Billboard Hot 100: 03/23/2024

[Music Fan]

I do really think Ariana has a PR problem that has just grown bigger and bigger. The fact that "yes, and?" wasn't great surely didn't help build momentum. But I'd wager many people who were once curious to check out her music -though not part of her core fanbase- don't really care to listen anymore due to her PR issues.

With that said, as a casual Ariana listener (and by that I mean I enjoy many of her singles and a few deep cuts), I was not necessarily impresed by the album. It wasn't bad, but it did not leave me with the desire to re-listen. So, the spotify streams don't seem surprising. I'd still say they're good streams, but not what she or her label would've hoped.

[Golden Bluebird]

Ariana aside, I want to bring up that, based on the combined streams of the original version and the new Drake remix, 4batz's "act ii: date @ 8" would sit at #2 on US Spotify with 2,165,308 streams, so it's looking like it'll make a massive jump on the Hot 100.

[sportytheartist]

US iTunes Top 20 Songs | 4:10pm EST

---

1 +1 Benson Boone - Beautiful Things
2 -1 Livingston - Shadow
3 +1 Beyoncé - TEXAS HOLD 'EM
4 -1 Teddy Swims - Lose Control
5 +1 Tenacious D - ...Baby One More Time (from Kung Fu Panda 4)
6 +7 Ariana Grande - we can't be friends (wait for your love)
7 = Beyoncé - TEXAS HOLD 'EM
8 +2 Jack Harlow - Lovin On Me
9 = Muni Long - Made For Me
10 -5 Koe Wetzel - Damn Near Normal
11 +6 New Kids On the Block - Kids
12 -4 Brantley Gilbert - Off The Rails
13 +1 Zach Bryan - I Remember Everything (feat. Kacey Musgraves)
14 -2 Luke Combs - Where the Wild Things Are
15 -4 Miley Cyrus - Flowers
16 = Jelly Roll - Save Me (with Lainey Wilson)
17 +4 Luke Combs - Fast Car
18 = Justin Timberlake - Selfish
19 -4 Paul Russell - Lil Boo Thang
20 +2 Jelly Roll - Need a Favor

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Apple Music US:

#2.we can't be friends
#3.bye
#4.eternal sunshine
#5.the boy is mine
#6.don't wanna break up again 
#8.supernatural
#11.intro (end of the world)
#12.true story
#16.yes, and? 
#18.i wish I hated you
#21.Saturn Return Interlude
#23.imperfect for you 
#29.ordinary things

decent AM numbers so far.

[jenglisbe]

Mar 9, 2024 13:57:47 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

y'all are overreacting. These numbers are just fine for Ariana's standards, basically positions numbers minus the successful lead single.

The number of Spotify users has grown over the past 4 years, yet these day 1 numbers were below her past 2 albums. That is a disappointment, and there's no real way around it. Of course if the album has a good hold the next few days it could end up having an ok debut, but these first day numbers are underwhelming.

Mar 9, 2024 14:05:33 GMT -5 andrebra said:

Especially when you consider there’s only really 11 full songs, these numbers aren’t that bad.

This would be a better argument if the 11 tracks were performing better. positions had 4 tracks clear 2 million U.S. Spotify streams on its first day, whereas the new album has 0 tracks over 2 million.

[eagle27]

The writing was in the wall in 2023 when her streaming numbers stagnated compared to her competition in 2019-2021 as people lost interest. I think hiatuses are extremely risky. She went over 2 years without releasing/promoting new music besides the Weeknd remixes. From 2013 to 2021, she really never went more than 12 months without an active single. Most of the infamous flop eras were after long breaks too. The exception is if there is genuine hype building up over time like Sza did by releasing singles/features to maintain interest and gaining new fans.

[ontopofthis]

Mar 9, 2024 14:27:27 GMT -5 Choco said:

Mar 9, 2024 13:04:23 GMT -5 lazer said:

Let’s see if Billie Eilish, Camila Cabello, Sza, etc will be successful in their next era. I don’t want Taylor Swift to be the only pop girl this year.

Camila wasn't even big with her last era and all I see about her little teasers is hate lmao.

