(MENAFN- Arab Times) Heavy metal rockers Disturbed ousted country singer Luke Bryan from the top spot on the weekly US Billboard 200 chart on Monday. "Immortalized," the sixth studio record from Disturbed, sold 93,000 albums and 29,000 songs, and was streamed 3 million times, totaling 98,000 units.
Last week's chart-topper, Luke Bryan's "Kill The Lights," dropped to No. 2 this week with 67,000 units, while rapper Dr Dre's "Compton" stayed steady at No. 3 with another 61,000 units sold in the week ended Aug 27.
The Billboard 200 chart tallies album sales, song sales (10 songs equal one album) and streaming activity (1,500 streams equal one album).
New entries on the top 10 of the Billboard 200 album chart this week include country musician Kip Moore's "Wild Ones" at No. 4, "Great Unknown" from Matchbox 20 front man Rob Thomas at No. 6 and Swedish heavy metal band Ghost's "Meliora" at No. 8.
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On the Digital Songs chart, which measures online single download sales, R. City's "Locked Away" featuring Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine jumped two spaces to No. 1 with 91,000 downloads.
Next week's chart is likely to reflect bumps in sales of songs and albums tied to artists who won and performed at Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards.
A college librarian in Kentucky has found the 19th-century manuscript of a musical number that gave rise to one of the most widely performed songs in the world, "Happy Birthday to You," University of Louisville officials said on Monday.
The discovery will likely intensify interest in a high-profile US court case over whether Warner Music Group has a valid copyright to the "Happy Birthday" song and can continue to reap from it an estimated $2 million in royalties every year.
The university said its library director, James Procell, recently found the only known manuscript of "Good Morning to All," a melody that the public eventually began to sing with the familiar tribute, "Happy Birthday to You."
The document was found in a sketch book belonging to Louisville native Mildred Hill, who wrote the "Good Morning" song along with her sister Patty, a kindergarten teacher, and published it in a children's song book in 1893.
The manuscript and other papers were donated to the library in the 1950s by a friend of the Hill sisters, but were not cataloged. They remained hidden in its archives for decades.
The university made no mention of a copyright notice on the manuscript, and its first page is missing. It is unlikely to have a direct impact on the federal lawsuit, filed by a group of artists who argue the song has been copyright-free for decades, said their lawyer, Mark Rifkin.
The artists, a musician and three filmmakers, filed their putative class action against Warner in 2013 seeking a return of the fees Warner has collected over the years for use of the song, mostly in TV and film.
Warner's copyright in the song originates with the Clayton F. Summy Co, later known as Birch Tree and acquired by Warner. Summy had obtained registrations to "Happy Birthday" in 1935, according to court papers.
US District Judge George King in Los Angeles is mulling over the arguments made by both sides. The artists recently told him they found a "smoking gun" in the form of an old songbook that they say legally proves the copyright is no longer valid. Warner disputes that claim.
Canadian musicians had a record year abroad in 2014, with airplay royalties exceeding Can$55 million (US$42 million), the agency that collects monies on their behalf said Monday.
The uptick is "proof that our music creators resonate around the globe, and that SOCAN (Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada) is doing even better at the complicated job of tracking international use of music," that non-profit society said in a statement.
The United States remained the top market for Canadian music, followed by France, Britain, Brazil and Germany.
New albums released in 2013 or 2014 by Bryan Adams, Arcade Fire, Bobby Bazini, Justin Bieber, Leonard Cohen, Drake, Sarah McLachlan, Nickelback and Rush were largely responsible for the increase in radio play and licensing of Canadian music.
Several Quebec and Acadian artists also reached a growing audience in France, including Coeur de Pirate, Lisa Leblanc, Pierre Lapointe and Robert Charlebois.
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