I'll never forget how when Hot Hits actually had a tangible impact, they didn't add Janelle Monae's 'Make Me Feel' even though it spent several days in the Spotify chart without their assistance... what does it take?

The Jade issue for the last three releases has been frustrating, and also with Kylie's 'Tension' which there was no justification for snubbing. I'm just glad Hot Hits doesn't have a monopoly like it did in 2016 era, it literally ended up ruining the commercial music sphere at that time.

Edited March 19Mar 19 by Jessie Where

1 hour ago, Rooney said:

The U.K. music industry is in a bit of a hole at the moment I’d say. Who are our big bets? Maybe Miles Smith. There seems to be a real lack of talent out there who labels are willing to put money behind. America often do big pop music way better than us, they always have done. Some of the acts the industry and labels have pushed recently have been crap. It would be great if U.K. music is more heavily supported, but we also have to make sure the music is good too.

Often our niche has been grime and bands, but grime seems to have completely gone off trend for now and bands just don’t seem to have any traction in the charts these days.

I put a lot of this down to the labels not wanting to invest money due to a declining market. If you go back 10-15 years, the industry was way more predictable. If you had big spend behind artists, more often than not they were guaranteed success. But in todays climate that is a lot more difficult.

You may be right but I'm always a bit sceptical of the hindsight perspective. It's very easy to say 'of course this was/wasn't a hit' after it happens, but it's all just saving face in perpetuity. Every day in the streaming thread, someone's declared the new Chappell Roan song as a definitive success or a failure in reaction to whether it's been higher or lower than expected on the daily Spotify chart, a song that's been out for 5 days. A lot of folks would've scoffed at the notion of Charli XCX's last album being as popular as it was if you'd told them in advance because she spent so long in the wilderness beneath the A-list that it seemed fair to think she'd stay like that no matter what.

Heck, listen to this song and tell me if the international markets missed out on an obvious smash or not. Our 'We have JLS at home' spent 9 consecutive weeks at #1 here with it, but I can't divorce myself from local perspective, so I don't really know if it sounds like it'd ever make it on its own merits in a bigger market. These sorts of pocketed hits don't happen as much anymore but it's not because the music isn't as good, people just aren't hearing them as much over the global/American counterparts. It's all just a promotional game, but I think anything with a glint of hit potential in it would be able to go major if it had the right marketing. No doubt it won't be long until the next once-perceived flop actually turns into a huge hit years down the track.

funny how in non-English speaking countries tiktok has helped made the charts more local

while in English-speaking countries you can barely tell apart the UK charts from the Canadian or Australian charts

for instance here in Denmark, 5 years ago 90% of HH and also 90% of the charts were US-UK hits

since the explosion of tiktok, people wanna do tiktoks to Danish songs

and now both HH and also the charts is the total opposite, 80% Danish songs 20% US

and they also look identical

yesterday I checked the Danish top 50, then I checked HH Denmark and for a second I thought I was still looking at the top 50

cos the 2 playlists were very similar

guess it's the same in other EU countries like FInland or Italy

so here tiktok is helping local music unlike in the UK...

I find the way Hot Hits operates to be quite curious. It's not often they outright snub a song that's proving to be a hit regardless but it's happened before and the most prominent example I can think of is Latto's Big Energy. It spent a fair bit of time in the Spotify top 200 but it charting as high as #21 was mostly down to other platforms as it wasn't ever on Hot Hits UK, in its most popular form (the Mariah/DJ Khaled remix) or otherwise. To this day I don't understand the justification for ignoring that one.

There's also an industry-wide problem of how the artists behind viral hits are treated. There's a huge disparity between the new artists the industry (labels, radio, streaming) are trying to push, and those that have viral hits and generate publicity and a small fanbase that way. It's clear when these artists go on to receive no support for their immediate follow-up. It's why the Sound Of / BRITs Rising Star / etc all feel a bit out of touch to me, and why it's interesting to see them chasing established successes now (Chappell Roan and Myles Smith respectively winning those accolades after scoring at least one top 5 hit each says it all). Yet, the artist behind the biggest song by a British artist globally last year, Artemas, hasn't had any support post-i like the way you kiss me (and he had little beforehand too, with if u think i'm pretty being another viral hit). That's not for a lack of commercial material either, it's strange and I do think it's impacting the lack of new talent, particularly British talent, being able to cement itself in the chart.

