With summer officially ending Monday, the minimal but hopeful trickle of winning new music coming in for fall is clear, based on data from Spotify and our requests, which include some massive throwbacks we were expecting. Here are some notes on our Top 20 requests the past week, which were tabulated from three days of calls and six days of texts, as I attended Minneapolis for the 45th “and final” Conclave.
#1. Olivia Rodrigo – stupid song
#2. Tame Impala – Loser: From Spider Man: Brand New Day, now the highest-grossing film of all time.
#3. Malcolm Todd – Earrings: Still only #15 on Top 40 spins but Top 5 on Spotify and Liveline for months!
#4. Dominic Fike – Babydoll
#5. Olivia Rodrigo – the cure: #7 on US Spotify and has constantly outperformed “drop dead” in requests and streaming. It’s one of her best songs ever and the fans know it. Only #49 on Top 40 airplay, likely because the label isn’t pushing it and it’s nearly five minutes, but truly worth it)
#6. Noah Kahan – Orbiter: Kahan’s “Stick Season” is blowing up again too. Like “Sweater Weather” and Gigi Perez’s “Sailor Song” (#33 on Spotify), his songs just sound like fall. Plus, have you seen the YouTubes from his multi-night, sold out stadium shows?
#7. Ella Langley – Choosin’ Texas: #1 on Billboard Hot 100 for the 23rd week, making it the longest-running chart topper in history. #1 on Spotify US again too. Still only #6 on Top 40. “Be Her” could be the proper follow up with requests starting to pick up for it. #9 on US Spotify and #48 on Top 40.
#8. STELLA LEFTY – Boston
#9. Michael Jackson – Thriller: Since his massive April biopic release, this is the first time “Billie Jean” is being outperformed by another MJ song in requests.
#10. Zara Larsson – Midnight Sun: Now that radio airplay and the chart run has trailed off, it’s getting more streams and requests than ever. This is the highest the song has been on Liveline.
#11. Dolly Parton – 9 To 5
#12. ADÉLA – Ain’t In LA: #8 on US Spotify. “Nicole Kidman” is #2, but not generating as many requests yet.
#13. Steve Lacy – oh yeah?
#14. Olivia Rodrigo – drop dead
#15. Shakira, Burna Boy – Dai Dai
#16. Olivia Dean – Man I Need
#17. Rihanna – Don’t Stop The Music (#37 on US Spotify, likely due to the popularity of throwbacks in the general but because it samples MJ’s “Wanna Be Startin’ Something”)
#18. Michael Jackson – Billie Jean
#19. Ariana Grande – hate that i made you love me
#20. The Neighbourhood – Sweater Weather (Like every year, expect this seasonal favorite from 2013 to stick around through November. Currently #25 on US Spotify)
Another song surprisingly not generating a lot of requests yet, despite massive streams and Shazam reaction is “BbY WOW” by Karol G. In desperate need of something rhythmic, we just added it on Liveline. It’s completely in Spanish, but the melody and production are so good as it is, and it’s one of the best sounding songs on the radio right now. It’s been #1 on Shazam and Spotify globally for a couple weeks and resembles the Jamaican riddim of “Move Ya Body” by Nina Sky. In the US, it’s #2 on Spotify, #58 on Top 40 (driven by 60 spins on KMVQ/San Francisco) and #30 on Rhythmic where you’d expect something like this to be a key “power new.”
We really need some new Rhythmic hits this Fall. I feel like “So Good” by Jhene Aiko feat. Kendrick Lamar has a good shot to be a pop crossover hit. Also I really like “Good Day” by Anderson Paak.
Why is anyone sleeping on “Magnet And Steel” by Keith Urban ft. Little Big Town (sounding more like Fleetwood Mac than ever)?! It sounds fantastic. Fade it at 3:20 and you’re golden :))
“Magnet and Steel” isn’t a song that would be on a contemporary PD’s radar, unfortunately, but it would have been a great record for AC to break, if AC still played currents or broke even 1-2 songs a year. The original is a treasured song of childhood by a D.C.-area artist, so I would have loved to see it come back. Also, as a music researcher, it’s the kind of song that might have tested well immediately–a song people kinda know, but haven’t heard in a while, by an artist people know–like “Give a Little Bit” by the Goo Goo Dolls.