Billboard Hot 100: 08/21/2021

[dremolus - solarpunk]

Aug 7, 2021 8:55:29 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Aug 7, 2021 8:50:28 GMT -5 dremolus - solarpunk said:

What is meh then?

1.3M streams plus the iTunes sales and AM streams where he's currently #4, he's debuting Top 5 AT LEAST. How is this meh?

You seem to be dropping the "by his standards" aspect of the initial statement?

If someone runs track and they run a time that is their 4th best of 6, that would be considered a meh time for them.

....fine, let's go by "his standards". Here's every global debut for every song The Weeknd had been the lead artist for. 

Call Out My Name - 6,473,226
Heartless - 5,983,842
Alone Again - 5,118,147
Save Your Tears (remix) - 5,039,298
Take My Breath - 4,861,544
In Your Eyes - 4,822,111
Too Late - 4,557,339
Try Me - 4,443,795
Hardest to Love - 4,348,939
Scared to Live - 4,334,915
Wasted Times - 3,936,324
Snowchild - 3,857,698
Escape from LA - 3,692,505
I Was Never There - 3,535,917
Faith - 3,497,191
Hurt You - 3,481,010
Blinding Lights - 3,479,390
Save Your Tears (original) - 3,305,875
After Hours - 3,276,434
Privilege - 2,974,482
Pray for Me - 2,780,036
Repeat After Me - 2,602,638
Until I Bleed Out - 2,449,518

By "these standards", Take My Breath's streams are good.

[earth]

I agree that by his standards it's not BAD just not particularly good. You're comparing it to mostly album tracks

[dremolus - solarpunk]

Aug 7, 2021 9:37:19 GMT -5 earth said:

I agree that by his standards it's not BAD just not particularly good. You're comparing it to mostly album tracks

What is good then? If debuting with 4.8M streams isn't good then what is the barometer. This is what I'm not understanding.

[Clode]

I'm siding with dremolus - solarpunk in this Debate, The fact that "Take My Breath" had the fifth highest debut from The Weeknd is very notable. It is unrealistic to assume that every Song that The Weeknd releases will debut with higher Streaming numbers compared to his previous Songs, Can you imagine what it would be like if we hold these A-List Music artists to the same standards?

[nathanalbright]

As is often the case, let's see how the holds work. No need to be quick to jump on someone after one day's results.

[edward]

After having a massive era and one of the biggest song of all time, it's normal for people to expect bigger number from him, it's definitely not GREAT for his standard if Heartless opened with 500k more than this in the US alone. But I guess the fact that Blinding Lights and Save Your Tears Remix are still popular made some people pay less attention to the new song.

[fridayteenage]

friday debuts this year
2.98 love story
2.8 brutal
2.7 traitor
2.4 enough for you
2.3 1 step forward
2.3 happier
1.99 jealousy jealousy

4.1 amari
4.1 my life
3.7 what's next
3.5 wants and needs
3.5 pride is the devil
3.4 applying pressure
3.1 100 mil
3.1 punchin the clock
2.9 let go of my hand
2.7 rapstar
2.7 lemon pepper freestyle
2.5 95 south
2.5 interlude
2.4 climb back
2.3 stay
2.3 wusyaname
2.2 peaches
2.2 hunger on hillside
2.2 close
2.2 industry baby
2.0 lemonhead

[Choco]

Not terrible, certainly not bad if it holds well through the week.

But anyone saying this is a great opening result after the huge After Hours era is fooling themselves as well. It's somewhere in the middle.

[thegreatdivine]

Aug 7, 2021 9:04:40 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

tbh I expected 2M, but these numbers are good too. It's not like he's famous for huge Spotify debut numbers like Ariana, Drake or Olivia.

Just look at the Blinding Lights opening numbers, it's literally the biggest song of all time now.

I get what you mean but it's quite impossible for it to LITERALLY be the biggest song of all time. It's the biggest song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. There are several other songs that were bigger in more markets globally or have sold more units worldwide. It all depends on what your definition of "big" is. Can't just be throwing out statements like that without some context.

