Billboard Hot 100: 03/20/2021

[renfield75]

Mar 10, 2021 13:20:56 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

Mar 10, 2021 12:55:25 GMT -5 renfield75 said:

But that's sorta my point...it's been the most-streamed sound for 6 years. Of course it's still the biggest thing compared to everything else but a lot of people are getting bored with it. Hence it's still number one but the numbers are down. It's not drawing new fans. I think audiences want something else.

It's like when 'American Idol' was still #1 in TV ratings in 2009 or 2010. It was still the biggest thing but it was getting stale and numbers were dropping every season.

But that's just my point, lol. The numbers are down for every song across every genre, not just rap.

I don't think some magical new or some long-forgotten genre is going to have to pop up/make a comeback and revive streaming again. I believe the lack of community in listening to music has people reluctant to stream music as much as they used to. Instead, video streaming platforms have seen a massive boost in engagement.

I also think songs don't feel as big as they are because we're still mostly indoors. When you can only experience a song through your ear phones/speakers or on the radio on your way to work, it takes a lot out of the strength of a record. Being able to hear a song in a bar, at a club, in a party, at a festival - that changes things significantly.

The pandemic has absolutely affected music, there's no question about that. But I do think lack of interest is playing a large part too. As I said before, we've seen this in other eras (only with sales instead of streaming). Following the disco backlash sales numbers bottomed out until Michael Jackson revitalized the industry. In 1991 numbers were collapsing with Hair metal and dance/pop until Metallica, Nirvana, and Garth Brooks went diamond. Snoop Dogg and Pearl Jam broke debut numbers.

There could absolutely be something new and exciting to drive numbers back up for current songs. As country fans have finally migrated to streaming we've seen Luke Combs and (unfortunately) Morgan Wallen break records for their genre. I don't think country is necessarily the next big thing but we're seeing audiences look for something different. Maybe sad teenagers (Billie, Olivia, Tate McRae) will dominate? Lol

[thegreatdivine]

Mar 10, 2021 13:28:13 GMT -5 85la said:

Mar 10, 2021 12:52:47 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

renfield75 I don't think people aren't streaming new songs because they aren't connecting to it. Also, let's not get it twisted, a huge reason why drivers license reached such a massive peak in streams was because of the drama/narrative behind the song and the fact that it took off on TikTok as soon as it was released and even that didn't last for up to a week. From the day it peaked at just over 6M daily streams on Spotify US, it spent the next 3/4 weeks losing most of it's streams until it was down to about 1.3-1.6M daily streams on Spotify US. It's numbers on Spotify Global also dropped drastically as well.

You seem to be vastly downplaying drivers license's streams. Any song that reaches the gigantic number of 5-6 million streams per day on Spotify isn't going to stay there long; spending several days over that threshold is exceptionally good in itself, and while it consistently lost in streams since those first few days, if my memory serves me correctly, it was still able to maintain 2-3 million daily streams for several weeks after, something that What's Next has not been able to do for four days. Do you expect DL or any song could have been able to maintain 5+ million streams per day on Spotify 9 weeks into its run?

This right here is my issue with you. What does Drake have to do with anything I wrote in that post? You think anytime I make a point that isn't unendingly praising an artist or the performance of their song, I'm attacking them so you'll bring up Drake as a reason why I shouldn't do that and I'll never get that. You yourself admitted that it kept losing streams following that peak, so?

I mentioned that because people tried and keep trying to use drivers license's performance in those first 2 weeks as a reason why streaming had returned to it's normal levels when that simply wasn't the case. drivers license's performance was an isolated event, the same way Old Town Road was. You don't get songs that peak that high or remain dominant for that long all the time. They happen once in a while. Once/twice in a year if you're lucky. That's all I was trying to highlight.

This thing you do when you only quote me when you feel like I'm attacking/not praising an artist enough when I'm really not, needs to stop.

[thegreatdivine]

renfield75 well, whatever it is that needs to happen to revitalize audio streaming, I hope it happens sooner rather than later because these streaming numbers are sad to look at, lol.

[renfield75]

Mar 10, 2021 13:40:40 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

renfield75 well, whatever it is that needs to happen to revitalize audio streaming, I hope it happens sooner rather than later because these streaming numbers are sad to look at, lol.

Agreed! I think we all want to see the industry pick up again. I'm sure we'll see huge numbers when Drake, Kendrick, Adele, etc release their new projects, but we need some new blood to hit superstar level too (whatever form that may be).

