midnights
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There might not be a clean sweep in the MLB World Series this week — not after the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros split the first two games of their best-of-seven matchup over the weekend — but there is one in the Billboard Hot 100‘s top 10. For the first time in the chart’s 64-plus-year history, all 10 spots in the chart’s highest tier belong to just one lead artist: Taylor Swift, who occupies the whole region with tracks from her new album, the Oct. 21-released Midnights.
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The records for most simultaneous top 10 hits and most top 10 hits off the same album had been set originally by such artists as The Beatles (all of the top five at once in 1964) and Michael Jackson (seven top 10 hits from Thriller from 1982-84). But both marks were broken last year by one of Swift’s primary rivals for 21st-century chart dominance: Drake commanded nine of the top 10 spots on the Hot 100 dated Sept. 18, 2021, with the release of his much-anticipated Certified Lover Boy album. Just a little over a year later, the two records now turn over to Swift — and this time, they can only ever be tied, never bettered.
The achievements are just two of many notched by Swift this week, as she also moved a staggering 1.578 million equivalent album units of Midnights, according to Luminate — the largest first-week number of her career, and second only to Adele’s 25 (3.38 million in 2015) for any artist in the streaming era, since the Billboard 200 switched from a pure sales to equivalent-album model in December 2014. That also includes 575,000 in vinyl sales, a number that triples the previous weekly record (set earlier this year by Harry Styles’ Harry’s House with 182,000).
How was Swift able to crash the charts in such historic fashion this week, 16 years into her professional career? Let’s examine some of the factors below.
1. The culmination of a quarter-decade’s good will and smart decisions. At the turn of the decade, Taylor Swift’s stats were still mighty, but trending in the wrong direction: reputation‘s first-week number of 1.238 million in 2017 represented a slight dip from the 1.287 million units moved by 1989 in its first week in 2014, while 2019’s Lover became her first album since 2008 sophomore set Fearless to miss the million mark, moving 867,000 units. (It was also her first album since 2010’s Speak Now not to generate a Hot 100 No. 1, with lead singles “ME!” and “You Need to Calm Down” both peaking at No. 2.) The sets drew mostly positive reviews, but neither was received as rapturously as 1989 or 2012’s Red.
Swift’s first release of the new decade, 2020’s surprise-announced indie-folk swerve Folklore, didn’t totally reverse these trends — its first-week number of 846,000 was slightly lower than Lover‘s — but it did alter her overall momentum, drawing her strongest reviews and fan response since 1989 (as well as her first album of the year Grammy win since that set). Evermore, released later that year as something of a complement to Folklore, drew much smaller numbers of 329,000 but also positive reviews and another AOTY nod — and the twin LPs proved enduring, topping the Billboard 200 albums chart for a combined 12 weeks, where Lover reigned for just its debut week. (Both also produced Hot 100 No. 1s, in “Cardigan” and “Willow,” respectively.)
Then in 2021, Swift further gratified fans with the first two releases from her long-promised Taylor’s Version series, re-recording her first six studio albums in order to claim full ownership over them. While the project initially seemed to have limited commercial potential, Swift turned the releases into nostalgia bombs, not only fascinating fans with the re-recorded soundalikes of tracks from Fearless and Red, but also revisiting previously unearthed rarities and gems; most notably, her 10-minute version of fan favorite deep cut “All Too Well” not only became one of 2021’s most critically celebrated releases but even debuted atop the Hot 100. Consequently, the albums became mini-blockbusters all over again: Red (Taylor’s Version) debuted with 605,000 first-week units, better than the first week of any original album in 2021 outside of Certified Lover Boy and Adele’s 30.
And all of this 2020s success (Swift was even picked by the Billboard editorial staff as the Greatest Pop Star of 2021) had come without her releasing a proper new album in the mainstream pop mode fans had long expected from her. So when that finally did come this month, in the form of the Midnights album — harkening back to the alt-leaning synth-pop sound cultivated by Swift (and regular collaborators like writer/producer Jack Antonoff) from 1989 to Lover — it exploded with the anticipation built up over two and a half years’ worth of well-received detours, almost as if this was her first official LP release of the decade.
