Billboard Hot 100: 3/17/2018

[Sherane Lamar]

I think it's clear that Beyonce doesn't have too wide of a support base anymore. I think she is like J. Cole in that she has a strong narrow following, but not enough to sustain a song into being much of a hit on the level of most artists that go #1 or debut at #1.

Just look at Lemonade. Fantastic debut. Almost all the songs gone after two weeks. "Sorry" was a relatively minor hit.

[crazyb]

Beyonce is at a point in her career where she doesn't need to have #1 hits anymore. or hits at all

[Leo ✔]

Mar 18, 2018 22:36:31 GMT -5 crazyb said:

Beyonce is at a point in her career where she doesn't need to have #1 hits anymore. or hits at all

Exactly, she is on another level, where she can do whatever she wants.

[jenglisbe]

Mar 18, 2018 22:49:27 GMT -5 Leo ✔ said:

Mar 18, 2018 22:36:31 GMT -5 crazyb said:

Beyonce is at a point in her career where she doesn't need to have #1 hits anymore. or hits at all

Exactly, she is on another level, where she can do whatever she wants.

That may be true, but is beside the point in a discussion about whether "Formation" would have been #1 if it could have charted in its debut week.

[Leo ✔]

Mar 18, 2018 22:51:49 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Mar 18, 2018 22:49:27 GMT -5 Leo ✔ said:

Exactly, she is on another level, where she can do whatever she wants.

That may be true, but is beside the point in a discussion about whether "Formation" would have been #1 if it could have charted in its debut week.

I think yes, sales were great, if it would have been available on spotify would have gotten big streaming numbers, add to this the fact that the video was hide on her account on youtube.
It would have been a great #1 hit.

[Au$tin]

There's also the chart climate to consider. The time frame we're talking about here would have been the second week at #1 for "Love Yourself," which IIRC was a fairly weak #1. Then "Work" took over afterwards and its first few weeks were weak-average for a #1. This means it wouldn't have taken astronomical "God's Plan"/"Hello"-esque numbers to be #1.

Also worth noting the week prior was when "Pillowtalk" debuted at #1 with decent streaming/airplay and 200k sales. Again, evidence that this time frame didn't need massive numbers to pull off being #1.

[Sherane Lamar]

Mar 18, 2018 22:36:31 GMT -5 crazyb said:

Beyonce is at a point in her career where she doesn't need to have #1 hits anymore. or hits at all

Works out well, since she's also at the point in her career where the general public (for lack of a better term) doesn't want to hear her. 

[Au$tin]

I'm not touching that flamebait. Good luck somebody else.

[rainie]

Mar 19, 2018 0:11:37 GMT -5 Sherane Lamar said:

Mar 18, 2018 22:36:31 GMT -5 crazyb said:

Beyonce is at a point in her career where she doesn't need to have #1 hits anymore. or hits at all

Works out well, since she's also at the point in her career where the general public (for lack of a better term) doesn't want to hear her. 

...sure Becky

[Sherane Lamar]

No bait about it. Such a lame excuse to say "well... Beyonce doesn't need people to listen to her music, she's beyond that now".

Beyonce still has a strong fan base but it's clear she's no longer making music that the general masses want to hear like she was in the 2000's, or in the way Drake, Rihanna, or Taylor are today.

[Sherane Lamar]

And it's no hate to Beyonce at all. This goes double for Jay-Z. And for Kanye too. These are artists that I love, but it doesn't stop me from being realistic.

You think these people don't want their new music to be relevant beyond their core fanbase?

You think these people see "God's Plan" and think "Gee, a mountain of free publicity and attention for releasing new music that people still want to hear three weeks after its released? Nah. I'm good. I'm already rich."

It's one thing to acknowledge that these people are doing relatively well for themselves, retaining their fanbase in the twilight of their careers. It's another to pretend as if they've somehow moved onto a higher plane of existence because the masses lost interest in them.

[Au$tin]

Imagine releasing an album in 2016 that is one of the most discussed moments in pop culture that year. Imagine said album spawning urban radio hits and setting streaming records by having non-singles reach the top 20 of the streaming chart after being available on only one platform and it's not even the big one. Imagine being the fourth highest selling album of 2016 without a pop hit. Imagine never performing anything from said album on TV. Imagine not even releasing a single from said album in 2017. Now imagine that album still being the 71st most sold album in 2017 despite that.

Now imagine someone on an Internet forum saying you clearly aren't a massive artist because "no one wants to hear your music three after its release." Imagine all of the facts stating otherwise. Imagine the enormous leaps and bounds said person had to make to come to their conclusion.

Now quit imagining and prepare for your worldwide stadium tour that will be comprised of nothing but music older than 2 years. Better be prepared for those sold out dates where no one wants to hear your music that's older than three weeks.

[Sherane Lamar]

Mar 19, 2018 7:09:05 GMT -5 Au$tin said:

Imagine said album spawning urban radio hits and setting streaming records by having non-singles reach the top 20 of the streaming chart after being available on only one platform and it's not even the big one. Imagine being the fourth highest selling album of 2016 without a pop hit. Imagine never performing anything from said album on TV. Imagine not even releasing a single from said album in 2017. Now imagine that album still being the 71st most sold album in 2017 despite that.

