Weekly Register: Sam Hunt Drops “X2C”

Sam Hunt

X2C, the digital EP from UMGN’s Sam Hunt entered the Country album chart this week with sales of 8.1K to land at No. 5, driven largely by the success of his debut single “Leave The Night On.”

On the overall tracks chart, “All About that Bass” by Big Yellow Dog songwriter Meghan Trainor sold 239K, booming at the top for another week.

Kenny  Chesney scored the top Country track debut with “Flora Bama” surfing in with 29K.

Taylor Swift confirmed Tuesday that her Oct. 27 release, 1989, will be her first official pop album—meaning its sales numbers, which are likely to be huge, won’t count toward Country’s album sales tally.

At this point, Country album sales are down -19.4 percent compared to last year, having sold 18.7 million units YTD. (By comparison, overall album sales are down -14.5 percent.) Can Country’s major releases help the genre’s album sales total rebound before year’s end? The line up includes: Aug. 25 Brad Paisley; Sept. 9 Lee Brice, Dustin Lynch; Sept. 16 Tim McGraw; Sept. 23 Kenny Chesney; Sept. 30 Lady Antebellum, Blake Shelton; Oct. 7 Jason Aldean; Oct. 14 Florida Georgia Line; Oct. 21 Little Big Town; and a Garth Brooks project expected around Thanksgiving.

Top 5 Country Albums TW
Luke Bryan, 19K
Brantley Gilbert, 12K
Miranda Lambert, 12K
FGL, 10K
Sam Hunt, 8.1K

Top 5 Country Tracks TW
Jason Aldean, “Burnin’ It Down” 93K
FGL, “Dirt” 70K
Kenny Chesney, “American Kids” 70K
Dierks Bentley “Drunk on a Plane” 49K
Lady Antebellum, “Bartender” 46K

Country track sales lag -18.7 percent compared to last year, having sold 93.4 million. Overall track sales are down -12.8 percent.