Posts by Paul Grein
Chart Watch: “#Selfie” Is A #Smash
Paul Grein at Yahoo Music2 days ago
The Chainsmokers's "#Selfie" leaps from #28 to #18 in its third week on the Hot 100. Digital sales rank: #6 (111K). The novelty song about the "selfie" explosion is the latest in a long string of singles that were quick to comment on a cultural phenomenon. Others include Ray Stevens's "The Streak" (#1 in 1974), about that year's streaking craze; C.W. McCall's "Convoy" (#1 in 1976), about the booming citizens band (CB) radio phenomenon; Buckner & Garcia's "Pac-Man Fever" (#9 in 1982), about the videogame explosion; and "Valley Girl" by Frank Zappa featuring an uncredited Moon Unit Zappa (#32 in 1982), about suburban teens' "Valley-speak."
Other novelty songs that have mirrored the times include Brian Hyland's "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini" (#1 in 1960), about the skimpy beach attire that was becoming acceptable, and Larry Groce's "Junk Food Junkie" (#9 in 1976), a reaction to the growing popularity of health food.
Chart Watch: Who Is Soko And Why Is She #9?
Paul Grein at Yahoo Music3 days ago
The fastest-breaking song on this week's Hot 100 has received little radio airplay. It sold just 10K digital copies this past week, which places it at #157 on Hot Digital Songs. So why does Soko's "We Might Be Dead By Tomorrow" enter the Hot 100 at #9? The song is the background music to a phenomenally popular YouTube video, "First Kiss," which shows 10 pairs of strangers kissing. The video has racked up nearly 64 million views.
I would guess that few people watching the video pay much attention to the song. The focus is very much on the visuals; on the honest human reactions to an unusual situation. (The meager sales number for the song supports the idea that the song is not a primary draw. Nonetheless, the song benefits.)
Billboard reports that 96% of the song's Hot 100 points come from streaming. But for the past year, streaming has been part of the Hot 100 mix, alongside sales and airplay.
Soko's #9 debut is the highest for an act who was making his/her/its first chart appearance since Baauer's "Harlem Shake," which debuted at #1 in February 2013 and remained on top for five weeks.
Chart Watch: “Frozen” In Place At #1
Paul Grein at Yahoo Music3 days agoThe "Frozen" soundtrack returns to #1 on The Billboard 200. This is its sixth week on top. That's the longest that any soundtrack has held the top spot since "Titanic" stayed on top for 16 weeks in 1998. Both of these soundtracks spawned Oscar-winners for Original Song. The release of the "Frozen" DVD this week will almost certainly keep the soundtrack at #1 for a seventh week next week.
This is the album's 12th consecutive week in the top five. "Frozen" is the first soundtrack from a theatrically-released movie to spend 12 or more weeks in the top five since "City Of Angels" had a 16-week run from April to August 1998. (Just before that, "Titanic" spent 18 weeks in the top five from January to May 1998.)
Also this week, "Frozen" becomes the first album to sell 1 million copies in 2014. This is the third time in the Nielsen SoundScan era that the first album to sell 1 million copies in calendar year was a soundtrack. "Waiting To Exhale" was the first album to sell 1 million copies in 1996. "Titanic" was the first album to sell 1 million copies in 1998.
Chart Watch: The Return Of Coldplay
Paul Grein at Yahoo Music9 days ago
Coldplay's "Magic" is this week's top new entry on the Hot 100 at #24. It's the first single from the band's sixth studio album, "Ghost Stories," which is due May 19. Coldplay has had five top 20 singles (fewer, I would imagine, than you thought). Three of them were from the band's 2011 album, "Mylo Xyloto." But none of those three singles—"Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall," "Paradise" or "Princess Of China" (featuring Rihanna)—cracked the top 10. By contrast, one single from each of the band's two previous studio albums made the top 10. "Speed Of Sound," from "X&Y," reached #8. "Viva La Vida," from "Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends," hit #1.
An act would probably rather have one megahit like "Viva La Vida" than three good-sized hits like the three hits from "Mylo Xyloto." In which category will "Magic" end up? Place your bets.
"Magic" is already in the top 10 on Hot Digital Songs. Digital sales rank: #7 (114K).
Chart Watch: Thanks Oscar. Love, Idina
Paul Grein at Yahoo Music10 days agoIdina Menzel's"Let It Go" jumps from #17 to #9 in the wake of winning an Oscar for Original Song. The song appeared to be peaking at #18 prior to its Oscar win. "Let It Go" is just the second song in Oscar history that cracked the top 10 for the first time only after winning an Oscar. The first was "The Morning After" from the disaster movie "The Poseidon Adventure." The ballad hadn't even "bubbled under" the Hot 100 at the time it won the Oscar on March 27, 1973. But the award turned it into a smash. Maureen McGovern's recording reached #1 on August 4.
