Trending Up

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: The Spider-Verse stretches its way across streaming, a tri-state indie rock band launches an unlikely dance challenge and an alt-folk singer-songwriter enjoys his first real crossover success.

Miles Morales Spurs a Spider-Verse Takeover 

It’s been just over a week since the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and Miles Morales and co. are already having a sizable musical impact that nicely complements the film’s box office success. Serving as the sequel to 2018’s Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the new film continues Miles’ journey, and boasts a star-studded soundtrack curated and produced by Billboard 200-topping hip-hop producer Metro Boomin. 

According to Luminate, the genre-spanning soundtrack (released on Boominati/Republic) garnered 83.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams during the week of June 2-8. In the same period, two songs emerged as the set’s strongest and most consistent performers. “Calling” (which is credited to Metro Boomin, Swae Lee & NAV feat. A Boogie wit da Hoodie) collected 10.7 million official on-demand U.S. streams, while “Annihilate” (credited to Metro Boomin, Swae Lee, Lil Wayne & Offset) garnered 10.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams. Both songs have been hanging around the upper regions of Spotify and Apple Music’s daily charts off the strength of their placement in the film, the allure of the performing artists, and, of course, the music itself. 

In a slight contrast to the success of these Spider-Verse posse cuts, Coi Leray’s solo Spider-Man track alongside Metro, “Self-Love,” has also emerged as one of the soundtrack’s biggest songs — and one that’s still growing. On June 2, the song earned over 920,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, and one week later (June 9), that tally increased by 35.8% to a total of 1.2 million official on-demand U.S. streams. Although that number dipped slightly to 1.16 million the following day, consistent love across social media looks to buoy the song as it continues its run. 

Of course, in 2018, the previous Spider-Verse soundtrack (for Spider-Man: Inside the Spider-Verse) spawned “Sunflower,” the inescapable Post Malone and Swae Lee duet that recently became the highest-certified single in the United States. The RIAA certified the song 18x platinum in recognition of over 18 million units sold. Since the release of Across the Spider-Verse, the already-stable streaming numbers for “Sunflower” have experienced a significant increase: During the week of June 2-8, the Billboard Hot 100-topping track received 8.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams, a 29.6% increase from its May 26-June 1 tally (6.9 million). 

On the Billboard 200 chart dated June 17, the Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack entered at No. 7, becoming Metro Boomin’s fourth consecutive top ten title. He previously topped the chart with 2018’s Not All Heroes Wear Capes, 2020’s Savage Mode II (with 21 Savage), and last year’s Heroes & Villains. – KYLE DENIS

Noah’s Arc: Kahan Climbs Toward Mainstream Stardom With “Dial Drunk” & Expanded Album

Over the past year, Noah Kahan’s brand of heartfelt folk-rock has amassed a sizable fan base thanks to both old-school road grinding and next-gen social media engagement. After the Vermont native teased “Stick Season,” a post-breakup song rife with COVID-era loneliness, to his fan base for months ahead of its July 2022 release, the song took off on TikTok as the singer-songwriter plowed through tour dates, eventually leading to a No. 14 debut for his Stick Season album on the Billboard 200 last October. 

Kahan hasn’t slowed down since – a North American tour that began last month will continue through October – and a recently released deluxe edition of his Stick Season album, combined with an already-viral new single, may speed up his ascent to household-name status. 

Last Friday (June 9), Kahan released Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever) via Mercury/Republic, which featured seven additional songs and sent his streams soaring. Kahan’s catalog rose over 300% in daily U.S. on-demand streams upon the release of the expanded album – from 3.11 million last Thursday to 12.83 million on Friday, according to Luminate – and hovered around 9 million daily streams through Monday, suggesting that far more than Kahan’s diehard supporters are playing his new tunes. 

Those songs are highlighted by “Dial Drunk,” a banjo-led story of an intoxicated man reaching out to an estranged contact as his emergency call from jail. Like “Stick Season,” “Dial Drunk” had been teased on TikTok by Kahan for a prolonged period – but now that the singer-songwriter boasts a larger fan base than last summer, the new track may mark his Hot 100 debut next week. “Dial Drunk” bowed with 1.81 million streams on Friday, then garnered seven-figure plays each day through Monday, while remaining fixtures of the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA and Apple Music charts. 

The success of “Dial Drunk,” along with Stick Season (We’ll All Be Here Forever) potentially pushing into the top 10 of next week’s Billboard 200, would continue an already huge year for Kahan, who recently sold out New York’s Radio City Music Hall and led a substantial crowd at the Boston Calling festival. The crowds have exploded, and now may be the time for Kahan’s commercial breakthrough. – JASON LIPSHUTZ 

Indie Fans ‘Need 2’ Participate in “Pinegrove Shuffle”

The New Jersey indie-rockers of Pinegrove might not technically be the least-likely artist to ever benefit from a viral dance challenge, but they’re certainly much closer to the bottom than the top of that list. Nonetheless, that’s what’s been happening since last Friday, when a video from TikToker @garrettlee39 dancing to their 2014 Mixtape Two highlight “Need 2” — maybe more full-body thrusting than dancing, along with some arm-flailing — went viral over social media, leading to countless other users trying to recreate what’s since been dubbed the “Pinegrove Shuffle.”

Interest in the original song has now also shuffled over to streaming services. “Need 2” had already been swelling in official on-demand U.S. streams for the couple weeks prior — the self-released track was up from 220,000 for the chart week ending May 18 to 567,000 for the week ending June 8, according to Luminate — but those numbers have really spiked since the @garretlee39 video (which currently has 4.6 million views), raising from 99,000 daily streams on June 8 (the day before the video) to over 427,000 on June 11, a gain of 333%, according to Luminate.

If those numbers keep spiking, it might give the cult band the first true breakout hit of its decade-long career — just after it entered an informal hiatus period earlier this year, following the departure of drummer Zack Levine. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

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: Bonus cuts from Taylor Swift’s new Midnights reissue look to shake up the charts, a new Disney musical remake leads to big gains for its classic songs and another conservative anthem puts up big sales numbers.

Chart Supremacy’s a Relaxing Thought: Taylor Swift Eyes Major Moves With Til Dawn

How big will Midnights – The Til Dawn Edition be? Next week’s Billboard charts will reflect the full commercial response to Taylor Swift’s new edition of last year’s Midnights album, which was released last Friday (May 26) and included an Ice Spice-assisted remix of “Karma,” a “More Lana Del Rey” version of “Snow on the Beach” and the streaming debut of “Hits Different,” among other goodies for fans. Based on early streaming and sales figures, those tracks are predictably getting played by a huge audience, and could impact the Hot 100 chart in a major way if those numbers hold.