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

I think you’re all pretty well right on. I know for me, hearing music in an environment or context outside of my own headphones is a huge driver in what music I end up sticking with, and I’m betting that’s the same with a lot of others too. It’s also probably a driver in how new artists or trends break out in major ways. Of course we have tiktok and social media to help but I don’t think they have the same type of impact as hearing a song and seeing how people react to them in an in-person setting, like a beach, mall, club, whatever. I already know any song I listen to will have people somewhere in the world also jamming to it, but there’s something unique and impactful about seeing groups of people in person enjoying a particular song.

[85la]

Mar 10, 2021 13:38:48 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

Mar 10, 2021 13:28:13 GMT -5 85la said:

You seem to be vastly downplaying drivers license's streams. Any song that reaches the gigantic number of 5-6 million streams per day on Spotify isn't going to stay there long; spending several days over that threshold is exceptionally good in itself, and while it consistently lost in streams since those first few days, if my memory serves me correctly, it was still able to maintain 2-3 million daily streams for several weeks after, something that What's Next has not been able to do for four days. Do you expect DL or any song could have been able to maintain 5+ million streams per day on Spotify 9 weeks into its run?

This right here is my issue with you. What does Drake have to do with anything I wrote in that post? You think anytime I make a point that isn't unendingly praising an artist or the performance of their song, I'm attacking them so you'll bring up Drake as a reason why I shouldn't do that and I'll never get that. You yourself admitted that it kept losing streams following that peak, so?

I mentioned that because people tried and keep trying to use drivers license's performance in those first 2 weeks as a reason why streaming had returned to it's normal levels when that simply wasn't the case. drivers license's performance was an isolated event, the same way Old Town Road was. You don't get songs that peak that high or remain dominant for that long all the time. They happen once in a while. Once/twice in a year if you're lucky. That's all I was trying to highlight.

This thing you do when you only quote me when you feel like I'm attacking/not praising an artist enough when I'm really not, needs to stop.

So first of all, again this isn't so much about Drake, but I mean, people (clearly it's not just me) only bring him up with you so much because you mention him so much yourself. You go to great lengths to tout and defend him (much of it is actually reasonable and backed up with evidence, so I'm not completely hating on you and I don't disagree with you much of the time), but I mean, you have to expect that criticisms of your defense of him will be thrown your way.

I just thought you were heavily downplaying drivers license's success, and that somehow you were saying it only experienced a brief flash in the pan and that it's in line with the average of other #1-streamed songs nowadays, such as Drake's (which is currently #1 there) when it clearly isn't. I mean, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but it does seem that one of the main things you're driving at is that Drake is doing well and can't possibly be expected to do higher numbers because no one else is either.

[dynamac]

With “What’s Next” hitting #1, that’s gotta be the first #1 where an artist has forecasted their song going number one in the song, right?

[thegreatdivine]

85la you can make your point(s) without always bringing Drake into it or relating something that has absolutely nothing to do with him to him. That always leaves me confused.

Also, if that's all you got from my posts then you're not reading them with enough nuance. It's not just now. I've been going on about streaming being down since last year. I can't find the thread right now but the week drivers license was released and it kept increasing exponentially, some people remarked that it might mean that streaming was finally back and I was one of, if not the only person saying that wasn't the case and that her streams would begin to crash almost as quickly as it rose up, not because the song was bad but that the curiosity streams would eventually fizzle out and leave only GP/real fan-generated streams. Some people probably thought I was hating but I really wasn't. I just knew that the success of the song, especially it's massive start on streaming, was isolated to it alone and wasn't a reflection of how every other song would start performing all of a sudden like some people imagined.

drivers license spent 8 consecutive weeks at #1 and it was the most-streamed song in the US for most of those weeks. There's nothing to downplay or talk down on. It's been dominant. I don't think anyone can debate that.

The only point I was trying to hammer home is that streaming is down and it really doesn't matter how huge of an artist you are or what level of anticipation people have for your new single/album. You may start strong but soon after, you streams will keep dipping until your level out to the average range of the most-streamed songs. I said that the week drivers license dropped and it's held true for every notable release so far.

[renfield75]

Mar 10, 2021 15:24:49 GMT -5 dynamac said:

With “What’s Next” hitting #1, that’s gotta be the first #1 where an artist has forecasted their song going number one in the song, right?

Probably. But Barenaked Ladies accidentally predicted how long they would be on top with their song "One Week". The joke at the time (when "One Sweet Day" held the record with 16 weeks at number one) was that they should have named it "17 Weeks".

