Dircadirca

Worth considering that at this moment, it's not even one of his 10 most streamed songs of all time on Spotify. I'm sure it'll eventually pass 2 billion and then some, but at present, not even 10% of the way there.

15/04/2024 Singles 01 01 12 01 BEAUTIFUL THINGS Benson Boone 02 08 03 02 TOO SWEET Hozier 03 07 03 03 I LIKE THE WAY YOU KISS ME Artemas 04 06 21 04 LOSE CONTROL Teddy Swims 05 03 08 03 END OF BEGINNING Djo 06 05 25 01 STICK SEASON Noah Kahan 07 04 05 02 WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS (WAIT FOR YOUR LOVE) Ariana Grande 08 02 09 02 TEXAS HOLD 'EM Beyonce 09 09 55 01 CRUEL SUMMER Taylor Swift 10 11 30 02 GREEDY Tate McRae 11 10 03 08 LIKE THAT Future, Metro Boomin 12 14 13 12 SCARED TO START Michael Marcagi 13 20 05 13 AUSTIN Dasha 14 13 33 06 I REMEMBER EVERYTHING Zach Bryan Feat. Kacey Musgraves 15 12 22 01 LOVIN ON ME Jack Harlow 16 15 09 15 STUMBLIN' IN Cyril 17 19 34 03 PRADA Casso x Raye x D-Block Europe 18 18 91 06 SOMETHING IN THE ORANGE Zach Bryan 19 23 07 08 SATURN SZA 20 25 10 20 HOME Good Neighbours 21 17 09 05 CARNIVAL Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign 22 21 62 01 LAST NIGHT Morgan Wallen 23 26 30 06 WATER Tyla 24 35 03 24 SLOW IT DOWN Benson Boone 25 22 18 13 LEAVEMEALONE Fred again.. & Baby Keem 26 28 08 12 TRAINING SEASON Dua Lipa 27 27 192 06 RIPTIDE Vance Joy 28 16 02 16 II MOST WANTED Beyonce, Miley Cyrus 29 41 02 29 MAGNETIC Illit 30 33 16 10 SAVING UP Dom Dolla 31 36 25 15 UNWRITTEN Natasha Bedingfield 32 29 03 16 OBSESSED Olivia Rodrigo 33 53 03 33 BELONG TOGETHER Mark Ambor 34 34 36 01 PAINT THE TOWN RED Doja Cat 35 30 77 01 ANTI-HERO Taylor Swift 36 40 15 23 FEATHER Sabrina Carpenter 37 64 02 37 IF U THINK I'M PRETTY Artemas 38 31 54 02 FAST CAR Luke Combs 39 45 48 39 THINKIN' BOUT ME Morgan Wallen 40 38 22 07 HOUDINI Dua Lipa 41 37 65 01 FLOWERS Miley Cyrus 42 NE 01 42 7 MINUTE DRILL J. Cole 43 43 17 30 ONE OF THE GIRLS The Weeknd 44 32 06 31 WHATEVER SHE WANTS Bryson Tiller 45 49 10 11 FE!N Travis Scott feat. Playboi Carti 46 42 97 02 I AIN'T WORRIED OneRepublic 47 44 13 16 REDRUM 21 Savage 48 58 05 48 WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE Luke Combs 49 68 02 49 BACK ON 74 Jungle 50 47 62 21 SNOOZE SZA Bubbling Under 19 (11) JOLENE Beyonce 20 (20) YES, AND? Ariana Grande Albums 01 01 002 01 COWBOY CARTER Beyonce 02 NE 001 02 MIGHT DELETE LATER J. Cole 03 02 005 01 ETERNAL SUNSHINE Ariana Grande 04 04 242 01 LOVER Taylor Swift 05 03 024 01 1989 (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 06 RE 113 01 THE SOUND OF WHITE [20 YEAR ANNIVERSARY EDITION] Missy Higgins 07 08 194 01 FOLKLORE Taylor Swift 08 05 166 02 THE HIGHLIGHTS The Weeknd 09 06 080 01 MIDNIGHTS Taylor Swift 10 NE 001 10 FOUND HEAVEN Conan Gray 11 07 031 01 GUTS Olivia Rodrigo 12 09 335 01 REPUTATION Taylor Swift 13 10 070 01 SOS SZA 14 NE 001 14 A LA SALA Khruangbin 15 11 058 01 ONE THING AT A TIME Morgan Wallen 16 13 051 03 THE DIAMOND COLLECTION Post Malone 17 NE 001 17 FIREWORKS & ROLLERBLADES Benson Boone 18 15 151 01 SOUR Olivia Rodrigo 19 NE 001 19 HALF LIVING THINGS Alpha Wolf 20 RE 049 01 THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT Shannon Noll 21 16 164 01 EVERMORE Taylor Swift 22 18 044 06 STICK SEASON Noah Kahan 23 17 317 07 THIS ONE'S FOR YOU Luke Combs 24 12 003 02 WE DON'T TRUST YOU Future, Metro Boomin 25 19 357 11 SINGLES COLLECTION Maroon 5 26 20 126 01 RED (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 27 22 305 03 DIAMONDS Elton John 28 24 040 01 SPEAK NOW (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 29 28 076 05 THE ESSENTIAL Foo Fighters 30 21 184 16 CHRONICLE: THE 20 GREATEST HITS Creedence Clearwater Revival 31 23 245 01 STARBOY The Weeknd 32 29 429 01 CURTAIN CALL: THE HITS Eminem 33 25 037 01 UTOPIA Travis Scott 34 27 074 02 GRADUATION Kanye West 35 26 474 01 RUMOURS Fleetwood Mac 36 30 033 02 ZACH BRYAN Zach Bryan 37 35 115 01 FEARLESS (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 38 31 412 01 TEENAGE DREAM: THE COMPLETE CONFECTION Katy Perry 39 34 170 02 DANGEROUS: THE DOUBLE ALBUM Morgan Wallen 40 NE 001 40 DREAM TRAIN Brian Cadd 41 47 263 01 WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Billie Eilish 42 32 231 01 WHAT YOU SEE AIN'T ALWAYS WHAT YOU GET Luke Combs 43 33 297 16 GREATEST HITS: GOD'S FAVORITE BAND Green Day 44 RE 008 05 SCARLET Doja Cat 45 38 071 05 HEROES & VILLAINS Metro Boomin 46 39 371 01 ÷ Ed Sheeran 47 42 115 22 CTRL SZA 48 36 286 01 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) Queen 49 NE 001 49 BRYSON TILLER Bryson Tiller 50 44 077 36 STUDIO ALBUMS ABBA "Beautiful Things" is #1 for a 6th week. I'm fairly certain it won't be next week. Despite it being a solid decade since they last hit #2 on the singles chart, and despite their new album not even cracking the top 50 this week, incredibly a new unremarkable album track by The Black Keys has climbed to #2. In all seriousness, this is Hozier's second #2 hit for now as you might have guessed. 