This week’s most-added song on Top 40 radio was Taylor Swift’s “Elizabeth Taylor”, the third single from her extremely successful album The Life of a Showgirl. “The Fate of Ophelia” and “Opalite” were obvious smash hits from the beginning, leading in stream counts on Spotify, spins on radio and requests on Liveline. There aren’t many artists who manage to achieve three number-ones off a single album, but in the past few years, artists like Sabrina Carpenter, Doja Cat and Olivia Rodrigo have proven it possible. The best instance is the legendary string of hits from Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” in 2010, with six chart-toppers. Something no one has achieved before or in the streaming era!
“Elizabeth Taylor” has been out since October 3. It was initially one of the album’s streaming leaders but is no longer in the Spotify Top 200. “Ophelia” (31) and “Opalite” (#57) are both still in the Spotify Top 60. Her fans and average listeners are not showing strong passion for the album’s other tracks. We’ve only had two requests for the song since its release. Yes, it’s by a core artist—practically the only one CHR had for several years—but there are millions of people listening to so many other huge streaming hits that many programmers are still ignoring.
Quick Observations on Emerging Hits
Harry Styles – “American Girls”: In the past 9 days since its release, “American Girls” has already gotten more total requests than “Aperture” has since January 22. The first single was really odd, but the rest of the album is actually pretty good, though much of it is still a bit artsy for Top 40. “American Girls” is the best performing of them all, currently #4 on Spotify in the US (“Aperture” is #30, despite a first week rebound) and was our #14 request last week.
Bella Kay – “iloveitiloveitiloveit”: It’s been all over TikTok for the past two months and actually translating to streams too. The whole song is good, not just 8 seconds of it. Already Top 10 on Spotify in a dozen countries, including the US where it’s #9. She’s 19 and from Orlando. She had another song last August with 102 million streams called “The Sick.” Atlantic Records is behind it now, and it’s our #16 request. Showing all the signs of a big Pop Smash!
Dominic Fike – “Babydoll”: Now #1 on Spotify in the world, this 90-second song from 8 years ago is proving to be much more than just a quick social media moment. It’s also #3 streaming in the US and is huge with the 18-34 audience, but was a streaming phenomenon when it first came out and for whatever reason is having its real time to shine now! How can you argue with a #1 song in the world? Some streaming hits are challenging for various reasons—this one is cute, fun, and popular already. More evidence that the real hits are there in front of us. Liveline’s #12 request last week.
PinkPantheress, Zara Larsson – “Stateside”: #1 on Spotify in the US and #2 globally. There are only 5 or 6 definitive songs each year, and this could be one of them. Already #5 on Liveline after three weeks of airplay. This is amongst the ranks of “Ordinary” and” Man I Need.” Larsson will be our special guest on Liveline this Friday night, March 20.
Ella Langley – “Choosin’ Texas”: A consistent Top 3 hit on Spotify since December. #1 country song of the past three years. Why are so many major-market stations not playing it at all? It’s not a “rural” or small market thing. Streaming statistics and our real, raw Liveline requests show that men and women of all ages love this song, even if they aren’t typical country fans. #6 in requests last week with really stiff competition above it. Why wait for callout? When requests from Liveline’s radio audience match big streaming numbers, it’s already a hit with the audience.
Bruno Mars – “Risk It All”: The follow up to “I Just Might” which just went #1 on Top 40 and Rhythmic radio! A slowed down, Latin-infused ballad that women love! #6 on Spotify in the US and #3 in the world. While global charts are heavily influenced by Latin and European countries, the numbers also show that it’s a hit here. A song like “Risk It All” attracts people of all ages and is not just the cheesy formula pop like “I Just Might” which is now being compared to soccer-mom favorites like “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake and “Believer” by Imagine Dragons. As a Gen Z myself, I can assure you that people 16-25 do not like those songs, but they’re responding to this one.
