This week Calvin Harris has the biggest new album and Scoreboard takes a look at Nielsen’s mid-year charts
Billboard Artist Top 10
For the magazine dated July 22, 2017
See the full chart at http://www.billboard.com/charts/artist-100
| Billboard Artist Top 10 | Name | Billboard 200 Album Rank | Billboard Hot 100 Singles | Highest Charting Single |
| 1 | Bruno Mars | 7 | 3 | 3: That’s What I Like |
| 2 | Ed Sheeran | 5 | 2 | 5: Shape Of You |
| 3 | DJ Khaled | 1 | 2 | 2: I’m The One |
| 4 | Imagine Dragons | 4 | 2 | 7: Believer |
| 5 | Kendrick Lamar | 3 | 6 | 6: Humble |
| 6 | Justin Bieber | 90 | 3 | 1: Despacito (Remix) |
| 7 | Shawn Mendes | 15 | 1 | 18: There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back |
| 8 | Calvin Harris | 2 | 3 | 26: Feels |
| 9 | Drake | 9 | 4 | 51: Passionfruit |
| 10 | Charlie Puth | 116 | 1 | 15: Attention |
As Scoreboard enters mid-summer, the new releases slow down and DJ Khaled holds on at #1 on the Billboard 200 with Grateful, winning a second close contest to top that chart against Calvin Harris and his latest release, Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1. On the Artist 100, @djkhaled slips to #3 as Bruno Mars and Ed Sheeran make it back to the top two. The Hot 100 stays steady with “Despacito (Remix)” by Luis Fonsi, Daddy Yankee, and Justin Bieber at #1 for the ninth week and the same songs switching places in the top 5.
Bruno Mars is back as Billboard’s #1 Artist in America
Calvin Harris Brings More Funky Bounces
15 years ago Scottish teenager Adam Wiles was posting electronic tracks on MySpace hoping to get noticed by a record company. Today he is Calvin Harris, one of the world’s highest-paid DJs most known for Rihanna collaborations and for once dating Taylor Swift. He has kept busy releasing singles through the years; the new Funk Wav Bounces Vol. 1 is his first proper album since 2014. Similar to last week’s DJ Khaled chart-topper, Funk Wav Bounces brings in 21 collaborators from pop and hip-hop to create an all-star compilation. Rihanna is conspicuously missing, though she already made 2016 for @calvinharris with global hit “This Is What You Came For.” From the female pop side Ariana Grande makes an appearance on “Heatstroke” and Katy Perry sings the chorus of “Feels.” Coincidentally, both tracks feature Pharrell who appears comfortable as a supporting actor (also crooning on a 2 Chainz album) in 2017.
The biggest shift for @calvinharris on the new album is opening up the funky post-disco sound to hip-hop artists. They are on most of the album tracks. Migos bring fire to opener “Slide” feat. Frank Ocean. D.R.A.M. and Lil Yachty are both on the album, although they are 7 songs apart. Nicki Minaj is still the hardest-working female rapper not only with two appearances on DJ Khaled’s Grateful, but also owning Calvin’s “Skrt On Me.” And then of course there’s the ubiquitous Future who is “Rollin” on Funk Wav Bounces. That track also features R&B up-and-comer Khalid, who sounds like Frank Ocean Jr. As Khalid’s fame grows, there will be confusion due to the similarity of his name to DJ Khaled. Khaled could have prevented that by featuring Khalid on Grateful, but the American teen was absent. Good thing Calvin Harris picked Khalid up for Funk Wav Bounces, it might be one the album’s greatest achievements.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWFs-R-DLh5/?taken-by=calvinharris
Calvin’s summer bounces overlook New York streets
Mid-Year Scoreboard
It was easier to say who was on top 20 years ago. The transformation to a digital model fundamentally changed the way music is consumed, and this year it is especially pronounced as streaming music consumption accelerates. Nielsen’s Mid-Year Report, released earlier this month, highlights that on-demand audio and video consumption of music is up +36% vs. last year, though album sales are down -18%, with similar rates of decline for both physical and digital albums. In total, music consumption is up, with streaming gains offsetting purchase losses.
The different channels of consumption makes it harder to keep score. For example, what is the biggest album of 2017 so far? The winner is Kendrick Lamar and DAMN. if your metric is total consumption across channels and formats. However, Ed Sheeran‘s ÷ (Divide) is ahead of @kendricklamar when it comes to album sales. And if you want to limit album sales to vinyl, the biggest record of 2017 is the 50th anniversary edition of The Beatles‘s Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. When it comes to singles, Ed Sheeran’s “Shape Of You” is the big winner across formats. The former Billboard Hot 100 #1 is also the #1 streaming song, #1 song for digital sales, and the #1 song on the radio. Not bad for a kid from Framlingham. This mid-year, big congrats go out to @teddysphotos and @kendricklamar. With the success of “Despacito” and @brunomars more challengers will emerge in the second half of the year. Keep up with Scoreboard @theknockturnal every week to see who tops the charts and pursues the year-end #1 titles!
@teddysphotos has the best-selling single and album of 2017