2. The perfect balance of surprise and hype. Swift’s last decade has been a fascinating case study in the benefits and drawbacks of the traditional extended rollout versus the newer-model sneak-release. Part of the reason that 2020’s Folklore announcement came as such a shock to the industry was that Swift had previously been such a staunch supporter of the months-long lead-up to an album, with a traditional lead single and music video, a blitz of public appearances and award show performances, and enough headlines to ensure everyone in the world knew she had a new album imminent. But when that approach backfired somewhat with the lukewarmly received lead single to Lover (the bombastic, Brendon Urie-featuring “ME!”) and the old-school media onslaught making her look slightly out of touch with the pace of pop in the streaming age, it was pretty clear something had to change.
But rather than keep with the Folklore and Evermore approach of only announcing her new albums the week of release, Swift split the difference with her Midnights drop. She announced the album months in advance, at August’s MTV Video Music Awards — where, incidentally, she also picked up three awards (including video of the year) for her “All Too Well (The Short Film)” — but never released an advance single for it. Instead, she unveiled other elements from the album: themes, images, song titles, treating each morsel of new information like a piece of the puzzle that would eventually be revealed in full with the LP’s release. And once the album did drop, she kept one more major surprise in reserve: the album’s 3am Edition, a pack of seven extra songs to further delight ravenous fans (and boost streaming totals).
The end result was a masterful balancing act between the strategies of Old Taylor and New Taylor, hyping the album with enough advance notice to get the music world raring for its release — and to properly prep the kind of physical volume of vinyl and CDs necessary to produce these kinds of blockbuster sales numbers — while also keeping enough secrets about it hidden to maintain the mystery, and not overwhelming prospective listeners before they even got a chance to hit play.
3. The unavoidable first single. Though she may be a singer-songwriter at heart, Taylor Swift is also a savvy enough pop star to know that no matter how much critical acclaim you amass, no matter how coherent your albums are as full-length statements, and no matter how much general good will you can claim as an artist — if you wanna stay a true pop star, every once in a while you gotta give the people an undeniably killer pop single. (Just ask Beyoncé.)
Swift didn’t lead Midnights with an advance single this time out, but it was still very clear within the first day of the album’s release what the first hit from it was going to be. “Anti-Hero” not only came with its own ambitious music video, Thursday Night Football promo and TikTok-geared #TSAntiHeroChallenge, but with a wallop of a chorus whose meme potential was unmistakable from first listen: “It’s me, hi/ I’m the problem, it’s me.” “Anti-Hero” was immediately and equally embraced by the internet and by pop radio — becoming ubiquitous in references on Twitter and Instagram and debuting at No. 13 on Billboard‘s Radio Songs tally this week, her highest-ever entrance on the chart.
It’s no surprise that “Anti-Hero” is the top debut from Midnights on the Hot 100 this week, but it also played a part in the rest of Swift’s chart dominance by doing the things that huge lead singles are supposed to do: Worming its way into all facets of pop culture, getting irremovably stuck in your head, and making sure that even your great aunts and uncles know that Taylor Swift Is Back.
4. The era advantages. As we did with Drake’s 2021 takeover, it’s important to point out that while Swift’s chart impact this week is jaw-dropping, it doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s actually more popular than The Beatles or Michael Jackson were at their peaks. Rather, she has advantages built-in to competing on the charts in 2022 that those pop icons simply didn’t at their respective commercial peaks, back when songs needed to be specifically released and promoted as singles to even be eligible for the Hot 100. Those rules were eliminated in 1998, but it wasn’t until the rise of iTunes the next decade — and even more so, the beginning of streaming in the 2010s — that an album’s tracks could be consumed individually enough for it to potentially chart every song at once in its first week.
And what’s more, as popular music continues to get more and more diffuse, megastars like Swift and Drake have a greater opportunity every year to monopolize the top tier of charts like the Hot 100. The primary competition for the 13 tracks on Midnights this week came via Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” and Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit,” two viral tracks from artists with little recent Hot 100 success — only Smith has any real history there, and they hadn’t scored higher than No. 39 with a single this decade — and whose peaks at radio, streaming and sales are unlikely to totally overlap. As the annual volume of four-quadrant smashes produced in pop keeps dwindling, it only gets easier for an artist of Swift’s size and reach to just come in and immediately command the whole room.
