Billboard Hot 100: 04/20/2013

[Duca]

Apr 10, 2013 11:15:56 GMT -5 Lozzy said:

"Papers" flopped? Didn't it reach #1 on the R&B chart? Hardly a flop.

A format-hit. It was originally announced as the lead single from the album and it only made the top 40. His team was underwhelmed by its performance at the very least since it didn't even get video treatment.

Anyway, Jay-Z also did it, with "Empire State of Mind."

[Deleted]

"Papers" wasn't even sent to other formats though, so I wouldn't call it a flop considering it went to #1 where it was sent.

[jebsib]

Papers was a perceived flop. Compare its national peak to the lead singles from Usher's last 4 albums.

Hundreds of songs have reached #1 on the R&B chart, and they had no mainstream or cultural impact at all. Strange to consider, given the last 20 years, but true.

[Lozzy]

Apr 10, 2013 11:22:48 GMT -5 Duca said:

Apr 10, 2013 11:15:56 GMT -5 Lozzy said:

"Papers" flopped? Didn't it reach #1 on the R&B chart? Hardly a flop.

A format-hit. It was originally announced as the lead single from the album and it only made the top 40. His team was underwhelmed by its performance at the very least since it didn't even get video treatment.

Oh, it was promoted to pop? I didn't know. Still not a flop though imo. ;)

Edit: or not?

---

I found two: Paula Abdul with "Straight Up" and K-Ci & JoJo with "All My Life".

[Deleted]

I never could figure out what Usher and his team were doing with "Papers." It didn't feel as if they actually tried to promote for real. No performances anywhere and no video as Duca said, just something thrown out to admit he shouldn't have married Tameka tide over urban. I can't remember if it actually got an adds date on pop but it was the kind of song that even back then, the label should have known was not pop friendly. Then a whole album's worth of unfinished songs leaked in January, leading people to believe that was the album. It wasn't and I don't think any of those songs made RvR. Thank goodness too, I remember being extremely underwhelmed by the whole thing.

"Hey Daddy" and "Lil' Freak" didn't get sent to pop either, did they? So that made it even weirder...if they were worried about overall performance after "Papers" then you'd think they would have started off with OMG instead of saving it.

[Deleted]

Apr 10, 2013 11:35:13 GMT -5 @cynthiarose said:

"Hey Daddy" and "Lil' Freak" didn't get sent to pop either, did they? So that made it even weirder...if they were worried about overall performance after "Papers" then you'd think they would have started off with OMG instead of saving it.

I'm pretty sure they didn't send anything to CHR/Pop until "OMG". "Lil' Freak" never even went for adds anywhere. It became an Urban hit without being sent for adds (and was climbing the chart at the same time he had other singles charting).

[Deleted]

I didn't realize "Lil' Freak" never had adds! That explains why that song's run felt so strange, I kept wondering why they were rushing through singles so quickly but it was really just urban jumping on a particular song. Knowing that now, the label should have gone with the flow on that one and sent it to pop, and waited on releasing OMG.

Apr 10, 2013 11:28:19 GMT -5 jebsib said:

Papers was a perceived flop. Compare its national peak to the lead singles from Usher's last 4 albums.

Hundreds of songs have reached #1 on the R&B chart, and they had no mainstream or cultural impact at all. Strange to consider, given the last 20 years, but true.

A song only sent to one format can't really be measured fairly against songs that were sent to multiple formats. That's the point Jazzy was making. And that's why I found the release of the song odd, b/c it was the first time Usher had ever released a lead single that apparently wasn't meant to appeal to CHR...I really wasn't used to that, but I suppose the label saw the way the wind was blowing at the time before most of us fans did by jumping on the split-single thing.