SZA and Billie are set to have good launches. Tate McRae, Dua Lipa and Beyoncé are all doing good. I would read this as an Ariana thing because girlies overall are doing well.

Not you sneaking Dua Lipa in there as if no one is going to notice. She is probably the biggest case of the pop girls’ newest output not hitting

[Choco]

Not hitting where? First single did alright worldwide. She's really not a big name on the US by comparison. Second single seems like it's gonna do about the same (both were above yes and last week on most international markets). She will at this point most definitely not grow from the Future Nostalgia numbers but I would not say she's struggling either.

[parrotparent]

Mar 9, 2024 10:23:03 GMT -5 Choco said:

How often does an established act beat the one day comments though? She certainly didn't with "yes, and?", Miley didn't do it with Doctor, etc... Even Adele with 30 they said "it's ok it'll have legs" and then it didn't (for her huge standrads).

People know these releases are coming so they're by nature frontloaded. If your debut number is frontloaded and you're 99% certain to drop from those then you better hope the debut is big. And Ariana is suppossed to be the streaming force of her generation. These A Listers aren't Dua Lipa or Tate McRae where people do not check them on debut and find them later on.

I would say with Adele 30s rapid demise came from her canceling her residency at the very last minute. She did reschedule & her reasons seemed sincere. But at that point the label made the decision not to go for single 3, DESPITE already having filmed videos, because her unwillingness to perform live when 30 was still new cost it significant sales, SEA & TEA. So since Adele didn't seem to care & her label was pissed 30 didn't last long.

[Deleted]

Does anyone think the new Ari album could be a potential Trainwreckord? I'm probably speaking way too early, but who knows, maybe Todd makes a video on this album in 5-10 years.

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Mar 9, 2024 17:06:25 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

Mar 9, 2024 13:57:47 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

y'all are overreacting. These numbers are just fine for Ariana's standards, basically positions numbers minus the successful lead single.

The number of Spotify users has grown over the past 4 years, yet these day 1 numbers were below her past 2 albums. That is a disappointment, and there's no real way around it. Of course if the album has a good hold the next few days it could end up having an ok debut, but these first day numbers are underwhelming.

yeah I get it, but I was confused because most people reacted like it debuted with 8M US streams and 30M WW. Ofc, the numbers aren't what most of us expected or hoped, but they're not tragic either. She's a streaming force (and Spotify's 2nd most streamed female artist) because of her strong discography and HITS, but TUN was her only era where the numbers were massive out of gate. She's big enough to debut with every track from the album on the Hot 100, but still far behind Drake, Taylor, Travis, Kendrick...

I mentioned Taylor in my previous post, because she was in a big decline during her Reputation and especially Lover era, but then folklore happened, changed everything and the rest is history. Ariana took a break from music for 3,5 years (which is 1/3 of her career) and I don't think it's realistic to expect some crazy numbers or new peak streams for her even with the growth of Spotify users...and especially with a weak lead single, which doesn't even sound like it belongs on the album.

[85la]

Mar 9, 2024 23:22:35 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

Mar 9, 2024 17:06:25 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

The number of Spotify users has grown over the past 4 years, yet these day 1 numbers were below her past 2 albums. That is a disappointment, and there's no real way around it. Of course if the album has a good hold the next few days it could end up having an ok debut, but these first day numbers are underwhelming.

yeah I get it, but I was confused because most people reacted like it debuted with 8M US streams and 30M WW. Ofc, the numbers aren't what most of us expected or hoped, but they're not tragic either. She's a streaming force (and Spotify's 2nd most streamed female artist) because of her strong discography and HITS, but TUN was her only era where the numbers were massive out of gate. She's big enough to debut with every track from the album on the Hot 100, but still far behind Drake, Taylor, Travis, Kendrick...

I mentioned Taylor in my previous post, because she was in a big decline during her Reputation and especially Lover era, but then folklore happened, changed everything and the rest is history. Ariana took a break from music for 3,5 years (which is 1/3 of her career) and I don't think it's realistic to expect some crazy numbers or new peak streams for her even with the growth of Spotify users...and especially with a weak lead single, which doesn't even sound like it belongs on the album.