5. The last-second push. Of course, it also never hurts to give a couple of your tracks a little bit of an extra boost, as Swift did on Thursday (Oct. 27) — the last day of the tracking week — by making the original and instrumental versions of “Bejeweled” and “Question…?” available on her webstore for 69 cents. The move helped the two songs become two of the set’s best-sellers for the week (“Question…?” leads this week’s entire Digital Song Sales chart), and further helped ensure the top 10 Hot 100 placement for both songs, which rank at No. 6 and No. 7 this week, respectively — though indeed, streams for Swift’s songs in the Hot 100’s top 10 ended up being strong enough that all 10 tracks would’ve ranked in the region even without any chart points from sales or radio airplay.
Taylor Swift‘s followed up the excitement of her Midnights release by dropping the instrumental version of “Question…?”
According to initial reports to Luminate, the album has earned more than 1.4 million equivalent album units in the U.S. through its first five days of release (through Oct. 25).
If you need a guide to follow along with Taylor Swift’s “Question…?” find the lyrics below:
(I remember)
Good girl, sad boy, big city, wrong choicesWe had one thing going onI swear that it was something ’cause I don’t remember who I wasBefore you painted all my nights a color I’ve searched for since
But one thing after another f—ing situationCircumstances, miscommunicationsAnd I have to say, by the wayI just may like some explanations
Can I ask you a question?Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?And every single one of your friends was making fun of youBut fifteen seconds later they were clapping, too?Then, what did you do?
Did you leave her house in the middle of the night? (Oh)Did you wish you’d put up more of a fight? (Oh)When she said it was too muchDo you wish you could still touch her?It’s just a question
Half-moon eyes, bad surprise, did you realize?Out of time, she was on your mindWith some di–head guy that you saw that nightBut you were on something
It was one drink after another, f—ing politics and gender-rolesAnd you’re not sure and I don’t know got swept away in the grayI just may like to have a conversation
Can I ask you a question?Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room?And every single one of your friends was making fun of youBut fifteen seconds later they were clapping, too?Then, what did you do?
Did you leave her house in the middle of the night? (Oh)Did you wish you’d put up more of a fight? (Oh)When she said it was too muchDo you wish you could still touch her?It’s just a question
Does it feel like everything’s just like second-best after that meteor strike?And what’s that, that I heard, that you’re still with her?That’s nice, I’m sure that’s what’s suitableAnd right, but tonight
Can I ask you a question? (Can I ask you a question?)Did you ever have someone kiss you in a crowded room? (In a crowded room)And every single one of your friends was making fun of you? (Making fun of you)But fifteen seconds later they were clapping, too?Then what did you do? (Do)
Did you leave her house in the middle of the night? (Oh)Did you wish you’d put up more of a fight? (Oh, more of a fight)When she said it was too muchDo you wish you could still touch her?It’s just a question
Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff
Taylor Swift called on her friends Haim, Laura Dern, Jack Antonoff and Dita Von Teese for her dazzling Cinderella-inspired music video for “Bejeweled,” featured on her 10th studio album, Midnights.
“Midnight, what a storied and fabled hour… On this sparkling evening I’ll be releasing my twist on a fairytale we all know. The one about the girl and her step sisters and the clock striking 12…” she captioned her announcement of the video, featuring a photo of herself as the fairytale princess, sitting in a dark room wearing a worn down dress while sewing a glittery, midnight blue gown. “This video is wild, whimsical and created SPECIFICALLY for you, my beloved fans who have paved this shimmering path.”
