Zayn tops charts in post-One Direction debut

NEW YORK — One Direction star Zayn Malik is finding renewed success in his own right, with his solo debut album opening at number one in both the United States and Britain.

The 23-year-old, who now simply calls himself Zayn, has gone racier as a solo artist with a sexual image that would have been out of the question for his former boy band.

His album “Mind of Mine,” sold 157,000 copies or the equivalent in downloads or streaming in its first week in the United States, Nielsen Music said late Sunday.

Zayn becomes the first British male solo artist to debut at number one on the benchmark US Billboard chart with his first album.

George Michael went to number one in 1988 with “Faith,” his blockbuster solo debut after disbanding the pop duo Wham!, but he did not do so in his first week.

“Mind of Mine” also debuted at number one in Britain, where Zayn edged out fellow homegrown star Adele on the Official Albums Chart released Friday.

Zayn released “Mind of Mine” on March 25, the anniversary of his abrupt and at time acrimonious departure from One Direction amid a global tour.

The boy band later released an album without Zayn before declaring an indefinite hiatus.

Zayn goes for a more R&B sound on “Mind of Mine” and offers plenty of sexuality, with an alternative cover of the album depicting him topless showing off his muscular, tattooed body.

The first track, “Pillowtalk,” is an ode to passionate lovemaking, with Zayn in the song promising to take a partner to “a place that is so pure, so dirty and raw.”

Zayn has said he was unhappy with the artistic constraints of One Direction, a group that emerged from Britain’s “The X Factor” television contest in 2010.

The band quickly became one of the world’s top-selling acts, packing arenas full of young girls with its squeaky clean pop songs.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Adele’s ‘25’ reigns for 3rd week on Billboard chart, Coldplay at No.2

NEW YORK - Adele's record-breaking new album "25" sold another 728,000 copies last week, easily trumping Coldplay's new release, "A Head Full of Dreams," to retain the top spot on the Billboard 200 album charts for a third week.

Coldplay, which like Adele initially held back its album from streaming service Spotify and other free platforms, sold some 209,000 copies in its debut week, according to data from Nielsen Music on Monday.

The British rock band, which is to play the coveted halftime show at the 2016 Super Bowl in February, said last week it would stream "A Head Full of Dreams" on Spotify in its second week of release.

Adele's "25," already the biggest selling album in the US for 2015, has sold some 5.19 million copies since its Nov. 20 release.

The singer on Monday announced her first North American tour in five years. She will play 56 dates starting in July in St. Paul, Minnesota and end on Nov. 15 in Mexico City. Her UK and European tour is already sold out.

The strong showing by Adele and Coldplay pushed Justin Bieber's "Purpose" into 3rd place on the Billboard 200, with about 150,000 copies sold for the week. A cappella group Pentatonix slipped to 4th place with "That's Christmas To Me."

The Billboard 200 chart tallies units from album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).

New entries by rappers G-Eazy ("When It's Dark Out") and Rick Ross ("Black Market") landed at No. 5 and 6, respectively. South African-born Australian actor and singer Troye Sivan, 20, took 7th place with his album "Blue Neighborhood."

On the Digital Songs chart, which measures online download sales, Adele's single "Hello" was ousted from the No.1 spot by Jordan Smith, a finalist on TV competition show "The Voice," whose rendition of the Queen classic "Somebody to Love" sold more than 164,000 copies compared with 158,000 for "Hello." —Reuters

Top Grammy contenders find grassroots strength in streaming

LOS ANGELES - The old-fashioned radio still reigns as consumers' top source for finding new music, but at Sunday's Grammy Awards, online streaming might show itself to be the fast track to industry recognition.

With the likes of record-of-the-year nominees Iggy Azalea and Meghan Trainor breaking out on YouTube and streaming services such as Spotify, this year's Grammys could be a celebration for one of music's few growing segments.

Among the nominees for this year's top awards - song, record and album of the year - only British soul singer Sam Smith and R&B artist Pharrell Williams had a hit that placed among the top 10 radio songs in total plays in 2014, according to Nielsen Music.

"I don't think anyone who is voting thinks that the Grammys happen in a world where streaming doesn't exist," said William Gruger, the social/streaming chart manager at Billboard.

The online success of Azalea's rap hit "Fancy" with singer Charli XCX and Trainor's ode to full-figured women "All About that Bass" underscore the power that streaming - and its young-skewing consumers - have in elevating a song's profile at the grassroots.

Such is the promise of streaming that Apple Inc bought headphone maker Beats for $3 billion last year, in part for its curated music service.

Grammy voters, however, are supposed to cast their ballots only on artistic merit, said Neil Portnow, the president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, which hands out the awards.

"The fact that music is available to consumers via streaming and via download or via traditional product, that doesn't have anything to do with the awards process itself," Portnow said. "There isn't anything about streaming that relates directly to how those awards are given."

STREAMING DIVIDES INDUSTRY

But falling album sales and digital song downloads have elevated streaming's prominence within the industry. In December, Billboard and data compiler Nielsen Music revamped the weekly album chart to include online streaming.

Services such as Spotify, Beats and Google's YouTube helped propel on-demand music streams to 55 percent growth in 2014.

"The industry is paying more attention to it especially when Billboard is changing their charts," said Lyndsey Parker, editor of Yahoo Music.

Azalea's "Fancy" was the top song on Spotify in 2014 while its video racked up 440 million views on YouTube in under a year.

"'Fancy' blew up because people were streaming that song like crazy ... it's good for discovery and elevating the profiles of new artists," Parker added.

Trainor's "Bass" has been streamed 569 million times on YouTube. By contrast, John Legend's "All of Me" was last year's top radio song with 816,000 plays.

But streaming still faces an uphill climb among the industry's establishment, which is unhappy with the way and amount of money services such as Spotify compensate for the art.

Megastar Taylor Swift, a song and record of the year nominee, notably pulled all her music from Spotify and streaming sites in November prior to the release of top-selling album "1989."

Spotify, which boasts 60 million active users, says about 70 percent of its revenue goes to record labels and publishers, which then have their own separate agreements with artists.

"If a streaming service bases its business on the music that it plays, one would think there has to be a way where the people who write, perform and own that music can be fairly compensated for the work they do," Portnow said.

"I don't think we are there yet," he added, "and I think there is a long way to go."  — Reuters