Meanwhile, Carrie Underwood’s latest single enters at #40 and Röyksopp & Robyn continue to make history with “Do It Again”.
Sorry that the Chart Highlights took a temporary several week break. They will continue to be published regularly on Friday nights every week. I won’t be going back to add the Chart Highlights that are currently missing, however, I have added all official Hot 50 charts from the time period, as they too were missing.
The Hot 50 chart is counts points from Saturday to Friday and is formulated using the following:
- Official US Radio plays that I listen to count as 1 point each. Referred to as the Radio Songs Chart.
- Plays through my iTunes or Spotify (mainly the former) libraries count as 2 points each. If the track is not available to purchase at a given moment, plays of the track’s official audio on Youtube or Soundcloud also count for 2 points each. Referred to as the Streaming Songs Chart.
- The release of a track’s official music video sees the song in question receive a one time bonus of 5 points if I watch the video within its first two weeks of release. If a song first charts over two weeks after the video’s release, it is eligible to get the five point bonus within its first two weeks of charting. There is no component chart for this category given that it awards a one time bonus.
- The top 10 most voted for songs on the “Vote For Your Favorites of the Week” chart receive points. #1 gets 10 points, #2 gets 9 and so on and so forth. If voting reaches a certain threshold during any given week, the 2x multiplier will be unlocked. If the 2x multiplier is unlocked, #1 gets 20 points (instead of 10), #2 gets 19 points (instead of 9) so on and so forth. #11 gets 10 points (instead of none), and #20 gets 1 point (instead of none). Referred to as the Social Songs 100 Chart.
For those of you that are not aware of how the point system works:
The #1 song each week receives 50 base points and a weekly bonus. #2 receives 49 points and a bonus and so on and so forth. #50 receives 1 point and a bonus. The bonus is determined by how many weeks a track is listed on the Hot 50. In week #1, any given track will receive .01 extra points, regardless of position. In week #2, they’ll receive .02 and so on and so forth until they end their chart run.
As I do every weekend, let’s dive deeper into the numbers and how things played out on this week’s Hot 50 chart.
“Bang Bang”, Jessie J’s collaboration with Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj, continues to hold at No. 1 on the CDS Music Chart Hot 50. With this week, it tallies a 5th consecutive week atop the tally and notches a 10th week in the top 10. That stay marks the longest for a Jessie J or Ariana Grande track. Ariana Grande’s max amount of weeks in the top 10 was previously just 2 weeks, with both “The Way” and “Problem” reaching that level. Jessie J’s previous max amount was 9 weeks, which she achieved with the No. 3 peaking “LaserLight (feat. David Guetta)” back in mid 2012. The Nicki Minaj track with the most weeks in the top 10 is still the No. 1 peaking “Turn Me On (w/ David Guetta)”, which amassed an incredible 14 weeks in the top 10 at the top of 2012. Despite dipping 1-13 on the fan voted Social Songs 100, “Bang Bang” still holds the top slot by a wide margin thanks to a push on Streaming Songs and a massive increase on the Radio Songs chart. The track also dominates the Pop Songs list for a 5th week. Although it was in no danger of falling to No. 2 this week (winning the race by a significant amount), this week could mark the end of the run at No. 1 for “Bang Bang”. Why? Keep reading to find out.
Fall Out Boy’s “Centuries” continues to gain steam at its No. 2 highpoint, spending a 3rd consecutive week in the position. The track tops Alternative Songs for a 4th week, and keeps at No. 1 on Adult Songs and Adult Pop Songs each for a 3rd week. For the second straight week, “Centuries” picks up no additional points from the Social Songs 100 and continues to fall (14-25). While I don’t want to be overly pessimistic, “Centuries” is currently unlikely to top the Hot 50. However, all tracks that have spent at least 8 weeks at No. 2 have surprisingly wound up at No. 1 since the chart’s inception. Calvin Harris’ “Sweet Nothing” tallied 8 weeks in the runner-up slot before commanding the list for a block of 2 weeks, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’ “Can’t Hold Us” managed 9 weeks in the second highest slot before continuing onto to No.1 (which it held for 3 weeks), and OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars” notched 10 weeks at No. 2 before leading for 2 weeks. All tracks that spent more than one week at No. 2 but less than 8 weeks wound up peaking in the runner-up slot.
What do you think will happen with “Centuries”? You can influence what happens by voting it as your favorite track of the week here.
Speaking of history, Röyksopp & Robyn’s electro-dance number “Do It Again” continues to dominate the top 5 region by holding at No. 3 for a 6th consecutive week. Does that sound like a long amount of time at the same spot? It does to me. As most of you know, I regularly keep you informed about which track has spent the most weeks at No. 1 (Lady Gaga’s “Applause” with 11 weeks) and the most at No. 2 (Kiesza’s “Hideaway” and OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars” each have racked 10 weeks), but what about the somewhat mysterious No. 3 position? For those of you who don’t know (including myself, the creator of this chart), Kelly Clarkson’s “People Like Us” used to hold the record with 3 weeks at No. 3. So, while I didn’t notice it before, “Do It Again” is actually the record holder, doubling the amount of time that the previous record holder spent in the No. 3 position.
It dominates Electronic Songs and Dance Songs each for a 3rd week, and holds 2-2 on Adult Songs and Adult Pop Songs, though it sputters on the Social Songs 100 (No. 93). With an already impressive track record and continued success, Röyksopp & Robyn should easily wind up among the 10 biggest Hot 50 performers of the year.
If you had asked me exactly a year ago if I thought Lorde would ever score multiple top 5 singles (including a No. 1 peaking hit), I’d answer with a simple “No”. Around 52 weeks ago, Lorde’s breakthrough single “Royals” was in the CDS Music Chart Hot 50’s top 10 on its way to a dismal climax of No. 8 — a track that should have ultimately peaked higher, but was cut short thanks to an over-saturation of the song at US Radio. I believed that Lorde’s massive success would carry over to her other releases and cause me to get sick of them as well. Sadly for Lorde and luckily for me, her next release (“Team”) didn’t pan out nearly as well and so over-saturation never became a problem.
Long story short, “Team” reached the summit of the CDS Music Chart Hot 50 , topping for 3 consecutive weeks and capped with a Platinum certification (at least 1000 lifetime points; see above for how points work). Now, just 5 months later, Lorde has scored another hit that could be on its way to No. 1.
Lifted from The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 soundtrack (which she arranged and compiled), Lorde’s “Yellow Flicker Beat”, written in the same vein as “Team” (but mixed with some depressing lyrics) blasts onto the Hot 50 at No. 4. As a result, it becomes her highest debut on the chart and only track to start in the top 20.
What makes it start so high?
Voters as a whole ranked it the 2nd best song of the week (No. 2), behind just Carrie Underwood’s “Something In the Water” (which opened moderately on the Hot 50 thanks to positive fan reception; more on that at the end of this post). It also opens at No. 2 on Streaming Songs (behind just “Centuries”), but a slightly underwhelming start on Radio Songs (No. 28; this isn’t the US Airplay chart, rather a filtered version of it featuring just the songs I listen to) prevents it starting at the top of the CDS Music Chart Hot 50.
As determined by rank on the Hot 50, the track opens solidly at No. 2 on Alternative Songs, No. 3 on Adult Songs and Adult Pop Songs, and No. 4 on Pop Songs. This track could ultimately end the reign of “Bang Bang” atop the chart, as evident by its fantastic start. I’m predicting a solid upward movement in week 2, with a No. 1 finish on the Hot 50 being possible. Come back next week for more news on “Yellow Flicker Beat”.
CDS Music Chart 