Billboard Hot 100 : 02/21/2015 - "Uptown Funk" (6 wks #1)

[jenglisbe]

Of course stats are going to change because of the credit, but imagine if ALL musicians were credited on every single released. Chart stats in general would be a lot different. And, really, who is listening to "FourFive Seconds" for Paul? Of course, I don't get why anyone is listening to that mess of a song anyway.

[Keelzit]

RihPauYe is coming for that #1!

So happy for Ellie! This will easily become her biggest hit and will hopefully hit #1. Still mad that Lights didn't manage to hit the top spot.

Never thought Shake It Off would stay inside the top 10 for 6 whole months! Wow!

[alfonzo]

Feb 11, 2015 16:36:37 GMT -5 superbu said:

I know Billboard likes to tout new "record breaking stats," but I'm sorry, I think it's so silly to call a song that Paul McCartney does nothing but play guitar on a "Paul McCartney song."

It's a Paul McCartney song in the same way that Smooth is a Santana song. 

[jenglisbe]

Feb 11, 2015 18:11:18 GMT -5 alfonzo said:

Feb 11, 2015 16:36:37 GMT -5 superbu said:

I know Billboard likes to tout new "record breaking stats," but I'm sorry, I think it's so silly to call a song that Paul McCartney does nothing but play guitar on a "Paul McCartney song."

It's a Paul McCartney song in the same way that Smooth is a Santana song. 

But who said Santana deserved a #1 for that one?

I would say the sound of "Smooth" is influenced by Sanatana, though, and he has solos that are quite obvious in the song. "Smooth" was also for his album, which is why its sound clearly has a Santana vibe. To me that makes it a little different than Paul on this new one. But again, I think it's annoying in general when producers and musicians get a credit on a song because of their name. I think producers and musicians should either always get credit, or never. Make it consistent.

[Rocky]

*yawn*

[alfonzo]

Feb 11, 2015 19:05:13 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Feb 11, 2015 18:11:18 GMT -5 alfonzo said:

It's a Paul McCartney song in the same way that Smooth is a Santana song. 

But who said Santana deserved a #1 for that one?

I would say the sound of "Smooth" is influenced by Sanatana, though, and he has solos that are quite obvious in the song. "Smooth" was also for his album, which is why its sound clearly has a Santana vibe. To me that makes it a little different than Paul on this new one. But again, I think it's annoying in general when producers and musicians get a credit on a song because of their name. I think producers and musicians should either always get credit, or never. Make it consistent.

I agree with that last part. I think that producers should get more credit, because a lot of the time they're the driving force behind the song.

[wavey.]

Not this "deserve" mess.

[Gary]

Has Carlos Santana sang vocals on anything they did? The driving force behind the song sometimes will get label credit without providing lead vocals. In the case of the Paul McCartney song, he was a cowriter as well as providing background vocals and guitar

[jenglisbe]

Feb 11, 2015 22:31:33 GMT -5 Gary said:

Has Carlos Santana sang vocals on anything they did? The driving force behind the song sometimes will get label credit without providing lead vocals. In the case of the Paul McCartney song, he was a cowriter as well as providing background vocals and guitar

Babyface produced, played instruments on, and sang backing vocals for songs by Madonna, Toni Braxton, etc. but doesn't get chart credit for any of those songs.

[Gary]

There are examples where non lead singers get label credit and there are examples where they don't. There doesn't appear to be a steadfast rule other than what does the songwriter want to do with the song?

[theflying]

Is Paul McCartney singing on it? No

Is it for Paul McCartney's album? No

Did Paul McCartney really write this song? No (and please correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know who wrote it)

Does Paul McCartney have any sort of solo on the song? No

Paul McCartney is on the song because he's Paul McCartney. He's gonna get credit, but it's really, really lame.

[Gary]

He is a cowriter.

[Enigma.]

"Rihanna, West and McCartney (aka, the Fab Three)" LMAO

Wish they were a band though

[brucelover]

Damn, Rihanna. At this point her run of hits is second only to Madonna among women. She slays with ANY genre, it's unbelievable. I really didn't think this song would be a #1 contender.

[rimetm]

www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/2015-02-21

-I worried the Ne-Yo tracks were inflated last week, but I'm thankfully wrong. Time of Our Lives holds at #11, and She Knows even gains 25-23.

-Stay With Me zooms back 21-14 after winning song and record of the year. Could it possibly challenge for the top 10 next week?

-Newly in the top 20 is Style moving 29-18, and 7/11 returns 22-20. With these three boot Love Me Harder (16-21), CoCo (20-22), and The Heart Wants What it Wants (19-24).

-Earned It recovers 38-29. With the album launch and current top 10 on iTunes, it seems on track to make a new and final peak next week.

