jodakyellow
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Post by jodakyellow on Apr 21, 2021 16:11:20 GMT -5
What's a moment you witnessed as a chart watcher that felt like a big deal at the time, but that younger members of this forum may not be familiar with?
I'm only in my late 20s so I don't have much to contribute but what comes to mind for me is 'Blackout' getting blocked from #1 by 'The Eagles' after an unexpected rule change, Billboard erroneously saying "High By the Beach" debuted at #7 instead of #51, and The Jonas Brothers pioneering the pre-release "promotional single" for a series of short-lived hits.
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johnm1120
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Post by johnm1120 on Apr 22, 2021 0:43:00 GMT -5
"My Happy Ending" being omitted from AT40 and then during a guest host week all of a sudden "appears."
The "Bootylicious" vs "Loverboy" battle of the 49 cent singles.
The Mediabase tie at #1 between "A Thousand Miles" and "Foolish." Due to tie-breaks, Vanessa Carlton was granted #1 and Foolish never topped the chart spending 5 weeks at #2.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2021 1:30:52 GMT -5
- Amazon having a surprise 99-cent sale for Born This Way, which led to Billboard creating a later rule requiring albums to be $3.49 or above in their first four weeks for sales to count toward the chart.
- Paramore's Brand New Eyes being #1 on HDD's albums chart, but falling to #2 behind Barbra Streisand's Love Is The Answer on the Billboard 200. (Of course, Pulse being Pulse, made that entire week about Mariah's Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel landing at #3 on both charts, at the time considered an upset to some.)
- Where Will Mimi Be, aka lambs freaking out because Obsessed took longer than expected to crack the Hot 100 top 10
- When Justin Bieber's Boyfriend sold 521k in its first week - the second-biggest digital sales week of all time - but debuted and peaked at #2 because Billboard had just added streaming to the formula, which led to a huge fuss about whether streaming should count that much, if at all. (Boyfriend wasn't available for streaming the first couple of weeks, otherwise it likely would have nabbed the #1.)
- when Billboard started incorporating sales and streams into its previously airplay-only genre charts. All the chart discussion fans had a meltdown...now, anyone who cares just ignores Billboard's genre charts and goes to the Mediabase threads in the genre forums.
- when Billboard decided to hide its Hot 100 formula AND it became apparent that they were playing around with the weights, pissing off everyone who did predictions.
Billboard was really doing Satan's busy work in 2012.
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oliviafan101
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Post by oliviafan101 on Apr 22, 2021 3:15:01 GMT -5
Scorpion week and how Spotify and AM both indirectly helped Drake chart 7 songs in the top 10 that week.
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Lost In Musical Reverie
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Post by Lost In Musical Reverie on Apr 22, 2021 4:23:58 GMT -5
In a few years' time, the whole "Stuck With U" vs. "GOOBA" feud, which led 6ix9ine to reveal the Billboard formula and made prediction accounts like Talk Of The Charts to be even more accurate than before.
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Jay D83
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Post by Jay D83 on Apr 22, 2021 8:21:59 GMT -5
Definitely Eagles vs Britney and Battle of the 49 cent singles.
Some others:
Mariah Carey vs Barbra Streisand in 2009
Beyonce's surprise album in 2013
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tekkenguy
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Post by tekkenguy on Apr 22, 2021 8:43:43 GMT -5
What's a moment you witnessed as a chart watcher that felt like a big deal at the time, but that younger members of this forum may not be familiar with? I'm only in my late 20s so I don't have much to contribute but what comes to mind for me is 'Blackout' getting blocked from #1 by 'The Eagles' after an unexpected rule change, Billboard erroneously saying "High By the Beach" debuted at #7 instead of #51, and The Jonas Brothers pioneering the pre-release "promotional single" for a series of short-lived hits. Did the Eagles deserve to be omitted from the charts because everyone loves Britney so much? They pretty clearly sold more that week.
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jenglisbe
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Post by jenglisbe on Apr 22, 2021 9:11:17 GMT -5
I'm old enough to have been a chart watcher (and Mariah stan) in the 90s. We'd only just started getting access to 'early' data then, and my first thought regarding this topic question was when "Fantasy" debuted at #1. We didn't get early predictions then, couldn't follow sales and airplay daily, etc so it was all more of a surprise. I remember being on a messageboard and finding out a few hours before the Hot 100 was revealed that "Fantasy" had sold 229,000 copies. We knew then the #1 debut was secure, but there had been anticipation all week. It's funny now to think of finding out sales figures a few hours before the Hot 100 as being 'early.'
