maggotsforbrains

Taylor Swift nearly managed a 59 week run between the release of Midnights and the 2023 Christmas rush but she had two missing weeks - 05/01/2023 (2022's Christmas week) and 01/06/2023, when Anti-Hero fell out of the top fourty the week before she released the Midnights (Til Dawn) deluxe on streaming. I think Ed, Olivia Dean and Sam Fender (thanks to Rein Me In) are the only artists who've managed to pull off 52 consecutive weeks in the top 40 this decade.

not sure tbh, 9 To 5's ahead only on YouTube whereas Jolene's ahead everywhere else - I'd guess they must be quite close and'll probably swap during the week.

Ella's been around for a few years now in America - she only blew up to superstar status over there this year, but she's been getting decently big country hits for a few years now (you look like you love me and weren't for the wind were both Hot 100 year-end hits). I'm still not sure of Sienna's potential career longevity but VISITOR's been doing consistently well on the albums chart and she's had a handful of minor hits besides Die On This Hill and Great Expectation (Pure, You Stole The Show, The Visitor and MAYBE.). Stella didn't have much prior chart success and doesn't seem to have much of a fanbase or traction beyond Boston's success. General discussion of her seems more focused on nepotism allegations (her father co-founded Groupon) or plagiarism (Boston pretty heavily interpolates Stick Season) than around her as an artist and I'd see her being the least likely to stick around longer-term.

SIENNA >> Ella > HUGEL > STELLA according to Spotify comparisons - I'd swap HUGEL and Ella around in terms of actual momentum though: Spotify differences between last Friday and this Friday: Movin' To The Sun: -6,424 (-~3.61%) Choosin' Texas: +4,039 (+~1.61%) Boston: -19,376 (-~10.17%) Great Expectation: +45,634 (+~19.33%) Last week's units compared to the week before's (expand to see data): Movin' To The Sun: up ~1.18% (Spotify up ~2.57%) Choosin' Texas: down ~2.71% (Spotify down ~0.69%) Boston: up ~3.84% (Spotify up ~2.18%) Great Expectation: up ~15.13% (Spotify up ~18.36%)

probably between Dolly's Greatest Hits and Alex Warren on the albums chart this week - I'd probably give Dolly the advantage out of the two but it depends on how many physicals Alex has moved given his streaming looks a fair bit weaker this time

Choosin' Texas peaked months ago on airplay here (as it did on US Country radio). Langley's label are have been pushing Be Her to UK radio - hence why it is #39 here and A-listed at Radio 1.

+5 Jolene +4 the cure +3 Man I Need +2 Choosin' Texas +1 Rein Me In (finally got reined in this week ) -1 hate that i made you love me -2 Great Expectation -3 On 2nite -4 Boston -5 Movin' To The Sun

hoping Great Expectation or Choosin' Texas overtake but I fear Movin' To The Sun may be the next #1 - it's saying something that STELLA LEFTY's faux-countrified Kahan-oke isn't my least favourite contender (even if it seems the least likely of the four to pull it off)

was wondering when this would show up - it's been hovering around the 50-70 mark all week on Spotify and Apple Music for a week or two now

somehow not the only time Comic Relief brought Islands In The Stream back to the charts (Barry Islands In The Stream was a #1 Comic Relief charity single 2 years later in 2009)

probably when Dolly's catalogue was made available on iTunes - similar re-charting occurred for 9 To 5 around the same time

to be fair, aside from Choosin' Texas the top end of US streaming at the minute is pretty weak too - there's been a couple of days where it was the only song on Spotify clearing a million daily streams there. it's reflective of a global trend that streams at the top of the charts are their lowest in years - last week's global Spotify #1 had the lowest number of streams since 2017.

the song is a re-recording by HUGEL & Ultra Naté based on a SUNO/AI-generated song created by Imael Angel, a self-described "reiki master" who has released dozens of AI-generated "spiritual music" albums/tracks over the past few months - her version of the track has since been delisted from DSPs but the rest of her "discography" remains

other reissues/new entries in the midweek albums top forty: #29: Girls Aloud - Tangled Up (RE) #31: Weezer - Weezer (Gold Album) #32: Mystery Jets - A Hole To See The Sky Through #36: Happy Mondays - Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches (RE)

hopefully Dolly Parton can save us from Movin' To The Sun #1 next week!

Marianne still top twenty (#16) on the Wednesday midweek singles - looks like it might hold onto a top twenty debut! PARTYNEXTDOOR's down to #33 now, while Satisfy looks like it might actually hold on and break the top forty this week (#31).

I imagine her Apple Music positions will peak around the early evening updates given their rolling-24-hour-window formula. Hoping the OCC estimate massive streams for her on Thursday - they severely overestimated Three Lions a few weeks ago during the World Cup and that peaked in streams around the same time as Dolly's tracks will be. Would love to see I Will Always Love You chart for the first time (hoping Islands In The Stream is classed as having Kenny Rogers as the lead artist) - crazy to think she only had two top ten hits over here!

it's 4xPlatinum in digital-era unit sales (since 2007) - not sure about its earlier sales but we'll probably get more detailed totals in the Music Week sales report on Friday

AM Dolly update: #8 - Jolene #9 - Islands In The Stream (w/ Kenny Rogers) #13 - 9 To 5 #24 - I Will Always Love You #47 - Coat Of Many Colors #55 - Here You Come Again

Really feel like this highlights how the OCC's methodology of how individual track streaming contributes to album units - counting streams to two albums (typically a parent album and compilation) - is swamping the weekly and year-end charts with compilations that effectively just reflect plays of tracks from elsewhere, not the popularity of the compilations themselves. Only allowing tracks to contribute to one album's units and using Billboard/Luminate's system of counting streams of a track towards whichever album said track is on that recieves the most pure sales during the tracking week could help to reduce the sheer level of stagnancy that certain compilations have given they're only really reflecting the popularity of the artist's catalog rather than the albums themselves (MJ's The Essential isn't even the best-pure-selling MJ compilation at the minute, the label have just requested streams to be redirected to it from Number Ones).

do wonder when they'll put the TV Airplay chart out of its misery - given the six-way tie for #13, seven-way tie for #19 and thirteen-way tie for #28 I have to imagine the actual play counts must be barely into double digits by now!

+5 the cure +4 Man I Need +3 Choosin' Texas +2 Rein Me In +1 hate that i made you love me -1 Great Expectation -2 On 2nite -3 Dai Dai -4 Boston -5 Movin' To The Sun

PARTYNEXTDOOR's Some of Your Love is the only new top forty (singles chart) debut at #20(!) - not sure how he'll hold through the week but almost certain to be his highest charting solo track. Becky Hill & Sonny Fodera are down to #53 from yesterday's top forty position - Satisfy also slipped to #33 so their slide's probably exacerbated by the Friday/Saturday dance boost wearing off.

Movin' To The SUNO

tbf holding over 35k sales for over a year running is pretty phenomenal regardless of chart staleness even if it helped her chart positions