On the streaming side, “Karma” was the big winner on the Til Dawn release date, with the original version and the Ice Spice remix combining for 5.65 million U.S. official on-demand streams on Friday — a 395% uptick from the previous day, according to Luminate. “Karma” — which is up to No. 27 on the Hot 100 this week, in the chart frame prior to the release of the remix and its accompanying music video — dipped a bit over the holiday weekend, but was still raking in 2.34 million streams on Monday, which was more than double its daily average in the days leading up to the remix release. Combined with a big boost in downloads (7,400 in sales on Friday alone), “Karma” could be flexing like a gosh darn acrobat in the upper reaches of next week’s Hot 100.

Meanwhile, “Hits Different,” which was originally released on the Target-exclusive physical edition of Midnights in October, scored an even higher sales day on Friday than “Karma,” with 11,200 downloads to Swifties anxious to add the track to their digital collections. “Hits Different” also earned 3.27 million streams on Friday, with that daily number hovering a bit above 1 million streams each day over the holiday weekend. And “Snow on the Beach” kicked off the weekend with 3.76 million streams on Friday — a whopping 849% increase from the previous day — and 8,000 in sales, with its daily streams winding down to the same levels as “Hits Different” by Monday.

Although the numbers for “Hits Different” and “Snow on the Beach” are worth monitoring, all eyes are on “Karma,” which Swift performed with special guest Ice Spice at each of her MetLife Stadium shows in East Rutherford, N.J. this past weekend. In the coming weeks, “Karma” could become Swift’s second Hot 100 chart-topper from Midnights, following “Anti-Hero,” which became the superstar’s longest-running No. 1 single by logging eight weeks atop the chart. Meanwhile, Midnights could return to the top of the Billboard 200 chart, snapping the 12-week run at No. 1 of Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

Little Mermaid Songs Swim to Big Gains

The new live-action Disney remake of the studio’s 1989 animated classic The Little Mermaid is off to a dynamite start at the U.S. box office, with nearly $120 million reportedly raked in over its first four days of release (May 26-29). Unsurprisingly, the movie’s early ubiquity has inspired people to return to some of the timeless songs remade in the new version on streaming services, both in their newer and original incarnations.

“Part of Your World,” the Little Mermaid ballad originally sung by voice actress Jodi Benson (which Billboard‘s staff recently named the best song in Disney history) and covered by star Halle Bailey in the 2023 version, rose 71% in daily on-demand official U.S. streams from 294,000 on May 25 (the day before its release) to 503,000 on May 27 (the day after), while the Benson original was up 18% to 210,000 over that same span, according to Luminate. Meanwhile, the Daveed Diggs-led “Under the Sea” from the new version was up 125% to 208,000, and Samuel E. Wright’s 1989 rendition gained 11% to 202,000.

Are any of the 2023 version’s new Lin-Manuel Miranda-penned songs on their way to a classic status of their own? Hard to tell so far, but “The Scuttlebutt” — led by the Awkwafina-voiced Scuttle, and also featuring Diggs — seems to be off to the strongest start, with the song climbing to over 200,000 daily on-demand U.S. audio streams this week, a number that may only continue to rise as more and more kids nationwide are re-infected with Mermaid-mania. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Neo-Con Rappers Put a “Target” on Store’s Pride Month Display With Homophobic and Transphobic New Best-Selling Single

The No. 1 song on iTunes’ real-time chart isn’t from Taylor Swift or The Little Mermaid — but rather conservative rappers Forgiato Blow and Jimmy Levy’s new single “Boycott Target,” also featuring Nick Nittoli and Stoney Dudebro. The reactionary song takes aim at the titular megastore for its recently debuted PRIDE Collection and takes open shots at the LQBTQ community with lyrics like “You know the LGBTQ done went too far/ You know they cuttin’ these kids, they leavin’ tr—ies with scars/ Why they push an agenda, promoting with sexual genders/ I’m only rockin’ with Bruce, don’t rock with no Caitlyn Jenner.” Meanwhile, the video features the artists parading around a Target’s PRIDE section, with several of them donning a cartoonish amount of pro-USA (and/or pro-Trump) clothing and paraphernalia, and singer Jimmy Levy positing, “Inside this store, Satan resides.”

As several other conservative anthems have done in recent years, from Aaron Lewis’ “Am I the Only One?” to multiple different songs named “Let’s Go Brandon,” the song has attracted thousands in sales due to word-of-mouth and exposure via FOX News. The song grew from just over 200 in daily sales on May 25 to nearly 2,900 on May 30, despite Blow’s claims to FOX that the song had been “shadow-banned” from searches on Apple Music, and daily streams have also started to pick up, though they still remain in the modest five digits. Regardless of whether or not the consumption will be enough for “Boycott Target” to match the top 40 debuts of those previously mentioned right-wing rallying cries, its success thus far strikes a sour note for the start of Pride month. — A.U.

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, 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: Beyoncé’s new tour (and new remix) gives her catalog a big boost, while Lana Del Rey becomes the latest artist to score with a new old-song, an American Idol winner shows early commercial promise, and much more.

A Streaming Renaissance: Beyoncé Scores Gains With New Tour & Remix 

The launch of Beyoncé’s Renaissance World Tour — the superstar’s first headlining run in seven years — has understandably caused plenty of social media chatter about set list inclusions, outfit choices and choreography highlights as viewed through fan videos. Since kicking off on May 10 in Stockholm and continuing across the U.K. and Europe over the past two weeks, the tour has also resulted in a healthy uptick in streams for Queen Bey’s catalog. 

Weekly U.S. on-demand streams for Beyoncé’s solo music totaled 52.1 million for the week ending May 11, a 9.2% increase from the prior week (47.7 million), according to Luminate. During the first full week of the Renaissance tour, that number jumped to 58.1 million streams for the week ending May 18 — and on the current Billboard 200 albums chart, last year’s Renaissance album benefited from those streams, jumping up 16 spots to No. 29. Considering that these millions of plays are exclusively coming from U.S. listeners, expect those streaming totals to stay healthy when the Renaissance tour touches down in North America on July 8.  

To provide the BeyHive with even more excitement, Beyoncé unveiled a new remix of Renaissance highlight “America Has a Problem,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, last Friday night (May 19). We’ll see next week exactly how much the remix impacts her overall streaming total — and how high the song, which originally peaked at No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100, can climb in its new form — but early streaming returns are promising: “Problem” jumped from 564,000 daily streams on Friday to 1.77 million in its first full day of release on Saturday, a bump of 213%. – JASON LIPSHUTZ  

Fans “Say Yes” to New-Old Lana Del Rey Song 

Lana Del Rey has one of the year’s most acclaimed albums thus far with Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, which hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. But one achievement she doesn’t have from that project is a Hot 100 hit – in fact, the last one of those the alt-pop star scored as a solo lead artist was four albums ago, with her No. 59-peaking cover of Sublime’s “Doin’ Time,” from 2019’s Norman F—king Rockwell.  