Yeah just taking the numbers by themselves, a 25 million 1st-day US Spotify opening for Positions vs. a 21 million opening for Eternal Sunshine (only about a 16% decline) doesn't seem too disastrous at all, so the reactions here might be a little extreme. Of course 1st-day US Spotify isn't everything, so we'll see how it continues to do the rest of the week, on other streaming services, and how the presence of vinyls for Sunshine but not Positions will affect the final number.

[Choco]

Mar 9, 2024 21:10:53 GMT -5 parrotparent said:

Mar 9, 2024 10:23:03 GMT -5 Choco said:

How often does an established act beat the one day comments though? She certainly didn't with "yes, and?", Miley didn't do it with Doctor, etc... Even Adele with 30 they said "it's ok it'll have legs" and then it didn't (for her huge standrads).

People know these releases are coming so they're by nature frontloaded. If your debut number is frontloaded and you're 99% certain to drop from those then you better hope the debut is big. And Ariana is suppossed to be the streaming force of her generation. These A Listers aren't Dua Lipa or Tate McRae where people do not check them on debut and find them later on.

I would say with Adele 30s rapid demise came from her canceling her residency at the very last minute. She did reschedule & her reasons seemed sincere. But at that point the label made the decision not to go for single 3, DESPITE already having filmed videos, because her unwillingness to perform live when 30 was still new cost it significant sales, SEA & TEA. So since Adele didn't seem to care & her label was pissed 30 didn't last long.

I mean single #2 relatively tanked too... it was a disastrous rollout. They did a flawless job with single #1 and the album dropped and then... zzz. The residency has been great tho. But she's in that weird spot right now were she ain't even working on new music for the next few years so... I have no idea what she'll do next. 21 and 25 alone cemented her as an icon, she will never completely fade away and will always be able to tour successfully at the very least.

[neel]

She just released a deluxe for an album that came out a day ago………Yeah I don’t things are going well for Ari guys.

[thegreatdivine]

Trying to get over the 200k mark, I see.

[fridayteenage]

I prefer her when she's singing with gays. like popular song, dance to this

[dremolus - solarpunk]

US Spotify - 03/08/24

Ariana Grande - eternal sunshine [13/13]
2(DEBUT) bye 1,949,152
3(DEBUT) we can't be friends (wait for your love) 1,900,571
4(DEBUT) the boy is mine 1,850,234
5(DEBUT) eternal sunshine 1,835,464
7(DEBUT) don't wanna break up again 1,745,104
8(DEBUT) intro (end of the world) 1,725,995
9(DEBUT) supernatural 1,688,360
10(+59) yes, and? 1,579,184 (+1,081,265) (+217%)
11(DEBUT) true story 1,578,624
19(DEBUT) Saturn Returns Interlude 1,358,467
21(DEBUT) i wish i hated you 1,294,087
23(DEBUT) imperfect for you 1,221,934
28(DEBUT) ordinary things 1,087,735
Total First Day Stream: 20,814,911

TOP 10 WITHOUT eternal sunshine
1(=) Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign - CARNIVAL 2,953,276 (+71,483)
6(-4) Benson Boone - Beautiful Things 1,835,264 (+67,444)
12(-8) Bryson Tiller - Whatever She Wants 1,547,996 (+111,851)
13(-10) Djo - End of Beginning 1,509,773 (+12,726)
14(-7) SZA - Saturn 1,485,257 (+105,952)
15(-9) 21 Savage - redrum 1,449,844 (+42,742)
16(DEBUT) 4batz, Drake - act ii: date @ 8 Remix 1,425,575
17(-8) Zach Bryan, Kacey Musgraves - I Remember Everything 1,374,405 (+47,253)
18(-10) Noah Kahan - Stick Season 1,362,110 (+4,873)
20(-15) Teddy Swims - Lose Control 1,294,632 (-138,214)