It's a little depressing to think of the charts right now in comparison to this time last year. It's a bit less noticeable at the bottom end, where things are still relatively fluid, but the sales at the top end speak for themselves. Where are the really big hits of the year so far? I know we have a couple starting to break through (Ordinary, Anxiety), and Messy particularly found its feet in 2025 after first becoming a hit in 2024, but even the likes of Abracadabra and Sports car, excellent tracks and established big hits, haven't matched some of the highs we saw last year. This time last year we were speculating which out of Beautiful Things, we can't be friends (wait for your love), TEXAS HOLD 'EM, End of Beginning and Lose Control would be #1, and all five ended up on sales of 40k+ by Friday (+ Stick Season over 40k without ACR!), yet even the #1 last week didn't hit.

I do think some of the blame lies with Hot Hits UK. Whilst it's not obligated to do anything chart-related as it's simply a curated playlist from Spotify, I do wish they'd boot some of the real deadwood off from the bottom and make more of an effort to include some fresher hits. Not saying established hits shouldn't be there at all because that's obviously not the case, but I think Spotify could be doing more to help new artists and songs break through, especially on a localised level, because there's truly no reason to leave JADE's music off a UK-specific playlist when there's clearly some demand and interest in her music, not to mention a significantly sized hit last year.

Yeah, international songs are pretty rare in top ten on Spotify in Finland. Evil Jordan and Abracadabra are currently the highest at #18 and #19. But some gigantic hits (and ESC) are big here too.

Edited March 19Mar 19 by Sour Candy

I don't know how these things work really but could JADE's Apple Music exclusive release have hampered the support Spotify were willing to give her? It doesn't really explain previous releases being snubbed though~

3 hours ago, Bjork said:

funny how in non-English speaking countries tiktok has helped made the charts more local

while in English-speaking countries you can barely tell apart the UK charts from the Canadian or Australian charts

Yeah I looked at the German chart- Wackel wackel Wackelkontakt at #1!

I feel like Spotify should really make more of an effort to promote HHUK AND ensure more UK artists are on it. Apple Music seem far better at this, so why Spotify are so rubbish at this...

Could it be that people default to TTH over HHUK because the playlists became too similar (I could be miles off because I don't know what's on either playlist...). I assume the 35m saves on TTH are worldwide, or am I wrong there?

It just feels like something could be done from Spotify's end to help break UK (or emerging artists in general) better...

Thought I'd compare the updated playlist from last week, just to get a sense of how much of a refresh it's had:

01 (03) [USA] Alex Warren - Ordinary

02 (02) [USA] Doechii - Anxiety

03 (12) [USA] Chappell Roan - The Giver

04 (06) [UK] Sam Fender - People Watching

05 (04) [USA] Lady Gaga - Abracadabra

06 (01) [UK] Myles Smith - Nice to Meet You

07 (41) [USA] Sabrina Carpenter - Busy Woman

08 (11) [USA] Benson Boone - Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else

09 (09) [USA] Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us

10 (08) [Canada] Tate McRae - Sports car

11 (19) [USA] Playboi Carti - RATHER LIE (with The Weeknd)

12 (10) [South Korea] JENNIE - Handlebars (feat. Dua Lipa)

13 (07) [UK] Lola Young - Messy

14 (14) [UK] Chrystal - The Days - NOTION Remix

15 (15) [South Korea/New Zealand] ROSE & Bruno Mars - APT.

16 (23) [USA] Ravyn Lanae - Love Me Not

17 (13) [USA] Gracie Abrams - That's So True

18 (17) [UK] AJ Tracey - Crush (feat. Jorja Smith)

19 (18) [Germany] Adam Port, Stryv, Keinemusik, Orso & Malachiii - Move

20 (20) [USA] Chappell Roan - Pink Pony Club

21 (21) [South Africa/Germany] WizTheMc and bees & honey - Show Me Love

22 (25) [Canada] The Weeknd - Cry for Me

23 (16) [USA] Teddy Swims - Bad Dreams

24 (22) [South Africa] Tyla - PUSH 2 START

25 (24) [UK] PAWSA & The Adventures of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks)

26 (26) [USA] Sabrina Carpenter - Taste

27 (27) [South Korea] JENNIE - like JENNIE

28 (28) [USA] Gigi Perez - Sailor Song

29 (--) [USA] Lil Tecca - Dark Thoughts

30 (30) [USA] Teddy Swims - The Door

31 (29) [USA] Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars - Die with a Smile