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Lost In Musical Reverie
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Post by Lost In Musical Reverie on Apr 22, 2021 9:17:47 GMT -5
Speaking of Mariah, future generations of chart watchers will be so used to "All I Want For Christmas Is You" topping the charts on a yearly basis that they likely won't understand the sheer excitement that was watching the song reaching a new peak year after year, until it finally got to #1 for the first time.
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kimberly
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Post by kimberly on Apr 22, 2021 9:30:10 GMT -5
- Adele's "Hello" breaking the all-time sales record in its first week, a record that's highly unlikely to be matched by anyone. - Taylor Swift surprise-dropping "Shake It Off" and blocking Nicki Minaj's first chance at a #1 contender, "Anaconda," which would have hit #1 literally any other week in 2014. - Ariana Grande's "Problem" debuting at #3 in one of the closest races for #1 in Hot 100 history. She lost the #1 by less than 1.3%. - Katy Perry getting a sweet last minute push for her 5th #1 off of Teenage Dream and tying Michael Jackson's record for most #1 singles off an album, a record they still share.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 22, 2021 9:37:33 GMT -5
What's a moment you witnessed as a chart watcher that felt like a big deal at the time, but that younger members of this forum may not be familiar with? I'm only in my late 20s so I don't have much to contribute but what comes to mind for me is 'Blackout' getting blocked from #1 by 'The Eagles' after an unexpected rule change, Billboard erroneously saying "High By the Beach" debuted at #7 instead of #51, and The Jonas Brothers pioneering the pre-release "promotional single" for a series of short-lived hits. Did the Eagles deserve to be omitted from the charts because everyone loves Britney so much? They pretty clearly sold more that week. It's a fair rule (not sure why they had a ban on single-retailer sales in the first place) but Billboard waited until literally the week the albums were released - I think it was actually near the end of the sales week - to announce it. The problem wasn't the change, more so the timing which to Britney's fans felt like someone changing the rules in the middle of the game. I don't think there would have been as much uproar about it if they'd announced that change a week or two in advance. I think it didn't help that Britney was really going through it at the time in the media and her fans just really wanted to see her get one positive bit of press. On a less dramatic but similar note, Billboard also waited until Katy announced her Teenage Dream re-release to make its own announcement that singles released from deluxe editions would no longer count toward the original album's #1s/top 10s etc. tally (effectively preventing her from officially breaking Michael's record with Part of Me). Again, sensible enough rule that should have always been in place, but the way they rolled it out just felt petty.
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Az Paynter
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Post by Az Paynter on Apr 22, 2021 9:58:24 GMT -5
Yeah it was absolutely the timing of the Eagles/Britney thing. Wasn't it literally like the last day of the tracking week they made that ruling? You just don't DO that, it's incredibly unfair. For Britney/her team/her label to spend virtually the entire week feeling comfortable about her album charting at #1, only to have the rug pulled out from under everyone at the last second? Miss. Me. With. That. S**t.
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dremolus - solarpunk
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Post by dremolus - solarpunk on Apr 22, 2021 10:24:33 GMT -5
Think we might as well add drivers license' debut week. The utter shock everyone had when this was the song that was breaking streaming records, was incredible.
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Eqbk
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Post by Eqbk on Apr 22, 2021 12:05:54 GMT -5
What made the Britney/Eagles situation even more frustrating is because, historically, Billboard is slow to changing and adapting. For example, after Michael Jackson's passing, Number Ones was the highest selling album in the country, yet was not allowed to chart on the Billboard 200 and was only allowed to chart in the Top Catalog chart. Despite people calling on them to change the rules to accurately reflect which album was actually #1, Billboard chose to not change the rules in this situation and did not make the Billboard 200 a comprehensive chart until well after the fact. So for Billboard, (notoriously known for being slow to change rules) to quickly change the rules last minute in the Britney/Eagles situation was surprising (and rightfully suspicious to some people).
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🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾
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Post by 🅳🅸🆂🅲🅾 on Apr 22, 2021 12:31:31 GMT -5
Mariah spending 16 weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 with “One Sweet Day.”