Other:
22(-12) Travis Scott, Playboi Carti - FE!N 1,277,540 (+95,023)
24(-13) Beyoncé - TEXAS HOLD EM 1,191,366 (+62,025)
25(-12) Tate McRae - greedy 1,141,125 (+57,283)
26(-14) Jack Harlow - Lovin On Me 1,134,468 (+49,029)
27(-12) Flo Milli - Never Lose Me 1,113,200 (+84,107)
29(-15) Mitski - My Love Mine All Mine 1,031,170 (+1,245)
30(-14) Rich Amiri - ONE CALL 1,002,868 (+56,722)
31(-14) Yeat - Breathe 941,158 (+20,805)
32(-14) Taylor Swift - Cruel Summer 931,462 (+61,551)
34(-14) Xavi - La Diabla 861,215 (+39,897)
35(-14) SZA - Snooze 808,994 (+5,708)
37(-7) YG Marley - Praise Jah in the Moonlight 768,570 (+70,162) (+10%)
39(-6) Drake, Sexyy Red, SZA - Rich Baby Daddy 743,595 (+58,218)
40(-15) 4batz - act ii: date @ 8 739,733 (+2,463)
41(-12) Doja Cat - Agora Hills 736,502 (+36,599)
43(-8) Michael Marcagi - Scared to Start 726,245 (+61,596)
45(-18) JID, 21 Savage, Baby Tate - Surround Sound 713,280 (+2,387)
46(-15) The Weeknd, JENNIE, Lily-Rose Depp - One of the Girls 709,181 (+10,939)
47(-13) Good Neighbors - Home 707,777 (+32,378)
48(-22) Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign - BURN 700,895 (-20,796)
50(-13) Sabrina Carpenter - Feather 663,877 (+26,299)
51(-15) Frank Ocean - Pink + White 649,199 (-3,645)
53(-12) Don Toliver - Bandit 627,568 (+24,427)
55(-12) Ritchy Mitch & The Coal Miners - Evergreen 608,025 (+10,533)
56(-11) Xavi - La Victima 600,357 (+19,059)
58(-16) TV Girl - Lovers Rock 598,020 (-507)
59(-2) Luke Combs - Where the Wild Things Are 597,693 (+64,486) (+12%)
60(-16) Zach Bryan - Heading South 593,774 (+5,091)
66(-7) BigXthaPlug - Mmhmm 584,628 (+49,024)
68(-21) Travis Scott - MY EYES 566,899 (-4,012)
69(-7) Tyla - Water 566,001 (+41,931)
70(-11) Jessie Murph, Jelly Roll - Wild Ones 564,981 (+34,373)
71(-18) Tate McRae - exes 559,195 (+14,134)
74(-20) The Weeknd, Playboi Carti, Madonna - Popular 538,348 (+1,241)
77(+22) Dua Lipa - Houdini 516,679 (+82,607) (+19%)
78(-10) Fuerza Regida - TÚ NAME 515,834 (+17,643)
80(-19) Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign - FUK SUMN 512,192 (-12,590)
81(+95) Dasha - Austin 509,708 (+144,091) (+39%) *NEW PEAK*
82(-16) Billie Eilish - What Was I Made For? 507,585 (+2,217)
83(-27) TV Girl - Not Allowed 505,933 (-28,070)
84(-9) Taylor Swift - Is It Over Now? 505,551 (+24,762)
87(-9) Zach Bryan - Oklahoma Smokeshow 497,151 (+19,555)
88(-11) Muni Long - Made For Me 494,251 (+15,365)
94(-7) Zach Bryan - Sun to Me 483,455 (+36,397)
95(-9) Dua Lipa - Training Season 482,595 (+32,472)
96(-8) Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten 478,977 (+33,613)
98(-19) Bad Bunny, Feid - PERRO NEGRO 476,990 (+3,853)
99(-18) Kali Uchis, Peso Pluma - Igual Que Un Ángel 475,817 (+5,114)