-For the last two weeks, Chandelier and Elastic Heart have been kissing distance. Now, Chandelier recovers 37-32, while Elastic stumbles 36-39.

-Not one but TWO Missy Elliot songs are back: Work It at #35, and Get Ur Freak On at #40.

-Two sales hit debuts from a few weeks back are now in the hit zone again thanks to music videos: Heartbeat Song (56-34) and Ayo (57-36).

-The Hanging Tree is in complete freefall now. It collapses 28-53 this week. Also no longer hits are Habits (34-41), Don't (40-43), and Waves (39-46).

-New to the top 50 is Make Me Wanna (52-49) and Night Changes (51-50) returns. Out are Lonely Tonight (48-51), I Lived (45-55), Heroes (42-56), and Talladega (46-57) along with Rude (44-X).

-New this week is Blessings by Big Sean feat. Drake (54), Lay Me Down by Sam Smith (75), A Little Too Much by Shawn Mendes (94), Hotel by Kid Ink feat. Chris Brown (96), Out the Speakers by A-Trak + Milo & Otis feat. Rich Kidz (98, and no, I don't know what it is either), and Girl Crush by Little Big Town (100). Also returning is Worth It at #93.

-Aside from Rude, what's gone are: Steal My Girl (from 99), I Bet (from 96), Perfect Storm (from 93), Can't Stop Dancin' (from 88), Dangerous (from 87), 'Til It's Gone (from 86), Shots (from 75), and All About It (from 71). Set to go recurrent next week is ***Flawless (100-97).

[brady47]

I like FourFiveSeconds. It's really simplistic with minimal production - totally different than anything she has ever done, I love the folk sound in it and Rihanna's vocals. And some of the lyrics are so meaningful like "All of my kindness taken for weakness".

I get that it might not be a strong debut single for her highly anticipated 8th album, but I don't think she's expecting it to be a We Found Love or Umbrella type of success. And it seems to be doing fairly well right now.

[brady47]

And I can't at Shake It Off spending 24 weeks in the top 10. AATB and SIO must have been the strongest top 2 we've had for a while - even bigger than Happy and Dark Horse last year.

[kanimal]

Confused by "Lose Control" not making the chart. It sold 59K, which is less than the other two did but should have been more than enough for a re-entry in the lower portion of the chart even if streaming was 0.

[renfield75]

Feb 12, 2015 17:02:40 GMT -5 kanimal said:

Confused by "Lose Control" not making the chart. It sold 59K, which is less than the other two did but should have been more than enough for a re-entry in the lower portion of the chart even if streaming was 0.

Older songs can only re-enter if it's within the top 50. An odd rule but that's what it is. "Lose Control" likely would have debuted somewhere between 50-60.

[Deleted]

#98 is only there because it was used in the Mtn. Dew Kickstart Super Bowl commercial... It was released months ago on YouTube, nonetheless I don't mind seeing some trap music on the Hot 100

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6465937/grammys-sales-bump

Grammys Spur Big Sales Gains for Performers & Winners
By Keith Caulfield | February 11, 2015 5:52 PM EST

Songs performed on 2015 Grammy Awards earn 44 percent sales gain in wake of show

The Grammy Awards shake up Billboard's latest weekly charts, as many of the Feb. 8 show's featured performers and winners make great sales gains on our lists.

Even though the latest sales tracking week ended on the day of the show -- and therefore only includes just a few hours of impact during and after the show -- there are still some significant increases on the charts. (Watch for big gains next week too, after a full seven days of post-show impact is registered.)

Collectively, the 26 songs performed on the show earned a 44 percent gain in download sales in the week ending Feb. 8 according to Nielsen Music. They sold a combined 860,000 downloads -- up from 598,000 in the week previous.

(Those figures include popular earlier-released versions of some songs on the show that are not commercially available, like Jessie J and Tom Jones' cover of The Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin.'" For our sales research, we included the week's biggest-selling version of the song, which was The Righteous Brothers' famed rendition.)

The biggest unit gain among the show's performed songs was Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud," which rose by 49,000 downloads to 269,000 sold for the week (up 22 percent).

The next-largest unit gains: Rihanna, Kanye West and Paul McCartney's "FourFiveSeconds" (181,000; up by 43,000 ­-- a gain of 31 percent), Sam Smith's "Stay With Me" (81,000; up by 38,000 -- a gain of 88 percent) and Hozier's "Take Me to Church" (136,000; up by 20,000 ­-- a gain of 18 percent).

"Stay With Me" was performed on the show, and won both song of the year and record of the year. Smith was also honored with the awards for best new artist and best pop vocal album (for In the Lonely Hour).

The week's biggest selling song performed on the show was "Thinking Out Loud."