If you need a guide to follow along with Taylor Swift’s “Bejeweled,” find the lyrics below:Baby love, I think I’ve been a little too kindDidn’t notice you walking all over my peace of mindIn the shoes I gave you as a presentPuttin’ someone first only works when you’re in their top fiveAnd by the way, I’m going out tonight
Best believe I’m still bejeweled when I walk in the roomI can still make the whole place shimmerAnd when I meet the band, they ask, “Do you have a man?”I can still say, “I don’t remember”Familiarity breeds contempt, don’t put me in the basementWhen I want the penthouse of your heartDiamonds in my eyes, I polish up real, I polish up real nice (nice)
Baby boy, I think I’ve been too good of a girl (too good of a girl)Did all the extra credit, then got graded on a curveI think it’s time to teach some lessonsI made you my world, have you heard?I can reclaim the landAnd I miss you (I miss you), but I miss sparkling (ah, hey)
Best believe I’m still bejeweled when I walk in the roomI can still make the whole place shimmerAnd when I meet the band, they ask, “Do you have a man?”I can still say, “I don’t remember”Familiarity breeds contempt, don’t put me in the basementWhen I want the penthouse of your heartDiamonds in my eyes, I polish up real, I polish up real nice (nice)
Sapphire tears on my face, sadness became my whole skyBut some guy said my aura’s moonstone just ’cause he was highI went dancin’ all night and you can try to change my mindBut you might have to wait in lineWhat’s a girl gonna do? A diamond’s gotta shine
Best believe I’m still bejeweled when I walk in the roomI can still make the whole place shimmer (shimmer)And when I meet the band, they ask, “Do you have a man?”I can still say, “I don’t remember”Familiarity breeds contempt, don’t put me in the basementWhen I want the penthouse of your heartDiamonds in my eyes, I polish up real (nice), I polish up real nice
I went dancin’ all night and you can try to change my mindBut you might have to wait in lineWhat’s a girl gonna do? What’s a girl gonna do? I polish up niceBest believe I’m still bejeweled when I walk in the roomI can still make the whole place shimmer
Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff
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Taylor Swift took fans deep into her mind with the release of “Anti-Hero,” off her freshly dropped 10th studio album, Midnights.
Swift previously called the track “one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written,” as she’s never “delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before.”
“I struggle a lot with the idea that my life has become unmanageably sized,” she continued. “Not to sound too dark, but I just struggle with the idea of not feeling like a person — don’t feel bad for me, you don’t need to. But this song really is a real guided tour through all the things I tend to hate about myself; we all hate things about ourselves.”
If you need a guide to follow along with Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero,” find the lyrics below:
I have this thing where I get older but just never wiserMidnights become my afternoonsWhen my depression works the graveyard shiftAll of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room
I should not be left to my own devicesThey come with prices and vicesI end up in crisis (I’ve realized all this time)I wake up screaming from dreamingOne day I’ll watch as you’re leaving‘Cause you got tired of my schemingFor the last time
It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s meAt tea time, everybody agreesI’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirrorIt must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero
Sometimes I feel like everybody is a sexy babyAnd I’m a monster on the hillToo big to hang out, slowly lurching toward your favorite cityPierced through the heart, but never killed
Did you hear my covert narcissism I disguise as altruismLike some kind of congressman? (I’ve realized all this time)I wake up screaming from dreamingOne day I’ll watch as you’re leavingAnd life will lose all of its meaningFor the last time
It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me (I’m the problem, it’s me)At tea time, everybody agreesI’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirrorIt must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero
I have this dream my daughter in-law kills me for the moneyShe thinks I left them in the willThe family gathers around and reads it and someone screams out“She’s laughing up at us from hell”
It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s meIt’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s meIt’s me, hi, everybody agrees, everybody agrees
It’s me, hi (hi), I’m the problem, it’s me (I’m the problem, it’s me)At tea (tea) time (time), everybody agrees (everybody agrees)I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirrorIt must be exhausting, always rooting for the anti-hero
Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff
[embedded content]
It’s been nearly a week since Taylor Swift dropped her 10th studio album Midnights, but she’s hardly done rolling out treats for fans.
The star unveiled two instrumental tracks on Thursday (Oct. 27) for “Question…?” and “Bejeweled,” which are both available to order as digital singles on Swift’s website.
The instrumentals come on the heels of Swift’s freshly released music video for “Bejeweled,” which features cameos from Haim, Laura Dern and Jack Antonoff as the star-studded crew puts their own twist on Cinderella.