[Gary]

For example - the 20th century biggest song by most polls was 'Over The Rainbow' from the Wizard of Oz

Although the song itself charted a bunch of times - the original version obviously never appeared on the Hot 100

[thegreatdivine]

Aug 7, 2021 8:46:43 GMT -5 Enigma. said:

SYT and BL still overshadow everything else by him in people's minds. His team needs to build up the new release as "no one needed it" yet.

This is what I think as well. It's less about him being overexposed and more about him trying to work yet another single when he has 2 singles fans obviously haven't let go of yet. If I were him, I would have given it at least 2-3 more months before pushing this single.

Factually, yes, those Spotify debut figures are a bit underwhelming, if only because he's been teasing this new era for months now and spent the last week teasing this single so there has been enough drummed up hype for a really solid debut. With that being said, none of that will matter if the song remains stable/gains significantly over the next couple of weeks/months, which is ultimately what he cares most about, I imagine.

[Groovy]

Aug 7, 2021 8:54:50 GMT -5 suzcruz7 said:

I'm just surprised Call Out My Name had the biggest debut numbers lol.

Anyway yeah as people have said I'm much more interested in how it holds up over the week than the debut. That's what actually matters.

It's also his highest debuting song on the Hot 100 right now, isn't it?

[After Minutes]

I also don't think that their aim with this song was to match or beat BL, I assume that Abel dropped the new single largely to take the spotlight away from Blinding Lights and Save Your Tears to get the new era going, and when all of the attention is on the new material, he should have more luck with the second single, which in my opinion could beat Heartless' debut.
As others said, this isn't great, it isn't bad either, simply something in the middle. Regardless, Abel never had record breaking peaks. We'll be able to judge the song's performance in 3-4 weeks, as with Bad Habits, which we all assumed was a flop, only for it to stick on pretty well. I still think that a #1 debut isn't out of the running for Abel just yet.

[atg]

This has been a common trend throughout 2021. We had comeback singles from Ed Sheeran, Roddy Ricch and Post Malone and they all underperformed compared to their last big hits that they had.


The Weeknd probably isn’t destined to have #1 debuts but to gradually climb there like his previous lead singles regardless of when it was released. Keep in mind we also have BL and SYT on the charts still, so that did affect the song’s debut a little bit. I think in the long run it will be ok and since he’s a current act who can still chart high, i think he’ll get that #1 like he always does with the start of the era.

1.7M is still a great debut. At least it’s going up against Stay and Industry Baby which are both strong across every platform so it’s not completely unjustified why he wouldn’t get #1 this week.

[dovahduck]

Even if this doesn't debut at number one, it can always go number one after the release of the album like "Starboy" and "Blinding Lights" did. It really is gonna have to depend on the sales this week tho to get that number one debut tho unless the streams improves. I can see there being limited edition CDs later this week.

[suzcruz7]

Aug 7, 2021 11:36:46 GMT -5 atg said:

This has been a common trend throughout 2021. We had comeback singles from Ed Sheeran, Roddy Ricch and Post Malone and they all underperformed compared to their last big hits that they had.


The Weeknd probably isn’t destined to have #1 debuts but to gradually climb there like his previous lead singles regardless of when it was released. Keep in mind we also have BL and SYT on the charts still, so that did affect the song’s debut a little bit. I think in the long run it will be ok and since he’s a current act who can still chart high, i think he’ll get that #1 like he always does with the start of the era.

1.7M is still a great debut. At least it’s going up against Stay and Industry Baby which are both strong across every platform so it’s not completely unjustified why he wouldn’t get #1 this week.

Ah geez I literally completely forgot about Late at Night. I hope Roddy's next single has some more punch to it.

[Choco]

Aug 7, 2021 11:42:40 GMT -5 dovahduck said:

Even if this doesn't debut at number one, it can always go number one after the release of the album like "Starboy" and "Blinding Lights" did. It really is gonna have to depend on the sales this week tho to get that number one debut tho unless the streams improves. I can see there being limited edition CDs later this week.

in b4 the BTS web store reports 200k and Abel, Lil Nas and "Stay" miss #1 again (let alone Ms. Olivia's biggest hit that only got a week at #1 but is out of the competition by now, or Ms. Dua's huge resilient hit :( )

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Aug 7, 2021 10:42:10 GMT -5 thegreatdivine said:

Aug 7, 2021 9:04:40 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

tbh I expected 2M, but these numbers are good too. It's not like he's famous for huge Spotify debut numbers like Ariana, Drake or Olivia.