That might change next week, thanks to the release of her new one-off “Say Yes to Heaven.” The song, which Del Rey wrote with frequent collaborator Rick Nowels in 2012, had become a fan favorite in the decade since as an unreleased leak, with sped-up versions of it also helping it go viral more recently on TikTok. Fan excitement over its official release helped it land nearly 1.9 million on-demand U.S. streams in its first full day of release last Friday (May 22), along with nearly 900 in digital song sales, according to Luminate.

Those numbers slipped a little the next couple days, but have still remained fairly strong, as the song is still hanging in the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart’s top 50 five days after its release. If they stay near that level, “Say Yes” will likely crack the Hot 100 last week – just the latest example of an artist’s newer work being no match for a newly celebrated older song of theirs on the Billboard charts in 2023. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER  

Bad Bunny’s ‘Goes’ Gets Going With Strong Streaming Start 

Does Bad Bunny have another summer hit on his hands? After ruling last year’s dog days thanks to the May release of his Un Verano Sin Ti album, he unveiled a club-ready single, “Where She Goes,” late last week, and initial streaming numbers suggest more ubiquity on the way for the record-setting star. The track earned 5.1 million U.S. on-demand streams on Friday (May 19) after hitting streaming services the previous day, and scored another 6.4 million combined streams over the course of the weekend. While “Where She Goes” may not be an immediate threat to top the Hot 100, Bad Bunny has yet to score a No. 1 single on the chart as a solo artist — and could very well try to check that feat off his professional list in the coming weeks. – JL 

Will We Finally “Be Seeing” This Year’s Idol Winner on the Charts? 

Two decades on from the show’s debut, the commercial impact of American Idol in 2023 is fairly muted compared to what it once was – with Nick Fradiani in 2015 being the last season winner to even notch a hit on the Hot 100. Time will tell if 18-year-old Iam Tongi, announced on Sunday (May 21) as Season 21’s winner, is going to be the one to break that trend. But based on the early returns, he’s off to a pretty good start.  

“I’ll Be Seeing You,” dedicated to Tongi’s late father and released as his first single last Friday, got off to a decently impressive start – with official on-demand U.S. streams around 50,000 and sales around 1,500 in its first day of release, according to Luminate. But those numbers have gone way up following his emotional performance of the song on Sunday’s finale, with daily streams rising to over 100,000 and sales now over 3,000, as the song topped the daily U.S. iTunes chart.  

And right below it on that chart? James Blunt’s “Monsters,” a 2019 single that also moved over 3,000 copies on Monday, with daily streams over 200,000, following a similarly powerful duet the two singers performed of the ballad on Sunday’s show (with country star Jelly Roll calling it “one of the most emotional things ever” in its YouTube comments). If Tongi can help get James Blunt back onto the Billboard charts, big things may indeed lie ahead for him. — AU 

Q&A: Harvey Cohen, President of Vibee, on What’s Trending Up in His World 

Why is now the right time for an immersive music trip organization like Vibee? 

During the pandemic, travel and in-person experiences – including live music & entertainment – came to a halt. When the world opened back up, we witnessed a renewed appreciation for community, exploration, and real-life music experiences, especially at a more boutique level. As a result, Vibee recognized there was an incredible opportunity to build out-of-this-world trips for music fans that intersect passions for travel, connection, and exceptional live entertainment, while bringing fans closer than they’ve ever been to their favorite artists. And here we are. 

Vibee has thus far offered both destination experiences, like “Lionel Richie’s Dancing on the Sand” in the Bahamas, and music festival integrations with fests, like Lollapalooza and ACL. How have these events been selected and curated to fit the Vibee brand? 

At Vibee we make it a point to offer elevated experiences for all types of music fans. We find the right locations and produce events in conjunction with, and which align with the lifestyles of, our partner artists. For example, Tiësto’s “Chasing Sunsets” is taking place in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico this November where attendees can enjoy boat parties, tequila tastings, and watersport excursions in addition to multiple incredible performances by Tiësto and some of his favorite artists. The “Honky-Tonk Homecoming” weekend in Nashville will include performances from ‘90s country legends, a special songwriters brunch, tours of renowned venues like the Grand Ole Opry, and more. This will be an all-encompassing Nashville weekend, where we will bring fans back to that amazing era in country music with theme parties, honky tonk crawls, coupled with concerts by the likes of Trace Adkins, Jo Dee Messina, Lonestar, and Eddie Montgomery of Montgomery Gentry. These are just a couple examples of what we have in the works.  

Can you describe Vibee’s partnership with Live Nation, and how you expect it to evolve in the near future? 

Vibee was founded by Live Nation to tap into the desire from fans to have experiences more deeply rooted in a love of music and travel. Vibee focuses on three main verticals: curated experiences, festival integrations and Las Vegas residencies. Through our Live Nation partnership we’re able to work with the industry’s most respected festival producers including C3 Presents, Country Nation, Founders Entertainment, and other Live Nation festival properties. Vibee is also proud to have signed an exclusive global partnership with Insomniac, to bring premium hospitality experiences to their events around the world. These include the recent Hotel EDC takeover at Resorts World in Las Vegas, and the sold out inaugural EDSea cruise this fall.  Fans can find more of what we’re working on at Vibee.com or by following us at @VibeePresents on social media. There are a lot of incredible things to come this year. 

What’s one goal that you’d like to see Vibee — and, to some extent, the immersive sector of the live industry — achieve in the next few years? 

We truly want to surpass fans’ expectations by creating the most memorable immersive music destination experiences, all over the world. We want people to find love and life-long friends at Vibee events. And in years to come when asked how they met, say, “We met while dancing to our favorite artist on an unbelievable trip that was curated by Vibee.” – J.L. 

Season’s Gainings: Streamers Show Their Mother’s Day Appreciation 

If you forgot to send your mom a card or give her a phone call two Sundays ago (May 14), it’s probably a little late now – but hopefully you were at least one of the many listeners who showed your gratitude by streaming some Mother’s Day classics on DSPs. 2Pac’s “Dear Mama,” likely also boosted recently by the Hulu doc series named after the 1995 classic about the rapper’s relationship with mother Afeni Shakur, was up 48% to over weekly 2.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams for the week ending May 18, while The Intruders’ Philly Soul perennial “I’ll Always Love My Mama” was up 335% to 154,000 streams, according to Luminate. Another more recent entry in the canon also benefitted: Meghan Trainor’s 2016 bonus cut “Mom,” which kicked off Spotify’s official Mother’s Day playlist and climbed 147% to 382,000 weekly streams. — AU

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: Kate Bush makes it two years in a row with big gains from a Netflix hit, while Loreen enjoys a Eurovision bump on both sides of the pond and a pair of hitmaking Asian girl groups make inroads on U.S. radio.

