Billboard Hot 100: 03/07/2020

[iHype.]

Is Life is Good really about to become one of the longest running #2's ever lol

[degen]

Feb 24, 2020 7:42:49 GMT -5 tuna said:

Most of the hate for the radio here seems to come from how the radio doesn’t let songs die. If they moved along at a more rapid pace instead of having Girls Like You at #1 for 140+ days then more people would be fine with it.

I personally would prefer the radio to reflect stuff like the Today’s Top Hits playlist. Playing some big hits while also giving a boost to other slightly less big songs

I mean honestly it's not like streaming "Let's a song die" either. Without radio, pop songs like "Girls Like You" would've never been able to hit #1 on the Hot 100. Radio evens the playing field for pop songs to become big hits, since streaming is so Hip Hop dominated. 

[thegreatdivine]

Feb 24, 2020 14:32:44 GMT -5 iHype. said:

Is Life is Good really about to become one of the longest running #2's ever lol

What's the current record?

[tuna]

^10 weeks for Waiting For A Girl Like You by Foreigner and Work It by Missy Elliott

[lazer]

You know, I’m happy that The Weeknd has another top ten hit and a really good one. It doesn’t have to hit #1 in order to make me happy, I’m just glad it’s growing gradually over these past weeks and continue doing so.

[𝕡𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕓𝕤]

Feb 24, 2020 14:32:15 GMT -5 korbel16 said:

Say so sounds just like a top 10 hit to me i don’t get how it’s not climbing faster!

i bet you’ll get your wish. It’s consistently been getting +100 spins at pop, and today got a +182. It’s trajectory there kinda reminds me of “Truth Hurts” and how for weeks post-impact it’d get another ~30 adds. Couple that with increasing Spotify & AM performance and she’s set. It has room to grow on iTunes, though

[Henry Suárez]

I wonder if Life is Good will be able to replace The Box at #1, LiG is only #25 on Radio while TB is climbing and is already top 10.

[atg]

Imagine after hours gets to #1 and it will be yet another non single to hit the top in a row

I wish that happens even if i want BL to get there before anything

[𝕡𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕓𝕤]

[iggyamo]

Feb 24, 2020 13:31:19 GMT -5 tuna said:

Could the new 100 gecs track impact the hot 100? Charli XCX and Rico Nasty are big names

I doubt it, but I can dream. Charli XCX is pretty passes her prime on the hot 100 and Rico Nasty hasn’t really broken through yet (maybe never, I don’t think the GP can take the energy) and Kero Kero Bonito was a meme before meme songs were charting properly.

[daysintheeast]

Feb 24, 2020 15:23:54 GMT -5 Henry Suárez said:

I wonder if Life is Good will be able to replace The Box at #1, LiG is only #25 on Radio while TB is climbing and is already top 10.

only if Future releases the album soon to give it a boost

[nekotuo]

Feb 24, 2020 14:32:15 GMT -5 korbel16 said:

Say so sounds just like a top 10 hit to me i don’t get how it’s not climbing faster!

it really isn't that strong on apple music.

[GP]

Feb 24, 2020 14:31:17 GMT -5 korbel16 said:

Dance monkey still number 1 on global Spotify? It was a cute bop but damn it’s old as dirt now

It's like DSN still being around in June geez

[lazer]

Feb 24, 2020 8:36:04 GMT -5 Crimsonio said:

I swear if Before You Go becomes a hit, I will forever hate radio for making Lewis Capaldi a thing in the US

The UK can keep Lewis Capoodi

[tuna]

Feb 24, 2020 16:49:01 GMT -5 nekotuo said:

Feb 24, 2020 14:32:15 GMT -5 korbel16 said:

Say so sounds just like a top 10 hit to me i don’t get how it’s not climbing faster!

it really isn't that strong on apple music.

Nothing that isn't straight rap or RnB is super strong on Apple

[Deleted]

What other countries count radio in their overall charts? I think I recall that the US is the only major market that uses radio at all but I don't know for sure if that is true. I know none of the UK or ARIA charts do. I realize the US is a rather unique market, but 'radio has too much power in the Hot 100' is not a new argument, and that no other country counts radio in any of their charts should at the very least give one food for thought.

In fact, making this a radio vs. streaming argument is a distraction; complaints about radio in the chart existed before streaming was added here. I remember when streaming was first added in 2012 chart followers soon figured out that in order to make room for streaming in the formula, BB had weakened the sales side of the ratio more than radio, essentially giving radio more relative strength. And this was before sales had started plummeting. This has nothing to do with how quickly or slowly any particular component moves.

So to me, it is a valid question - why, exactly, does Billboard treat radio as a popularity-measuring component that can not only be equated to other more active forms of listening or support (streaming, sales), but actually bestowed MORE importance than those active forms if given the choice? Radio is a promotional tool that can aid popularity, but it's not an actual representation of popularity in itself. BB goes out of its way to create multiple streaming tiers so that 'passive' streams don't count as much as the 'on-demand' ones and ad-supported streams aren't given as much weight as the 'paid' ones, but somehow people can't wrap their minds around the fallacy of radio - the most passive, ad-supported form of listening of all outside of a free Pandora account - being counted equally or more so than active streams and purchases. It's head-scratching.