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“Midnight, what a storied and fabled hour… On this sparkling evening I’ll be releasing my twist on a fairytale we all know. The one about the girl and her step sisters and the clock striking 12…” Swift captioned her announcement of the clip, alongside a photo of herself as Cinderella, sitting in a dark room wearing a worn down dress while sewing a glittery, midnight blue gown. “This video is wild, whimsical and created SPECIFICALLY for you, my beloved fans who have paved this shimmering path.”
Since releasing Midnights, Swift also dropped a 3am Edition of the album featuring seven additional tracks, as well as the music video for “Anti-Hero.” According to initial reports to Luminate, the album has earned more than 1.4 million equivalent album units in the U.S. through its first five days of release (through Oct. 25).
Midnights has the largest week for any album since Adele’s 25 debuted with 3.482 million in its first week (chart dated Dec. 12, 2015). And Midnights‘ traditional album sales total of 1.05 million continues to be the biggest sales week for a set since Swift’s own reputation album debuted with 1.216 million copies sold (chart dated Dec. 2, 2017).
Swifties now have a whole new way to take part in the Midnights fun.
Snapchat teamed up with Taylor Swift and virtual communications company BLNK to create three custom augmented reality Lenses, which transports users to the gates of Big Ben in London or Grand Central Terminal in New York City to unlock a hidden Midnights experience all to the tune of “Anti-Hero.”
The augmented reality experience will transform each clock face into Swift’s Midnights clock. Hands on each of the clocks will spin until they stop at midnight, and the entire structure will transform into a larger than life vinyl player, complete with gears, turntables, spinning vinyl and, of course, music from the album.
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Additionally, fans can use Snapchat to scan any edition of the album’s back cover art to unlock a filter in which the three missing pieces of the clock will appear to create a complete clock.
According to initial reports to Luminate, Midnights, which was released on Oct. 21, has sold more than 800,000 copies in the U.S. through its first day across all available formats (multiple digital album download, CD, vinyl and cassette variants). It has already logged the largest sales week for any album since 2017, is the top-selling album of 2022 year-to-date, and has set a modern-era record for single-week vinyl album sales. Spotify also announced that the album is officially the most-streamed album in a single day in the streaming service’s history.
At the time of publication, the album earned more than 1.4 million equivalent album units in the U.S.
Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up column, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip. This week: Taylor Swift’s blockbuster Midnights bow comes with sparkling cross-platform numbers for its lead single and big gains for her back catalog, while Billie Holiday spawns an unlikely new TikTok trend and Halloween perennials begin to perk back up.
‘Anti-Hero’ Already Saving the Day at Radio
A new Taylor Swift album yielding a huge song debut on the Billboard Hot 100 in the week after its release shouldn’t be a surprise by now. After all, three of her previous four full-lengths — Folklore, Evermore, and the Taylor’s Version re-recording of Red — arrived with concurrent No. 1 bows on the Hot 100: “Cardigan,” “Willow” and “All Too Well (10-Minute Version)” each reached the top of the chart in their respective debut weeks. “Anti-Hero,” the lead single from latest Republic LP Midnights, has a great shot to both join those songs as another chart-topper for Swift – and surpass them all as her biggest chart hit in years.
That’s in large part because the slick, sardonic pop standout is off to an enormous start at radio, even compared to Swift’s last three No. 1 singles. “Anti-Hero” debuts on three radio charts — Pop Airplay (No. 23), Adult Pop Airplay (No. 19) and Adult Contemporary (No. 14) — after just three days of activity, from its Oct. 21 release through Sunday, Oct. 23. In those three days, “Anti-Hero” earned 16.1 million audience impressions from over 275 reporters to Billboard’s all-format Radio Songs chart, according to Luminate. Compare that to the 5.8 million impressions for “Willow” or the 4.7 million for “Cardigan” over their respective first three days — or the 286,000 of “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” across its full first week — and it’s clear that radio is very on board with Swift’s return to a more traditional pop sound.
