Billboard Hot 100: 12/14/2013

[maxsultan]

Miley just tweeted that Wrecking Ball is #1.

[mluv]

They just announced it. Streaming gone bad.

[Deleted]

The monster really deserves #1 this week.

[Duca]

Miley Cyrus' 'Wrecking Ball' Swings Back To No. 1 On Hot 100
Due to renewed viral activity, the ballad dethrones Lorde's "Royals" after a nine-week reign. Plus, new No. 1s for Pitbull and Avicii, while A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera reach the Hot 100's top 10

Thanks to the viral explosion of a new parody video of the song, Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" returns to the top of the Billboard Hot 100. The song halts the command of Lorde's "Royals" after nine weeks.

Meanwhile, Pitbull's "Timber," featuring Ke$ha, and Avicii's "Wake Me Up!" take over atop the Digital Songs and Radio Songs charts, respectively, and A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera soar into the Hot 100's top 10 with their duet "Say Something."

As we do each Wednesday, let's look deeper into all the numbers.

With top Streaming Gainer honors, "Ball" (3-1) reclaims the Hot 100's top rung for a third total week after "Royals" had ruled for nine frames. "Ball" first topped the chart in the two weeks (Sept. 28, Oct. 5), following the premiere of its official video, prior to Lorde's coronation. The song storms back to the top of the Streaming Songs chart for a ninth week at No. 1 (14-1) with a 137% increase to 18.6 million U.S. streams last week, according to Nielsen BDS.

Spurring the gain? The breakout popularity of the song's parody video, which features its original audio, by YouTuber Stephen Kardynal. The comedian has posted several videos on his channel of him lip-synching hits by female pop stars to unsuspecting viewers on Chatroulette (the video chat service which links random users). In his take on "Ball," the shaggy-haired Kardynal parodies nearly every part of the original's video, complete with him in (almost just) his birthday suit. Viewers' reactions on the left side of the screen enhance the clip's merriment.

Of the song's 18.6 million U.S. streams, 24% are from the track's official Vevo on YouTube video, while 67% are from other YouTube views, including Kardynal's. The remaining 9% of its overall streaming total is from non-YouTube streaming sources.

"Ball" concurrently jumps by 11% to 99,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and rebounds 10-9 on Digital Songs (which it led the week of Sept. 28). Also surely aiding its gains, Cyrus performed the song on the American Music Awards, which aired live on ABC on Sunday, Nov. 24. Having peaked at No, 4 on Radio Songs, "Ball" drops 4-7 on the survey (106 million all-format audience impressions, according to BDS).

More chart honors for Cyrus: The nine-week gap between "Ball" topping the Hot 100 marks the longest in the Hot 100's 55-year history for a song in one chart run. It passes the five-week wait for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis' "Thrift Shop" (featuring Wanz), whose six-week total reign was interrupted by Baauer's "Harlem Shake" for five weeks earlier this year. Both breaks, thus, reflect the influence of virality, with the online phenomenon largely pushing "Shake" to the top and, now, a similar bounce for "Ball." (Only Chubby Checker's "The Twist" had a longer break than "Ball" between Hot 100 reigns. It led in September 1960 and again in January 1962, but that was over two separate chart lives.)

The resurgence of "Ball" helps keep Eminem's "The Monster," featuring Rihanna, at No. 2 for a fourth week. Still, the collaboration claims the chart's top Airplay Gainer award for a fourth week, climbing 6-4 on Radio Songs with a 14% increase to 119 million. It racks a third week atop the On-Demand Songs chart (2.2 million, down 12%), while dipping 3-4 on Streaming Songs (5.7 million, down 6%) and falling 1-2 on Digital Songs (after three weeks at No. 1) with 231,000 downloads sold (down 4%). "Monster" spends a fifth week at No. 1 on both Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Rap Songs.

As it bounds by 55% in overall Hot 100 points, "Ball" handily wins the race to No. 1 over "Monster" (up 2%). A 20% difference in points separate the songs.

"Royals" relinquishes its command not only over the Hot 100 (1-3) but also Radio Songs, where it falls 1-2 after six weeks on top (131 million, down 7%). It descends 2-3 on Streaming Songs (5.9 million, down 9%) and 2-5 on Digital Songs (144,000, down 19%). The track tops Hot Rock Songs for a 14th week.