104(+26) GloRilla - Yeah Glo! 451,529 (+51,819) (+13%) *NEW PEAK*
105(-14) 21 Savage, Travis Scott, Metro Boomin - née-nah 450,239 (+7,305)
110(-46) Laufey - Goddess 445,441 (-73,332) (-14%)
113(-29) Arctic Monkeys - I Wanna Be Yours 443,750 (-12,961)
114(+26) 310babii - soak city (do it) 442,871 (+45,998) (+12%)
130(-25) Noah Kahan - Northern Attitude 425,128 (-123)
136(-3) Nicki Minaj - FTCU 415,288 (+17,023)
140(-13) Dylan Gossett - Coal 412,507 (+10,918)
144(-24) The Red Clay Strays - Wondering Why 409,524 (+2,114)
145(+27) Brent Faiyaz - Best Time 408,055 (+41,607) (+11%)
148(+29) Key Glock - Let's Go 405,286 (+40,767) (+11%)
150(+29) Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Murder On the Dancefloor 404,201 (+40,362) (+11%)
153(+11) Lil Yachty - A Cold Sunday 402,803 (+29,142)
154(-22) Dominic Fike - Babydoll 401,448 (+2,946)
158(-55) Noah Kahan - Forever 399,904 (-31,052)
161(-17) Morgan Wallen - Spin You Around (Morgan's Version) 393,939 (+4,147)
166(-17) Drake - You Broke My Heart 390,799 (+6,077)
167(-15) Morgan Wallen, Eric Church - Man Made A Bar 390,703 (+7,876)
172(+1) HARDY - TRUCK BED 386,538 (+20,133)
176(-8) Taylor Swift - Don't Blame Me 383,070 (+14,166)
181(-3) Steve Lacy - Some 377,706 (+13,675)
189(-9) KAROL G, Tiësto - CONTIGO 371,120 (+7,480)
190(-32) Travis Scott, Swae Lee, Chief Keef - Nightcrawler 370,439 (-5,352)
195(re-entry) Ice Spice - Think U the Shit (Fart) 367,158
196(-22) Peso Pluma, Anitta - BELLAKEO 366,171 (-37)
198(-35) Blake Roman, Sam Haft, Andrew Underberg - Poison 365,277 (-8,726)

Total Streams for act ii: date @ 8: 2,165,308 (would be #2 with combined streams)

Biggest Gains (50K+): Brown Eyed Girl, Solo, Yeah Glo!, Austin, Houdini, Where the Wild Things Are, Scared to Start, Rich Baby Daddy, Praise Jah in the Moonlight, Cruel Summer, ONE CALL, Never Lose Me, greedy, TEXAS HOLD EM, FE!N, Saturn, Whatever She Wants, yes and?, Beautiful Things, CARNIVAL

[suburbandreams]

Mar 9, 2024 23:22:35 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

Mar 9, 2024 17:06:25 GMT -5 jenglisbe said:

The number of Spotify users has grown over the past 4 years, yet these day 1 numbers were below her past 2 albums. That is a disappointment, and there's no real way around it. Of course if the album has a good hold the next few days it could end up having an ok debut, but these first day numbers are underwhelming.

I mentioned Taylor in my previous post, because she was in a big decline during her Reputation and especially Lover era, but then folklore happened, changed everything and the rest is history. Ariana took a break from music for 3,5 years (which is 1/3 of her career) and I don't think it's realistic to expect some crazy numbers or new peak streams for her even with the growth of Spotify users...and especially with a weak lead single, which doesn't even sound like it belongs on the album.

Rep and Lover only all notable declines because 1989 was massive and have consecutive 1989 size eras is unsustainable. Rep debuted with 1.2 million sales and Lover 867,000. Both albums actually had good longevity. What makes Taylor Taylor is that she has a strong fanbase so  even eras without successful singles have massive chart performances and good longevity. Her massive eras are when she gets gp on board and not just her fanbase. But her fanbase is massive enough to have stellar chart performances without hits. Her fanbase also gives her a lot more opportunies to course correct compared to other artists .

Ariana and other pop artists are much dependent on having smash singles for chart success. Ariana has a core fanbase but its much smaller than Taylor's so a badly recieved lead single is much damaging so its turns off the gp which are a much larger share of her listernship compared to Taylor.

But yeah hiatus are risking in the streaming age. fans need content to stay engaged . it's possible to have good enough music and narrative to overcome it but it's true that no coincidence that taylor's biggest peak has come in a time where she is release more frequently and is producing constant content with the tour and potential easter eggs.

