several contributions from the vocal group, led the national chart for a whopping 18 weeks. As fans remember David Bowie on what would have been 74th birthday and the fifth anniversary of his passing, the iconic singer’s Legacy (Parlophone) collection vaults 31-10. Also impacting the chart blast is Swedish post-punk group Viagra Boys, whose second studio album Welfare Jazz (Year0001) bows at No. 25, while Gold career retrospectives from British rockers Ian Hunter & Mott The Hoople (No. 18 via Crimson) and “Final Countdown” singers Europe (No. 34 also via Crimson) are eying Top 40 de...
Taylor Swift’s Evermore Returns to U.K. Chart Summit
Harry Styles’ Fine Line (Columbia) was one of the U.K.’s most popular albums in 2020, though it has never reached No. 1 on the weekly chart. It’s inching closer to breaking the spell, rising 10-2, a new high, following the release of buzzy new video for “Treat People With Kindness.” Lewis Capaldi’s Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent (EMI), the U.K.’s biggest album for two years straight, according to the OCC, returns to the Top 10 in its 86th week on the survey. This week, Divinely Uninspired rises 12-6. Meanwhile, Sydney-based, Los Angeles-based hip-hop artist The Kid LAROI enjoys his first Top 10 as debut mixtape F**k Love (Columbia) lifts 22-10. The rising, ARIA Award-nominated artist gets a boost from his hit “Without You,” up 26-7 on the national single...
Taylor Swift’s ‘Evermore’ Extends Reign Atop Australia’s Albums Chart
Swift’s presence is felt up and down the current chart, which also features Folklore (down 4-7), 1989 (up 48-31) and Lover (up 39-34). In a result that mirrors the top tier of the U.K. tally, Evermore is followed on the ARIA Chart by Harry Styles’ Fine Line, which improves 5-2 for its 52nd week in the Top Ten. Fine Line, the current leader on the ARIA Vinyl Albums Chart, gets a push thanks to the viral video for “Treat People with Kindness” featuring Fleabag star Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Meanwhile, The Kid LAROI is back in the high life as the deluxe edition of his debut mixtape F*ck Love (Savage) rises 6-3, equaling its chart peak. It’s a third time at No. 3 for F*ck Love. The rising, Australian-born and raised rapper earned three nominations at the 2020 ARIA Awards. In a rare sight, no new ...