[crystalphnx]

with all the examples people are mentioning, the "single going to No. 1 after first two didn't" phenomenon doesn't seem to be all that rare after all:

Savage Garden: "I Want You", "To The Moon And Back", then "Truly Madly Deeply"
Gwen Stefani: "What You Waiting For?", "Rich Girl", then "Hollaback Girl"

[Duca]

Bruno Mars Lands Fifth Hot 100 No. 1 With 'When I Was Your Man'
The singer has tallied his first five No. 1s faster than any male artist since Elvis Presley. The ascent also results in just the second No. 1 ever for a song featuring only piano and vocals

Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man" advances 2-1 on the Billboard Hot 100, granting the pop singer/songwriter his fifth leading title. It also marks just the second No. 1 in the chart's more than five-decade history for a song featuring piano and vocals exclusively.

With five No. 1s, Mars ranks behind only Michael Jackson (13); Stevie Wonder (10); Elton John, Paul McCartney, Usher (nine each); George Michael (eight); Phil Collins, Elvis Presley (seven each; Presley's career predates the Hot 100's Aug. 4, 1958, launch) for the most toppers among male soloists. Diddy, Ludacris, Prince and Lionel Richie also boast five No. 1s apiece.

Incredibly, Mars has racked his first five Hot 100 No. 1s faster than any male since Elvis Presley. Mars' span since first arriving on the chart the week of Feb. 13, 2010, is just three years, two months and one week. Only the late Presley reached five leaders more quickly, over just two years, seven months and three weeks, from the chart's inception through March 25, 1961.

As if company with the King isn't enough, Mars also notches just the second No. 1 in the Hot 100's archives featuring only piano and vocals. Adele first scored such a hit with "Someone Like You," which reigned for five weeks in late 2011. That ballad showcases Adele on vocals and Dan Wilson on piano. Mars sings and plays piano on "Man," which is the first ballad since "Someone" to command the Hot 100.

"Man" moves to No. 1 on the Hot 100 with top Digital Gainer honors, jumping to the top of the Nielsen SoundScan-powered Digital Songs survey (4-1). It soars by 45% to 340,000 downloads sold to become his sixth No. 1 on Digital Songs (and passes 2 million sold to date). The song was sale priced in both the iTunes and Amazon MP3 stores last week for $0.69, down from the standard $1.29 price of most current hits.

"Man" posts a third week atop the Nielsen BDS-based Radio Songs airplay chart (149 million in all-format audience, up 5%) and climbs 5-3 on Streaming Songs with a 7% increase to 4.9 million streams, according to BDS. (As previously reported, "Man" marks Mars' sixth No. 1 on the mainstream top 40-based Pop Songs airplay chart, the highest total among solo males.)

"Man" dethrones Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop," featuring Wanz, after six nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100. The track holds at No. 2 on Streaming Songs (8.7 million, down 12%) and falls 2-4 on Digital Songs (211,000, down 25%) and 3-4 on Radio Songs (100 million, down 8%). It rules Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for a 13th week.

"Man" overthrows "Shop" atop the Hot 100 with a 23% gain in overall points, while the latter song slides by 17%.

P!nk's "Just Give Me a Reason," featuring fun.'s Nate Ruess, pushes 5-3 on the Hot 100 with top Airplay Gainer kudos for a second straight week. It jumps 13-7 on Radio Songs, becoming her 15th top 10 on the tally, with a 30% gain to 82 million. "Reason" rises 10-6 on Streaming Songs (4 million, up 21%), while retreating to No. 2 on Digital Songs (280,000, down 2%) after reaching No. 1 last week.

Rihanna's "Stay," featuring Mikky Ekko, rebounds 6-4 on the Hot 100, highlighted by a 5-3 advance on Radio Songs (111 million, up 19%), while Justin Timberlake's "Suit & Tie," featuring Jay-Z, dips 3-5; the latter song holds at No. 2 on Radio Songs with a less than 1% uptick to 124 million. (Follow-up "Mirrors" slips to No. 12 from its No. 11 peak to date on the Hot 100, although it retains its bullet, bounding 56-32 on Radio Songs with an 81% swell to 38 million).

Baauer's former five-week Hot 100 No. 1 "Harlem Shake" falls 4-6, driven largely by a 31% loss to 9.7 million streams. Still, it leads Streaming Songs for an eighth frame.