Lastly , lead singles in general seem to reduce hype for an album even if the song is well recieved (adele- 30, olivia-guts,etc). The lead seems to sate people's anticipation for new music for an artist.

[shayonce]

Apple Music USA Top 100 Daily Chart, March 08 Friday
1. ¥$, Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign & Rich The Kid - CARNIVAL (feat. Playboi Carti)
2. Bryson Tiller - Whatever She Wants
3. Ariana Grande - bye
4. Ariana Grande - eternal sunshine
5. Ariana Grande - the boy is mine
6. Ariana Grande - don't wanna break up again
7. Ariana Grande - we can't be friends (wait for your love)
8. 21 Savage - redrum
9. GloRilla - Yeah Glo!
10. Ariana Grande - intro (end of the world)

11. Benson Boone - Beautiful Things
12. SZA - Snooze
13. Ariana Grande - supernatural
14. Ariana Grande - true story
15. SZA - Saturn
16. Bossman Dlow - Get In With Me
17. Zach Bryan - I Remember Everything (feat. Kacey Musgraves)
18. Ariana Grande - yes, and?
19. Lil Baby - Freestyle
20. Beyoncé - TEXAS HOLD 'EM

21. 4batz & Drake - act ii: date @ 8 (remix)
23. Ariana Grande - Saturn Returns Interlude
27. Ariana Grande - i wish i hated you
29. Ariana Grande - imperfect for you
33. Ariana Grande - ordinary things (feat. Nonna)

[shayonce]

Apple Music USA Top 100 Daily Chart, March 09 Saturday
1. ¥$, Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign & Rich The Kid - CARNIVAL (feat. Playboi Carti)
2 (+5). Ariana Grande - we can't be friends (wait for your love)
3. (+2) Ariana Grande - the boy is mine
4. Ariana Grande - eternal sunshine
5. (-2) Ariana Grande - bye
6. Ariana Grande - don't wanna break up again
7. (-5) Bryson Tiller - Whatever She Wants
8. (+13) 4batz & Drake - act ii: date @ 8 (remix)
9. (+4) Ariana Grande - supernatural
10. (-1) GloRilla - Yeah Glo!

11. (+3) Ariana Grande - true story
12. (-2) Ariana Grande - intro (end of the world)
13. (-1) SZA - Snooze
14. (-3) Benson Boone - Beautiful Things
15. (-7) 21 Savage - redrum
16. (+2) Ariana Grande - yes, and?
17. (-1) Bossman Dlow - Get In With Me
18. (+9) Ariana Grande - i wish i hated you
19. (-2) Zach Bryan - I Remember Everything (feat. Kacey Musgraves)
20. (-5) SZA - Saturn

21. (-2) Lil Baby - Freestyle
22. (+7) Ariana Grande - imperfect for you
23. (-3) Beyoncé - TEXAS HOLD 'EM
25. (-2) Ariana Grande - Saturn Returns Interlude
26. Muni Long - Made For Me
28. Teddy Swims - Lose Control
29. (+4) Ariana Grande - ordinary things (feat. Nonna)

[rideordie]

Good second day hold for Ariana. Y’all counted her out too quickly. I predict she may indeed cross the 200k threshold and the follow up to yes and? increasing on a Saturday bodes well for its potential chart performance.

[whaleblubber]

That music video seems to be helping out We Can't Be Friends a lot.

[velaxti]

I'm quite shocked that We Can't Be Friends increased on its 2nd day. I guess hypothetically it could just start free-falling tommorrow but if not it's possible it could be bigger than yes, and?

I think the only time I can think of where the biggest hit from an Ariana album was a post-album single was Side To Side.

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

Mar 10, 2024 2:08:36 GMT -5 suburbandreams said:

Mar 9, 2024 23:22:35 GMT -5 Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ said:

I mentioned Taylor in my previous post, because she was in a big decline during her Reputation and especially Lover era, but then folklore happened, changed everything and the rest is history. Ariana took a break from music for 3,5 years (which is 1/3 of her career) and I don't think it's realistic to expect some crazy numbers or new peak streams for her even with the growth of Spotify users...and especially with a weak lead single, which doesn't even sound like it belongs on the album.