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bat1990
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Post by bat1990 on Apr 22, 2021 14:20:15 GMT -5
Billboard making a rule change about free downloads when those helped begin the long reign of "We Belong Together" at the top of the charts.
Watching the video views roll in for "Bitch I'm Madonna" to see if it got enough to make the Hot 100.
Seeing "Feedback" grow and make the Hot 100 top 20 after 4 years of Janet being blacklisted and dragged through the mud.
Examining the metrics week to week to watch The Chicks' cover of "Landslide" climb higher and higher - only for the Bush comments to abruptly end its run. Travelin' Soldier was also peaking at the time and disappeared two weeks later from the Hot 100 and Country charts. Then the vindication 3 years later when their Grammy sweep gave them a Top 5 peak for "Not Ready To Make Nice"
EDIT: The LOLs of listening to Casey Kasem announce raunchy songs on AT40 week after week in the early 00s like "My Neck, My Back" and "Oops (Oh My)"
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tekkenguy
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Post by tekkenguy on Apr 22, 2021 15:17:44 GMT -5
Mariah spending 16 weeks at #1 on the Hot 100 with “One Sweet Day.” Speaking of which....Old Town Road?
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Lost In Musical Reverie
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Post by Lost In Musical Reverie on Apr 22, 2021 15:51:28 GMT -5
I wasn't a chart watcher back then, but I imagine the burst of random re-entries in 2013 thanks to viral YouTube videos must have been fun to follow. Kanye's "Gone", Beyoncé's "Get Me Bodied", Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", Enya's "Only Time"... You never knew which song would get its turn to shine.
And of course, this all culminated in 2014, with this song debuting in the top 10 thanks to - you guessed it - a viral YouTube video.
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tekkenguy
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Post by tekkenguy on Apr 22, 2021 19:49:22 GMT -5
I wasn't a chart watcher back then, but I imagine the burst of random re-entries in 2013 thanks to viral YouTube videos must have been fun to follow. Kanye's "Gone", Beyoncé's "Get Me Bodied", Bon Jovi's "Livin' On A Prayer", Enya's "Only Time"... You never knew which song would get its turn to shine. And of course, this all culminated in 2014, with this song debuting in the top 10 thanks to - you guessed it - a viral YouTube video. You mean the song that went 9-OUT?
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tekkenguy
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Post by tekkenguy on Apr 22, 2021 19:50:22 GMT -5
What made the Britney/Eagles situation even more frustrating is because, historically, Billboard is slow to changing and adapting. For example, after Michael Jackson's passing, Number Ones was the highest selling album in the country, yet was not allowed to chart on the Billboard 200 and was only allowed to chart in the Top Catalog chart. Despite people calling on them to change the rules to accurately reflect which album was actually #1, Billboard chose to not change the rules in this situation and did not make the Billboard 200 a comprehensive chart until well after the fact. So for Billboard, (notoriously known for being slow to change rules) to quickly change the rules last minute in the Britney/Eagles situation was surprising (and rightfully suspicious to some people). Did Billboard intentionally do it to screw Britney?
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Gary
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Post by Gary on Apr 22, 2021 20:19:52 GMT -5
It was done for credibility issues declaring a #1 that was outsold by another album 3 to 1 would be problematic
It could have been anybody at #2, just a coincidence that it was Britney
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Eqbk
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Post by Eqbk on Apr 22, 2021 22:03:40 GMT -5
Did Billboard intentionally do it to screw Britney? I don't think that Billboard had a personal vendetta against Britney but Britney definitely influenced the situation. A similar case like this had happened just two years ago, where a Walmart-exclusive Garth Brooks box set had outsold System of the Down's Hypnotize. Why didn't Billboard change the rules then? Well here's what Billboard (more specifically Geoff Mayfield) had to say: Basically, it was the amount of media attention this got that this rule changed. It wasn't simply a coincidence or a case where it could have been anyone. Britney at that time was the most watched/followed celebrity and that media attention naturally spilled over to this situation. Billboard had the chance to change it 2 years before this but didn't because not enough people cared or payed attention (and therefore it was not perceived as a threat to the credibility of Billboard) so Garth Brooks lost out on a #1 spot even though he had the highest selling album. Had it been any other musician, there's a good chance that history would have repeated itself and The Eagles would have not been allowed to chart. Had Billboard changed the rule back in 2005, like they should've arguable done so, Britney's label they could have timed/planned things better so that Blackout debuted at #1 and Britney would have continued her streak. And again, where was this fear of losing credibility two years later when the Number Ones album was the highest selling album in the country for 3 weeks in a row yet was not allowed to chart on the Billboard 200 chart? Billboard picks and choose when they want to act quickly for their credibility.