Pitbull's "Timber," featuring Ke$ha, stomps 8-4 on the Hot 100, blasting 4-1 on Digital Songs (237,000, up 43%). The track is Pitbull's first No. 1 on Digital Songs after he peaked as high as No. 2 with three titles (2009's "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)," as well as his featured turn on Jennifer Lopez's "On the Floor" and "Give Me Everything," the latter two in 2011). Ke$ha collects her third No. 1, following "We R Who We R" and "TiK ToK," both in 2010. Like Cyrus with "Ball," Pitbull and Ke$ha performed "Timber" on the AMAs on Nov. 24.

"Timber" reaches the top 10 on Radio Songs (13-10; 66 million, up 16%), marking Pitbull's 10th top 10 on the tally and Ke$ha's seventh, and Streaming Songs (13-7; 4.5 million, up 41%).

OneRepublic's "Counting Stars" retreats from its No. 4 peak to No. 5 on the Hot 100, although with gains in airplay (108 million, up 13%) and digital sales (175,000, up 5%).

Avicii's No. 4-peaking "Wake Me Up!" slips to No. 6 on the Hot 100, but crowns Radio Songs after a five-week wait at No. 2 (138 million, down 3%). Notably, the multi-format smash marks the first Radio Songs No. 1 by a core EDM lead act; Afrojack and Calvin Harris previously ruled in featured roles. "Wake" dominates Dance/Electronic Songs for a 13th week.

Imagine Dragons' "Demons" drops 6-7 on the Hot 100, fueled most strongly by its rise on Radio Songs (5-3; 121 million, up 7%).

As its album "Midnight Memories" rockets in atop the Billboard 200, One Direction returns to the Hot 100's top 10 with "Story of My Life" (13-8). The track debuted at No. 6 four weeks ago and spent the next three weeks between Nos. 11 and 13.

Katy Perry's former two-week Hot 100 No. 1 "Roar" descends 7-9 (while "Unconditionally," the second single from her album "PRISM," pushes 16-15).

Rounding out the Hot 100's top 10, A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera rocket 18-10 with "Say Something," the chart's top Digital Gainer and another recipient of an AMA-related bump. The ballad zooms 6-3 on Digital Songs (197,000, up 63%) and 45-18 on Streaming Songs (2.6, up 93%). It approaches the 50-position Radio Songs chart (22 million, up 48%).

While A Great Big World reaches the Hot 100's top 10 with its first chart entry, Aguilera lands her 11th top 10 and second this year; she rose to No. 8 in April as a guest on Pitbull's "Feel This Moment." She hadn't notched multiple top 10s in a single year since 2000, when "What Girl Wants" (No. 1, two weeks), "I Turn to You" (No. 3) and "Come On Over Baby (All I Want Is You)" (No. 1, four weeks), all from her self-titled debut album, reached the top tier. "Say" is also Aguilera's first top 10 with lead billing since October 2008, when her own "Keeps Gettin' Better" debuted at its No. 7 peak.

(Also of note: Effective last week, the methodology for the Hot 100, along with Billboard's genre hybrid songs charts, has changed slightly to rebalance desired chart ratios for sales, airplay and streaming. With streaming usage rising and new streaming services recently added to the Hot 100's data feed, the streaming portion of the chart has been at or above its desired average ratio in recent weeks. Such adjustments to these multi-data pool charts are common, and, for example, were implemented on the Hot 100 on occasions where download sales had increased exponentially.)

[mluv]

They need to put an asterisk next to it and bring it up like they do every time they bring up Lady Gaga Amazon .99 cent sale. A fan video does not mean the song was #1 in America.

[Deleted]

Dec 4, 2013 14:38:11 GMT -5 jj99$ - - LeLe said:

Yesssss she did it.
Wrecking God is #1

just shiiiiiiiiit!

[hitseeker.]

Dec 4, 2013 14:38:13 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Who cares if Rihanna gets another #1 when it won't be for her as a lead artist?

I do.