'But why would I know where "Take Me To Church" peaked in Australia?' I'll tell you why, because it's pretty much the only song I can think of that peaked at #2 in pretty much every English speaking country, often at different time frames behind different songs, very strange coincidence. We've got 3 new peaks in the top 4 clearly just waiting for Benson Boone to have his moment. Despite the rising benchmark we've been seeing this year, there are actually quite a lot of the top 50 entries this week. Stomp & holler fanfare means that leading the pack is Avalanche City soundalike (there's something closer I can't think of though) Mark Ambor getting his first chart entry. Possibly benefitting from 'I can't remember which song is which they both have similar titles' (okay that's probably just me), Artemas gets a second entry in quick fashion. J. Cole debuts with a song that I wasn't prompt enough to actually listen to while it was still on Spotify, to be honest I respect someone willing to admit they lost. The last two debuts are mildly funny just because the chart makes them look fresher than they actually are. Despite very much hanging around since last year, Luke Combs & Jungle climb into the top 50 this week. Jungle have obviously been popular in Australia for a decade, but this is their first foray into the singles chart, 3 months after "Back On 74" placed at #17 in triple j's Hottest 100. Beyonce gets a second week at #1. This is a typical thing for her as of her 4 #1 albums, only "Lemonade" spent a single week at #1, and that's because "Views" came out one week later. She's still running on just digital stats so the physical release could help her in the future (this week I think?). I don't know if anything out this week can contest because we have so little data to go on and Australia can often just totally ignore big UK debuts even if they are popular artists here. I mean I didn't have Vampire Weekend missing the top 50 on my bingo card but hey, maybe a lot of people spent the first half of 2019 being tormented by "Harmony Hall" overplay and want nothing to do with them now? Speaking of overplay, we've got two big 2004 albums returning this week, from Missy Higgins and Shannon Noll. If you're thinking 'doesn't that sound familiar?', maybe you know "Scar", it was used in the Axis of Awesome's 4 Chord Song video which I understand is popular enough that a lot of people have unwittingly heard a Missy Higgins melody. If you're Shannon Noll, you're probably asking 'what about me?' because he did that a lot in 2004 with his cover of Moving Pictures' "What About Me" being the biggest hit of the year and the reason "Milkshake" by Kelis missed the top spot. He was the runner up in Australian Idol's first season and for a good while looked to be having a better career than Guy Sebastian until 2008 roared in, completely knocked over the scales and they've been collecting dust on the floor ever since. Anyway there are also Americans here. J. Cole gets to #2 which feels very lucky since his streaming performance was fairly lacking compared to usual. Conan Gray gets a second top 10 album. Khruangbin are also back and getting to remind me of a silly joke we made in high school about the Quang Binh province of Vietnam (you had to be there I think). Actually their name is Thai but it sounds pretty similar. Anyway they got to #4 back in 2020, this time they settle for #14. Benson Boone manages a top 20 debut which we shall wait to see how much of it is from habitual streams of the singles (they're all on there), so it's the classic case where the worse it does next week, the more popular he'll look. Also down on a top 10 debut from 2020 is Alpha Wolf. A surprising entry for me is from Brian Cadd, who for context is a pretty significant figure in Australian music, whose own solo career is largely confined to the '70s. He's kept making music but this is his first chart position in about 50 years. Lower down, Doja Cat has evidently not been able to utilise streaming points with only two significant hits on her newest album, but the re-package this week brings it back. Also Bryson Tiller is not falling from a top 10 position because he's only ever gotten to #11 (and #12), but he sneaks in another album.

