Billboard Hot 100: 12/12/2020

[fridayteenage]

BTS on iTunes: #3, #6, #8, others outside t20.

Hmm, wonder if they'll do bulk buys for upcoming weeks for fun like with dynamite, thus staying on top of digital songs.

[Raccoon]

Miley 50K makes no sense. I feel like people are here for her rock stuff and she’s been mega viral. Would assume she’d do 100K+ no?

[iHype.]

Nov 28, 2020 13:22:12 GMT -5 Raccoon said:

Miley 50K makes no sense. I feel like people are here for her rock stuff and she’s been mega viral. Would assume she’d do 100K+ no?

Twitter is a loud minority. Plenty of artists who get tons of love there that don't match numbers with their music.

She has been flopping consistently since 2014, and has no real hit going into this album, so expecting her to over double her recent project numbers was unrealistic. 

[Lost In Musical Reverie]

Speaking of Miley, could someone tell me why "Midnight Sky" was so abruptly removed from radio despite having a very strong positive reception?

Has she been blacklisted for some reason? Did unfamiliarity kill the song? I really don't understand why radio isn't touching it anymore.

[lazer]

Nov 28, 2020 13:31:05 GMT -5 Lost In Musical Reverie said:

Speaking of Miley, could someone tell me why "Midnight Sky" was so abruptly removed from radio despite having a very strong positive reception?

Has she been blacklisted for some reason? Did unfamiliarity kill the song? I really don't understand why radio isn't touching it anymore.

Because radio would rather play Lewis Capaldi 70 times a day than playing a great song by a woman.

[Groovy]

Nov 28, 2020 13:31:05 GMT -5 Lost In Musical Reverie said:

Speaking of Miley, could someone tell me why "Midnight Sky" was so abruptly removed from radio despite having a very strong positive reception?

Has she been blacklisted for some reason? Did unfamiliarity kill the song? I really don't understand why radio isn't touching it anymore.

Essentially, they want to push Prisoner instead of Midnight Sky. 

[Choco]

Midnight Sky peaked well before Prisoner dropped. It was just dropped by radio for some reason. They have not been kind to her since Wrecking Ball.

[Lost In Musical Reverie]

Nov 28, 2020 13:41:47 GMT -5 lazer said:

Nov 28, 2020 13:31:05 GMT -5 Lost In Musical Reverie said:

Speaking of Miley, could someone tell me why "Midnight Sky" was so abruptly removed from radio despite having a very strong positive reception?

Has she been blacklisted for some reason? Did unfamiliarity kill the song? I really don't understand why radio isn't touching it anymore.

Because radio would rather play Lewis Capaldi 70 times a day than playing a great song by a woman.

"Kings & Queens" is doing amazing, though, not to mention Dua Lipa's songs. It seems to be a problem between radio programmers and Miley herself. 

Does anyone remember the airplay performances for "Malibu", "Nothing Breaks Like A Heart", "Mother's Daughter", and "Slide Away"? I think this might serve as indication to their stance towards Miley's music post-"Bangerz".

Because indeed, it's ridiculous that a song that got such great reception (even from the callout people) would be removed from radio altogether. There was definitely something behind the scenes going on. Even radio flops like "Be Kind" and "Nobody's Love" still lasted for longer.

[jthentic]

Nov 28, 2020 13:43:27 GMT -5 Groovy said:

Nov 28, 2020 13:31:05 GMT -5 Lost In Musical Reverie said:

Speaking of Miley, could someone tell me why "Midnight Sky" was so abruptly removed from radio despite having a very strong positive reception?

Has she been blacklisted for some reason? Did unfamiliarity kill the song? I really don't understand why radio isn't touching it anymore.

Essentially, they want to push Prisoner instead of Midnight Sky. 

Prisoner isn't getting enough station adds+ streaming is on steady downfall. It might debut @50ish on bb100. Since Dua's team is promoting levitating more + seeing the fall of midnight sky on radio, things don't look good for the track

[Deleted]

Miley is even self aware of radio not being her biggest friend given that the intro track to Plastic Hearts opens up with these lines

"I'm not tryna have another conversation
Probably not gon' wanna play me on your station"

Someone at radio just hates her since everything post Wrecking Ball hasn't done so hot on radio, despite doing well in all other areas and most of her songs becoming international hits
i.e: Midnight Sky, Nothing Breaks Like A Heart, and Malibu

[kalmanta]

Miley‘s chart performance doesn’t surprise me at all. The constant genre hopping, persona-180s from formerly known teen idol gone super vamp to white hip-hop wannabe culture-vulture to playing in the cornfield country folk-rock monstrosity. It was just too much and people were exhausted or simply didn’t care at the end.