Now imagine someone on an Internet forum saying you clearly aren't a massive artist because "no one wants to hear your music three after its release." Imagine all of the facts stating otherwise. Imagine the enormous leaps and bounds said person had to make to come to their conclusion.

Now quit imagining and prepare for your worldwide stadium tour that will be comprised of nothing but music older than 2 years. Better be prepared for those sold out dates where no one wants to hear your music that's older than three weeks.

Imagine being the key word, since what you're describing is not reality. 

The alternate fantasy universe for Beyonce stans where she totally doesn't care that she isn't able to make hits like she did in the 2000's. And it totally wouldn't help her career if people beyond her core fanbase cared about her.

[rimetm]

Mar 19, 2018 13:47:41 GMT -5 Sherane Lamar said:

Mar 19, 2018 7:09:05 GMT -5 Au$tin said:

Imagine said album spawning urban radio hits and setting streaming records by having non-singles reach the top 20 of the streaming chart after being available on only one platform and it's not even the big one. Imagine being the fourth highest selling album of 2016 without a pop hit. Imagine never performing anything from said album on TV. Imagine not even releasing a single from said album in 2017. Now imagine that album still being the 71st most sold album in 2017 despite that.

Now imagine someone on an Internet forum saying you clearly aren't a massive artist because "no one wants to hear your music three after its release." Imagine all of the facts stating otherwise. Imagine the enormous leaps and bounds said person had to make to come to their conclusion.

Now quit imagining and prepare for your worldwide stadium tour that will be comprised of nothing but music older than 2 years. Better be prepared for those sold out dates where no one wants to hear your music that's older than three weeks.

Imagine being the key word, since what you're describing is not reality. 

The alternate fantasy universe for Beyonce stans where she totally doesn't care that she isn't able to make hits like she did in the 2000's. And it totally wouldn't help her career if people beyond her core fanbase cared about her.

Don't be so hasty in deeming the success imaginary:

Rhythmic Top 40
Sorry - #7
Formation - #14
Hold Up - #17
All Night - #20 (in 2017 even!)

R&B/Hiphop Airplay
Sorry - #3
Formation - #4
Hold Up - #7
All Night - #23 (Ditto above)

[Sherane Lamar]

Ok, I was wrong. Sorry for making such a petty argument.

Beyonce should be proud of her continued success in the late 2010s,

[Gary]

Enjoy it while it lasts, Beyonce has been hitting for more than 20 years and will be the magic four-oh in the next few years.

Nothing is forever

[deepston]

Mar 19, 2018 14:41:30 GMT -5 Gary said:

Enjoy it while it lasts, Beyonce has been hitting for more than 20 years and will be the magic four-oh in the next few years.

Nothing is forever

I hate when people think age means anything at all. There's a whole generation that grew grew with her and that is more than willing to listen to her songs.

[Gary]

Mar 20, 2018 5:57:25 GMT -5 deepston said:

Mar 19, 2018 14:41:30 GMT -5 Gary said:

Enjoy it while it lasts, Beyonce has been hitting for more than 20 years and will be the magic four-oh in the next few years.

Nothing is forever

I hate when people think age means anything at all. There's a whole generation that grew grew with her and that is more than willing to listen to her songs.

Then the "whole new generation" will continue to give Beyoncé #1 hits.  

Whether you are a man or a woman, age is important.

Being at the top of the singles charts is a young person's business always has been.

This is because kids drive what is popular on the singles chart, at some point whether it is Beyoncé or someone else, the music becomes something your parents listened too.  

It happens to all artists, it will happen to Beyoncé too.

[Au$tin]

Yeah, age is absolutely a factor when it comes to the charts. It's not necessarily the person's age always, but rather their career age, and for some, it's both that factor into their ability to maintain a high level career as an entertainer.

It's happened to every single legendary and iconic artist that didn't pass away at an early age, so I don't know why Beyoncé would be immune to it. Eventually, her star will fade. It's the circle of musician life. That absolutely doesn't mean she'll stop having an impact on her core fanbase and will go bankrupt. In fact, when an artist transitions into their legend stage of their career, they can pump put an album with nearly full creative control and tour whenever they damn well please. Hits and high album sales be damned, they'll be making bank in royalties from past hits and tour box office figures. Just look at U2, Bon Jovi, or Madonna. None of them are likely to ever grace the top ten, or even top 20, of the Hot 100 ever again. But they are far from struggling.

Beyoncé will eventually make her transition into the territory sooner or later. As will Rihanna, Katy Perry, P!nk, Ed Sheeran, etc.

[jenglisbe]

I was just reading something that said the "Formation" video garnered 7 million views in the first 24 hours. If that's true, obviously its overall streaming would have been huge in week 1. "Work" was #1 on the Hot 100 around the same time with 13.9 million VEVO views for the entire week.