It's paywalled now but there was in fact an article on Billboard in 2015 with Spotify flexing their influence to take such songs ("Take Me To Church" and "Lean On" were the ones cited) all the way to the top. In these cases though, I suspect it's more a case of them seeing promise through early listener activity and turning the screws after the fact to get them further. Not quite the same as making a hit out of thin air.

Main guy behind Dire Straits.

Feel like social media has been trending things this way for a while. A lot of parasocial marketing is easier to do and more effective when it's just one person, and the mythos of 'the band' feels like a struggling remnant of a different era of music consumption and discourse.

+5 Djo - End Of Beginning +4 Ariana Grande - we can't be friends (wait for your love) +3 Beyonce - TEXAS HOLD 'EM +2 Benson Boone - Beautiful Things +1 Teddy Swims - Lose Control -1 Dasha - Austin (this feels like country cosplay more so than Beyonce tbh) -2 Hozier - Too Sweet -3 Michael Marcagi - Scared To Start (distinctly unmemorable & unremarkable for a song that just keeps trucking along up the chart) -4 Artemas - i like the way you kiss me

I take offense to this (obviously). In fact the only reason "Somebody..." was a hit in the first place is because of the immense goodwill and praise he'd gotten for his previous album. Like sure, internationally he only had one hit, but he was worshipped in Australia years before that. I will not let my teens of including an ARIA Award contributing in an IT project go faded from memory :lol: (and "Like Drawing Blood" is a great album and "Hearts A Mess" is one of the best songs ever so I'd hate to deprive myself of that like everyone willingly does. Maybe TikTok will catch on one day).

