• Muse 'Drones' Tops Billboard 200 Over The Rolling Stones, Of Monsters and Men

    Muse has long been a major name in the U.K. music scene, and now the "Dead Inside" rockers are seeing their first major success in America. Today (June 17), it was announced that the band's latest album Drones beat out Of Monsters and Men, Taylor Swift, The Rolling Stones and more for the top album in the United States.
  • Florence + The Machine Take Top of Billboard 200; Taylor Swift + A$AP Rocky Stick Around

    Florence + The Machine booked its first no. 1 effort on the Billboard 200 as mouthful How Big How Blue How Beautiful took the top spot with more than 137,000 equivalent album sales. Although only pure album sales were tracked at the time of the band's last release, Ceremonials, Billboard suggests that this was also the band's biggest sales weeks in terms of pure records as well.
  • A$AP Rocky No. 1 on Billboard 200 Again; Boosie BadAzz, Hillsong United Follow

    Another hip-hop performer takes the top spot on the Billboard 200 with a surprise album as A$AP Rocky and At.Long.Last.A$AP debuts with 146,000 equivalent units in its first week. That may seem like more than his last album, Long.Live.A$AP (which also debuted at no. 1), however that album opened with 139,000 actual copies sold, while the new Billboard metrics also take single downloads and streams into consideration. In that light, A.L.L.A. only sold 117,000 copies. Of course, week two could also be strong due to the surprise nature of the release.
  • Twenty One Pilots Top Billboard 200, Taylor Swift Recovers Big Time Post-Awards

    Yet another new performer to top the Billboard 200 as Twenty One Pilots takes the top spot with Blurryface, which sold more than 147,000 equivalent units. That makes the Columbus, OH-based alt group the seventh act to top the charts for the first time during 2015 (including bigger bands such as Kendrick Lamar and Imagine Dragons).
  • Madonna, Janet Jackson vs Taylor Swift, Nicki Minaj; Two Women-Dominated Hot 100s 25 Years apart

    This week during 1990 marked a new high for female musicians everywhere, as all five of the top songs on the Hot 100 were performed by women. That sounds impressive but female performers have been getting their due even more so in recent years: During 2014, the Top 5 of the Hot 100 was held down by women for seven consecutive weeks. Music Times figured it'd be fun to compare the hits of yesteryear to today, having the Top 5 from this week during 1990 face off with September of 2014...Madonna, Taylor Swift, Janet Jackson, Nicki Minaj and more.
  • Zac Brown Band Tops Billboard 200 Third Time with 'Jekyll + Hyde'

    The Zac Brown Band found itself on top of the Billboard 200 for the third time with its new album 'Jekyll + Hyde.' Although it wasn't the group's biggest sales week (that goes to its last record, 'Uncaged') but it still managed to move 228,000 equivalent albums. The band has also been busy away from album sales, topping both the Country Airplay Chart and the Mainstream Rock Songs charts with different songs from the album. The only other act in Nielsen history to hit that mark was Bon Jovi.
  • Alabama Shakes and 'Sound & Color' Becomes First Independent Release Atop Billboard 200 during 2015

    Alabama Shakes and 'Sound & Color' brought an air of independence to the Billboard 200 this week, as the album became the first independent label (ATO) release to top the charts during 2015. It was easily the band's bestselling week ever, moving 96,000 equivalent copies during its first week. Yet it seemed almost inevitable: The band got to no. 6 with its previous release, 'Boys & Girls', but nearly a year after it debuted. Listeners caught on to the band just a hair too late, and made up for it this time around.
  • 'Furious 7' Tops Billboard 200 Thanks to Wiz Khalifa; Taylor Swift Sets Mark and All Time Low Hits All Time High

    If you've watched Fast Five, you know that Vin Diesel's character Dominic Toretto knows that it's all about how you finish, not how you begin (although he allows Paul Walker's Brian to win the four-man street race in Brazil). The Furious 7 soundtrack is living that philosophy as it reached the no. 1 place on the Billboard 200 four weeks after its release. Part of last week's 111,000 equivalent album sales is thanks to the film's continued success at the box office, but an even bigger part of it is the popularity of "See You Again," the single from Wiz Khalifa that's tearing up the download charts. All Time Low and Taylor Swift place well as well.