GUNS N' ROSES: Landmark Appetite For Destruction album is back in the top 10
America seems to have regained its Appetite for Destruction.
The massive 1987 Guns n' Roses album has re-entered the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 this week through the combined sales of the various deluxe editions of it that were released on June 29th. The last time the album was in the Top 10 came 29 years ago.
It debuts at number-10 this week on the strength of 33,000 earned units, using a new formula that combines traditional record sales, track equivalent albums and stream equivalent albums.
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PAUL McCARTNEY: TV appearance boosts music sales
Paul McCartney has long understood the benefits of TV exposure. Ever since The Beatles' landmark appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, he's seen how the small screen can boost record sales.
Since his much publicized -- and heavily streamed -- appearance on James Corden's Carpool Karaoke, McCartney has seen a rise in both paid downloads and music streams.
- "Let It Be," with 1.5 million U.S. streams and 10,000 downloads sold, ranks 18th on Billboard's Hot Rock Songs chart. It also claims the number-six spot on the Rock Digital Song Sales list.
- Other Beatles classics on the Digital Sales list include "Blackbird" (number-10, 5,000 paid downloads), "Hey Jude" (11th; 5,000), "Penny Lane" (15th; 4,000), "Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da" (18th; 3,000) and "Here Comes the Sun" (24th; 3,000).
- "Come on to Me," one of Sir Paul's new tunes, stands at number-24 on the same list; it was streamed nearly 800,000 times and sold 10,000 downloads.
- "I Don't Know," another recent release, debuts at number-39 on Hot Rock Songs, with 428,000 streams and 4,000 paid downloads.
Paul's album Egypt Station, his first collection of new material in five years, goes on sale September 7th. (Billboard)
THE ROLLING STONES: Keep on rolling with new expanded deal
Looks like The Rolling Stones aim to keep on rolling.
The band has expanded its global partnership with Universal Music Group, to include a new deal covering merchandising, licensing, brand management and e-commerce and one covering its long-form audio visual catalog. The latter deal will include reissues of the concert films Atlanta, Steel Wheels, Voodoo Lounge, Bridges to Babylon, Four Flicks and Bigger Bang through UMG's Eagle Rock subsidiary,
The Stones ended the European leg of their No Filter Tour in Warsaw, Poland on Sunday. The concert was marked by Mick Jagger commenting on Poland's recent move to lower the mandatory retirement age for judges to 65, which many see as undermining the rule of law there.
Jagger spoke out after receiving a letter from the country's best known pro-democracy activist, Lech Walesa asking him to do so. According to reports, he said in Polish, “I am too old to be a judge but not too old to sing” and later spoke about how far Poland's democracy had come since the Stones played in Warsaw in 1967, while it was under Communist rule. (Billboard, Billboard)
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN: Classic bootleg gets official release
One of the most widely bootlegged Bruce Springsteen performances -- rated by many fans as his greatest concert -- finally has an official release 40 years after the fact.
The Roxy July 7th, 1978, which is available now at Live.BruceSpringsteen.net, was broadcast live on KMET in Los Angeles and spread quickly throughout bootlegging circles that summer. Springsteen debuted two new originals -- “Point Blank” and “Independence Day” -- in his two sets and played three other unreleased tracks and four unreleased covers (including Buddy Holly's "Rave On" to open).