[gikem]

Nov 28, 2020 17:04:19 GMT -5 kalmanta said:

Miley‘s chart performance doesn’t surprise me at all. The constant genre hopping, persona-180s from formerly known teen idol gone super vamp to white hip-hop wannabe culture-vulture to playing in the cornfield country folk-rock monstrosity. It was just too much and people were exhausted or simply didn’t care at the end.

That Dead Petz album is what really put a dent in her career momentum. It's prime material for Todd In The Shadows to dissect on Trainwreckords.

[iHype.]

Nov 28, 2020 17:04:19 GMT -5 kalmanta said:

Miley‘s chart performance doesn’t surprise me at all. The constant genre hopping, persona-180s from formerly known teen idol gone super vamp to white hip-hop wannabe culture-vulture to playing in the cornfield country folk-rock monstrosity. It was just too much and people were exhausted or simply didn’t care at the end.

Yeah, I just think she comes off try-hard/inauthentic to the average person at this point lol. It's lowkey the same as Bieber trying to do some reinvention every 6 months. 


She just needs a strong Pop song to comeback, which I haven't really heard from her these last years. I listened to the album and that EP, and some songs are nice/easy listening, but absolutely nothing that makes me go 'wow this would be a huge hit'. 

[jaffery]

Nov 28, 2020 17:42:02 GMT -5 iHype. said:

Nov 28, 2020 17:04:19 GMT -5 kalmanta said:

Miley‘s chart performance doesn’t surprise me at all. The constant genre hopping, persona-180s from formerly known teen idol gone super vamp to white hip-hop wannabe culture-vulture to playing in the cornfield country folk-rock monstrosity. It was just too much and people were exhausted or simply didn’t care at the end.

Yeah, I just think she comes off try-hard/inauthentic to the average person at this point lol. It's lowkey the same as Bieber trying to do some reinvention every 6 months. 


She just needs a strong Pop song to comeback, which I haven't really heard from her these last years. I listened to the album and that EP, and some songs are nice/easy listening, but absolutely nothing that makes me go 'wow this would be a huge hit'. 

People (general public not stan twitter) don't seem to be sick of bieber though and ehh, I don't think he has changed that much, changes was just simply bad compared to purpose.

[HolidayGuy]

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is currently No. 3 on iTunes- its highest position to date?

AJR at No. 1, followed by Megan Thee Stallion.

[jenglisbe]

Nov 28, 2020 18:28:15 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is currently No. 3 on iTunes- its highest position to date?

AJR at No. 1, followed by Megan Thee Stallion.

Yeah the discount is really helping that one on iTunes this season.

[lazer]

Nov 28, 2020 18:28:15 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is currently No. 3 on iTunes- its highest position to date?

AJR at No. 1, followed by Megan Thee Stallion.

This is just sad and upsetting. Listening to AJR is the equivalent of getting farted on.

#stopfartinginourfacesAJR

[gikem]

Nov 28, 2020 19:02:59 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Nov 28, 2020 18:28:15 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is currently No. 3 on iTunes- its highest position to date?

AJR at No. 1, followed by Megan Thee Stallion.

Yeah the discount is really helping that one on iTunes this season.

When was the last time that song wasn’t discounted? Feels like it’s been that way for months now. Songs shouldn’t be discounted for that long on iTunes.

[imbondz]

Nov 28, 2020 19:13:52 GMT -5 lazer said:

Nov 28, 2020 18:28:15 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

"Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" is currently No. 3 on iTunes- its highest position to date?

AJR at No. 1, followed by Megan Thee Stallion.

This is just sad and upsetting. Listening to AJR is the equivalent of getting farted on.

