TOP 40

Let’s start with #2, since #1, “Despacito,” is a phenomenon.

#2 is Shawn Mendes’s “There’s Nothing Holding Me Back,” with 17,750 spins.

The Vevo video launched June 20th has 111,761,095 views and the lyric video from June 21 has 9,217,720 more.

On Spotify, the track has 301,709,142 streams.

ACTIVE ROCK

Foo Fighters’ “Run” is number one.

Royal Blood’s “Lights Out” is number 2.

The Foos’ track has 1,888 spins, Royal Blood’s 1,845.

The Foos’ video, launched 6/1, has 13,128,817 views, the audio-only has 1,069,153 more.

“Lights Out” has 5,978,672 views.

“Run” has 13,078,974 streams on Spotify.

“Lights Out” has 13,763,032 streams on Spotify.

In other words, Active Rock tracks have one-tenth of the impact of Top 40 tracks, in reality, even less.

ADULT ROCK

#1 is The National’s “The System Only Dreams In Total Darkness”

It’s got 620 spins, the official video has 1,707,927 views and it’s got 4,683,667 streams on Spotify.

The track is a gnat on the ass of popular music. It exists, it has fans, but if you’re wondering why all the focus is on Top Forty, now you know.

LATIN

An ignored format by the mainstream.

#1 is “Felices los 4,” by Maluma. It’s got 2,036 spins, more than the Foos.

The official video has 816,772,616 views. Yes, you read that right, nearly a billion! And you’ve probably never even heard of the act. and the video has only been up since April 21st. It’s got 232,464,529 streams on Spotify.

COUNTRY

Billy Currington’s “Do I Make You Wanna” has 8,938 spins.

But the official lyric video launched on November 22 last year, only has 4,419,195 views. Is it that country fans don’t go to YouTube or there’s no official video with images? And there are only 18,172,565 streams on Spotify.

So country is a dominant radio force, eclipsing Active Rock by a factor of five, but you don’t see the same reaction online. Could it be that country fans are passive listeners? They traditionally get with the program last, but if I were Nashville, I’d get my customers to stream, because sales are tanking and you want your piece of that streaming pie.

CHRISTIAN

“Even If” by Mercyme has 2,053 spins. That’s more than the Foos folks. And the YouTube clip, from February 17th, has 13,610,569 views. On Spotify it has 7,116,043 streams. So it appears that Christian fans are still stuck on YouTube, they haven’t converted to streaming yet, but they will. And then…the hit acts might be bigger than rockers.

ADULT CONTEMPORARY

Let’s go with #5, the least-known act in the top ten of the chart, James Arthur, with “Say You Won’t Let Go,” it’s got 2,151 spins, once again more than the more famous Foos, and I’m not picking on them, it’s just that they’re number one on Active Rock.

Word is certainly out on YouTube/Vevo, the track has 440,595,607 views. But it was released on 9/9/16. But hit tracks take longer to rise and AC is a notoriously slow-moving format and…the track is monstrous on Spotify too, with 603,232,734 streams.

MULTIPLE FORMAT HITS

That’s right, there are some acts that penetrate multiple radio formats. Like the ubiquitous Ed Sheeran, and the denigrated Imagine Dragons.

Imagine Dragons’ “Believer” is #3 on Top 40, with 15,194 spins. But they’re #2 on Hot Adult Contemporary, with another 6,800 spins. And they’re #6 on Alternative, with 2,259 more spins. They’re EVERYWHERE!

The Vevo video, released March 7th, has 165,932,871 views. The track has 347,369,019 streams on Spotify.

Is this a result of multi-format penetration?

Possibly.

But isn’t it interesting that the track is a radio smash five months after online release.

URBAN & RHYTHMIC

I combine them because DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts” is number one on both. With 5,338 spins on Urban and 7,339 spins on Rhythmic. It’s got 263,216,449 views and 231,231,790 streams. And you wonder why your Spotify check is a pittance when you don’t even break seven figures?

ALTERNATIVE

Let’s go with #2, Weezer, since they’re much more famous than #1, Portugal. The Man. Weezer’s “Feels Like Summer” has 2,652 spins, making it bigger than both #1&2 on Active Rock. (Portugal. The Man’s “Feel It Still” has 3,167 spins!)

Well, I guess I’m detailing both records now…

Weezer’s track has 1,972,569 views since the video was released on March 15th, and 11,230,849 streams. It appears their fans would rather listen than watch.

As for “Feel It Still,” it’s got 12,886,531 views since March 6th and 55,113,156 streams on Spotify. Once again, notice that Spotify eclipses YouTube, meaning that the decriers of the video service are as lost as the mainstream media! The mainstream media keeps writing about these old rock acts, like the Foo Fighters and Weezer, when the truth is they’re minor players in today’s sphere, they might as well write about Loggins & Messina, and IFPI and the RIAA are focusing energy on the wrong target, maybe, just maybe, YouTube is a video service more akin to MTV and for repeated listening you go to Spotify…

MORE TOP FORTY

For perspective, let’s focus on the last track on the Top Forty chart, Cheat Codes’ “No Promises,” it’s #15, it just entered the chart.

Now the video was released back on May 16th. But it’s got 48,536,381 views. But it’s got 203,149,877 streams. Turns out Top Forty lives on streaming! The data tells us this, YouTube has been eclipsed!

And radio shows its retardation by playing a track that’s already been proven a hit on Spotify long before. This is a giant problem in our business. By waiting so long to go on tracks and sticking with them radio is clogging the arteries, and signing its own death warrant. Who in hell is gonna tune in to hear that which was a hit months before? NOBODY! Radio is almost like reruns.

REDBONE

By Childish Gambino.

It’s #14 with increased spins on Top 40, with 6,517, and #4 on Rhythmic with 4,199. But the video was released on November 17,2016, it’s got 108,918,575 views, why did it take radio so long to wake up, it’s the same track it was upon release!

As for streams, it’s got 249,96,786, and it’s still got legs.

CONCLUSION

Hit tracks last a long time.

Radio comes last, all the action, all the movement is on streaming services, where the young people are.

Rock acts get a disproportionate share of press, maybe since writers at news outlets are middle-aged white men. But there’s little happening in that sphere. Sure, some of these acts are selling tickets, but so are classic acts who haven’t had a hit in decades.

But many formats are doing business. So, music is healthy.

But all the action is online, and it’s on music-only services, as opposed to YouTube.

Used to be you weren’t a star until you heard your song on the radio.

Now you’re not a star until you see your track in the Spotify Top 50.

Don’t argue with the data.