While Macklemore & Lewis depart the Hot 100's top spot, the pair vaults to its second top 10, as "Can't Hold Us," featuring Ray Dalton, roars 15-7. The cut charges 9-6 on Digital Songs (186,000, up 37%), 21-15 on Streaming Songs (2.8 million, up 34%) and 39-22 on Radio Songs (45 million, up 54%). ("Hold" holds at No. 24 on Pop Songs, while the twosome's pro-marriage equality track "Same Love" (featuring Mary Lambert), also from its album "The Heist," enters Alternative Songs at No. 35.)

Florida Georgia Line's "Cruise" blasts back onto the Hot 100, re-entering at No. 8. It surges 42-3 on Digital Songs (248,000; up 372%). The duo benefits from two Academy Country Music Awards wins on Sunday (April 7), broadcast on CBS, as well as its performance of "Cruise" on the show. A new remix of the song with Nelly was also commercially released last week and accounts for 75% (186,000) of the song's overall sales for the week (while the original version increases by 19% to 62,000).

"Cruise" concurrently returns to No. 1 on Hot Country Songs for a sixth nonconsecutive week. It first crowned the ranking the week of Dec. 22, 2012, while promoted to country radio; it topped Country Airplay for three weeks that month. With the assistance of Nelly, "Cruise" sails 38-31 in its second week on Pop Songs.

"Cruise" had risen as high as No. 16 on the Hot 100 in December until its return this week.

Rounding out the Hot 100's top 10, Drake's "Started From the Bottom" descends 8-9 and Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" backtracks 9-10. The latter track leads Hot Rock Songs for a third week.

[jebsib]

If a song has enough mass appeal (it doesn't have to be *good* per se) but if it has enough commercial power - it will inevitably cross over to CHR after success on another format, adds-date be damned. That has always - with very few exceptions - been the case.

Usher's team obviously felt that "Papers" was important strategically to recommit to and firm up Usher's r&b base, but was not fully ready for prime-time.

[Deleted]

Apr 10, 2013 11:45:35 GMT -5 jebsib said:

If a song has enough mass appeal (it doesn't have to be *good* per se) but if it has enough commercial power - it will inevitably cross over to CHR after success on another format, adds-date be damned. That has always - with very few exceptions - been the case.

But the song was nothing like what pop radio was playing in 2009, and the label clearly saw that, and did not make any effort to send the song to pop radio. Therefore, writing it off as a "flop" makes no sense. It peaked lower on the Hot 100 than most of his other lead singles, sure, but it wasn't a "flop".

Apr 10, 2013 11:44:58 GMT -5 Duca said:

As if company with the King isn't enough, Mars also notches just the second No. 1 in the Hot 100's archives featuring only piano and vocals. Adele first scored such a hit with "Someone Like You," which reigned for five weeks in late 2011. That ballad showcases Adele on vocals and Dan Wilson on piano. Mars sings and plays piano on "Man," which is the first ballad since "Someone" to command the Hot 100.

This is still so crazy to me-- that in the 55 years that the Hot 100 has been around, there have only been two songs to top the chart featuring just piano and vocals, and they happened within a year and a half of each other, in the middle of a mainstream landscape full of electro-pop.

[Lozzy]

Apr 10, 2013 11:45:35 GMT -5 jebsib said:

If a song has enough mass appeal (it doesn't have to be *good* per se) but if it has enough commercial power - it will inevitably cross over to CHR after success on another format, adds-date be damned. That has always - with very few exceptions - been the case.

"Blown Away"? "Love On Top"? "Climax"? "Lonely Boy"? "Swimming Pools"? "Mercy"?

[jebsib]

Jazzy., Adele's SLY was like nothing being played on pop radio in 2011. As you mentioned, a piano / vocal track had never topped the Hot 100.

Justin's Suit & Tie is like nothing currently on pop radio. Just because a sound is unconventional, doesn't mean that it won't make waves on iTunes, generate attention and get on playlists. 'Papers' was like nothing played on Pop radio, true. But it was also the first single from a new album by arguably the #1 artist of the 2000s. You would imagine that if the interest was strong, programmers wouldn't care where it was being 'sent': they would at east try the song.