[jj99$ - - LeLe]

No need to be mad Rih fans. The monster will likely go #1 next week and then stay there for the rest of the year with the video coming soon.

[colson]

Dec 4, 2013 14:40:08 GMT -5 mluv said:

They need to put an asterisk next to it and bring it up like they do every time they bring up Lady Gaga Amazon .99 cent sale. A fan video does not mean the song was #1 in America.

I agree, the Hot 100 is getting more ridiculous by the day. Inevitably, The Monster will get to #1, but most likely not as many weeks as we originally thought.

[Deleted]

Dec 4, 2013 14:40:08 GMT -5 mluv said:

They need to put an asterisk next to it and bring it up like they do every time they bring up Lady Gaga Amazon .99 cent sale. A fan video does not mean the song was #1 in America.

Actually it does. :)

They even adjusted streaming to make it harder for songs and she still got enough streams to make it. The fan video has HQ audio and has the entire song playing, with the entire video's focus being on the song. It's not like it was playing on the radio in the background of a 15 minute video about cats.

[when the pawn...]

I don't have a problem with WB going back to #1. The song is popular enough that people went bananas watching a dumb fan video for it. It wouldn't have garnered that much interest if people didn't like the song (and specifically, if they didn't like it this/last week). Hype for the fan video has died considerably (hasn't it) so I'm assuming "The Monster" will be #1 next week?

[Deleted]

I hope eminem will reach #1 next week.I hope...

[allow that]

Here's the thing: people are watching that video because it's a random man's comedy act. Not because they want to hear "Wrecking Ball" the song. The Billboard Hot 100 has always been authentically about songs. Now it's a variety act.

[hitseeker.]

Yeah, I'm not mad or anything and I love WB. The Monster still has the video to be released. I just want The Monster to go to #1 already and week after weel it has yet to happen, haha

[mluv]

Dec 4, 2013 14:48:12 GMT -5 when the pawn... said:

I don't have a problem with WB going back to #1. The song is popular enough that people went bananas watching a dumb fan video for it. It wouldn't have garnered that much interest if people didn't like the song (and specifically, if they didn't like it this/last week). Hype for the fan video has died considerably (hasn't it) so I'm assuming "The Monster" will be #1 next week?

People are watching for the comedy and to laugh at it.  Like how they watch SNL when they make fun of it.  Now is Billboard going to start counting that too?  Let's add all the times they showed a parody of it on late night  TV  because you know,  they play the song then too.   It's just making Billboard look like a joke when they count stuff like this.   They need to start looking at real videos and streaming sites  where people are choosing the song for the song.  

[RadioBeatz]

I don't think it's deserved :( but "Wrecking Ball" is a nice song anyway, that viral video was so f**king stupid tho..

Ok now I read the full article and indeen WB pulls the longest gap is the longest in the Hot 100's history, very impressive!

[RadioBeatz]

Dec 4, 2013 14:52:21 GMT -5 hitseeker. said:

Yeah, I'm not mad or anything and I love WB. The Monster still has the video to be released. I just want The Monster to go to #1 already and week after weel it has yet to happen, haha

I'm kinda worried "Timber" gap will grow wider on iTunes in the upcoming weeks and with the christmas sales coming and all but I guess "The Monster" will still rely on big streaming and airplay.

I think "The Monster" has been robbed of 2 or 3 weeks at #1.

[Deleted]

"The Monster" hasn't been robbed of anything. It's not the "The Monster's" #1 until it has earned it, and it simply hasn't yet, so it hasn't lost anything.

[slicknickshady]

Eminem will get it next week. The Monster is closing the gap on Tumber as I type this.

[musik...]

Watch this become the reverse transatlantic chart history of Love The Way You Lie, where Monster tops the UK Singles Chart, stalls at #2 in the US but becomes a bigger hit in the country where it charted lower. I have faith it will go to #1 when the video's released, however.

But Miley has become THE pop cultural phenomenon of 2013 so it's fitting that she nearly ends the year with one more week at #1.

[Caviar]

I know Rih's camp is hella PRESSED.