Just look at the Blinding Lights opening numbers, it's literally the biggest song of all time now.

I get what you mean but it's quite impossible for it to LITERALLY be the biggest song of all time. It's the biggest song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. There are several other songs that were bigger in more markets globally or have sold more units worldwide. It all depends on what your definition of "big" is. Can't just be throwing out statements like that without some context.

this is a thread for the Billboard Hot 100 chart, ofc I'm talking about the US chart only.

also, I agree with edward, but it should be noted that Blinding Lights and Save Your Tears were huge because of their longevity, not high Spotify and AM streams.

[iamsorare]

Aug 7, 2021 8:28:24 GMT -5 dremolus - solarpunk said:

Aug 7, 2021 8:08:05 GMT -5 iamsorare said:

Weeknd..Meh debut on Spotify for his standards..

Do you ever fact check the bulls**t you spew or do you just want a reason to say The Weeknd is "oversaturated and flopping"?

Take My Breath
Global - 4,861,544
US - 1,723,476

Heartless
Global - 5,983,842
US - 2,634,575

Blinding Lights
Global - 3,479,390
US - 1,304,173

Save Your Tears Remix
Global - 5,039,298
US - 1,723,905

Pray for Me
Global - 2,780,036
US - 1,199,263

Call Out My Name - his biggest streaming debut (at least until 2017, Spotify won't let me see stats for songs pre-January 1, 2017 so I don't have the numbers for Starboy or I Feel It Coming)
Global - 6,473,226
US - 3,490,888

about 'blinding lights' low debut streaming numbers on Spotify: it wasn't an official single when it was released .it became an official single later and slowly became a big hit..it was released on November 29 2019 (the same week with heartless), but the promotion started when it became an official single on January 7,2020 .. so no comparison.take my breath is obviously an official single from the beginning (it's #1 on Spotify's TTH and it has a huge radio deal) .. so save your tears remix had bigger debut streaming numbers on Spotify than take my breath .. heartless had bigger debut streaming numbers on Spotify than take my breath ..even call out my name had bigger debut streaming numbers on Spotify than take my breath and it was only a single release from an EP (extended play)...I don't know why you posted these numbers cause you didn't really help weeknd...I thought he is bigger now than he was 2 or 3 years ago so yeah take my breath debut streaming numbers on Spotify are meh..he needs a break... 'overexposed' is a real thing and maybe it will hurt him someday

[kindofbiased]

The Weeknd seems like an artist who likes big debuts but overall is more focused on keeping his songs popular rather than giving them one or two huge weeks, so I expect this to be stable and for his team to focus primarily on that

[Limited Edition]

Aug 7, 2021 12:05:09 GMT -5 iamsorare said:

Aug 7, 2021 8:28:24 GMT -5 dremolus - solarpunk said:

Do you ever fact check the bulls**t you spew or do you just want a reason to say The Weeknd is "oversaturated and flopping"?

Take My Breath
Global - 4,861,544
US - 1,723,476

Heartless
Global - 5,983,842
US - 2,634,575

Blinding Lights
Global - 3,479,390
US - 1,304,173

Save Your Tears Remix
Global - 5,039,298
US - 1,723,905

Pray for Me
Global - 2,780,036
US - 1,199,263

Call Out My Name - his biggest streaming debut (at least until 2017, Spotify won't let me see stats for songs pre-January 1, 2017 so I don't have the numbers for Starboy or I Feel It Coming)
Global - 6,473,226
US - 3,490,888

about 'blinding lights' low debut streaming numbers on Spotify: it wasn't an official single when it was released .it became an official single later and slowly became a big hit..it was released on November 29 2019 (the same week with heartless), but the promotion started when it became an official single on January 7,2020 .. so no comparison.take my breath is obviously an official single from the beginning (it's #1 on Spotify's TTH and it has a huge radio deal) .. so save your tears remix had bigger debut streaming numbers on Spotify than take my breath .. heartless had bigger debut streaming numbers on Spotify than take my breath ..even call out my name had bigger debut streaming numbers on Spotify than take my breath and it was only a single release from an EP (extended play)...I don't know why you posted these numbers cause you didn't really help weeknd...I thought he is bigger now than he was 2 or 3 years ago so yeah take my breath debut streaming numbers on Spotify are meh..he needs a break... 'overexposed' is a real thing and maybe it will hurt him someday