Happy Mother’s Day to Kate Bush

Is it happening again? If you’ve checked Shazam’s real-time U.S. chart in the past week, you’ll see a familiar older name jostling with Lil Durk and J. Cole’s new “All My Life” for the top position: Kate Bush, she of the biggest sync revitalization of the decade so far. It’s not “Running Up That Hill” or Stranger Things this time, though: It’s her similarly beloved (and oft-covered) “This Woman’s Work,” used to great effect towards the end of the new hit Netflix action drama, The Mother. 

“Work” has been used prominently in movies and TV shows for 35 years now – dating back to its original 1988 release on the She’s Having a Baby soundtrack – and The Mother, starring Jennifer Lopez and released last Friday (May 12, two days before Mother’s Day), uses the signature ballad over its closing sequence and end credits. The synch’s impact could be seen in the song’s streaming numbers – up from 21,000 daily official on-demand U.S. streams on May 11 to 55,000 by May 14, a 157% gain – along with digital song sales increasing from under 100 to over 500 over that period, all according to Luminate. 

Thus far, the song’s explosive growth is still modest compared to the runaway success of “Hill” post-Stranger Things — which made it not only the biggest newly viral catalog of hit of 2022, but one of the year’s biggest overall hits of any kind. If this one starts crossing over from Shazam to TikTok in the same way that song did, though, there might still be plenty of “Work” for the Bush staple to do on the Billboard charts. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Left, Right, Up: FIFTY FIFTY & XG Hits Make Inroads at U.S. Radio 

As Asian pop acts have established an increased presence in U.S. popular music over the past five years, one sector of the industry has long proven the most difficult to impact on a consistent level: pop radio. 

While BTS smashes like “Dynamite” and “Butter” stand as exceptions, top 40 stations have generally shied away from the latest offerings from Asian pop collectives, even as those groups rack up seven-figure streaming numbers and headline arenas in the States. BLACKPINK, for instance, has only notched one non-collaborative single on Billboard‘s Pop Airplay chart to date (“Pink Venom,” which peaked at No. 32 last year), while groups like TWICE, Loona and (G)I-dle have only been able to achieve fleeting appearances on the tally. 

Yet a pair of English-language singles from the relatively new collectives FIFTY FIFTY and XG are not only turning into profile-boosting breakthroughs for each – they’re receiving real, growing radio play as well.

For more info on this, check out our full article over at Billboard Pro.

“Tattoo” Looks to Ink Itself on the Charts

The winner at this month’s Eurovision song contest was the delectably dramatic Eurodance-pop banger “Tattoo” by Loreen, Sweden’s representative at this year’s competition. Loreen might already have been familiar to many watching as the singer behind 2012’s “Euphoria,” a single that topped charts throughout Europe and went to No. 3 on the U.K.’s Official Singles Chart – but “Tattoo” looks on track to do even better, currently ticketed for a top two debut on this week’s U.K. chart. 

The song is also beginning to take off stateside. Though it’s been available on DSPs since February, the song has steadily risen on streaming since it triumphed in its first semifinal on May 9, and exploded following its ultimate victory on May 13. In all, the song has risen from 58,000 daily official on-demand streams on May 8 to over 226,000 on May 16 – a gain of 28%, according to Luminate. It’s a great start for the winner in the hopes of it following in the footsteps of recent U.S. Eurovision success stories like Måneskin and Duncan Laurence, though time will tell if “Tattoo” leaves more of a temporary or permanent mark on U.S. pop culture. – AU

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: The pop smashes on both sides of a major copyright dispute see gains, Nate Smith makes his case as country’s next reliable hitmaker and Luke Combs’ cover of an ’80s alt-folk classic gives it a sales boost.

Listeners Making Their Own Judgments in Ed Sheeran-Marvin Gaye Copyright Trial

It’s been a long week for global pop star Ed Sheeran, as he defended himself against claims of copyright infringement from the heirs of Ed Townsend, co-writer of Marvin Gaye‘s 1973 soul classic “Let’s Get It On.” Sheeran was accused of plagiarizing “Let’s Get It On” with his own Grammy-winning 2014 smash “Thinking Out Loud” — a charge that he not only strenuously denied, but threatened to quit music altogether if he was found guilty of it. (Today, the jury returned a not guilty verdict, so presumably fans will not have to go directly from the release of Sheeran’s – (Subtract) album this Friday, May 5, into mourning for his career.)

It may be cold comfort for Sheeran, but a small silver lining to his recent legal battle is that it’s drawn enough attention in news headlines and over social media over the past week to direct listeners back to the songs in question. “Thinking Out Loud” rose 15% in weekly on-demand official U.S. streams, from under 2.7 million for the tracking week ending April 20 to over three million the following week, according to Luminate — while also nearly tripling in sales, from under 400 to almost 1,100. And the numbers have also gone up for “Let’s Get It On,” which has risen 11% in streams (to around 900,000) and 93% in sales (to nearly 400) over that same period.

Clearly, listeners are interested in drawing their own conclusions about the similarities (or lack thereof) between the two songs as the trial goes on — and with the official verdict now in, the number of those independent investigations may still continue to climb. — ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Nate Smith’s Country Fans ‘Ship ‘Wreckage’

Much like Zach Bryan and Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith is a new-school country singer-songwriter beloved by the TikTok set, and the California native has leaned into app engagement, regularly teasing songs and even posting “duets” with fans who are lip-synching along with his tracks. “Wreckage,” a track from Smith’s self-titled debut album that was released last Friday (Apr. 28) on Arista Nashville, has been out since November, but the tender love song (“Laying in this bed beside you, I don’t have to hide away / You see all the wreckage, and it wrecks me that you stay,” Smith growls) keeps rising in streams in part due to TikTok engagement, as well as some prime placement on major streaming playlists.

“Wreckage” leads both Amazon Music’s Country Heat playlist and Spotify’s Hot Country this week — especially impressive, considering competition like Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” and Luke Combs’ “Fast Car.” And although the song has been hovering around 3 million weekly U.S. on-demand streams since the beginning of April, last week, as Smith went into full album-promo mode, that weekly total rose 44% to 4.68 million streams, according to Luminate.