#stopfartinginourfacesAJR

Lol. Who is AJR? Never heard of them before

[loveless]

Nov 28, 2020 19:19:06 GMT -5 imbondz said:

Nov 28, 2020 19:13:52 GMT -5 lazer said:

This is just sad and upsetting. Listening to AJR is the equivalent of getting farted on.

#stopfartinginourfacesAJR

Lol. Who is AJR? Never heard of them before

Consider yourself lucky. Them managing to get an actual hit is just another bad thing 2020 has brought us.

[HolidayGuy]

It seems like most of the classic holiday songs are discounted at the moment- except "All I Want..." Then again, it's the biggest-selling holiday track in terms of digital sales, so doesn't really need it. Even without a discount, it's top 10. Has it been discounted in recent years? I'm fuhgetting.

If "Bang's" been discounted for months, why is it now topping the iTunes chart? Don't recall it doing so prior.

[gikem]

Nov 28, 2020 20:09:14 GMT -5 HolidayGuy said:

If "Bang's" been discounted for months, why is it now topping the iTunes chart? Don't recall it doing so prior.

Organic momentum is the only explanation I have. People genuinely like an AJR song. I hate this country.

[jthentic]

Nov 28, 2020 19:19:06 GMT -5 imbondz said:

Nov 28, 2020 19:13:52 GMT -5 lazer said:

This is just sad and upsetting. Listening to AJR is the equivalent of getting farted on.

#stopfartinginourfacesAJR

Lol. Who is AJR? Never heard of them before

Their track Bang is probably the biggest alternative hit of the year. Their music is similar to Bastille xd

[jthentic]

Gee, I'm so bummed even though you cant categorise it as a complete rock record (lacks guitar riffs & other elements), it's a great alternative album & definitely one of the best records of the year

[WolfSpear]

Nov 27, 2020 7:33:45 GMT -5 Private Dancer said:

Does anyone know where I can find how much a song sold in a week in the 80s? For example if I want to see how much "Papa Dont Preach" sold to reach #1 where would I look?

There’s no way of knowing on a weekly basis, but I’ll give you an idea.

Around that time, singles were struggling to hit a million in sales. This is largely due to cassettes on the rise and vinyl beginning its downward nosedive. I wouldn’t be surprised if the sales were on par with today’s numbers; singles acted as album supporters more so then than today. Unfortunately, cassette singles didn’t hit the market in mass until 1987, but the format was far more successful for albums than singles.

Go back to... say, 1970, and singles were selling like hot cakes! Flash forward to the peak of digital in 2010, and it looks far more impressive on paper, but it doesn’t make up for the atmosphere of spinning a ‘45 like the old days. There were also more acts hitting the million marker in 1970, many more labels, mainstream was diverse etc.

Hard to compare eras, but I think this is the best way to draw contrast.

[iHype.]

Nov 28, 2020 22:08:22 GMT -5 WolfSpear said:

Nov 27, 2020 7:33:45 GMT -5 Private Dancer said:

Does anyone know where I can find how much a song sold in a week in the 80s? For example if I want to see how much "Papa Dont Preach" sold to reach #1 where would I look?

There’s no way of knowing on a weekly basis, but I’ll give you an idea.

Around that time, singles were struggling to hit a million in sales. This is largely due to cassettes on the rise and vinyl beginning its downward nosedive. I wouldn’t be surprised if the sales were on par with today’s numbers; singles acted as album supporters more so then than today. Unfortunately, cassette singles didn’t hit the market in mass until 1987, but the format was far more successful for albums than singles.

Go back to... say, 1970, and singles were selling like hot cakes! Flash forward to the peak of digital in 2010, and it looks far more impressive on paper, but it doesn’t make up for the atmosphere of spinning a ‘45 like the old days. There were also more acts hitting the million marker in 1970, many more labels, mainstream was diverse etc.

Hard to compare eras, but I think this is the best way to draw contrast.

You could probably draw an idea from certifications.

Say if a single was certified for 1 million sales/shipments within a year of release, I don't think it'd be reasonable to guess it was selling 50-100k weekly at its peak. Singles were only largely available for what 2-3 months? Since follow-up singles were released and the shelf space was cleared for them. 

And ofcourse, Billboard's chart clearly wasn't truly accurately measuring weekly sales at all to some extent so you can't really go by their rankings. We Are the World (single) for example being certified for 8 million shipments less than a month after release, yet it's first 4 weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 Sales chart was: 22-5-1-1. Then 3 weeks later it wasn't even #1 on sales anymore either.