[velaxti]

Apr 10, 2013 11:50:40 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

This is still so crazy to me-- that in the 55 years that the Hot 100 has been around, there have only been two songs to top the chart featuring just piano and vocals, and they happened within a year and a half of each other, in the middle of a mainstream landscape full of electro-pop.

I don't think it's that crazy that they happened within 18 months of each other. After Someone Like You smashed, there were obviously going to be more piano ballads becoming hits. Record labels were never going to just ignore the roaring worldwide success of Someone Like You (or Adele in general).

But I agree it's crazy that it happened for the first time in the electropop dominated 2011.

It's clear looking at the charts today, that from 2011, Adele had more impact on the music industry with her singles than Party Rock Anthem, We Found Love, or Give Me Everything did.

[Deleted]

Apr 10, 2013 11:59:11 GMT -5 jebsib said:

Jazzy., Adele's SLY was like nothing being played on pop radio in 2011. As you mentioned, a piano / vocal track had never topped the Hot 100.

Justin's Suit & Tie is like nothing currently on pop radio. Just because a sound is unconventional, doesn't mean that it won't make waves on iTunes, generate attention and get on playlists. 'Papers' was like nothing played on Pop radio, true. But it was also the first single from a new album by arguably the #1 artist of the 2000s. You would imagine that if the interest was strong, programmers wouldn't care where it was being 'sent': they would at east try the song.

You're comparing apples and oranges though, and you're acknowledging that. You're comparing two singles that were actively promoted to CHR/Pop radio to a song that wasn't even given an adds date and wasn't promoted anywhere at all.

[Quixotic Music Lover]

This weeks race to #1 turned into a rout. Here is my estimate of the top 4:

When I Was Your Man ~ 63,700
Thrift Shop ~ 55,200
Just Give Me A Reason ~ 46,300
Stay ~ 41,800

Although WIWYM has a sizable lead over JGMAR, next week's race could be quite close with the Bruno Mars song taking a tumble in sales points, and the Pink song gaining strongly in airplay and streaming. I can't see "Stay" getting any higher than #2, perhaps in two weeks.

"Can't Hold Us" will probably be in the top 5 next week. I was hoping that Billboard would tweak its' methodology giving less weight to passive streaming (including YouTube views), but I guess that is not likely to happen. I can think of 20 songs on the Hot 100 that have more buzz than "Harlem Shake" which stopped going viral a few weeks ago.

[Duca]

The release date for Usher's new album, "Raymond v. Raymond," is being moved, a spokesperson at Jive Label Group tells Billboard. Recently announced as being Dec. 21, a new release date is still being determined. The album's lead single, "Papers," holds the No. 2 post this week on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.

It was the original lead single and -- as jebsib pointed out -- performed poorly compared to his other lead singles. Lead singles by A-listers usually do well initially and "Papers" was a generic pop-friendly R&B track, a relatively safe choice.

Apr 10, 2013 11:39:49 GMT -5 @cynthiarose said:

I didn't realize "Lil' Freak" never had adds! That explains why that song's run felt so strange, I kept wondering why they were rushing through singles so quickly but it was really just urban jumping on a particular song. Knowing that now, the label should have gone with the flow on that one and sent it to pop, and waited on releasing OMG.

A song only sent to one format can't really be measured fairly against songs that were sent to multiple formats. That's the point Jazzy was making. And that's why I found the release of the song odd, b/c it was the first time Usher had ever released a lead single that apparently wasn't meant to appeal to CHR...I really wasn't used to that, but I suppose the label saw the way the wind was blowing at the time before most of us fans did by jumping on the split-single thing.

I wish his team pushed "Lil Freak" instead of "Papers" + "Hey Daddy." It's one of his very few good post-"Confessions" singles. Not giving "Hot Tottie" proper single treatment was the biggest mistake of his career. It has always sounded like a multi-format smash to me. It probably would have done well on Pop. "OMG" was horrible IMO. Not even enjoyably bad.