Although “Wreckage” has yet to hit the Billboard Hot 100 — Smith’s previous single, “Whiskey on You,” peaked at No. 43 last year — that could change next week, if streams continue to rise and country fans, including Smith’s 1.5 million TikTok followers, delve into his first full-length. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

Tracy Chapman’s Original “Fast Car” Speeding Up in Song Sales

Country superstar Luke Combs‘ cover of alt-folk hero Tracy Chapman‘s 1988 smash “Fast Car” is one of the surprise breakout hits of 2023, climbing all the way to No. 14 on the Hot 100 — now just eight spots away from matching the peak of the original — and becoming one of the spring’s best-selling songs, reaching No. 3 on Billboard‘s Digital Song Sales listing.

While the cover has not resulted in a pronounced streaming uptick for Chapman’s version, its sales impact has carried over: The original “Fast Car” jumped 148% in digital song sales the week of Combs’ Gettin’ Old release week (the album with his cover) to nearly 800 copies, and that weekly sales number has continued to climb to nearly 1,000. The numbers are still relatively small, but if they continue to climb — or simply steady at a higher weekly number than it was doing two months ago — it could add up to a nice little annual bonus for the artist behind what Combs has called his “first favorite song.” – AU

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: Tyler the Creator’s new material is overshadowed by an older favorite, TikTok goes “Narcissistic” and a contemporary Christian rock classic gets a boost from an unlikely corner.

“See You Again,” Again: Tyler, the Creator’s 2017 Single Back for a Hot 100 Run

While Tyler, the Creator recently charted a trio of new cuts from his Call Me If You Get Lost: The Estate Sale deluxe reissue on the Billboard Hot 100, this week his highest-peaking entry on the chart comes from several album eras earlier. “See You Again,” the Kali Uchis-featuring love song, originally appeared on Tyler’s 2017 Columbia album Flower Boy, and just missed Billboard’s marquee songs chart, peaking at No. 13 on the Bubbling Under listing. 

But the song has remained a steady streamer in the six years since its initial release, and in the past month, it’s crossed the threshold from “reliable catalog performer” to “legitimate new hit.” The song got a big boost from TikTok, of course, in particular via a trend of users lip syncing to, or commenting on, the section where Tyler’s “OK OK OK” and Uchis’ “La la la” hooks overlap, as well as a variety of other popular videos using the video over the last month. The star duo also gave the song a spotlight with a performance at weekend one of Coachella on April 16, with Tyler making a special appearance during Uchis’ set.

The combined result has been a surge over the past four weeks from 3.9 official on-demand U.S. streams (for the tracking week ending March 30) to nearly 8.3 million on the week ending April 20, according to Luminate – a gain of 112%. Consequently, the song debuts at No. 65 on the Hot 100 this week, belatedly making it the biggest hit on the chart from Flower Boy (passing the No. 87 peak of the A$AP Rocky-featuring “Who Dat Boy”), and also Uchis’ highest-charting entry since her breakout hit “Telepatía” hit No. 25 in summer 2021. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Odetari Opens Up & Scores an Unlikely Dance Hit

This week, rising producer Odetari scores his first-ever chart entry with “Narcissistic Personality Disorder,” which debuts at No. 11 on the Hot Dance/Electronic Songs chart. “Lost for words,” the independent artist posted on Twitter upon finding out about the feat — but based on the weeks-long rise of the propulsive track, the dance chart debut is only the beginning for Odetari’s viral hit.

The Houston native has described the self-released song as “about me constantly being in battle with destructive habits and asking god/universe for forgiveness,” and has used his recent singles to document his multiple personality disorders. The frankness of the lyrics (“I’m so full of myself, I’m selfish / Everybody want some help, can’t help it”), paired with the unrelenting tempo of his production, has proven affecting to listeners, and “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” has blown up on TikTok, with positive reactions to Odetari’s own posts as well as clips using the song as a soundtrack to others’ personal issues.

As a result, the song has skyrocketed on streaming platforms since its Apr. 1 release: from 65,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the week ending Apr. 6, to 1.33 million streams the following week, to 2.38 million the following week, according to Luminate. Considering its subject matter and under-two-minutes run time, “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” is an unlikely breakthrough hit — but the more listeners connecting with its powerful message, the higher it will climb. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

A Travis Scott Interlude Gets Its Due

With interludes an increasingly common fixture of major hip-hop and pop albums over the last couple decades, fans are always lobbying for their musical short kings to be given their due. In the streaming age, those songs are able to find their audiences like never before, with brief-but-captivating cuts like The Weeknd’s Lana Del Rey-featuring “Stargirl Interlude” and Paramore’s “Interlude: I’m Not Angry Anymore” becoming among the most-listened-to cuts on their respective full-lengths. 

In truth, Travis Scott’s “sdp interlude,” from 2016’s Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight, isn’t even that short – over three minutes, practically prog rock by this era’s standards. But fans have still made the case for it being underrecognized on TikTok over the past few months, saluting the original and also sharing clips of an unreleased fuller version with more of Scott’s actual rapping on it. As a result, fans have returned to the proper McKnight version on streaming, with official on-demand U.S. plays of the song raising from 1.1 million for the week ending March 30 to nearly 2.0 million for the week ending April 20, according to Luminate – a gain of 81%. – AU

Hillsong’s ‘Oceans’ Becomes a Streaming Knockout

While boxing and worship music aren’t the most natural fit together, a much-ballyhooed heavyweight bout in Las Vegas last Saturday night (Apr. 22) caused a streaming uptick for one of the biggest Christian music hits of the past decade. Before taking the ring for his match against Gervonta “Tank” Davis, 24-year-old lightweight fighter Ryan Garcia used “Oceans (Where Feet May Fail),” the 2013 smash from Hillsong United, as his walkout music, causing an eruption of chatter about the decade-old song from fans surprised by the choice as well as unfamiliar listeners newly discovering the track.

Although Garcia ultimately lost the fight, “Oceans” won a healthy streaming gain: the song rose 56% in daily streams from Saturday to Sunday, up to 360,000 streams, according to Luminate. That’s a nice boost for the winner of the Top Christian Song prize at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards, which spent a record 61 nonconsecutive weeks atop the Hot Christian Songs chart. – JL

Q&A: Alex Tear, VP Music Programming at SiriusXM + Pandora, on What’s Trending Up in His World

What’s been the most interesting pop trend over the first four months of 2023, in your opinion?

As we rolled into 2023, David Guetta & Bebe Rexha’s “I’m Good” sampled Eiffel 65’s “Blue,” and Metro Boomin with The Weeknd & 21 Savage have a chart-leading presence with “Creepin,” that’s maximizing Mario Winans’ 2004 hit [“I Don’t Wanna Know”]. We’ve now got several new sample-led entries at pop radio, from [songs that use] Haddaway’s “What Is Love” to La Bouche’s “Be My Lover” to Alice Deejay “Better Off Alone” to Fatboy Slim’s “Praise You.” What’s old is new, and we’ll keep close to audience reaction to amplify or minimize our latest artist/industry appreciation or short-cut for appeal to the masses.

