12/28/08 Hot AC Chart – Holiday slowdown in full effect

The chart is in the middle of its holiday slowdown as many stations air Christmas music and year-end type shows. Katy Perry holds at the top of the chart for a second week. However, her song “Hot N Cold” has the biggest loss of spins of any song on the chart. Nickelback also loses spins but is able to inch up to #2 and may give Katy a run for #1 for the first chart of 2009.

18 songs hold their positions this week. No songs enter or exit the top 10 or top 20.

Pink has the only new song on the chart this week as “Sober” enters at #38. It’s her 10th solo hit on the chart. Her collaboration on “Lady Marmalade” would give her 11 hits on the chart.  Buckcherry return to the chart after 1 week away with “Don’t Go Away”.

Chart watchers should note that the recurrent rule is not in effect again this week. There are 4 songs that should be removed when the rule returns.

All chart data © Mediabase 24/7

12/21/08 Hot AC Chart: Katy Perry’s #1, Fray go top 10

For the first time in about 3 months we have a new #1 song on the Hot AC chart: “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry. She moves 3-1 this week in her 14th week on the chart. It’s the 4th #1 song during 2008 by a solo female. The others were “Bubbly” by Colbie Caillat, “Love Song” by Sarah Bareilles, and “Bleeding Love” by Leona Lewis.

Pink slips back to #4 and has to settle for a #2 peak. “Who Knew”, her last hit, also peaked at #2.

The Fray score a 3rd top 10 on Hot AC as “You Found Me” rises 13-10. Three out of their 5 hits have made the top 10.

Two songs move into the top 20: “Let It Rock” by Kevin Rudolf f/ Lil Wayne and “Human” by the Killers. Twenty-two years ago this week on the pop chart, the Human League were on their way down the chart with their song titled “Human”.

Eric Hutchinson enters the top 30 this week at #29. He is currently #1 on the Triple-A chart.

The week’s only debut is by Beyonce, whose “Single Ladies” enters at #39. She now has 2 songs in the top 40.

Chart Note: Mediabase did not remove songs to recurrent this week, and probably won’t again next week.

All chart data © Mediabase 24/7

12/14/08 Hot AC Chart – Holiday Slowdown Continues, Taylor Swift moves up

Holding at the top of the chart for an eleventh week is “I’m Yours”. The song will reach the 40 weeks on chart mark before the end of the year. Pink, who looked like a contender to replace Jason at #1, has lost her bullet and looks weak again. Katy Perry moves to #3 with Nickelback at #4. Only one spin separates #3 from #4. Also close in spins are Leona Lewis and Daughtry, who are actually tied. Daughtry rebounds to #7 since the song has a bullet, while Leona falls and has one of the biggest spin losses on the chart.

The holiday slowdown continues, with no songs entering the top 10 for an amazing 5th week in a row. David Cook is less than 100 spins from #10, and the Fray should reach there soon as their song has a bullet around 500 spins.

Taylor Swift leaps 7 notches to#18 and is the biggest mover of the week.  Kevin Rudolf inches up to #21.

Eric Hutchinson climbs to #32 in his 6th week on the chart.

All chart data © Mediabase 24/7

Comprehensive Singles Chart, Part II

In an earlier post I noted how Billboard should create a Comprehensive Singles chart like it does its Comprehensive Albums chart. In brief, the Comprehensive Albums chart ranks all albums based on their sales, including the older catalog titles that do not appear on the Billboard 200. A Comprehensive Singles chart would include all songs, whether they were current or recurrent.

This week, Christmas songs would have returned to the Comprehensive Singles chart if it existed. Let’s take “All I Want for Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey for example. For the Hot Digital Songs chart used for the 12/20/08 Hot 100, “All I Want…” would be in the top 20. Her position on the Hot 100 Airplay chart would be in the top 30 (see same link). This should put her back into the top 40. It would be interesting to see how this and other Christmas songs would rank compared to current hits.   Other examples: The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is in the top 40 digital sales, and Nat King Cole would be in the top 40 of the airplay chart.

12/07/08 Hot AC Chart: Race for #1 tightens up, Britney returns to HAC

Jason Mraz holds at the top spot for a tenth week with “I’m Yours”. His reign looks to be coming to an end sooner than later as the race to replace him at the top tightens up. Pink is at #2 and is only about 100 spins from taking the top spot. Meanwhile Nickelback move to #3 and Katy Perry moves up to #4. As the holiday slowdown continues, anything is possible in the next few weeks.

For the fourth week in a row, no songs exit the top 10. Only one song exits the top 20 as “It’s Not My Time” is removed to recurrent. The Fray’s “You Found Me” makes the biggest move of the week and climbs 6 to #16.  David Cook inches up 1 to #11, but he still has a way to go to break into the stubborn top 10.

For fans of the other Idol David, Archuleta returns to his peak of #15 with “Crush”. Thanks to Kevin Rudolf, Lil Wayne gets closer to having his first top 20 Hot AC hit: “Let It Rock” moves up to #22.

Britney Spears returns to the Hot AC chart after 4 years away as “Womanizer” enters at #38. This is her 6th song to chart at Hot AC. Her last hit was “Everytime”, which peaked at #26. Christina Aguilera is currently on the chart as well with “Keeps Gettin’ Better” at #24. This is the first time both singers have been on the HAC chart at the same time since the Summer of 2000.  The other debut this week is Lady Gaga with “Just Dance”.

All chart data (c) Mediabase 24/7

11/30/08 Hot AC Chart: The Fray’s big debut, David Cook approaches top 10

Jason Mraz remains at the top of the chart for a 9th week. Pink inches closer to #1, moving up to #2 with “So What”. However she still needs about 300 spins to beat Jason.

For the most part, the Hot AC chart remains slow due to the holiday season. No songs enter or exit the top 10 for a third consecutive week. However, there is some movement within the top 10. Katy Perry makes the top 5 at #5 with “Hot N Cold”, while Leona Lewis moves up to #7 with “Better in Time”.  There remains about a 500 spin blockade between #10 and #11.

Jumping 4 notches to #12 is David Cook’s “Light on”.  The other David from American Idol, David Archuleta, rebounds back up to #16. Also rebounding this week is Jon McLaughlin, who reaches a new peak of #19 with “Beating My Heart”.

The big news of the week is the Fray, who debut all the way up at #22 with “You Found Me”. This is the highest debut on the chart since April 2007, when Kelly Clarkson also entered at #22 with “Never Again”.  Their bullet is over 700 spins.

Theory of a Deadman re-enter the top 40 at a new peak of #38 for the only other entry this week.

All chart data (c) Mediabase 24/7