The largest percentage gain among the show's performed songs was best new artist nominee Brandy Clark's "Hold My Hand," which rose by 23,871 percent to 5,000 downloads (up from a negligible figure in the week previous). The second-biggest percentage leap is owned by Beck's "Heart Is a Drum," climbing 2,995 percent to 3,000 downloads (again, up from essentially nothing sold a week earlier).

(Percentage gains can naturally be quite large when a figure jumps from essentially nothing in one week to something more than nothing a week later.)

[thebops]

Feb 12, 2015 17:24:38 GMT -5 renfield75 said:

Feb 12, 2015 17:02:40 GMT -5 kanimal said:

Confused by "Lose Control" not making the chart. It sold 59K, which is less than the other two did but should have been more than enough for a re-entry in the lower portion of the chart even if streaming was 0.

Older songs can only re-enter if it's within the top 50. An odd rule but that's what it is. "Lose Control" likely would have debuted somewhere between 50-60.

Thank you Renfield75... that also answers my separate question. On the Country Songs chart this week (which is a genre chart, so the order should be the same as the Hot 100 with some differences in the recurrent rules), "I Loved Her First" by Heartland re-entered at #7 (it was a #1 Country hit in 2006). It is #1 on the Country streaming chart so must be due to some viral video. It should be on the Hot 100 between #58-61 but was not. Your explanation is the reason. I agree with this rule for the most part since without it you may have different older songs cluttering up the bottom of the Hot 100 for just one week at a time.

[superbu]

Feb 11, 2015 18:11:18 GMT -5 alfonzo said:

Feb 11, 2015 16:36:37 GMT -5 superbu said:

I know Billboard likes to tout new "record breaking stats," but I'm sorry, I think it's so silly to call a song that Paul McCartney does nothing but play guitar on a "Paul McCartney song."

It's a Paul McCartney song in the same way that Smooth is a Santana song. 

Good point, but here's the difference to me: "Santana" is not an artist. It's a group. As such, they are free to switch up lead singers at any time and still remain "Santana."

Paul McCartney has produced and played instruments on numerous songs where he he was not credited on the record. "Those Were the Days," the smash hit by Mary Hopkins, comes to mind. McCartney produced it and played guitar. Should that be counted as a hit for him?

[Au$tin]

Feb 13, 2015 0:18:53 GMT -5 superbu said:

Feb 11, 2015 18:11:18 GMT -5 alfonzo said:

It's a Paul McCartney song in the same way that Smooth is a Santana song. 

Good point, but here's the difference to me: "Santana" is not an artist. It's a group. As such, they are free to switch up lead singers at any time and still remain "Santana."

Paul McCartney has produced and played instruments on numerous songs where he he was not credited on the record. "Those Were the Days," the smash hit by Mary Hopkins, comes to mind. McCartney produced it and played guitar. Should that be counted as a hit for him?

That's just not how it works. Billboard gives credit when the artist is given credit. Paul McCartney is given credit on both "Only" and "FourFiveSeconds," whether if you agree with it or not. The decision on that is in the hands of the record labels, not Billboard. For all we know, Paul McCartney may have constructed a contract that forced his name to be given featured credit on the songs. So this isn't just some lack of consistency from Billboard, because it's actually very consistent as far as Billboard's rules are concerned. The problem here arises from the record labels.

Same as when Avicii charts solely as himself, or how Ke$ha is not given credit on "Right Round."

[superbu]

Feb 12, 2015 0:14:19 GMT -5 Gary said:

He is a cowriter.

Yeah, out of NINE people, the most I've ever seen credited to one song: "Kanye West, Paul McCartney, Kirby Lauryen, Mike Dean, Ty Dolla Sign, Dave Longstreth, Dallas Austin, Elon Rutberg, and Noah Goldstein." Songwriting by committee... true art.

[Au$tin]

Feb 13, 2015 0:28:18 GMT -5 superbu said:

Feb 12, 2015 0:14:19 GMT -5 Gary said:

He is a cowriter.

Yeah, out of NINE people, the most I've ever seen credited to one song: "Kanye West, Paul McCartney, Kirby Lauryen, Mike Dean, Ty Dolla Sign, Dave Longstreth, Dallas Austin, Elon Rutberg, and Noah Goldstein." Songwriting by committee... true art.

I fail to see why having nine people working to write a song is a bad thing. If they produce something good, then what is the problem?

[superbu]

Feb 13, 2015 0:27:06 GMT -5 Au$tin said:

Feb 13, 2015 0:18:53 GMT -5 superbu said:

Good point, but here's the difference to me: "Santana" is not an artist. It's a group. As such, they are free to switch up lead singers at any time and still remain "Santana."

Paul McCartney has produced and played instruments on numerous songs where he he was not credited on the record. "Those Were the Days," the smash hit by Mary Hopkins, comes to mind. McCartney produced it and played guitar. Should that be counted as a hit for him?

