Weekly Register: Maddie & Tae Notches Top Country Debut

Luke Bryan continues riding high atop both the Soundscan country tracks chart and country albums chart this week. Bryan’s “Strip It Down” moved 42k this week, while his album Kill The Lights moved 38k. However, some of country’s top females are close behind. Maddie & Tae, Cam, and Danielle Bradbery all offer strong sales showings this week.

Maddie & Tae‘s debut project Start Here enters at No. 2 on the country albums chart this week, with 28k (24k album only). The album debuts at No. 7 overall, and No. 5 current country digital album overall.

Sam Hunt‘s Montevallo (13k) follows at No. 3 on the country album chart, Zac Brown Band‘s Jekyll+Hyde (8.3k) at No. 4, and Eric Church‘s The Outsiders (8.3k). The Weeknd debuts at No. 1 on the overall album chart, with Beauty Behind the Madness selling 411k (326k album only).

Overall album sales are down 3.6 percent from last year, with overall digital album sales up .4 percent. Country album sales are down 3 percent from last year, while country digital album sales are up 4.8 percent.

This time last year, Ariana Grande‘s My Everything was the top overall album, moving 169k, while Brad Paisley‘s Moonshine in the Trunk was the top country album, moving 53k.

Cam. Photo: Ninelle Efremova

On the country tracks chart, Cam’s “Burning House” lands as the No. 2 country track with 36k, followed by Sam Hunt‘s “House Party” (35k), Keith Urban‘s “John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16” (34k) and Chris Janson‘s “Buy Me A Boat” (33k). On the overall chart, pop prince Justin Bieber returns with “What Do You Mean?” Beiber’s new track debuted at No. 1 overall, with 337k.

The top country debut this week is Danielle Bradbery’s “Friend Zone,” which moved 7.4k.

Overall tracks are down 10.2 percent from this time last year, while country track sales are down 15.7 percent from last year. This time last year, Jason Aldean‘s “Burnin’ It Down” was the reigning country track, with 76k, while Taylor Swift‘s “Shake It Off” was the peak overall track, with 355k.

The next few weeks will see releases including Brett Eldredge‘s Illinois (Sept. 11), Ben Folds‘ So There (Sept. 11), Jewel‘s Picking Up The Pieces (Sept. 11), Alabama‘s Southern Drawl (Sept. 18), Home Free‘s Country Evolution (Sept. 18), and Clare Dunn‘s self-titled major label debut (Sept. 18).

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Jessica Nicholson

Jessica Nicholson serves as the Managing Editor for MusicRow magazine. Her previous music journalism experience includes work with Country Weekly magazine and Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) magazine. She holds a BBA degree in Music Business and Marketing from Belmont University. She welcomes your feedback at jnicholson@musicrow.com.

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