Though the top three is close, Adele holds at #1 for a third week with “When We Were Young.” Lissie’s “Daughters” vaults into the top five upon the album release of My Wild West, while Charles Kelley’s “Leaving Nashville” moves into the top ten. Dua Lipa’s “Be The One” is the highest debut at #51, while she also introduces new song “Last Dance” at #88. Lissie’s album adds another five songs, led by “Sun Keeps Risin'” at #57. Sia, Gwen Stefani, and Lianne La Havas also begin charting new material.

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Alessia Cara moves a second song, “Seventeen,” into the top five, while Sara Bareilles makes a big move into the top ten as “She Used to Be Mine” ascends 31-6 in its second week. Justin Bieber’s “What Do You Mean?” enters the top twenty. Sia brings the week’s highest debut as “Alive” begins at #32.

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R5 moves into the top ten with “Let’s Not Be Alone Tonight,” which jumps from #12 to #7. Adam Lambert (“Evil In The Night,” 42-32) scores the first of several double-digit jumps, also achieved by biggest movers Sage The Gemini and Nick Jonas (“Good Thing,” 94-37) as well as two more Lambert tracks (“Underground,” 56-43 and “Another Lonely Night,” 98-99), Joy Williams (“Until The Levee,” 59-44 and “What A Good Woman Does,” 97-75), POWERS (“Beat Of My Drum,” 79-45), ROMANS (“Uh Huh,” 74-55), Alessia Cara (“Here,” 90-63), Sia (“California Dreamin’,” 91-65), and Thomston (“Expiry Date,” 88-74). Matt Nathanson lands the highest of seven debuts with “Gold In The Summertime” at #46.

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The big story of the week on the chart is its fifteen debuts, led by new Adam Lambert album track “Evil In The Night” at #42. He and Joy Williams each score two debuts, Lambert also entering at #98 with “Another Lonely Night” and Williams launching two VENUS tracks, “Until The Levee” at #59 and “What A Good Woman Does” at #97. Newcomers to the chart include Gavin James, ROMANS, and POWERS; Thomston, Sia, and Zac Brown Band add new songs to their previous chart histories.

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With the top ten completely frozen, the first interesting moves come later in the top twenty, with Josh Groban and Kelly Clarkson’s “All I Ask Of You” jumping 28-19 and R5’s “Let’s Not Be Alone Tonight” also entering the top twenty, up 31-20. It’s a quiet week for debuts as well, with Neon Trees scoring the highest of the four new entries with newly-released single “Songs I Can’t Listen To.” Sia and Little Big Town also re-enter with their current singles; the additional debuts come from American Idol‘s Clark Beckham, NEEDTOBREATHE featuring Gavin DeGraw, and another single from Allen Stone.

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While many people flocked south to Austin, Texas last week for this year’s South By Southwest festival, which showcases more than two thousand artist performances alongside label presentations, technology reveals, and discussion panels, some of us had to settle for attending Couch By Couchwest from home. I spent the past week digging through a spreadsheet of 2,121 artists who were slated to play during SXSW 2015, and after whittling down the list and listening to 622 of them, I have selected 76 independent acts that warrant further attention now that the festivities have ended. Read a short blurb on each artist below along with a prime track among their discography, or skip ahead to the full playlist on SoundCloud by clicking here. Continue reading “76 independent artists to watch following SXSW 2015”