Exactly. Dremolus also forgot to mention the fact that since early 2018, Spotify premium subscribers have grown from 75M to 160M, meaning you can't compare the debuts in raw numbers. Slightly underwhelming numbers no matter how you slice it.

[dremolus - solarpunk]

US Spotify - 08/05/21

1(=) The Kid LAROI - STAY 2,156,742 (+101,410)
2(=) Lil Nas X - INDUSTRY BABY 1,872,961 (+64,125)
3(debut) The Weeknd - Take My Breath 1,723,476
4(-1) Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever 1,599,522 (-18,605)
5(-1) Olivia Rodrigo - good 4 u 1,389,781 (+48,694)
6(-1) Doja Cat - Kiss Me More 1,128,936 (+86,295)
7(-1) Doja Cat - Need to Know 1,038,620 (+151,866)
8(+7) Aventura, Bad Bunny- Volví 974,017 (+225,212)
9(+1) Ed Sheeran - Bad Habits 904,934 (+105,785)
10(-3) Doja Cat - Ain't Shit 870,073 (+23,726)

Others:
11(-3) Lil Nas X - MONTERO (Call Me By Your Name) 862,414 (+38,769)
12(-3) Glass Animals - Heat Waves 859,040 (+42,422)
13(-1) Dua Lipa - Levitating 835,533 (+51,318)
14(-3) Måneskin - Beggin' 808,730 (+18,202)
15(-2) Polo G - RAPSTAR 775,975 (+5,288)
16(-2) Olivia Rodrigo - traitor 773,720 (+13,187)
17(=) Sleepy Hallow - 2055 748,450 (+33,061)
18(-2) Olivia Rodrigo - deja vu 731,275 (+10,158)
19(+61) Jack Harlow, Pooh Shiesty - SUVs (Black on Black) 706,015 (+394,979)
20(-1) Justin Bieber - Peaches 604,039 (+29,596)
22(-2) Megan Thee Stallion - Thot Shit 595,872 (+31,340)
23(-2) Post Malone - Motley Crew 576,930 (+13,066)
24(-1) Walker Hayes - Fancy Like 564,856 (+35,593)
25(+3) The Weeknd - Save Your Tears Remix 562,045 (+58,296)
26(debut) Lil Tecca - REPEAT IT 560,323 
27(+3) Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic - Leave the Door Open 542,404 (+42,511)
28(-2) The Kid LAROI - NOT SOBER 510,485 (-5,448)
29(-4) Olivia Rodrigo - favorite crime 507,706 (-8,733)
31(-7) Bad Bunny - Yonaguni 503,747 (-12,793)
32(-1) Rauw Alejandro - Todo De Ti 493,390 (+2,195)
33(debut) blackbear - @ my worst 490,777
34(-12) Bruno Mars, Anderson .Paak, Silk Sonic - Skate 485,943 (-55,345)
35(-8) Billie Eilish - NDA 480,100 (-26,116)
37(-4) Smiley - Over the Top 467,554 (-4,848)
38(-6) Doja Cat, The Weeknd - You Right 465,431 (-24,491)
40(-3) Surf Curse - Freaks 456,001 (+18,128)
41(-6) Olivia Rodrigo - happier 453,083 (-3,867)
43(-7) Olivia Rodrigo - brutal 442,183 (+3,189)
44(-2) DJ Khaled - EVERY CHANCE I GET 424,061 (+7,810)
45(-5) DaBaby - Ball If I Want To 418,254 (-7,231)
47(+3) Doja Cat - Woman 411,277 (+22,632)
48(-3) BTS - Butter 408,912 (+6,135)
49(-3) Giveon - Heartbreak Anniversary 407,465 (+8,741)
50(+2) Måneskin - I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE 402,025 (+16,434)
52(debut) Nessa Barrett - i hope ur miserable until ur dead 385,926
55(+8) Doja Cat - Get Into It (Yuh) 377,108 (+36,388)
56(+25) Farruko - Pepas 375,961 (+65,152)
57(-16) Billie Eilish - Oxytocin 374,671 (-48,538)
58(debut) KSI, Lil Wayne - Lose 370,503
59(-16) Billie Eilish - Billie Bossa Nova 367,380 (-46,338)
60(debut) Nas - Rare 364,937
61(debut) Ingrid Andress - Wishful Drinking 364,252
63(-15) Billie Eilish - Lost Cause 361,613 (-33,270)
64(-9) Marshmello - Leave Before You Love Me 360,323 (+4,532)
65(-7) Kali Uchis - telepatía 356,343 (+7,052)
66(-7) PinkPantheress - Pain 355,899 (+10,921)
67(-3) Tyler The Creator, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Ty Dolla $ign - WUSYANAME 354,414 (+14,164)
70(+4) Nelly, Florida Georgia Line - Lil Bit 353,860 (+33,938)
71(+8) Tai Verdes - A-O-K 352,026 (+39,049)
74(-25) Billie Eilish - Getting Older 344,217 (-50,272)
75(-18) DaBaby - Red Light Green Light 342,294 (-8,761)
77(debut) Martin Garrix - Love Runs Out 341,483
78(-17) BTS - Permission to Dance 340,982 (-2,292)
80(debut) Nas, EPMD - EMPD 2 336,267
84(-6) Camila Cabello - Don't Go Yet 327,932 (+13,147)
87(-11) The Kid LAROI - WITHOUT YOU 323,857 (+4,956)
92(-1) Nio Garcia, J Balvin, Bad Bunny - AM Remix 300,577 (+12,427)
93(-7) Bo Burnham - Bezos I 300,145 (+559)
99(+5) BIA - WHOLE LOTTA MONEY Remix 291,768 (+15,351)