That's just not how it works. Billboard gives credit when the artist is given credit. Paul McCartney is given credit on both "Only" and "FourFiveSeconds," whether if you agree with it or not. The decision on that is in the hands of the record labels, not Billboard. For all we know, Paul McCartney may have constructed a contract that forced his name to be given featured credit on the songs. So this isn't just some lack of consistency from Billboard, because it's actually very consistent as far as Billboard's rules are concerned. The problem here arises from the record labels.

Same as when Avicii charts solely as himself, or how Ke$ha is not given credit on "Right Round."

Good points. But to me, it doesn't matter -- it's still not a Paul McCartney song, and whatever policy Billboard has will not make it one. Any more than Billboard policy meant Madonna's "Into the Groove" or Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" were not huge hits... they were.

[ry4n]

Feb 13, 2015 0:28:18 GMT -5 superbu said:

Feb 12, 2015 0:14:19 GMT -5 Gary said:

He is a cowriter.

Yeah, out of NINE people, the most I've ever seen credited to one song: "Kanye West, Paul McCartney, Kirby Lauryen, Mike Dean, Ty Dolla Sign, Dave Longstreth, Dallas Austin, Elon Rutberg, and Noah Goldstein." Songwriting by committee... true art.

Most of her songs have like at least 6 writers on them. Cheers (Drink To That) has 10 lol.

[superbu]

Feb 13, 2015 0:34:06 GMT -5 Au$tin said:

Feb 13, 2015 0:28:18 GMT -5 superbu said:

Yeah, out of NINE people, the most I've ever seen credited to one song: "Kanye West, Paul McCartney, Kirby Lauryen, Mike Dean, Ty Dolla Sign, Dave Longstreth, Dallas Austin, Elon Rutberg, and Noah Goldstein." Songwriting by committee... true art.

I fail to see why having nine people working to write a song is a bad thing. If they produce something good, then what is the problem?

Because nine people contributing to a mere 3 minute and 8 second song must mean that some of those nine made a very, very tiny contributions. Come on, really? Nine people to write THAT? How many of them does it take to screw in a light bulb?

[Au$tin]

Feb 13, 2015 0:36:25 GMT -5 superbu said:

Feb 13, 2015 0:27:06 GMT -5 Au$tin said:

That's just not how it works. Billboard gives credit when the artist is given credit. Paul McCartney is given credit on both "Only" and "FourFiveSeconds," whether if you agree with it or not. The decision on that is in the hands of the record labels, not Billboard. For all we know, Paul McCartney may have constructed a contract that forced his name to be given featured credit on the songs. So this isn't just some lack of consistency from Billboard, because it's actually very consistent as far as Billboard's rules are concerned. The problem here arises from the record labels.

Same as when Avicii charts solely as himself, or how Ke$ha is not given credit on "Right Round."

Good points. But to me, it doesn't matter -- it's still not a Paul McCartney song, and whatever policy Billboard has will not make it one. Any more than Billboard policy meant Madonna's "Into the Groove" or Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" were not huge hits... they were.

It's not Billboard policy, though. Billboard has nothing to do with Paul McCartney being credited. Billboard is giving credit to Paul McCartney on the chart because that's what they are being told to do. The other thing you brought up is an old Billboard policy that due to a changing industry climate, Billboard wasn't prepared for. They corrected their wrongs, and for many, when it comes to songs like that, people look at the airplay chart rather than the Hot 100 to discern its "peak." So it's not really a comparable thing here. One policy is legality issues while the other is just old rules not getting changed fast enough.

Feb 13, 2015 0:44:45 GMT -5 superbu said:

Feb 13, 2015 0:34:06 GMT -5 Au$tin said:

I fail to see why having nine people working to write a song is a bad thing. If they produce something good, then what is the problem?

Because nine people contributing to a mere 3 minute and 8 second song must mean that some of those nine made a very, very tiny contributions. Come on, really? Nine people to write THAT? How many of them does it take to screw in a light bulb?

But they made contributions nonetheless, and everyone deserves to be mentioned for whatever they aided in. Again, legality issues, even though they may have contributed a small amount, it's still contributing, and they would love to get paid for it, I'm sure. And when it comes to this particular genre of music, it's more than likely that it's not a "committee" of people sitting around a table to write a song. It's likely to be someone working on a song, pitching ideas to their friends as they work on it over a period of days/weeks/months/etc. and using some of those ideas for the song, as this seems to be a trend with artists in this genre. I still fail to see why it would be less artistic this way. Art is all about building on the ideas of others. If everything was completely original from one source, then things wouldn't really ever come to fruition. I don't see how it's any different than artists writing songs because they were influenced by another artist's work.