Tagged: Billboard

Billboard

How Madonna Turned Her ‘Rebel Heart’ Leak Into a Global Hit

From Billboard.com:

On December 16, Madonna was in her New York apartment when she received word that more than a dozen unfinished demos for her forthcoming album had leaked. Her manager, Guy Oseary, was just returning to his Beverly Hills estate when he got the news. The album, Rebel Heart, was set for a late-April release, and thanks to a meticulous marketing plan and an inspired group of collaborators (including Diplo, Kanye West and Avicii), buzz was strong on the singer’s 13th studio full-length.
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Billboard Charts

Madonna lands three ‘Rebel’ tracks on Hot Dance/Electronic Songs

Three of the songs from Rebel Heart debuted on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart right after their arrival, Billboard.com reports.

Reconstructing the sequence of events that followed the massive demo leak of last week, Billboard explains that the songs were released digitally in a surprise move at midnight on Friday December 19, available for instant download upon pre-ordering the album or as a la carte purchases. The songs soar onto the chart, therefore, on the strength of only a partial week of sales and with only small benefits from other metrics like streaming, radio airplay and club play. Read More

Rebel Heart album cover

Billboard review: Madonna Survives in Style on ‘Living For Love’

Billboard.com reviews Madonna’s new single, Living For Love:

When listening to Madonna sing a line like “Took me to heaven, let me fall down/Now that it’s over, I’m gonna carry on” on new single “Living For Love,” it’s hard not to think of the disappointment the pop queen felt earlier this week, when her thirteenth album leaked online in demo form before it was even officially announced. Fortunately for fans, that initial shock is over, and Madge is carrying on with an album release — “Living For Love” previews Rebel Heart, now due out in March, and hints at the defiant pose that the follow-up to 2012’s MDNA may strike after a few overstuffed dance projects.

Unlike Madonna’s previous two lead singles, the pre-EDM banger “4 Minutes” and the cheerleader pep talk “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” “Living For Love” leaves its focus on its lyrics, with the singer beginning over a regal piano line that’s eventually joined by pulsing percussion. The confidence Madonna displays on the track recalls singular classics like “Express Yourself” and “Like A Prayer,” and when the song weaves its way toward a throbbing drop, Madonna continues crooning, refusing to be relegated to the background. “Living For Love” sounds like a giddy combination of Madonna’s past and present, and represents an encouraging sign for a 2015 project that was unexpectedly thrown into jeopardy at the end of 2014. Read More

Billbord 200 Albums

The Billboard 200 goes Streaming

The new Madonna album will compete in a completely different US albums chart, as Billboard will introduce a huge change with the chart that goes live on December 4th, 2014, when positions will not only be counted by the units sold but will also include live streams.

In the new formula the Billboard 200 albums chart will collect data from 1,500 Nielsen SoundScan streaming sources including Spotify, Beats and Google Playin addition to “track equivalent albums” counting ten total song downloads as an album sale. Read More