101(-13) Roddy Ricch - Late At Night 289,035 (-5,540)
115(debut) 220 KID, LANY - Stupid Feelings 279,928
122(+2) The Weeknd - Save Your Tears 269,831 (+19,924)
124(-22) Jason Aldean, Carrie Underwood - If I Didn't Love You 268,357 (-9,712)
125(-9) Lil Baby, Lil Durk - Hats Off 267,645 (+6,205)
127(-17) Dan + Shay - Glad You Exist 266,929 (-2,884)
129(-9) J Balvin, Maria Becerra - Qué Más Pues? 262,011 (+9,423)
136(+2) Steve Lacy - Dark Red 253,485 (+14,809)
137(+3) Isaiah Rashad - From the Garden 252,327 (+14,856)
138(+33) Sheff G - On Go 251,683 (+32,353)
140(-18) Yot Club - YKWIM? 250,184 (-1,576)
143(debut) YNW Melly - Best Friends 4L 248,374
144(re-entry) Elle King, Miranda Lambert - Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home) 247,926
153(-19) Bo Burnham - Welcome to the Internet 242,469 (-499)
163(-9) Normani - Wild Side 235,265 (+5,448)
164(+24) Dua Lipa - Love Again 235,179 (+24,117)
166(-5) Kane Brown, blackbear - Memory 234,685 (+11,042)
173(-28) Beach House - Space Song 233,141 (-2,232)
184(-27) Mora, Bad Bunny, Sech - Volando Remix 227,649 (+1,966)
197(-20) Duncan Laurence - Arcade 215,688 (+713)
199(debut) Chris Young, Mitchell Tenpenny - At the End of a Bar 215,065

Total Streams for Save Your Tears: 831,876

Biggest Gains (50K+): Pepas, Save Your Tears Remix, SUVs (Black on Black), Levitating, Bad Habits, Volví, Need to Know, Kiss Me More, INDUSTRY BABY, STAY

Comments on The Weeknd aside, can we please not let Nessa Barrett be a thing? This is why we shouldn't be so quick to get rid of Billie: we'll be left with her clones and I do not want her, Tate, and other Billie wannabes clogging up the charts. Also cool Ingrid Andress is getting more of an industry push, just a shame it's by collaborating with Sam Hunt.