32 (46) [USA] Selena Gomez, benny blanco & Gracie Abrams - Call Me When You Break Up

33 (31) [USA] Billie Eilish - BIRDS OF A FEATHER

34 (32) [UK] BL3SS & CamrinWatsin - Kisses (Feat. bbyclose)

35 (36) [UK] Myles Smith - Stargazing

36 (33) [USA] Addison Rae - Diet Pepsi

37 (35) [USA] Doechii - DENIAL IS A RIVER

38 (37) [USA] Leon Thomas - MUTT

39 (34) [USA] Lady Gaga - Garden of Eden

40 (42) [Austria] Ely Oaks - Running Around

41 (05) [USA] Sabrina Carpenter - Bed Chem

42 (38) [UK] Olivia Dean - It Isn't Perfect But It Might Be

43 (39) [UK] Central Cee - CRG (feat. Dave)

44 (43) [USA] Kendrick Lamar & SZA - luther

45 (45) [Canada] The Weeknd - Timeless (feat. Playboi Carti)

46 (40) [USA] Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe!

47 (--) [UK] Sleep Token - Emergence

48 (47) [Australia] Sonny Fodera, Jazzy & D.O.D - Somedays

49 (48) [UK] nimino - I Only Smoke When I Drink

50 (49) [UK] Sam Fender - Arm's Length

51 (44) [USA] Gracie Abrams - I Love You, I'm Sorry

52 (51) [Canada] Tate McRae - Revolving door

53 (53) [USA] Post Malone - I Had Some Help (feat. Morgan Wallen)

54 (50) [USA] SZA - BMF

55 (52) [UK] Charli xcx - Apple

56 (54) [USA] Sam Barber - Indigo (feat. Avery Anna)

57 (55) [USA] Shaboozey - A Bar Song (Tipsy)

58 (56) [USA] Billie Eilish - WILDFLOWER

59 (57) [Canada] Drake - NOKIA

60 (61) [Ireland] Hozier - Too Sweet

61 (58) [Thailand] LISA - Born Again (feat. Doja Cat & RAYE)

62 (59) [Australia] The Kid LAROI - NIGHTS LIKE THIS

63 (60) [UK] Sam Fender - Little Bit Closer

64 (62) [UK] Charli xcx - Guess (feat. Billie Eilish)

65 (64) [UK] RAYE - Oscar Winning Tears.

66 (63) [UK] Aitch & Bou - Raving in the Studio

67 (65) [UK] Chase & Status and Stormzy - BACKBONE

68 (67) [Ireland] Fontaines D.C. - It's Amazing to Be Young

69 (68) [USA] Tyler, The Creator - Like Him (feat. Lola Young)

70 (69) [Phillippines/UK] beabadoobee - Real Man

OUT:

from 66 [USA] The Marias - No One Noticed

from 70 [UK] Central Cee - GBP (feat. 21 Savage)

There's still 20 songs from UK artists, Sleep Token newly added in 47th.

The most significant change is Sabrina Carpenter - Busy Woman up from 41 to 7, while Bed Chem tumbles from 5 to 41.

Yet the New Music Friday UK playlist has featured a stack of UK artists over the last few weeks where virtually none have been added.

Alot of those tracks aren't even top 100 on the Uk charts so the fact Spotify is intent on keeping them on there is WILD.

01 (02) [USA] Doechii - Anxiety

02 (01) [USA] Alex Warren - Ordinary

03 (04) [UK] Sam Fender - People Watching

04 (03) [USA] Chappell Roan - The Giver

05 (10) [Canada] Tate McRae - Sports car

06 (06) [UK] Myles Smith - Nice to Meet You

07 (05) [USA] Lady Gaga - Abracadabra

08 (07) [USA] Sabrina Carpenter - Busy Woman

09 (09) [USA] Kendrick Lamar - Not Like Us

10 (08) [USA] Benson Boone - Sorry I'm Here for Someone Else

11 (12) [South Korea] JENNIE - Handlebars (feat. Dua Lipa)

12 (11) [USA] Playboi Carti - RATHER LIE (with The Weeknd)

Previous update's 13-33: unchanged

34 (--) [USA] sombr - back to friends

Previous update's 34-45: down 1 place

Previous update's 47-70: unchanged

OUT:

from 46 [USA] Chappell Roan - Good Luck, Babe!