[chopped89]

Stupid streaming ribbing artists from legitimate #1s

[slicknickshady]

I think The Monster has it in the bag the next two weeks but anything can happen. This "Ball" video came out of nowhere. So unless something drastic happens "The Monster" will get it. But who knows.

[damazz09]

Eh I don't really mind that Wrecking Ball went to #1 again. If 'Wrecking Ball' wasn't part of the viral video, it wouldn't have been that huge. If the guy made a chatroulette to a video to "Demons" by Imagine Dragons, not even a fraction would have watched that video. You guys aren't giving Miley enough credit for making that viral video a hit. 18.6 million people were exposed to a 3 minute clip of a song. This wasn't a video that happened to have Wrecking Ball on in the background. What makes the video so great was because the song was used. I think Wrecking Ball deserved this #1. I don't think an asterick is needed.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

Dec 4, 2013 14:55:30 GMT -5 mluv said:

Dec 4, 2013 14:48:12 GMT -5 when the pawn... said:

I don't have a problem with WB going back to #1. The song is popular enough that people went bananas watching a dumb fan video for it. It wouldn't have garnered that much interest if people didn't like the song (and specifically, if they didn't like it this/last week). Hype for the fan video has died considerably (hasn't it) so I'm assuming "The Monster" will be #1 next week?

People are watching for the comedy and to laugh at it.  Like how they watch SNL when they make fun of it.  Now is Billboard going to start counting that too?  Let's add all the times they showed a parody of it on late night  TV  because you know,  they play the song then too.   It's just making Billboard look like a joke when they count stuff like this.   They need to start looking at real videos and streaming sites  where people are choosing the song for the song.  

Who cares *why* people watch a video or listen to a song? The point is is that the song received that many more streaming points and was heard that many more times in the last week. That's what they're measuring and that's what's reflected with this chart.

[emerald]

Dec 4, 2013 14:48:12 GMT -5 when the pawn... said:

I don't have a problem with WB going back to #1. The song is popular enough that people went bananas watching a dumb fan video for it. It wouldn't have garnered that much interest if people didn't like the song (and specifically, if they didn't like it this/last week). Hype for the fan video has died considerably (hasn't it) so I'm assuming "The Monster" will be #1 next week?

This fan video in particular however, has surged so much compared to the others, that it can easily carry this for #1 for +5 weeks, Harlem Shake style.

[jenglisbe]

Dec 4, 2013 14:50:20 GMT -5 allow that said:

Here's the thing: people are watching that video because it's a random man's comedy act. Not because they want to hear "Wrecking Ball" the song. The Billboard Hot 100 has always been authentically about songs. Now it's a variety act.

He's done other parodies that don't have nearly the same amount of streams, so I would say the song plays at least a part in the popularity of the parody video.

[jenglisbe]

Dec 4, 2013 15:26:38 GMT -5 Rose "Payola" Nylund said:

Dec 4, 2013 14:55:30 GMT -5 mluv said:

People are watching for the comedy and to laugh at it.  Like how they watch SNL when they make fun of it.  Now is Billboard going to start counting that too?  Let's add all the times they showed a parody of it on late night  TV  because you know,  they play the song then too.   It's just making Billboard look like a joke when they count stuff like this.   They need to start looking at real videos and streaming sites  where people are choosing the song for the song.  

Who cares *why* people watch a video or listen to a song? The point is is that the song received that many more streaming points and was heard that many more times in the last week. That's what they're measuring and that's what's reflected with this chart.

Good point. It's similar to radio impressions which measure how many people heard a song on radio that week, not necessarily how many people liked it. The fact is that people purposely watched that parody video containing "Wrecking Ball" and therefore the song was popular last week.

[KeepDeanWeird]

Dec 4, 2013 14:50:20 GMT -5 allow that said:

Here's the thing: people are watching that video because it's a random man's comedy act. Not because they want to hear "Wrecking Ball" the song. The Billboard Hot 100 has always been authentically about songs. Now it's a variety act.

That's just not true. If it weren't for the now "iconic" WB video, this video would not exist. WB (song and video) are DIRECTLY responsible for the views. The is far more legit than HS or Get Me Bodied, which I didn't even know was the song in the background because you could barely hear it.

[#LisaRinna]

Punch a bit Miss Miley!!