Also don't bother with the new Martin Garrix song. It is just 'Him & I' again but Halsey probably still hates G-Eazy so they got a different female singer to not have chemistry with him (in this case, Sasha Sloan sounding like she wants her paycheck as soon as possible)

[dremolus - solarpunk]

I give up lol. I can't see what's underwhelming about the US or Global numbers and I'm not gonna continue arguing about it this week. I'm already tired, I tap.

[Choco]

i'm over the titles in all lowercase trend. even billie has moved on from that.

but hey she won like 10 grammys already, i expect the copycats to keep popping up for a couple more years.

[thegreatdivine]

Aug 7, 2021 12:40:39 GMT -5 Choco said:

i'm over the titles in all lowercase trend. even billie has moved on from that.

but hey she won like 10 grammys already, i expect the copycats to keep popping up for a couple more years.

I've always found it and other variations of weird song titling, cheesy. Billie still used lowercase for my future. She also used has GOLDWING and OverHeated, which aren't cased conventionally as track titles but at least, the rest are titled normally. I hope her next album has every track titled normally.

[85la]

Yes, I have to agree that the Weeknd's opening numbers, BASED ON THE FIRST DAY ONLY OF COURSE, are definitely underwhelming, but not disastrous. It's very hard to argue around this. Of course it could stabilize and/or grow more later on to become a huge hit, but first day numbers are often a good, though not a definitve indicator, and it does make it less likely. For someone who is coming off of nothing less than the biggest Hot 100 hit of all time, plus two other #1's of a massive era and one of the most acclaimed albums of the past year, and especially since this was a highly promoted lead single with a lot of build-up, this is definitely a let-down. To open with less than 2 million streams yesterday on U.S. Spotify and only at #3, when many other songs this year, both lead singles and not, first week and not, have done so, currently at #4 on AM, just barely reaching #1 on iTunes now with a small margin (and a 69 cent discount), and especially when the songs above it or which it just passed are not particularly huge competition doing huge numbers either, it is absolutely fair to say this is a let-down. And the argument that this was released too soon and that he is over-saturated is absolutely valid, when he already has 3 other singles in the top 20, two still from his last album, people simply might not be ready for the lead of a new project yet. I'm definitely thinking now he should have waited till next year. It's hard, because I am actually a huge fan of the Weeknd and this song, and I could be wrong, it still could grow, but there have been artists before where they were everywhere one minute and nowhere the next, often due to overexposure, and I just think they might have played this wrong.

[kcdawg13]

Abel's team is better at keeping tracks on the charts long-term compared to others who get that first breakthrough week and let the track go, I expect Take My Breath to debut Top 5 and hang around. Reminder Heartless had a larger debut on streaming but fell to #17 in it's second week on the Hot 100, and BL debuted at #11 and took a dive for weeks before recovering.

[phieaglesfan712]

Aug 7, 2021 13:38:50 GMT -5 kcdawg13 said:

Abel's team is better at keeping tracks on the charts long-term compared to others who get that first breakthrough week and let the track go, I expect Take My Breath to debut Top 5 and hang around. Reminder Heartless had a larger debut on streaming but fell to #17 in it's second week on the Hot 100, and BL debuted at #11 and took a dive for weeks before recovering.

Although Heartless was released on a Wednesday, and charted at #32 during that preliminary week. That said, the drop from 1-17 should come with an asterisk due to the holiday season. If not for the Christmas songs, Heartless would not have dropped out of the Top 15 immediately following the week at #1.

[Rose "Payola" Nylund]

I swear some of you foam at the mouth at the slightest sign that a major music force may be beginning to lose their stature.

[jaffery]

Aug 7, 2021 9:04:40 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

tbh I expected 2M, but these numbers are good too. It's not like he's famous for huge Spotify debut numbers like Ariana, Drake or Olivia.

Just look at the Blinding Lights opening numbers, it's literally the biggest song of all time now.

Shape of you is bigger than blinding lights even though I hate it.