"Papers" was sent to Rhythmic as well. Did it do well there?

[jebsib]

Slizzard, how many of those songs are long awaited first singles by CHR darlings? Only Climax, and Pop knew it was getting Scream.

[RadioBeatz]

Bruno is SLAYING! five #1s for him :) he surpasses JT I think.

[Deleted]

Apr 10, 2013 11:54:28 GMT -5 Lozzy said:

Apr 10, 2013 11:45:35 GMT -5 jebsib said:

If a song has enough mass appeal (it doesn't have to be *good* per se) but if it has enough commercial power - it will inevitably cross over to CHR after success on another format, adds-date be damned. That has always - with very few exceptions - been the case.

"Blown Away"? "Love On Top"? "Climax"? "Lonely Boy"? "Swimming Pools"? "Mercy"?

ADORN.

[damazz09]

so is it going to be Florida Cruise Line ft. Nelly or just by themselves on the chart?

[moore746]

Apr 10, 2013 12:20:14 GMT -5 damazz09 said:

so is it going to be Florida Cruise Line ft. Nelly or just by themselves on the chart?

He absolutely deserves a credit!

[crystalphnx]

Apr 10, 2013 12:04:26 GMT -5 Quixotic Music Lover said:

This weeks race to #1 turned into a rout. Here is my estimate of the top 4:

When I Was Your Man ~ 63,700
Thrift Shop ~ 55,200
Just Give Me A Reason ~ 46,300
Stay ~ 41,800

Although WIWYM has a sizable lead over JGMAR, next week's race could be quite close with the Bruno Mars song taking a tumble in sales points, and the Pink song gaining strongly in airplay and streaming. I can't see "Stay" getting any higher than #2, perhaps in two weeks.

"Can't Hold Us" will probably be in the top 5 next week. I was hoping that Billboard would tweak its' methodology giving less weight to passive streaming (including YouTube views), but I guess that is not likely to happen. I can think of 20 songs on the Hot 100 that have more buzz than "Harlem Shake" which stopped going viral a few weeks ago.

oooh...I hope you're right, I would love to see P!nk take over next week!

I'm glad that WIWYM managed to get in a week on top, but I'm all for speeding up the turnover rate after the nonstop TS/HS domination this year. if WIWYM does fall from No. 1 next week never to return, it would be the first song to spend only one week at No. 1 since the addition of on-demand streaming to the Hot 100, right?

[moore746]

Apr 10, 2013 12:22:05 GMT -5 crystalphnx said:

Apr 10, 2013 12:04:26 GMT -5 Quixotic Music Lover said:

This weeks race to #1 turned into a rout. Here is my estimate of the top 4:

When I Was Your Man ~ 63,700
Thrift Shop ~ 55,200
Just Give Me A Reason ~ 46,300
Stay ~ 41,800

Although WIWYM has a sizable lead over JGMAR, next week's race could be quite close with the Bruno Mars song taking a tumble in sales points, and the Pink song gaining strongly in airplay and streaming. I can't see "Stay" getting any higher than #2, perhaps in two weeks.

"Can't Hold Us" will probably be in the top 5 next week. I was hoping that Billboard would tweak its' methodology giving less weight to passive streaming (including YouTube views), but I guess that is not likely to happen. I can think of 20 songs on the Hot 100 that have more buzz than "Harlem Shake" which stopped going viral a few weeks ago.

oooh...I hope you're right, I would love to see P!nk take over next week!

I'm glad that WIWYM managed to get in a week on top, but I'm all for speeding up the turnover rate after the nonstop TS/HS domination this year. if WIWYM does fall from No. 1 next week never to return, it would be the first song to spend only one week at No. 1 since the addition of on-demand streaming to the Hot 100, right?

True, and I don't like it. Although, the back and forth between We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together and Whistle was nice to see, because everything every other #1 song has ruled in multi-week blocks.

[Enigma.]

Wow didn't expect Cruise to go top ten! Is Nelly credited?