Pharrell Williams's "Happy," which was also nominated for Original Song, tops the Hot 100 for the third straight week. This marks the first time that recordings of two Original Song finalists appeared in the top 10 at the same time since February and March 1998, when Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On" (from "Titanic") and LeAnn Rimes's "How Do I Live" (from "Con Air") were in the top 10 together for three straight weeks.
Chart Watch: Will Pharrell Be “Happy” With 112K?
Paul Grein at Yahoo Music10 days agoPharrell Williams turned this year's Academy Awards into the world's biggest album-release party. His first solo album in nearly eight years, "G I R L," was released the day after the Oscars, where he performed his feel-good smash "Happy" as a big production number. So wouldn't you expect "G I R L" to sell more than 112K copies in its first week?
It's a given that most albums don't sell like they used to. But some still do, as such varied stars as Luke Bryan, Eminem and Beyonce have proved in recent months. If anybody could defy downward sales trends you would think it would be Pharrell. He was featured on two of last year's biggest hits, Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" and Daft Punk's "Get Lucky." His own smash "Happy" is second only to "Dark Horse" by Katy Perry featuring Juicy J as this year's best-selling hit. (It will pull ahead next week).
Chart Watch: The Perfectly Timed “Selfie”
Paul Grein at Yahoo Music16 days agoThe Chainsmokers' "#Selfie" is the top new entry on this week's Hot 100 at #55. The song debuts just days after Oscar host Ellen DeGeneres engineered the most star-studded selfie of all time on the Academy Awards. The Chainsmokers are a New York City-based DJ/producer duo consisting of Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall.
"#Selfie" sold 53K digital copies this week, which represents a 114% increase over last week's total of 25K. The song’s official video has scored more than 4 million YouTube views.
Hits Magazine describes the track as "a send-up of self-obsessed club kids that’s reminiscent of Frank and Moon Zappa’s ’80s hit 'Valley Girl.'" That song reached #32 in September 1982.
For sheer speediness in getting on top of a cresting cultural phenomenon, "#Selfie" rivals Ray Stevens' 1974 hit "The Streak," which was climbing to #1 as that fad was spreading across the country. (You may recall that that phenomenon also made it to that year's Oscar telecast, as a streaker interrupted the proceedings.)
Chart Watch: Pharrell “Happy” Despite Oscar Loss
Paul Grein at Yahoo Music16 days ago
Pharrell Williams's "Happy" tops the Hot 100 for the second straight week. The song sold 413K copies, up from 402K last week. It's the first song to sell at least 400K copies two weeks running since Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines" (which featured Williams, along with T.I.). That smash topped 400K for three consecutive weeks (and four weeks overall) last summer.
Remarkably, sales for "Happy" have increased every single week since the week ending Dec. 8. That's 12 consecutive week-over-week sales increases. Will it top itself again next week—which will be the first full week following Pharrell's terrific Oscar night performance? Place your bets.
"Happy" tops the 2 million mark in U.S. sales this week. The song also reaches #1 on Radio Songs (which measures only radio airplay) in its sixth week on that chart. Only two other songs since January 2010 have shot to #1 on that chart in just six weeks: Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and "The Monster" by Eminem featuring Rihanna.
"Happy" logs its fourth week at #1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs.
Chart Watch: ScHoolboy Q Bumps “Frozen”
Paul Grein at Yahoo Music17 days agoScHoolboy Q makes hitting #1 look as easy as learning your ABCs. The Los Angeles rapper enters The Billboard 200 in the top spot with hisfirst major-label album, "Oxymoron." ScHoolboy Q is the first hip-hopper to break through to his first #1 album since Wale scored in June with "The Gifted." J. Cole, Jay Z, Drake and Eminem have all hit #1 since then, but they had all topped the chart previously. ScHoolboy Q had two previous albums, but neither rose above #100.
ScHoolboy Q has been featured on several hit albums, including A$AP Rocky's "Long.Live.A$AP," which hit #1 in January 2013, and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's "The Heist," which reached #2 in October 2012. (He was featured on that album's fourth hit, "White Walls," which reached #15 on the Hot 100.)
"Oxymoron" sold 139K copies in its first week. That includes 92K digital copies, which also puts it at #1 on Top Digital Albums.
