Billboard Chart Review-2/21/13

Okay, there's been a new development. Billboard has now started to include YouTube views in their methodology for the Hot 100. So now a song's performance is based on: sales (both physical and digital), airplay, and views on YouTube. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this yet, because that might turn into every viral sensation becoming a number one hit. And in fact, that very thing happened this week. So, this week's chart dated March 2, 2013 actually reflects the sales week from February 11-February 17.

The Billboard Hot 100:
Song                                        Position           Last Week
Harlem Shake                          1                      -
Thrift Shop                              2                      1
Stay                                         3                      57        *Digital Gainer*
Scream & Shout                      4                      3         
I knew you were trouble         5                      5
Ho Hey                                   6                      4
Locked out of Heaven            7                      2
When I was your man             8                      9
Suit and Tie                             9                      8
Started from the bottom         10                    63
As you can see, Baauer's "Harlem Shake" viral phenomenon has become the 21st song to debut at number one, and it is all due to its views on YouTube. It has not received any substantial airplay, and it has just been released to digital retailers. I'm not really sure I like this because now a song doesn't have to work to become a hit, it just has to contain some dance or some other distinctive thing in its music video it now can rise to the top, with no airplay or significant sales. In fact, "Thrift Shop" would have been number one still if it had received the large amount of YouTube attention that "Harlem Shake" did. "Thrift" sold 412,000 copies this week, more than any other song, and it received 111 million audience impressions, up from last week. But, Billboard has decided to include video views so, it's a new change we'll have to accept. This really did shake things up this week. That's why Rihanna's "Stay" has also blasted into the top ten, its music video debuted this week and all of her videos received 100 million views or more. "Scream and Shout" through "Suit and Tie" suffer from the YouTube views, since their music videos have not received a significant increase in the past week. Drake's new song "Started from the Bottom", well, I've never heard it, but he has a reputation of making large leaps when a new song comes out. So, now let's see how the new methodology affected the rest of the Hot 100: Mumford and Sons rise 15-12 with "I Will Wait", Fun rises 43-20 with "Carry On", Rihanna also lunges 34-22 with "Pour it Up", Justin Timberlake's "Mirrors" debuts at number 24, Psy rebounds 48-26 with "Gangnam Style" (and yes, the fact that it's the most watched video on YouTube helped make this sudden turn around), Fun's "Some Nights" becomes the 32nd song to spend a year on the Hot 100 and it falls 24-28, Ke$ha falls 29-35 with "C'Mon", and a rebound isn't looking plausible, Gotye and Kimbra bullet 42-36 with "Somebody That I Used to Know" in its 59th chart week, so it looks like its two Grammy wins and music video have re-interested listeners a bit, One Direction rises 72-51 with "Kiss You", and Pink's duet with Nate Ruess "Just Give Me a Reason" debuts at number 84 this week.

The Billboard 200:
Album                                     Position           Last Week
Babel                                       1                      4
2013 Grammy Nominees        2                      11
Unorthodox Jukebox              3                      8
Red                                         4                      12
All That Echoes                      5                      1
The Lumineers                        6                      10
Some Nights                           7                      14
Now 45                                   8                      3
Passione                                  9                      5
Overexposed                           10                    20
YouTube views will never have an effect on album sales, but that doesn't mean we didn't see some excitement this week. The week after the Grammys has now been accounted for, and a staggering eighteen albums in the top forty have seen some significant gain in sales. However, this week's number one, the Grammy-winning "Babel" sold only 180,000 copies, WAY down from last year's Grammy-winning number one "21", which sold 730,000 copies. In fact, album sales haven't been so hot in 2013. The total number of albums sold to date this year is down 6% compared to the sum of this point in 2012. Anyway, the Grammy Nominees compilation makes an expected leap into the top ten, as it does every year. Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, The Lumineers, Fun, and Maroon 5 all benefit from their award wins and performances. So, let's see how the Grammys affected other albums:
Pink rises 23-11 with "The Truth About Love", The Black Keys rise 29-14 with "El Camino", Rihanna inches 17-15 with "Unapologetic", Hunter Hayes shoots 27-17 with "Wanted", Adele's "21" zooms 22-19 in its 104th chart week (and it has yet to chart lower than number 35), Alabama Shakes rises 43-20 with "Boys and Girls", Carrie Underwood rises 41-27 with "Blown Away", Alicia Keys is up 33-28 with "Girl on Fire", Miguel's "Kaleidoscope Dream" bullets 58-39, Zac Brown Band rockets 69-41 with "Uncaged", Frank Ocean increases 46-42 with "Channel Orange", "Journey's Greatest Hits" is our PaceSetter and it blasts 139-46, Zac Brown Band's "The Foundation" also blasts 156-50, Florence + The Machine's "Ceremonials" shoots 91-52, Jack White's "Blunderbuss" vaults 95-54, Kelly Clarkson's Grammy winning "Stronger" sees another gain from 128-70, and taking the biggest plunge this week is Richard Thompson's album "Electric" as it falls 75-198.

So excitment has finally come to the charts, and about time too.