Honestly the main thing for me with this is that people are generally too eager to put the one hit wonder tag down in terms of either how quickly they do so or the threshold to which they require (I've seen Americans say Lil Nas X was one prior to "MONTERO" :wacko: ). Like it takes away the fascination with the statistical anomaly and I feel like it's also often used too often to dismiss an artist with a fanbase (which I'd argue is a factor that makes it harder to call someone as such outside of strict chart definitions, which themselves feel a bit dated nowadays).

By that logic though, Rick Astley is a one hit wonder for the same reason (at least for a fairly large age group). I don't think the 'has heard of Hozier but only knows that one song' window is as big.

08/04/2024 Singles 01 01 11 01 BEAUTIFUL THINGS Benson Boone 02 07 08 02 TEXAS HOLD 'EM Beyonce 03 03 07 03 END OF BEGINNING Djo 04 02 04 02 WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS (WAIT FOR YOUR LOVE) Ariana Grande 05 04 24 01 STICK SEASON Noah Kahan 06 05 20 05 LOSE CONTROL Teddy Swims 07 25 02 07 I LIKE THE WAY YOU KISS ME Artemas 08 10 02 10 TOO SWEET Hozier 09 06 54 01 CRUEL SUMMER Taylor Swift 10 08 02 08 LIKE THAT Future, Metro Boomin 11 09 29 02 GREEDY Tate McRae 12 11 21 01 LOVIN ON ME Jack Harlow 13 13 32 06 I REMEMBER EVERYTHING Zach Bryan Feat. Kacey Musgraves 14 12 12 12 SCARED TO START Michael Marcagi 15 15 08 15 STUMBLIN' IN Cyril 16 NE 01 16 II MOST WANTED Beyonce, Miley Cyrus 17 14 08 05 CARNIVAL Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign 18 18 90 06 SOMETHING IN THE ORANGE Zach Bryan 19 17 33 03 PRADA Casso x Raye x D-Block Europe 20 21 04 20 AUSTIN Dasha 21 23 61 01 LAST NIGHT Morgan Wallen 22 22 17 13 LEAVEMEALONE Fred again.. & Baby Keem 23 19 06 08 SATURN SZA 24 NE 01 24 JOLENE Beyonce 25 24 09 21 HOME Good Neighbours 26 20 29 06 WATER Tyla 27 32 191 06 RIPTIDE Vance Joy 28 27 07 12 TRAINING SEASON Dua Lipa 29 16 02 16 OBSESSED Olivia Rodrigo 30 26 76 01 ANTI-HERO Taylor Swift 31 36 53 02 FAST CAR Luke Combs 32 31 05 31 WHATEVER SHE WANTS Bryson Tiller 33 28 15 10 SAVING UP Dom Dolla 34 30 35 01 PAINT THE TOWN RED Doja Cat 35 82 02 35 SLOW IT DOWN Benson Boone 36 34 24 15 UNWRITTEN Natasha Bedingfield 37 35 64 01 FLOWERS Miley Cyrus 38 37 21 07 HOUDINI Dua Lipa 39 53 195 04 DREAMS Fleetwood Mac 40 38 14 23 FEATHER Sabrina Carpenter 41 NE 01 41 MAGNETIC Illit 42 48 96 02 I AIN'T WORRIED OneRepublic 43 43 16 30 ONE OF THE GIRLS The Weeknd 44 42 12 16 REDRUM 21 Savage 45 50 47 45 THINKIN' BOUT ME Morgan Wallen 46 44 40 01 VAMPIRE Olivia Rodrigo 47 39 61 21 SNOOZE SZA 48 45 63 03 LOVER Taylor Swift 49 52 09 11 FE!N Travis Scott feat. Playboi Carti 50 59 197 19 MR. BRIGHTSIDE The Killers Bubbling Under 18 (22) BELONG TOGETHER Mark Ambor 19 (18) THE BOY IS MINE Ariana Grande 20 (16) YES, AND? Ariana Grande Albums 01 NE 001 01 COWBOY CARTER Beyonce 02 01 004 01 ETERNAL SUNSHINE Ariana Grande 03 05 023 01 1989 (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 04 04 241 01 LOVER Taylor Swift 05 07 165 02 THE HIGHLIGHTS The Weeknd 06 09 079 01 MIDNIGHTS Taylor Swift 07 03 030 01 GUTS Olivia Rodrigo 08 08 193 