EDIT: Other people were faster

[Lozzy]

Apr 10, 2013 12:12:34 GMT -5 jebsib said:

Slizzard, how many of those songs are long awaited first singles by CHR darlings?

What does that have to do with anything?

Apr 10, 2013 12:20:14 GMT -5 damazz09 said:

so is it going to be Florida Cruise Line ft. Nelly or just by themselves on the chart?

Pretty sure Nelly will be credited.

[Duca]

Nelly will be credited. The remix accounts for most of the song's overall sales (kind of like Britney and "S&M.")

[Deleted]

Duca, I agree that not giving "Hot Tottie" a bigger push was a big mistake, for multiple reasons.

Apr 10, 2013 12:12:34 GMT -5 jebsib said:

Slizzard, how many of those songs are long awaited first singles by CHR darlings? Only Climax, and Pop knew it was getting Scream.

But Usher wasn't quite a CHR darling anymore. He was following up Here I Stand, which only had one pop hit. The following singles didn't do anything on pop. If he'd been coming from Confessions or even 8701 then yeah, it would have been very disappointing, but that wasn't the case. If anything "Papers" probably made it seem like the album was going to be HIS part II in sound (a sound pop had already rejected 2 1/2 years before if "Moving Mountains" and "Trading Places" were any indication) so pop had no reason to jump on it.

Beyonce was a CHR darling, but it didn't carry over to the 4 era. Alicia was a CHR darling once, but "Unthinkable" did nothing on pop. In fact now that I'm thinking about it...the CHR darling thing really isn't reliable when the act in question is still making a sound that ends up falling out of popular favor.

Suit and Tie was aggressively marketed to CHR and had a ton of hype. Let's not make that an example for anything, b/c Justin has too many situation-specific details that apply to him.

Also, did pop really know it was getting "Scream?" RCA actually sent "Climax" to CHR (unlike the r&b singles from RvR) which makes me think the label was hoping "Climax" would in fact be the crossover hit of the era. Maybe "Climax" tested poorly with chr listeners (which would surprise me, but who knows). Either way I didn't get the sense that they really put a lot of payo...er, push behind it though, and threw "Scream" out when it was clear CHR wasn't going to bite on "Climax" on its own.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

Apr 10, 2013 11:50:40 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

Apr 10, 2013 11:45:35 GMT -5 jebsib said:

If a song has enough mass appeal (it doesn't have to be *good* per se) but if it has enough commercial power - it will inevitably cross over to CHR after success on another format, adds-date be damned. That has always - with very few exceptions - been the case.

But the song was nothing like what pop radio was playing in 2009, and the label clearly saw that, and did not make any effort to send the song to pop radio. Therefore, writing it off as a "flop" makes no sense. It peaked lower on the Hot 100 than most of his other lead singles, sure, but it wasn't a "flop".

Apr 10, 2013 11:44:58 GMT -5 Duca said:

As if company with the King isn't enough, Mars also notches just the second No. 1 in the Hot 100's archives featuring only piano and vocals. Adele first scored such a hit with "Someone Like You," which reigned for five weeks in late 2011. That ballad showcases Adele on vocals and Dan Wilson on piano. Mars sings and plays piano on "Man," which is the first ballad since "Someone" to command the Hot 100.

This is still so crazy to me-- that in the 55 years that the Hot 100 has been around, there have only been two songs to top the chart featuring just piano and vocals, and they happened within a year and a half of each other, in the middle of a mainstream landscape full of electro-pop.

It's strange to me too. Especially considering how many classic piano ballads there have been over the years and none of them ever hit #1.

[jebsib]

Apr 10, 2013 12:30:46 GMT -5 Lozzy said:

Apr 10, 2013 12:12:34 GMT -5 jebsib said:

Slizzard, how many of those songs are long awaited first singles by CHR darlings?

What does that have to do with anything?

Well, we had been discussing the chart performances of A-lister first singles compared to their previous efforts, and you were listing a bunch of songs - including a country song - by artists that had mostly not had enormous success on the CHR/Pop chart.