Of course, the quick radio start for “Anti-Hero” comes in addition to blockbuster streaming numbers — over 30 million U.S. on-demands in its first three days, according to Luminate. Add up all of the harbingers of its big commercial debut and “Anti-Hero” very comfortably can announce: It’s me, hi, it’s the smash single, it’s me. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Taylor Swift’s Back Catalog Soars, Before and After ‘Midnights’
Speaking of Swift’s streaming gains, the Oct. 21 release of Midnights was both preceded and followed by the superstar’s catalog earning renewed interest from fans eager to prepare themselves for the new album, then compare her latest opus to her others. After earning 56.9 million U.S. on-demand streams in the three days from Friday, Oct. 14, through Sunday, Oct. 16, according to Luminate, Swift’s catalog earned 64.6 million streams over the following three days – a 14% gain as Swifties celebrated the Midnights release week.
On Thursday, Oct. 20, the catalog jumped to 27.2 million daily streams — a 21% gain for Midnights Eve. And while Swift’s new album was the streaming focus for fans on the following day, they still clocked in nearly 23 million streams for her non-Midnights music last Friday, a 10% jump from the previous Friday. Swift turned the release of Midnights into a global event for fans, and they responded in kind by returning to their favorite older tracks in the days surrounding its unveiling. – JL
Odd TikTok Trend Brings Billie Holiday’s “Solitude” to the Masses
“Solitude” has a long history of re-popularizing itself. First, it was a popular recording by Duke Ellington in the 1930s; next, it reached its zenith with Billie Holiday’s rendition of the tune in 1952. More recently the tune was sung by Andra Day for the film the United States vs. Billie Holiday, and now it’s… become a meme on TikTok? While some users are still going back to the original Holiday audio, using the song to soundtrack cozy nights at home and baking videos, more videos come from a joke that the song has somehow inspired: users will go up to their friend, zooming in on old fashion-looking shoes they are wearing, saying, “oh s–t, they got the god d–n ‘in my solituuuude” (the “in my solitude” part sung in a mocking rendition of Holiday).
Regardless of whether or not it’s disrespectful to the jazz standard or just plain un-funny to you, the meme has given the Verve-reissued Holiday version of the song a major boost on streaming. “Solitude” posted nearly 649,000 official on-demand U.S. streams for the week ending Oct. 20 – a gain of over 85% from the previous week, according to Luminate. – KRISTIN ROBINSON
“Another” Bump for Tom Odell
British singer-songwriter Tom Odell’s heartbreak ballad “Another Love” was a major hit throughout Europe upon its release on Columbia a decade ago, making it to the top 10 of the U.K.’s Official Charts in early 2013, even as it mostly missed the charts stateside. But the song has been steadily growing once again over the past year thanks largely to its popularity on TikTok, and now it’s nearly as big a hit once more as it ever was: The song hits No. 10 on Billboard’s Global Excl. US chart this week in its 81st week, breezing past Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” for the longest-ever climb to the listing’s top 10.
The song is making waves over here this time, too: After climbing steadily in consumption for most of the past month, this week the song gets a more pronounced spike, gaining 19% to nearly 4 million in official on-demand U.S. streams for the week ending Oct. 20. The streaming activity sends the song to a new No. 19 peak on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs tally this week (chart dated Oct. 29), and even to No. 15 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Q&A: Alex Tear, VP Pop Programming SiriusXM + Pandora, on What’s Trending Up in His World
With 2022 nearly in the books, what do you think we’ll consider as the biggest story in pop music this year by the time it ends?
One of the biggest stories for us this year is Harry’s House. From “As It Was” to “Late Night Talking” and “Music For A Sushi Restaurant,” our HITS 1 listeners continue to rank Harry at the top. Lizzo & Doja Cat’s pop presence also needs to be respected, from Lizzo’s No. 1 “About Damn Time” and “2 Be Loved” to Doja’s collab with Post Malone, “I Like You (A Happier Song),” and recent hit with “Vegas.”
Which songs could you foresee dominating the final few months of the year and pushing into the new year?
We’re so excited for Sam Smith and Kim Petras: “Unholy” has shook year-end according to our HITS 1 listeners. Rihanna’s “Lift Me Up” will close 2022 with a bang! Queen Bey’s “Cuff It” will also continue to do well and sounds great on SiriusXM.
Who’s one artist who made noise in 2022 that you think could have an even bigger 2023?
Sam Smith and Beyoncé, while giving honorable mention to Lil Nas X for 2023. Rihanna will also roll into the new year with a commanding presence!
Fill in the blank: in 2023, more programmers should be paying attention to __________.