[pancakes]

Why is Cupid’s Chokehold going up in Spotify? I’m not aware of any TikTok trend with it.

[Golden Bluebird]

Mar 10, 2021 13:07:09 GMT -5 s9983 said:

Mar 10, 2021 12:52:47 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

I dont think driver's license had the boost from tiktok you think it did. It was doing those record breaking numbers in it's first week, before it even became a staple on tiktok. Tiktok hits usually take a couple weeks to solidify on that app. And besides, all big songs become big on tiktok to a degree. It was a pretty organic hit if we're being honest. I think the controversy surrounding it blowing up allowed it to become even bigger, and most people seemed to really enjoy it on first listen, so that added to it's numbers. 

Not disagreeing with your general point that the song's success has been pretty organic and that people do genuinely enjoy it. However, it seems inaccurate to say that that song became a TikTok staple a couple of weeks after its release because I clearly remember it already being extremely viral within the song's first week of release.

[85la]

Mar 10, 2021 15:33:43 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

85la you can make your point(s) without always bringing Drake into it or relating something that has absolutely nothing to do with him to him. That always leaves me confused.

Also, if that's all you got from my posts then you're not reading them with enough nuance. It's not just now. I've been going on about streaming being down since last year. I can't find the thread right now but the week drivers license was released and it kept increasing exponentially, some people remarked that it might mean that streaming was finally back and I was one of, if not the only person saying that wasn't the case and that her streams would begin to crash almost as quickly as it rose up, not because the song was bad but that the curiosity streams would eventually fizzle out and leave only GP/real fan-generated streams. Some people probably thought I was hating but I really wasn't. I just knew that the success of the song, especially it's massive start on streaming, was isolated to it alone and wasn't a reflection of how every other song would start performing all of a sudden like some people imagined.

drivers license spent 8 consecutive weeks at #1 and it was the most-streamed song in the US for most of those weeks. There's nothing to downplay or talk down on. It's been dominant. I don't think anyone can debate that.

The only point I was trying to hammer home is that streaming is down and it really doesn't matter how huge of an artist you are or what level of anticipation people have for your new single/album. You may start strong but soon after, you streams will keep dipping until your level out to the average range of the most-streamed songs. I said that the week drivers license dropped and it's held true for every notable release so far.

Alright, fair enough.


One other thing I'd like to add though that no one else has mentioned, aren't streaming numbers also down (at least for the numbers that show for the top-streamed songs on Spotify) because they now filter out plays that are found to be "fraudulent" (i.e. bots, autoplay, same users playing the same song over and over on repeat?). Not sure when that change was made, but I think it was very recently. So in other words, the numbers we saw from the past were artificially high because they included those illegitimate streams?

[thegreatdivine]

Mar 10, 2021 18:18:44 GMT -5 85la said:

Mar 10, 2021 15:33:43 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

85la you can make your point(s) without always bringing Drake into it or relating something that has absolutely nothing to do with him to him. That always leaves me confused.

Also, if that's all you got from my posts then you're not reading them with enough nuance. It's not just now. I've been going on about streaming being down since last year. I can't find the thread right now but the week drivers license was released and it kept increasing exponentially, some people remarked that it might mean that streaming was finally back and I was one of, if not the only person saying that wasn't the case and that her streams would begin to crash almost as quickly as it rose up, not because the song was bad but that the curiosity streams would eventually fizzle out and leave only GP/real fan-generated streams. Some people probably thought I was hating but I really wasn't. I just knew that the success of the song, especially it's massive start on streaming, was isolated to it alone and wasn't a reflection of how every other song would start performing all of a sudden like some people imagined.

drivers license spent 8 consecutive weeks at #1 and it was the most-streamed song in the US for most of those weeks. There's nothing to downplay or talk down on. It's been dominant. I don't think anyone can debate that.

The only point I was trying to hammer home is that streaming is down and it really doesn't matter how huge of an artist you are or what level of anticipation people have for your new single/album. You may start strong but soon after, you streams will keep dipping until your level out to the average range of the most-streamed songs. I said that the week drivers license dropped and it's held true for every notable release so far.

Alright, fair enough.


One other thing I'd like to add though that no one else has mentioned, aren't streaming numbers also down (at least for the numbers that show for the top-streamed songs on Spotify) because they now filter out plays that are found to be "fraudulent" (i.e. bots, autoplay, same users playing the same song over and over on repeat?). Not sure when that change was made, but I think it was very recently. So in other words, the numbers we saw from the past were artificially high because they included those illegitimate streams?

