Publishers Quarterly
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For the third consecutive quarter, Sony Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing Group took their usual No. 1 spots on Billboard’s Publishers Quarterly ranking for the last quarter of 2022.
Sony topped the Top Radio Airplay ranking, while UMPG had the biggest share of Hot 100 songs.
Harry Styles and Kid Harpoon (birth name: Thomas Edward Percy Hull) were the top Radio Airplay songwriters, thanks to their collaboration on “As It Was” and two other hits from Styles’ 2022 album, Harry’s House — which Kid Harpoon also produced — that ranked in the quarter. Both songwriters are published by UMG.
Despite that duo’s strong showing, the No. 1 Radio Airplay song for the quarter was Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit.” Five writers are credited, including Lacy as Steve Thomas Lacy Moya, Brittany Foushee, Diana “Wynter” Gordon, Matthew Castellanos, and John Carroll Kirby. The top 10 publishers that have a share in that song are: Sony, UMPG, Warner Chappell and Kobalt.
On the Hot 100 ranking, Taylor Swift, also published by UMG, was the top songwriter and scored the No. 1 song for the quarter, “Anti-Hero.” Thirteen songs from her album midnights, placed in the ranking; Swift co-wrote 12 of them and is the sole author of “Vigilante Shit.” Both Sony and UMPG have stakes in “Anti-Hero.”
Sony’s No. 1 showing on the Top Radio Airplay publishers ranking actually represents its seventh consecutive quarter and 40th time overall at the top of that chart. Its market share slipped to 28.89% from 31.60% in the third quarter of 2022, but its song count was up one, with the publisher placing 64 tunes on the ranking.
On the Hot 100 publishers ranking, Sony’s market share fell more than 7 percentage points, from 29.79% in the third quarter to 22.71% in the fourth, and its song count followed suit, dropping from 64 to 58. That said, the publisher is on a bit of a hot streak when it comes to the Country Radio Airplay publisher ranking: it took the No. 1 spot for the second consecutive quarter, improving its 27.60% third-quarter market share to 28.93%.
UMPG has emerged as a powerhouse in the Hot 100 publisher rankings. For the three consecutive quarters that it finished No.1, its market share has remained above 30% — a feat last achieved by Sony on the Top Radio Airplay chart in 2014.
UMPG’s quarter-to-quarter market share grew from 30.75% to 31.63%, and its song count rose from 60 to 63. The publisher also grew its market share in the Radio Airplay ranking from 23.98% in the third quarter to 25.66% — almost 10 percentage points over No. 3 publisher, Warner Chappell Music, despite a song count that fell from 56 to 52 in the fourth quarter.
On the Radio Airplay ranking, Warner Chappell, Kobalt, and BMG once again held the No. 3 through No. 5 spots, respectively, although Warner Chappell’s quarter-to-quarter market share grew 13.60% to 15.73%. Its song count fell, however, from 48 to 46 tunes.
Kobalt held on to its No. 4 berth despite a significant drop in song placements from the third quarter, from 43 to 34, and a market-share decline from 13.21% to 10.38%. Fifth-ranked BMG eked out a .05 percentage point gain from 3.12% to 3.17%, as a result of boosting its song count from nine to 11.
The success of David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good (Blue),” the No. 6 song on the quarter’s top radio chart, resulted in a newcomer making the top 10: the Italian collection society S.I.A.E. Direzione Generale, which is credited as one of the song’s publishers by the Harry Fox Agency. As a result, S.I.A.E. ranked No. 7 on Radio Airplay, with a 1.38% market share, and No. 9 on the Hot 100 publisher ranking with a 1.24% share.
The remainder of the Top Radio Airplay top 10 consists of Concord at No. 6 with 2.19% share, up from the prior quarter’s 1.48% share when it ranked No. 8; at No. 8 for the fourth quarter was Higpnosis, with a 1.29% share, down from the prior quarter’s 1.77% when it ranked No. 6; Downtown held steady at No. 9 with 1.28%, down from 1.59% in the third quarter, and Big Machine at No. 10 with 1.25%.
Christmas music made its usual strong showing in the fourth quarter Hot 100 publisher ranking, vaulting St. Nicholas Music to No. 5 in the ranking with a 6.17% market share, thanks to “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree,” “Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” all of which were written by Johnny Marks. Brenda Lee’s recording of “Rockin’” was the quarter’s No. 6 Hot 100 song.
The holiday season also boosted Dean Kay’s Demi Music to the No. 7 slot on the Hot 100 publisher ranking, solely on the strength of Andy Williams’ “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year,” which gave Desi a 1.91% market share for the quarter. A single song — OneRepublic’s “I Ain’t Worried” — also put Downtown in the No. 8 spot.
For the second consecutive quarter, Sony Music Publishing and Universal Music Publishing Group split the top honors in the publisher’s rankings. Sony topped the Top Radio Airplay category with a more than seven percentage point lead over No. 2 UMPG, while the reverse occurred in the Hot 100 Ranking: UMPG squeaked to a No. 1 finish, surpassing Sony by close to one percentage point.