We’re getting close to Song of the Summer territory. What are some tracks you’re keeping an eye on?

I feel we’re still a few rollercoaster clicks from reaching our song(s) of summer vision, but I do like the continued mass appeal movement with Pop Country artists finding their way at top 40. Although a remake, Luke Combs kills it with “Fast Car.” Kane & Katelyn Brown and Morgan Wallen continue to rise up the pop charts. No doubt, there’s more to be had! Let’s not forget Dan + Shay, who’ve had great success at mainstream pop and are currently climbing the chart with Charlie Puth [collaboration “That’s Not How This Works”]. We’re also embracing Avery Anna on HITS 1: her track “Self Love” is reacting well with our SiriusXM audience.   

We’ve seen multiple years-old songs, from The Weeknd’s “Die For You” to Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary” to Miguel’s “Sure Thing,” push toward the top of the charts in recent months. How has that trend affected how you consider your programming?

These are all welcome additions that are in the moment of pop culture for one reason or another. We’ll continue to track fatigue with our SiriusXM listeners who will tell us enough is enough.

– Fill in the blank: the artist I’m most interested to see how the rest of their year plays out is ______.

First: so proud of SZA’s continued breakthrough. She’s been a force, but 2023 feels to have solidified her dominance. I’m keeping close to the continued K-Pop movement. XG’s “Left Right” & FIFTY FIFTY’s “Cupid” are topping Shazam and streaming very well. NewJeans is lurking, Stray Kids are making noise, and of course Blackpink had a solid 2022 U.S. pop presence. Let’s also keep a close watch on BTS’s Jimin, coming off a recent No. 1, and Jin, who’s climbing the U.S. charts. – JL

Season’s Gainings: Up in Smoke & Up in Streams

Whether they were celebrating the annual stoner holiday or unwinding from the blue check purge on Twitter, listeners unsurprisingly flocked to a variety of smoking- and weed-themed anthems this past 4/20. Among the bigger gainers were Sublime’s “Smoke Two Joints” (up 114% to 161,000 in official on-demand U.S. streams from April 19-20, according to Luminate), Rick James’ “Mary Jane” (up 92% to 142,000), Peter Tosh’s “Legalize It” (up 149% to 49,000) and Afroman’s “Because I Got High” (up 164% to 250,000). But if you were more concerned with the blaze outside your home than the blazing inside, you might’ve instead turned to Glass Animals’ “Heat Waves” – which, with temperatures spiking nationwide, rose 23% to nearly 7.1 million streams for the week ending April 20. – AU

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, 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: Jack Black’s Bowser mega-ballad gives The Super Mario Bros. Movie a breakout hit, Taylor Swift’s Joe Alwyn-themed songs see a spike after news of their split emerges, Amazon turns a Queen deep cut into a best-seller and much more.

“Peaches” Ripe for a Chart Breakout: Jack Black’s Super Mario Bros. Movie Ballad Goes Viral

The new Super Mario Bros. Movie had a historic opening at the box office last weekend, grossing a staggering $204.6 million over its first five days of release. Though the movie has gotten mixed reviews, one part that’s been positively received has been the voice work of Jack Black as the villainous Bowser – an inspired bit of casting that may also be leading to a hit single in addition to the blockbuster movie. 

Black’s “Peaches” debuted last week along with the movie, accompanied by a music video directed by Lyrical Lemonade’s Cole Bennett, featuring the entertainer (in the flesh) delivering a full-bodied performance of the piano ballad alone in a tower. The song, released via Universal Pictures subsidiary Back Lot Music, got off to a strong start in streaming and sales, and has only grown in the days since, as the movie has conquered theaters nationwide. It’s risen from 218,000 daily official on-demand U.S. streams and about 500 digital song sales on April 7 in its first full day of release to 961,000 and 1,000 in streams and sales on April 10 – gains of 342% and 104%, respectively, according to Luminate. 

If the song continues to grow in those metrics (which seems likely, especially as the song continues to spread on TikTok), it should challenge for a spot on the Billboard Hot 100 within the next week or two. That would be a first for Jack Black as a solo artist – though he did hit No. 78 in 2006 as part of his band Tenacious D with the title theme to their movie The Pick of Destiny, and a second for the Super Mario film franchise, as Roxette reached No. 94 with “Amost Unreal,” from 1993’s less-successful Super Mario Bros. film adaptation. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Taylor Swift’s ‘Cornelia Street,’ ‘The 1’ & More Rise in Streams Following Breakup Reports

Taylor Swift fans were shocked last Saturday (Apr. 8) when reports emerged that the superstar and her longtime boyfriend, British actor Joe Alwyn, had broken up after more than six years together. Although the reportedly amicable split  has yet to be confirmed by either Swift or Alwyn, fans reacted by revisiting some of Swift’s songs that are perceived to be about Alwyn, as well as touching upon heartbreak — resulting in notable streaming bumps in the days that followed.

The main beneficiaries in the Republic superstar’s catalog were “Cornelia Street” — the Lover album cut, which contemplates heartache through a nostalgic lens, rose 50% in U.S. on-demand daily streams from Apr. 8, the day that the news broke (158,000 streams, according to Luminate), to the following day (239,000 streams) — and Folklore opener “The 1,” which reflects on past love and spiked nearly 25% from 258,000 streams on Apr. 8 to 322,000 on Apr. 9. “London Boy,” the Lover track about a Tennessee woman falling for a British man, also posted a slight gain, up nearly 10% in streams from Saturday to Sunday.

“The 1” actually rose even higher on Monday, Apr. 10, to 393,000 streams that day, after astute Swifties pointed out that the superstar had swapped the song in to her Eras tour set list beginning in Arlington, Texas on Mar. 31. “The 1” took the place of “Invisible String” — another Folklore track that alludes to Swift’s extended romance with Alwyn, but through a more hopeful lens — perhaps hinting at the reported breakup a little over a week before news broke.

Swift’s Eras tour continues tomorrow night (Apr. 13) in Tampa, and fans are wondering if she’ll address the reports from the stage. In the meantime, they’re not only playing “Cornelia Street” more often — they’re also trying to piece together clues from her recent dinner outing near Cornelia Street in New York City. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

Queen’s “Cool Cat” Sinks Its Claws Into the Charts, Thanks to Amazon Commercial

Chances are you’ve seen it at least once while waiting to watch something else on streaming in the past months: a young girl frets about a mustache she can’t get rid of, before seeing a similar ‘stache on various pop culture icons – most importantly, Freddie Mercury – and decides to lean into it by ordering a yellow military jacket like the late Queen frontman used to wear. As she rocks the jacket in her classroom, she dances along to a Queen song on her headphones, gleefully oblivious to the rest of the world. 

