For the first time ever, one distribution company owns nine of the top 10 titles on Billboard’s Digital Songs chart.
Universal Music Group Distribution (UMGD) lays claim to Nos. 1-5 and 7-10 on the Digital Songs chart dated Aug. 31 — reflecting the Nielsen SoundScan sales week that ended on Aug. 18. Only Miley Cyrus‘ “We Can’t Stop,” at No. 6, is the lone non-UMGD title. The RCA Records song is distributed by Sony Music.
Here are UMGD’s nine songs in the top 10 this week: Katy Perry‘s “Roar” (on Capitol Records) debuts at No. 1, followed by Robin Thicke‘s “Blurred Lines” at No. 2 (Star Trak/Interscope Records) and Lady Gaga‘s “Applause” at No. 3 (Streamline/Interscope). Jay Z‘s “Holy Grail,” featuring Justin Timberlake is No. 4 (Roc-A-Fella/Roc Nation) and Luke Bryan‘s “That’s My Kind of Night” (Capitol Nashville) is No. 5.
Avicii‘s “Wake Me Up!” (PRMD/Island/IDJMG) is No. 7, Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” (KIDinaKORNER/Interscope) is No. 8 and Lana Del Rey‘s “Summertime Sadness” (Polydor/Interscope) is No. 9. Rounding out the top 10 is Lorde‘s “Royals” (Lava/Republic) at No. 10.
UMGD’s near-monopoly of the top 10 wouldn’t have been possible without last year’s acquisition of EMI’s recorded-music division by Universal Music. Of the nine titles that UMGD currently lays claim to this week in the top 10, two are from the former EMI Music fold: Perry’s “Roar” on Capitol Records and Bryan’s “That’s My Kind of Night” on Capitol Nashville.
Previously, UMGD held the record for the most distributed titles in the top 10, with eight. The feat had been achieved on numerous occasions since the chart launched in 2005, including most recently last week.