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nick64
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Post by nick64 on Apr 23, 2021 2:09:10 GMT -5
The fiasco of Harlem Shake suddenly dominating the Hot 100 because Billboard just added YouTube streaming and was counting 30 second clips
When Rihanna and Britney founded the last minute remix to get a #1
Watching Glee rack up new chart entries every week
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Gary
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Post by Gary on Apr 23, 2021 6:54:17 GMT -5
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Enigma.
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Post by Enigma. on Apr 23, 2021 8:18:02 GMT -5
- Adele's "Hello" breaking the all-time sales record in its first week, a record that's highly unlikely to be matched by anyone. From Wikipedia: "Released on 22 September 1997, "Candle in the Wind 1997" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, with first week sales at 3.5 million copies."
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Amnesiac
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Post by Amnesiac on Apr 23, 2021 9:23:52 GMT -5
What's a moment you witnessed as a chart watcher that felt like a big deal at the time, but that younger members of this forum may not be familiar with? Rock songs getting into the Top 40 with no pop radio airplay. This happened into the late 2000s, and I clearly remember Nine Inch Nails' "The Hand That Feeds", System of a Down's "BYOB" and The White Stripes' "Icky Thump" getting into the Top 30 based only on sales (physical and digital, where eligible) and rock radio airplay (The three rock formats don't add a lot the Hot 100, but those three singles were very heavily played on those stations in their first weeks). I'm pretty sure all three only lasted one or two weeks inside of the Top 40 after their high debuts. I suppose you could include Foo Fighters' "The Pretender" and Muse's "Uprising" too, but those both actually had CHR airplay. Speaking of the rock charts, one thing I remember in the late 2000s was how chart watchers were concerned that the Billboard Mainstream and Modern Rock charts featured too many of the same songs. At that point, there were a lot of pure active rock tracks that were charting well at alternative despite not fitting the format like AC/DC's "Rock 'n' Roll Train". At the same time, younger, rock-radio-friendly indie rock bands like the Arctic Monkeys were having trouble making the alternative chart at all. This ultimately turned out to not be a long lasting thing, and arguably the opposite is true now: There are now many pure alternative songs and artists who are charting well on active (The Offspring, for instance). Of course, Active/Mainstream rock used to be a catch-all chart for all rock formatted stations and used to have a way different mix of artists before alternative and AAA were split off into their own formats than it does right now, so maybe these changes are going back to the chart's roots. Also, I remember when Kid Rock refused to release "All Summer Long" on iTunes and his original version of the song got out peaked on the Hot 100 by two karaoke covers. He could have probably had a Top 5 hit with that song, but instead it peaked at #23.
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Enigma.
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Post by Enigma. on Apr 23, 2021 9:34:51 GMT -5
All Summer Long would've probably been #1 even - it reached #1 in the UK and is his only top 20 hit there.
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kimberly
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Post by kimberly on Apr 23, 2021 12:14:55 GMT -5
- Adele's "Hello" breaking the all-time sales record in its first week, a record that's highly unlikely to be matched by anyone. From Wikipedia: "Released on 22 September 1997, "Candle in the Wind 1997" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, with first week sales at 3.5 million copies." I meant digital sales, should have made it clearer. But that reminds me: Adele's 25 opening with 3.38 million sales (3.48 million total activity) in its first week was another iconic moment. That's more than 5 copies sold each second.
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Enigma.
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Post by Enigma. on Apr 23, 2021 13:37:56 GMT -5
Yea, for me the sales of 25 are far more impressive than Hello. Truly special times regardless.
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HEADOFTHEPACK
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Post by HEADOFTHEPACK on Apr 23, 2021 14:08:02 GMT -5
Agreed on 25, I remember seeing the estimates trend up every day and being like woah OK. The Britney/Eagles thing is memorable too as many have said.
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