[Private Dancer]

Nov 28, 2020 22:31:31 GMT -5 iHype. said:

Nov 28, 2020 22:08:22 GMT -5 WolfSpear said:

There’s no way of knowing on a weekly basis, but I’ll give you an idea.

Around that time, singles were struggling to hit a million in sales. This is largely due to cassettes on the rise and vinyl beginning its downward nosedive. I wouldn’t be surprised if the sales were on par with today’s numbers; singles acted as album supporters more so then than today. Unfortunately, cassette singles didn’t hit the market in mass until 1987, but the format was far more successful for albums than singles.

Go back to... say, 1970, and singles were selling like hot cakes! Flash forward to the peak of digital in 2010, and it looks far more impressive on paper, but it doesn’t make up for the atmosphere of spinning a ‘45 like the old days. There were also more acts hitting the million marker in 1970, many more labels, mainstream was diverse etc.

Hard to compare eras, but I think this is the best way to draw contrast.

You could probably draw an idea from certifications.

Say if a single was certified for 1 million sales/shipments within a year of release, I don't think it'd be reasonable to guess it was selling 50-100k weekly at its peak. Singles were only largely available for what 2-3 months? Since follow-up singles were released and the shelf space was cleared for them. 

And ofcourse, Billboard's chart clearly wasn't truly accurately measuring weekly sales at all to some extent so you can't really go by their rankings. We Are the World (single) for example being certified for 8 million shipments less than a month after release, yet it's first 4 weeks on Billboard's Hot 100 Sales chart was: 22-5-1-1. Then 3 weeks later it wasn't even #1 on sales anymore either.

That's odd. That exposes the inaccuracies. In 1986, On My Own sold half a million copies, but Papa Dont Preach was the biggest seller that year and hasnt been certified, if eligible. Paula Abdul says that Striaght Up sold a million in 10 days. And I never understood why songs that went to #1 never were certified i.e. "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me, "Papa Don't Preach, "Live To Tell", etc...

[Harx]

Nov 28, 2020 20:28:29 GMT -5 jthentic said:

Nov 28, 2020 19:19:06 GMT -5 imbondz said:

Lol. Who is AJR? Never heard of them before

Their track Bang is probably the biggest alternative hit of the year. Their music is similar to Bastille xd

Hold up. What?

Id rather describe AJR as an ungodly offspring of twenty one pilots and kidz bop kids on crack.

[jenglisbe]

Nov 28, 2020 23:17:47 GMT -5 Private Dancer said:

In 1986, On My Own sold half a million copies, but Papa Dont Preach was the biggest seller that year and hasnt been certified, if eligible.

How do you know "PDP" was the biggest seller?

Paula Abdul says that Striaght Up sold a million in 10 days. And I never understood why songs that went to #1 never were certified i.e. "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me, "Papa Don't Preach, "Live To Tell", etc...

1 million in the U.S. or worldwide? That likely also means "shipment" and not sales as there would be no way for her to have known actual sales in a week back then.

[Private Dancer]

Nov 29, 2020 7:34:08 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Nov 28, 2020 23:17:47 GMT -5 Private Dancer said:

In 1986, On My Own sold half a million copies, but Papa Dont Preach was the biggest seller that year and hasnt been certified, if eligible.

How do you know "PDP" was the biggest seller?

Paula Abdul says that Striaght Up sold a million in 10 days. And I never understood why songs that went to #1 never were certified i.e. "I Knew You Were Waiting For Me, "Papa Don't Preach, "Live To Tell", etc...

1 million in the U.S. or worldwide? That likely also means "shipment" and not sales as there would be no way for her to have known actual sales in a week back then.

I remember reading an old magazine saying that "PDP" was the biggest seller, but I fact checked it and "Higher Love" by Steve was the biggest seller of the hear according to Cashbox magazine.

Paula didn't specify, but speaking that Straight Up did move up the charts fast at that time before a video was released, and taking into consideration that it went platinum, I'm going to assume she meant the US.

Edit: Higher Love hasnt been certified, yet "On My Own" has been ceritied gold and was the 10th biggest seller that year.