Rep and Lover only all notable declines because 1989 was massive and have consecutive 1989 size eras is unsustainable. Rep debuted with 1.2 million sales and Lover 867,000. Both albums actually had good longevity. What makes Taylor Taylor is that she has a strong fanbase so  even eras without successful singles have massive chart performances and good longevity. Her massive eras are when she gets gp on board and not just her fanbase. But her fanbase is massive enough to have stellar chart performances without hits. Her fanbase also gives her a lot more opportunies to course correct compared to other artists .

Ariana and other pop artists are much dependent on having smash singles for chart success. Ariana has a core fanbase but its much smaller than Taylor's so a badly recieved lead single is much damaging so its turns off the gp which are a much larger share of her listernship compared to Taylor.

But yeah hiatus are risking in the streaming age. fans need content to stay engaged . it's possible to have good enough music and narrative to overcome it but it's true that no coincidence that taylor's biggest peak has come in a time where she is release more frequently and is producing constant content with the tour and potential easter eggs.

Lastly , lead singles in general seem to reduce hype for an album even if the song is well recieved (adele- 30, olivia-guts,etc). The lead seems to sate people's anticipation for new music for an artist.

for sure, 1989 set the bar really high, but she went from 5 huge hits to rep and lover, Blank Space alone spent more weeks in the top 10 (17) than every top 10 from rep and lover combined (16). Yes, every artist's dream would be to have those 'weaker Taylor numbers', but that decline was pretty noticeable, and I think her single choices during those 2 eras played a big role. Taylor is smart and like you said fans need content to stay engaged and she knows exactly what she is doing, now I wonder what her numbers would've been if Midnights was her first album since Lover and without those TVs.

agree with pretty much everything you said.

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

[sportytheartist]

US iTunes Top 20 Songs | 8:35am EST

---

1 +1 Benson Boone - Beautiful Things
2 -1 Livingston - Shadow
3 = Teddy Swims - Lose Control
4 = Beyoncé - TEXAS HOLD 'EM
5 = Tenacious D - ...Baby One More Time (from Kung Fu Panda 4)
6 +1 Ariana Grande - we can't be friends (wait for your love)
7 +2 Jack Harlow - Lovin On Me
8 = Muni Long - Made For Me
9 +1 Beyoncé - TEXAS HOLD 'EM
10 +3 Miley Cyrus - Flowers
11 +4 Zach Bryan - I Remember Everything (feat. Kacey Musgraves)
12 = New Kids On the Block - Kids
13 +1 Luke Combs - Where the Wild Things Are
14 -8 Koe Wetzel - Damn Near Normal
15 +1 Jelly Roll - Save Me (with Lainey Wilson)
16 +1 Paul Russell - Lil Boo Thang
17 +6 Luke Combs - Fast Car
18 +8 Lainey Wilson - Wildflowers and Wild Horses (Single Version)
19 -8 Brantley Gilbert - Off The Rails
20 -2 Justin Timberlake - Selfish

[jenglisbe]

I know it's been said, but the longevity of "I Remember Everything" is truly remarkable considering the lack of radio support from anywhere really, the lack of performances, etc. Still top 10 over 6 months after release! It's essentially the longest running song in the top 10 ("Lose Control" is technically older but only recently became a hit).

[Ｓｏｕｎｄｃｌ🕤ｃｋ]

eternal sunshine 2nd day:

Spotify WW: 47.4M (-18.51%)
Spotify US: 17.08M (-17.8%)

positions 2nd day:

Spotify WW: 37.8M (-35.60%)
Spotify US: 15.31M (-38.48%)

thank u, next 2nd day:

Spotify WW: 57.2M (-15.3%)
Spotify US: 25.97M (-18.61%)

[Envoirment]

Very good hold for Ariana in the second day!

"we can't be friends (wait for your love)" increased in streams a bit and is now #2 on Spotify and has climbed to #2 on Apple Music. The youtube views are quite big too and it's #5 on iTunes.

I suspect a top 5 debut on the Hot 100, perhaps even top 3?

[Future Captain]

great hold for ariana. fingers crossed that maybe we can't be friends would hold well enough in streaming and get enough sales to take the #1