While many commercials might’ve opted for one of the band’s many universally recognizable classic rock anthems, Amazon Prime opted for a deeper cut for the ad: “Cool Cat,” the slinky penultimate track on the band’s 1982 album Hot Space. The strategy is paying off, at least for Queen: “Cool Cat” has been steadily rising in both sales and streams over the past month, with 478,000 official on-demand U.S. streams for the week ending April 6 (up 166% from three weeks earlier, according to Luminate) and 1,100 in digital sales (up 397%). It’s still below a number of their other perennials in weekly streams, but the song hits the top 10 of Billboard’s Digital Rock Song Sales chart this week (dated April 15) – their only song on the listing. – AU

‘Barbie’ Trailer Offers ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’ in the Sun

While Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie movie, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, promises to be a modern spin on the beloved Mattel doll with plenty of winks and 2023-friendly wordplay, the first full trailer for the film used a nearly 60-year-old pop classic as its soundtrack, albeit in a slightly new form. The Beach Boys’ timeless 1964 single “Fun, Fun, Fun,” licensed through Universal Music Publishing Group, was given a sped-up facelift – and as the trailer went viral, the track subsequently increased its daily streams.

Following the clip’s Apr. 4 release, daily streams of “Fun, Fun, Fun” rose from 37,000 on that day to 58,000 by the following Monday (Apr. 10), according to Luminate. Whether or not the song is used in the film, due out July 21, “Fun, Fun, Fun” — which climbed up to No. 5 on the Hot 100 in its heyday — should still get a nice summertime bounce in streams, when The Beach Boys can actually be played at the beach. – J.L.

Q&A: Bryant Pino, Director of Latin Music Programming at SiriusXM, on What’s Trending Up in His World

What Latin trends have defined the first quarter of 2023?

You have been hearing women dominate the music charts and pack the dancefloors. Dembow is now a definite must at any party or gathering. Artist experimenting with other genres has been refreshing. Lastly, collaborations is still a powerful music must-do.

A few new artists have become stars over the past few months. Are there any that are particularly intriguing to you?

I think this year has some great female acts. Young Miko: as an early supporter, I think her lyrical wordplay is refreshing and glad others are taking notice. PaoPao is another [good] bet that SiriusXM is highlighting as an artist to watch in our Next Wave music discovery concert series. Also being highlighted is Lennis Rodriguez, with her mix of Afro and tropical urban sounds. Plus, DannyLux is an act I am choosing to be part of this series, for his innovative and genre-defying emo-Mexican music. .

Last year was a watershed moment for Latin pop, thanks in part to the record-setting run of Bad Bunny. How will you remember 2022, and how do you think it has already impacted Latin music programming this year?

Collaborations! From Shakira collaborating with Karol G and Bizarrap, El Alfa with Black Eyed Peas, Camilo with Grupo Firme, Marshmello doing a merengue song with Manuel Turizo, Romeo Santos singing bachata with Justin Timberlake. The power of a good collaboration can break genre norms and open you up to a whole new demographic. Plus, artists tap into other genres, experimenting with EDM, Mexican, tropical, trap and dembow.

Fill in the blank: this summer, Latin music listeners will be obsessed with ________.

Concerts and festivals. As our personal preferences have become more open and or diverse, you will see more festivals and concerts cater to all types of music lovers. You will be able to enjoy Bad Bunny headlining a festival like Coachella, and hear Steve Aoki play with CNCO onstage at a dance festival. This summer, music will have infinite possibilities and outlets. – JL

Season’s Gainings: Put Me in Your Playlist, Coach

The past few weeks have brought the return of Major League Baseball to our lives, and not a moment too soon – especially if the streaming data for one of rock’s great baseball anthems is any indication. John Fogerty’s “Centerfield,” with its famous “Put me in, coach/ I’m ready to play today” and namechecks of Willie Mays, Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio, is up to 431,000 official on-demand U.S. streams for the week ending April 6, up from 329,000 three weeks before – a 31% gain, according to Luminate. With the NBA playoffs now around the corner, though, we’ll have to see if those timely streams end up jumping over to Pitbull and Kesha’s “Timber.” – AU

Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, 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: A college team’s locker room pre-game ritual helps Lil Baby score a breakout hit from two solo albums ago, the new John Wick blockbuster gives boosts to its soundtrack cuts, Sexyy Red enjoys an X-rated breakout hit and much more.

Lil Baby’s ‘Low Down’ Soars High Thanks to March Madness

Although the Kansas State men’s basketball team may have had their hopes for a national championship dashed last weekend when they lost a heartbreaker to the upstart Florida Atlantic University team to miss out on the Final Four, hopefully the Wildcats can take solace in the fact that they’ve actively helped Lil Baby score an out-of-nowhere viral hit.

During their run to the Elite 8, the Kansas State squad used “Low Down,” a deep cut from the deluxe edition of Baby’s 2020 chart-topper My Turn (via Capitol/Motown/Wolfpack/Quality Control) as their pump-up anthem, sharing videos of team meetings in which the whole team is clapping along to the song’s beat (with the coaching staff sometimes doing a little more dancing than clapping!). TikTok users ran with the association between the team and the song, and during the week-and-a-half in which Kansas State competed in March Madness, dozens of clap-along clips were posted — and “Low Down” started rising on streaming charts.

During the week ending Mar. 16, “Low Down” earned a total of 2.44 million U.S. on-demand streams, according to Luminate. Then, when March Madness officially kicked off on Mar. 16, weekly streams for “Low Down” dramatically rose 84%, up to 4.44 million during the week ending Mar. 23. While Kansas State’s run may have ended, “Low Down” is still holding strong in the top 10 of Apple Music’s Top 100 chart, and will still be racking up streams by the time a new NCAA champion is crowned early next week. – JASON LIPSHUTZ

John Wick Songs Light Up on Search and Streaming

To the delight of action film fans and dog lovers everywhere, the fourth chapter in the John Wick franchise was released last Friday (March 24) to rave reviews and excellent box office returns. Though the series has never really produced a breakout sync, interest in the dark-hued dance music used in the films remains high: Chapter Four has dominated the TuneFind Trending Music page (which indexes music and songs appearing in popular TV shows, movies and video games), occupying at least three of the top five spots in the days following its release.

