I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing Thanksgiving. While we were shopping and eating, XL/Columbia's Adele was selling 3.4m albums, nearly one million more than NSYNC did when they held the record. In this day and age where consumers seem okay with just buying two or three singles from any given artist on iTunes, I can't imagine this new record being broken anytime soon, except maybe by her next album. I saw a stat that revealed she was accountable for 42% of all music sold last week—that’s just crazy!

I’m doing a year-end wrap up next week and will break down marketshare for the year by label. I’ll also provide a recap of the year in regards to music and our Rhythm chart. We’re down to three reporting weeks left. Then, all these songs must survive the dead period between the 12/19 and 1/4. It's sink or swim. We’ve seen plenty of solid records fall apart, as well as records that were shaky going in that ended up coming out with large increases; it’s a waiting game to see what happens this year.

For the seventh consecutive week, Drake’s “Hotline Bling” (YMCMB) is the #1 record. I’ll delve more into just how impressive Republic’s year was in next week’s column. Thanks to Gary Spangler, Davey Dee and Stef Cole, Post Malone’s “White Iverson” is at #4, up 280 spins. Ariana Grande’s “Focus” moves to #14, adding 145 spins, while The Weeknd’s “In the Night” (XO) leaps #31-#20, up 775 spins. Dawin f/Silento’s “Dessert” (Casablanca) had one of its better weeks, adding 170 spins and moving to #26. Adrian Marcel’s “Take Your Time” (L7) sits just outside the chart and is looking to debut next week.

Def Jam’s Rick Sackheim, Noah Sheer and Scott Maness have Alessia Cara poised to take over the #1 slot in the next two weeks. Cara moves to #2, up 350 spins. Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” (RBMG), meanwhile, quickly climbs to #11 and gains 580 spins, while Big Sean’s “Play No Games” (G.O.O.D.) posts at #15. Def Jam gets a “double debut” this week as 2 Chainz’s “Watch Out” and Jeremih’s “Oui” come on at #38 and #40, respectively. Rick Ross f/Chris Brown’s “Sorry” barely misses charting at #41, and is sure to debut next week.


Columbia’s Ayelet Schiffman and James White have Dej Loaf‘s “Back Up” at #8, up 265 spins, and J. Cole’s “No Role Modelz” (Roc Nation) at #13, gaining 125 spins. To accompany her record-breaking sales, they also have Adele’s “Hello” (XL) at #18, gaining 430 spins. The Chainsmokers f/Rozes’ “Roses” (Disruptor) gained 140 spins and just misses debuting at #42, but it should chart this coming week.

Over at RCA, John Strazza, Inca and Lori G have Chris Brown’s “Zero” at #9 and Tinashe f/Chris Brown’s “Player” at #12, up 290 spins. Newcomer Bryson Tiller climbs #34-29 with “Don’t,” tacking on 220 spins. G-Eazy f/Bebe Rexha’s “Me, Myself and I” debuts at #35 with an increase of 170 spins. And heads up: there’s a new Chris Brown track called “Back to Sleep”; it’s is already on the Urban chart and at #51 at Rhythm.


Epic’s Sujit Kundu has Travi$ Scott’s “Antidote” (Grand Hustle) on warp speed, as it’s now Top 10 and up 500 spins. They’re crossing this over to Top 40 as we speak. Meghan Trainor f/John Legend’s “Like I’m Gonna Lose You” is at #34, and they’re impacting Yo Gotti’s “Down in the DM” this week. That one’s already at #44, up 70 spins.

Biggest Increase:
1) The Weeknd “In The Night” XO/Republic
2) Justin Bieber “Sorry” RBMG/Def Jam
3) Travi$ Scott “Antidote” Grand Hustle/Epic
4) Drake & Future “Jumpman” YMCMB/A1/Epic/Republic
5) Adele “Hello” XL/Columbia

The Pulse:
1) Bryson Tiller “Don’t” RCA
2) Drake & Future “Jumpman” YMCMB/A1/Epic/Republic
3) G-Eazy f/Bebe Rexha “Me, Myself and I” RCA
4) The Weeknd “In the Night” XO/Republic
5) The Chainsmokers f/Rozes “Roses” Disruptor/Columbia