I'm not entirely sure but believe they've always filtered out fraudulent streams. Maybe someone else can confirm.

[Choco]

They have filtered plays ever since streaming started counting. Especially so after adding Youtube, which is an especially easy platform to fraudulently boost, ask Tekashi.

[Mayman]

Mar 10, 2021 15:24:49 GMT -5 dynamac said:

With “What’s Next” hitting #1, that’s gotta be the first #1 where an artist has forecasted their song going number one in the song, right?

"Thank U, Next" had lyrics that included "Least this song is a smash" and then debuted at #1 a week later.

[KeepDeanWeird]

'The tide is high but I'm holding on, I'm gonna be your number one...' Sorry, Drake.

[phieaglesfan712]

Mar 10, 2021 9:40:49 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

With how fast Leave the Door Open is zooming up on radio, I hope it doesn't end up being front-loaded and actually serves some longevity because every song that will spend some time in the top 10 will need radio long-term.

Leave the Door Open won't be front-loaded. The Grammys performance should help it in Week 2. I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a long-running #1 like Uptown Funk.

[gikem]

Mar 10, 2021 15:55:34 GMT -5 renfield75 said:

Mar 10, 2021 15:24:49 GMT -5 dynamac said:

With “What’s Next” hitting #1, that’s gotta be the first #1 where an artist has forecasted their song going number one in the song, right?

Probably. But Barenaked Ladies accidentally predicted how long they would be on top with their song "One Week". The joke at the time (when "One Sweet Day" held the record with 16 weeks at number one) was that they should have named it "17 Weeks".

Fun fact: "One Week" was at #1 the week I was born. As you can probably guess, because of that, the song lives rent-free in my brain at all times.

[thegreatdivine]

[jthentic]

Music pundits : dynamite out off hot100 this week
Army : surprise mfs

[nathanalbright]

Calling your own shot doesn't always work. Nelly claimed that he was #1 and the song peaked at #22, though in fairness his next two singles after that did hit #1.

[thegreatdivine]

Tracklist for Justin's album.

[Enigma.]

Go Crazy out of top ten? We love to see it, finally.

[𝕡𝕙𝕖𝕖𝕓𝕤]

“Unstable (feat. The Kid Laroi)”

Well

[gikem]

Mar 11, 2021 4:24:36 GMT -5 jthentic said:

Music pundits : dynamite out off hot100 this week
Army : surprise mfs

TOTC stop posting the top 50 so that BTS stans don’t know how much to mass-buy challenge

[Enigma.]

Spotify:

Drake
1.43
1.25
0.77

Drivers License is #3 again and Streets is #8, slight video effect there I guess which is great to see.

Also:

[thegreatdivine]

[thegreatdivine]

Mar 10, 2021 7:53:26 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

4th straight day of the tracks off Scary Hours 2 and Leave the Door Open losing streams on Spotify US. Hold On also lost streams but it's down to 707K so yeah. It'll be lucky to debut in the Hot 100 top 40 at this rate.

I wonder if/when, they'll finally gain some streams.

Audio streaming is so down bad currently that if Drake hadn't released new music on Friday, the #1 song on Spotify US right now would be Leave the Door Open with 1,095,834 streams and it's been out for less than a week. Just terrible.

These decreases are hilarious. 5th straight day and neither Drake nor Bruno/Anderson have gained a single stream on Spotify US since they debuted.

Bruno/Anderson are lucky because they should get a boost following their Grammy performance. Drake, however...

Justin on the other hand is down to 668K.

I'm almost dreading the decreases over the weekend. I'm just glad my fave is getting his 3 top 10 debuts because, lmao.

[iamsorare]

I'm really surprised that Justin won't perform on Grammys cause he has an album coming soon and he needs the promotion... I'm sure Scooter Braun really wanted a Grammy performance!! maybe grammys are mad with Justin after his tweet

[thegreatdivine]

Mar 11, 2021 8:20:55 GMT -5 Codex said:

Mar 11, 2021 4:41:49 GMT -5 nathanalbright said:

Calling your own shot doesn't always work. Nelly claimed that he was #1 and the song peaked at #22, though in fairness his next two singles after that did hit #1.

Didn't Beyoncé also brag "top 2 and I ain't #2" then debuted at #2 with Everything Is Love

The worst one though is probably Swish Swish ending Katy's career

So keep calm, honey, I'ma stick around
For more than a minute, get used to it
Funny my name keeps comin' outcho mouth
'Cause I stay winning
Lay 'em up like
Swish, swish, bish
Another one in the basket