That isn't to say that I'm entirely anti-radio in charts. There is that time the industry phased out physical singles and digital didn't exist yet; radio was the only way to measure anything back then. And I vastly prefer radio-only genre charts to the 'Hot 100 with a filter' approach Billboard took to their genres. But for the Hot 100 today, I just don't get why radio weighs so much. Even when it was just radio and sales, there was never a consistent correlation between the two. Sometimes I wonder if the concept of an overall Hot 100 at all is just not realistic anymore, but we are probably not ready to have that conversation.

I thought at first that maybe it has to do with our mechanical royalty system (artists get paid for every play, so radio absolutely matters in that sense, and I have long held the feeling that the Hot 100's formula is less a popularity measure than it is a financial equation for labels). But if other countries also pay artists per spin, this is a moot point.


(Sorry I'm late, I can tell most of you have moved on from this subject)

[fhas]

Feb 24, 2020 18:04:40 GMT -5 @antigonerising said:

(...) I remember when streaming was first added in 2012 chart followers soon figured out that in order to make room for streaming in the formula, BB had weakened the sales side of the ratio more than radio, essentially giving radio more relative strength. (...)

They've done this with streaming since 2015 and even more now that sales are dying.

Hot 100's sales-radio-streaming ratio in late-2017 was sales 15-20%, radio 28-33% and streaming 51-55%. In 2020, it's sales 6-8%, radio 33-40%, streaming 53-59%.

[GP]

A disco song in the top5 I love it

[feoba]

Doja Cat needs to release a video for Say So. Poor Juicy is falling and didn’t hit the top 40.

[nak]

Feb 24, 2020 9:22:46 GMT -5 Rose "Payola" Nylund said:

Feb 24, 2020 9:12:59 GMT -5 nak said:

Who is out there that only listens to FM radio and no streaming? what is this, 1970?

This question actually pisses me off because of how ignorant it is. What bubble do you live in where everyone you know listens to music via streaming? Do you know anyone over 40 because they’re less likely to stream. Or are we suggesting the charts actively dismiss anyone over the ages of 30 or 40 because the music they listen to isn’t current enough for the tastes of 8 people who stream only the latest singles?

The profile pic checks out. LMAO!!! okay betty white go whip out the phonograph and do the jitterbug. 

[tuna]

^this argument is funny but for everyone's sake don't escalate I don't want another 30 page thread with nothing about the actual Hot 100

[Deleted]

Feb 24, 2020 18:27:41 GMT -5 fhas said:

Feb 24, 2020 18:04:40 GMT -5 @antigonerising said:

(...) I remember when streaming was first added in 2012 chart followers soon figured out that in order to make room for streaming in the formula, BB had weakened the sales side of the ratio more than radio, essentially giving radio more relative strength. (...)

They've done this with streaming since 2015 and even more now that sales are dying.

Hot 100's sales-radio-streaming ratio in late-2017 was sales 15-20%, radio 28-33% and streaming 51-55%. In 2020, it's sales 6-8%, radio 33-40%, streaming 53-59%.

I'm surprised they gave streaming even that tiny bump. They're probably trying to work themselves toward a 50/50 radio/streaming ratio, like how radio/sales used to be.

[ry4n]

The US and Canada are the only major markets to incorporate airplay to my knowledge. The European/Australia/NZ charts I follow use a mix of sales and streaming. (And were sales-only before the 2010's). Although, streaming makes up about 90% of the chart "points" these days. Sweden's national chart is essentially a carbon copy of their weekly Spotify chart.

Germany is an interesting one - their charts are based on consumption/revenue rather than units. So physicals tend to be inflated (since they cost more), while iTunes discounts are a hindrance. Though streaming has dwarfed physical and digital sales there also.

[thabb]

this thread just made me realise how comical the hate for lewis capaldi has gotten on music fan forums. it somehow went from "i dislike that Someone You Loved song" to him being the worst singer ever and satan reincarnated or something lmao

[Deleted]

Feb 24, 2020 17:29:43 GMT -5 GP said:

Feb 24, 2020 14:31:17 GMT -5 korbel16 said:

Dance monkey still number 1 on global Spotify? It was a cute bop but damn it’s old as dirt now

It's like DSN still being around in June geez

knock on wood maybe this will happen

[Gary]

Feb 24, 2020 14:46:52 GMT -5 tuna said:

^10 weeks for Waiting For A Girl Like You by Foreigner and Work It by Missy Elliott

This is the record for songs that did not make it to #1

Factor in songs that went to #1 you have:

Exhale (Shoop Shoop) (From "Waiting To Exhale"), Whitney Houston 11

That's What I Like, Bruno Mars 10

Work It, Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott 10

Waiting For A Girl Like You, Foreigner 10

Freak Me, Silk 10

Bad Guy, Billie Eilish 10

[tuna]

thanks, Gary. I just quickly went to the Wikipedia page

[korbel16]

Even though I’m glad Bad Guy went number 1, in my opinion i think billboard just said f*ck it give the girl the number 1 because it was so random and no one predicted it to go number 1 that week. And if i remember correctly (don’t quote me cuz it was a while ago) but i think fhas calculated the points and senorita or OTR was still ahead

[atg]

Remember when new rules dropped out of the charts because of drake back in 2018

Ahh memories..

[nathanalbright]

Feb 24, 2020 21:53:45 GMT -5 atg said:

Remember when new rules dropped out of the charts because of drake back in 2018

Ahh memories..

Come to think of it, that might be where a lot of that Drake hatred began.