Keeping the art and science present. The available resources to predict and measure music are abundant, it’s more important than ever to continue early human discovery to help shape, elevate, own and differentiate our brands with the next emerging artists. – J.L.
Season’s Gainings: Halloween Listening Starts Early
We hear a lot about how the Christmas season starts earlier every year – but before Mariah & Co. officially begin their takeover, we’re also seeing Spooky Season expanded well beyond the final week of October. Perennial Halloween favorites have been seeing huge gains since the end of September: Bobby “Boris” Pickett’s “Monster Mash” has gained from 654,000 official on-demand U.S. streams and 700 digital sales for the week ending Sept. 22 to over 2.4 million streams and 2,000 sales four weeks later (gains of 270% and 197%, respectively), according to Luminate, while Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” raised from just over one million streams and 300 sales to just over three million streams and 1,200 sales (up 188% and 247%, respectively).
And then of course, there’s the daddy of them all: Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” which has re-entered the Hot 100 in eight of the past nine Halloween seasons – making it all the way back to No. 19 last year. We’ll see if it has enough juice to beat that position this year (or even threaten its original No. 4 peak, set back in 1984), but it’s already up to 3.6 million in streams and 1,700 in sales, gains of 129% and 181% from four weeks earlier. – AU
Following the release of Taylor Swift‘s vulnerable “Anti-Hero” music video on Friday (Oct. 21), the star received some backlash, with critics accusing her of being “fatphobic” due to a scene in which Swift steps on a scale that reads “fat.”
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However, on Tuesday morning’s (Oct. 25) episode of The View, the hosts took to Swift’s defense, noting that she is expressing her personal experience with body image. “They missed the point,” Sunny Hostin said. “For someone who’s an artist, she gets to have agency over her artistry. She was describing a personal experience, and quite frankly, it’s a personal experience a lot of women experience. I’ve experienced it, and men. You get on the scale and you’re a perfectly normal weight and all you see is fat, all you see is, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m five pounds heavier than I should be.’”
Whoopi Goldberg urged critics to “just let her have her feelings,” and not to watch the video if don’t like it. “Why are you wasting your time on this?” she continued. “You all want to say something about Taylor Swift, leave her a– alone!”
Goldberg concluded by calling out “our society” instead Swift. “You can never be just what you are. Everybody wants you to be something more, be less this, more that, and it’s what people do to each other on social media,” she said.
Swift has previously opened up about personal nature of “Anti-Hero,” calling it “one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written,” as she’s never “delved this far into my insecurities in this detail before.”
“I struggle a lot with the idea that my life has become unmanageably sized,” she continued. “Not to sound too dark, but I just struggle with the idea of not feeling like a person — don’t feel bad for me, you don’t need to. But this song really is a real guided tour through all the things I tend to hate about myself; we all hate things about ourselves.”
Watch The View segment below.
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Taylor Swift had yet another gift for fans at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday (Oct. 25), unveiling her second Midnights music video, this time for the shimmering “Bejeweled.”
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The Cinderella-inspired clip stars Swift in the familiar lead role, though it’s her bejeweled outfits, not a glass slipper, that catches everyone’s attention.
TayTay herself wrote and directed the music video. Keep an eye out for “Prince” Jack Antonoff and cameos from Laura Dern, the Haim sisters and Dita Von Teese, who encourages the pop superstar to slip into a giant cocktail glass. Stay watching for some fiery dragon-action at the close.
Earlier in the day, the pop superstar took to Instagram to announce the video’s release.
“Midnight, what a storied and fabled hour… On this sparkling evening I’ll be releasing my twist on a fairytale we all know. The one about the girl and her step sisters and the clock striking 12…” she captioned a photo of herself as Cinderella, sitting in a dark room wearing a worn down dress while sewing a glittery, midnight blue gown. “This video is wild, whimsical and created SPECIFICALLY for you, my beloved fans who have paved this shimmering path. Look out for some dazzling cameos! Join us later for a very Bejeweled premiere [diamond emoji].”
Midnights is already a global hit. The album set a new 24-hour streaming record on Spotify, and is expected to dominate sales charts around the world.
Watch the “Bejeweled” music video below.