That newly piqued interest has resulted in modest streaming bumps for some of the songs involved, as well. Gesaffelstein’s “Hate or Glory” has steadily risen from just over 1,000 daily on-demand official U.S. streams on March 23 (before the movie’s release) to over 7,000 on March 27 – a 417% gain, according to Luminate – while Le Castle Vania’s “LED Spirals” is up from under 10,000 to over 20,000 (a 107% gain) and Justice’s “Genesis” is up from under 9,000 to nearly 12,000 (a 38% gain). And the songs are still climbing, as more fans see the movie and are inspired to soundtrack their own imaginary assassin battle scenes. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER

Sexyy Red Scores an Explicit Hit

St. Louis rapper Sexyy Red has been delivering raunchy singles over the past three years, turning herself into a quotable local star with songs like “Throw That Mf” and “Hood Bitch.” Yet the MC is primed to break out of the midwest thanks to the X-rated anthem “Pound Town,” with weekly streams for the track starting to soar in recent weeks following the single’s late January release.

With an eerie piano line courtesy of all-star producer Tay Keith (Drake, Travis Scott), “Pound Town” (released independently via Open Shift Distribution) has expanded its audience thanks in part to a sex-positive, ladies-first TikTok challenge. Meanwhile, multiple versions of the song — some with Sexyy Red solo, others with Tay Keith listed as a guest artist — have popped up on streaming platforms, and both a dating-show-spoofing official video and “spring break edition” of the song are listed on YouTube. 

Regardless of how it’s being consumed, “Pound Town” looks like a breakthrough: after earning 121,000 U.S. on-demand streams during the week ending Feb. 23, according to Luminate, the single was up to 1.16 million streams for the week ending Mar. 23. Sexyy Red has yet to score a Billboard Hot 100 hit, but if that growth continues, that’s a challenge she’ll have completed soon enough. – JL

The “Poetic Rizz” of French ‘60s Soundtrack Composers

The phrase “rizz” may sound either eye-rollingly done-to-death or totally unfamiliar to you depending on your age and/or degree of onlineness, but it’s helped a theme song from a 1960s French drama become an unlikely viral sensation in recent weeks. The theme is from 1968 drama La Leçon Particulière (The Private Lesson), and it’s a rousing orchestral instrumental composed by Oscar winner Francis Lai. 

The song found unexpected new life on TikTok thanks to its frequent accompaniment of videos demonstrating “poetic rizz” – or basically, users trying to show off their game at being seductively romantic in a particularly lyrical manner. (Often sarcastically.) In any event, the song’s sweeping melodrama has made the jump to streaming – the clip has exploded from around 31,000 on-demand official U.S. streams for the tracking week ending to over 496,000 four weeks later, a 1,500% hike, according to Luminate. Now, just wait till Gen Z discovers Love Story. – AU

Q&A: Priyanka Khimani, founder of Khimani & Associates, on What’s Trending Up in Her World

As one of India’s most prominent entertainment lawyers, what issues has your firm focused on most recently?

With the increasing presence of global digital streaming and social media services in India, coupled with growing consumption of Indian-language music across territories, we have had to extensively focus on navigating the music rights licensing landscape.

India often becomes a challenging territory, for three reasons:- (i) the various complexities around publishing rights; (ii) the tumultuous relationship between record labels (who double up as publishers) and authors (who, for the most part, do not control any copyright, but are entitled to receive their share of royalties); and (iii) the lack of uniformity in the relationship between major labels and the primary Indian PROs. Generally educating songwriters and artists on the relevance of publishing, its long-term value proposition and why holding on to it is essential to their future, has been another focus area.

Sync music licenses and music clearance generally have also seen a sharp increase in India, with the continued intersection of film and TV with music. Sync licensing has breathed new life into the non-film and independent music sector, giving artists greater control over when, and how, their music is placed or used.

What’s the biggest change that needs to take place within India’s music industry deals?

In so far as digital licensing deals are concerned, there needs to be a clear path towards licensing on all sides of music copyright, especially on the music publishing front. Rights ownership and administration is so uniquely structured in India that licensees often find themselves caught between conflicting interests of record labels (doubling as publishers), authors and the Indian PROs. There’s a pressing need for increased efficiency, better licensing models and structures, as well as clarity on which stakeholder collects what and through which route. This will lead to increased revenue generation, and generally boost confidence in India as an important emerging market.

When it comes to artist/songwriter deals in India, there needs to be a more equitable approach to ownership of publishing rights, as opposed to the traditional buy-out model. Thankfully, there’s been a gradual shift in the recent past as talk and awareness around publishing generally has become more informed and collaborative.

What’s the most common misconception about the Indian music industry?

There are two, actually. First, that the Indian film and music industry is only “Bollywood.” This is obviously untrue – not only are there multiple big film, TV and music industries in India covering different regions and languages, but, more importantly, music is no longer necessarily tied to film & TV. There’s a thriving, stand-alone, non-film, independent music sector which is taking root in India, as well as with the South-Asian diaspora across the world. In fact, most of the current artists that are on top of the India charts are all largely independent and didn’t come out of “Bollywood” or any other Indian film industry. Quite to the contrary, the film and TV industry has been leaning in to the non-film and independent music artists/labels and increasingly licensing or adapting or eventually even buying out their music for on-screen projects.

The other misconception is that we are not a touring market for international artists or festivals. Perhaps the reason for this is the misguided perception that we don’t consume Anglo-American/non-Indian music. I believe this is untrue. There might be other on-ground challenges from the lens of production, infrastructure, and even price points for ticket sales. The rupee value against the dollar doesn’t help either. However, if one is able to take these factors into consideration and tailor the offering to a local audience, organizers may be surprised to discover how much of a demand the market holds.

Fill in the blank: artists attempting to break through on a global stage need to pay closer attention to _______.

Getting their house in order – every artist needs to be equipped with the right team. An agent, manager, attorney, business manager – all have a separate and distinct role to play, and yet must work closely and in sync with each other, because everyone’s playing on the same team. Eliminating a needless string of middlemen, investing in and surrounding yourself with professionals who understand the business, is the key to long-term sustainability of your music and entrepreneurial career. – JL

Season’s Gainings: Future’s Perennial “March Madness”

You’d have to ask the man born Nayvadius Wilburn about how his bracket is doing this upset-heavy NCAA season, but whenever the calendar turns to its third month, you can bet that Future is winning in at least one respect. His 56 Nights fan favorite (and one of Billboard’s Songs That Defined the 2010s) “March Madness” is guaranteed to tick up this time of year – and so far it has, growing from 2.3 weekly million on-demand official U.S. streams for the week ending Feb. 23 to 2.7 million a month later, a gain of 18% – a number that could climb even higher with the Final Four matchups on the docket for this weekend. In any event, it’s already well ahead of “One Shining Moment.” – AU