This is each publisher’s second quarter in a row atop those categories.
Harry Styles‘ “As It Was” was the No. 1 song on the Hot 100 for the second quarter in a row and held steady as the No. 2 song on Top Radio Airplay for the same period. Lizzo‘s “About Damn Time” finished first on Top Radio Airplay and No. 2 on Hot 100 Songs, and was the top song for each of the big three publishers in all but one category. Third-quarter top 10 publishers with a stake in “As It Was” are UMPG and Pulse, while UMPG, Sony and Warner Chappell Music each have a share in “About Damn Time.”
Kate Bush‘s Stranger Things-fueled resurgence continued as her Sony-published “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” finished No. 3 on Hot 100 Songs, No. 7 on Top Radio Airplay, and because she is the track’s sole songwriter, established her as the top Hot 100 songwriter of the quarter.
Styles and his main co-writer Kid Harpoon (born Thomas Edward Percy Hull) took top songwriter honors in the Radio Airplay category for authoring “As It Was” and their credits as two of the three songwriters of another Top 10 Radio Airplay hit, “Late Night Talking.”
In Top Radio Airplay, Sony improved its industry leading market share by more than five percentage points over its 25.62% second-quarter showing, even though its song count fell slightly from 64 to 63 tracks. Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” was Sony’s top song on both the Hot 100 and Radio Airplay charts.
No. 2 UMPG’s Radio Airplay market share also grew more than 1.5 percentage points quarter-to-quarter and raising its song placements from 54 to 56. While “About Damn Time” was also UMPG’s top track on the Top Radio Airplay chart, Styles’ “As It Was” was its No. 1 track in the Hot 100.
UMPG held on to its No. 1 Hot 100 Songs ranking for a second quarter, even though its market share was down half a percentage point from its second-quarter 31.25% market, and its song count fell from 67 to 60.
As it did with its Radio Airplay showing, Sony increased its market share by slightly more than five percentage points over its 24.69% second-quarter market share. Its song count also rose from 62 to 64.
Warner Chappell, Kobalt and BMG, respectively ranked No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 on both the Top Radio Airplay and the Hot 100 publisher rankings — an order that has remained for seven consecutive quarters in the Hot 100 rankings and two in a row for Top Radio Airplay.
In Radio Airplay, Warner Chappell’s market share dropped slightly more than two percentage points from last quarter, and its song count from 54 to 48. But the publisher improved its Hot 100 market share by more than one point over the second quarter’s 14.66%, despite its song count dropping from 53 to 49. Warner Chappell’s top song on both charts was “About Damn Time.” Warner Chappell Nashville also gave up its status as the No. 1 country music publisher for 22 consecutive quarters. It slipped to No. 2 behind Sony.
Kobalt held on to No. 4 in both rankings, despite losing market share. For Top Radio Airplay it fell from 14.945% to 13.21% quarter to quarter. For the Hot 100, it dropped more than three percentage points from 11.97% to 8.60%. Likewise, its song count is down for the Hot 100 chart from 53 to 49 while holding steady at 43 for the Top Radio Airplay chart. Jack Harlow’s “First Class,” which was No. 4, was its top Airplay song while Steve Lacy’s “Bad Habit” at No. 5 is its top Hot 100 song.
BMG also saw market share declines in both rankings, falling to 3.12% from 4.48% in the second quarter for the Top Radio Airplay chart; and to 2.17% from 3.58% for the Hot 100 chart. Its top song on both charts was Harlow’s “First Class,” which was the No. 7 song on the Hot 100.
In the second half of the rankings, Hipgnosis and Pulse Music Group held steady in the No. 6 and No. 7 spots, respectively, for the fourth straight quarter on the Top Radio Airplay rankings, and traded places in the Hot 100 from the second quarter. Both also lost market share from the prior quarter.
While Hipgnosis managed to hold onto its sixth place ranking in the Top Radio Airplay chart, its market share fell to 1.77% from 2.65% in the second quarter. In the Hot 100, it fell to 2.01% from 2.76% in second quarter, which led to the publisher falling from No. 6 to No. 7. Glass Animals’ “Heatwave” was its top song in both charts and finished No. 12 on both.
Pulse Music also dropped market share, falling to a 2.07% share in the Hot 100 from 2.76% in the second quarter but still went up one spot in the rankings to No. 6.; while over in the Top Radio Airplay rankings its tally fell to 1.6% from 2% in the second quarter. Its top song was Styles’ “As It Was.”
On the Radio Airplay chart, three publishers came close to tying: Pulse’s 1.607% was closely followed by No. 8 Concord with 1.597% and No. 9 Downtown at 1.593%. Round Hill Music rounded out the rankings with 1.05%. For the Hot 100, the same three publishers held down the last three spots albeit in different positions with Round Hill at No. 8 Concord at No. 9 and Downtown at No. 10.