Cody Jinks Makes History with Two Consecutive #1 Records
An album by Cody Jinks has come in #1 in album sales for the second consecutive week. After hitting #1 in country music in pure album sales, and #2 when factoring in streaming last week with his album After The Fire, Jinks has pulled off the same feat again this week with his album The Wanting. The albums were released on October 11th and 18th respectively, giving Jinks fans a double dose of music, and allowing him to do what very few artists have done in country music history—top the charts with different albums on successive weeks.
The Wanting by Cody Jinks sold an estimated 12,500 albums in physical sales and downloads, and received 2.5 million streams during the reporting period, good enough for equivalent numbers of 14,900 units—basically in line with what After the Fire did the week previous, besting all competition for #1 in pure album sales, putting him at #2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart that factors in streaming, and #3 in pure album sales in all of music. Cody also comes in at #35 on the all genre Billboard 200.
Though some may look at the sales numbers of After The Fire and The Wanting and feel they’re low, this is somewhat missing the point. The numbers reflect the new reality of the majority of music fans streaming their music as opposed to purchasing physical copies, but the rules are the same for all artists.
The only artist that moved more records in the last two weeks in country music was Luke Combs, who once again comes in at #1 this week with This One’s For You. But even when factoring in streaming numbers, Cody Jinks beat out mainstream competition with widespread radio support for the second week in a row. Chris Janson’s latest single “Good Vibes” was #1 at country radio when his new album Real Friends was released right beside Cody’s The Wanting, but Janson could only muster selling just over 3,000 copies.
What makes the feat that much more impressive is the fact that Cody Jinks doesn’t have a record label. Cody Jinks has previously been signed to Thirty Tigers and Rounder Records, but chose to handle the release of his two new records completely in house through his management company, True Grit Presents. The numbers also don’t reflect vinyl copies of the records which won’t ship out until December 7th. Only then will they be factored into Cody’s sales. Jinks also did not use a ticket bundle—aka selling albums as a bundle option with concert tickets.
During the Soundscan era, only artists such as Garth Brooks have been able to pull off having different titles at #1 during consecutive weeks. This speaks to the incredible grassroots support Cody Jinks enjoys from his rabid fans known as “Flockers,” and the independent country music community at large. By combining a hard-edged country style with subsnative songwriting, Cody Jinks symbolizes the best of both worlds in country music that has instilled his career with an undying loyalty from listeners.
October 28, 2019 @ 12:33 pm
Good for him! I love both of these albums and absolutely appreciate what he does. He’s definitely one of my all time favorites. Some of his songs kind of remind me of Brian Burns. Man I wish that dude was still putting out albums.
October 28, 2019 @ 12:46 pm
I too miss Brian Burns. I wish he would return. Heavy Weather is one of my all time favorite albums.
October 28, 2019 @ 6:26 pm
Thank you both for mentioning Brian Burns. I hadn’t heard of him and spent all day listening to his amazing music, thanks to you. Damn, he’s good.
October 28, 2019 @ 1:52 pm
Go get ’em Cody!
October 28, 2019 @ 2:21 pm
I’ll wait for the remastered versions to be released. Both albums sound like they were recorded in a Folgers tin coffee can.
October 28, 2019 @ 9:40 pm
I much prefer the warm, vintage tin to the newer, sterile plastic though.
October 28, 2019 @ 2:37 pm
He so deserves this! Making real country music with some damn good songwriting and vocals, selling out concerts everywhere, treating his fans like friends!
October 28, 2019 @ 2:40 pm
Trigger,
Are album sales via the artist website part of the official tally?
October 28, 2019 @ 3:00 pm
Yes, as long as they are reporting them to the right folks, which I’m sure they are.
However, it would not include vinyl sales just yet because those units have not shipped yet.
October 28, 2019 @ 3:23 pm
Well deserved for sure!
October 28, 2019 @ 4:11 pm
I really like Cody’s music. His voice and style is exactly what today’s country music needs.
October 28, 2019 @ 5:38 pm
So is Cody no longer signed to Rounder Records? That seems to be the implication but it’s never been explicitly stated to my knowledge.
October 28, 2019 @ 7:14 pm
Kind of ironic how all this hear in Chicago is pop crap, when the best album can’t even get radio play.
October 29, 2019 @ 5:19 am
Not to take away from his achievement because it’s a great one but that state country music sales are in that 14k now gives you a number one album is something. 3000 sales for Chris Janson would be considered a flop back i the day but I guess in modern times it’s not too bad.
October 29, 2019 @ 7:31 am
Own both CD’s, and both are great. True down home Country music with a touch of grit.
October 29, 2019 @ 9:50 am
Cody is kicking it!
October 29, 2019 @ 10:03 am
Congrats! Both records are excellent, but The Wanting to me is one of those rare
records that’s great from start to finish. Way to go! \m/
October 29, 2019 @ 5:14 pm
And of course, the mainstream “music” press and writers are ignoring this achievement.
October 29, 2019 @ 6:42 pm
I am not being a troll or a hater. Cody Jinks seems like an awesome dude, and I loved all of his albums up until Lifers. I do not like these new albums. They are generic and boring. There is nothing special about either of them. William and Wanda is the only song that sticks out from both albums. He used to have these really cool, personal, detailed songs. They were songs that only Cody Jinks could sing. These new songs are just basic.
October 30, 2019 @ 6:27 am
It’s possible it’s his management steering him deeper into the Nashville swamp
October 30, 2019 @ 8:38 am
If that was the case, he would have signed to a label, which I’m sure he’s had offers from. If you don’t like the current direction of Cody’s music, it has to do with the music itself.
October 29, 2019 @ 6:46 pm
Cody is awesome. Screw radio.
October 29, 2019 @ 9:49 pm
When hearing Chris Janson only sold 3,000 records, Billy Ray Cyrus’s 425 for “The SnakeDoctor Circus” doesn’t seem too terrible ;).
I wonder how Garth would react to these numbers…
October 30, 2019 @ 1:37 pm
Whoohoo!
November 5, 2019 @ 6:48 am
This is great news to hear! Anytime a great artist does well is cause to celebrate. I didn’t even know about Cody Jinks until a few months ago but have loved music ever since. Hopefully the success of Cody leads to mainstream country realizing that you do not have to copy and paste the same commercial formula in order to make money. An artist putting heart and soul into truthful and emotional albums should always beat out carbon copy slideshows of country/southern stereotypes and tropes. But irregardless of that high level stuff, congratulations to Cody Jinks on his immense success with his recent music!