01 FOLKLORE Taylor Swift 09 10 334 01 REPUTATION Taylor Swift 10 11 069 01 SOS SZA 11 13 057 01 ONE THING AT A TIME Morgan Wallen 12 02 002 02 WE DON'T TRUST YOU Future, Metro Boomin 13 12 050 03 THE DIAMOND COLLECTION Post Malone 14 NE 001 14 EVERYTHING IS BIGGER THAN ME Pierce Brothers 15 14 150 01 SOUR Olivia Rodrigo 16 15 163 01 EVERMORE Taylor Swift 17 19 316 07 THIS ONE'S FOR YOU Luke Combs 18 16 043 06 STICK SEASON Noah Kahan 19 18 356 11 SINGLES COLLECTION Maroon 5 20 17 125 01 RED (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 21 22 183 16 CHRONICLE: THE 20 GREATEST HITS Creedence Clearwater Revival 22 20 304 03 DIAMONDS Elton John 23 23 244 01 STARBOY The Weeknd 24 21 039 01 SPEAK NOW (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 25 24 036 01 UTOPIA Travis Scott 26 29 473 01 RUMOURS Fleetwood Mac 27 25 073 02 GRADUATION Kanye West 28 30 075 05 THE ESSENTIAL Foo Fighters 29 26 428 01 CURTAIN CALL: THE HITS Eminem 30 27 032 02 ZACH BRYAN Zach Bryan 31 28 411 01 TEENAGE DREAM: THE COMPLETE CONFECTION Katy Perry 32 36 230 01 WHAT YOU SEE AIN'T ALWAYS WHAT YOU GET Luke Combs 33 34 296 16 GREATEST HITS: GOD'S FAVORITE BAND Green Day 34 37 169 02 DANGEROUS: THE DOUBLE ALBUM Morgan Wallen 35 32 114 01 FEARLESS (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 36 43 285 01 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) Queen 37 42 301 01 AM Arctic Monkeys 38 33 070 05 HEROES & VILLAINS Metro Boomin 39 40 370 01 ÷ Ed Sheeran 40 35 096 03 HOZIER Hozier 41 39 054 02 GETTIN' OLD Luke Combs 42 41 114 22 CTRL SZA 43 31 008 01 VULTURES 1 Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign 44 46 076 36 STUDIO ALBUMS ABBA 45 47 186 40 GREATEST HITS Pitbull 46 58 034 18 EGO: THE MICHAEL GUDINSKI STORY - MUSIC FROM THE FEATURE DOCUMENTARY Soundtrack 47 48 262 01 WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Billie Eilish 48 44 493 01 1989 Taylor Swift 49 49 095 15 LOOK AT ME: THE ALBUM XXXTentacion 50 45 098 01 HARRY'S HOUSE Harry Styles "Beautiful Things" is #1 for a 5th week. It sure is a good thing that I didn't do this post yesterday otherwise I might have said something like 'well, there's no sign of that ending', but the Spotify shenanigans continue and now Hozier is #1 there. Probably not soon enough to make a change for next week, but that's one to keep an eye on unless it's involving similar chicanery. Beyonce has a couple of debuts this week in addition to "TEXAS HOLD 'EM" returning to its prior peak of #2, while K-Pop group ILLIT have their first ever entry too. There's some slight dubiousness to the top 50 as it's possible that Richy Mitch and Lord Huron might be on the cusp of the top 50 but are missing from the report. Since there aren't as many Beyonce songs as there were Ariana Grande songs falling out, we've got another one of those classic weeks where all the old songs mostly climb back up to the expense of newer hits. It's unclear to me which of those columns I should put Morgan Wallen's newly peaking "Thinkin' Bout Me" under. He sure is lucky there isn't a recurrency rule. Though Beyonce has been chronically unable to score a proper #1 single since "Irreplaceable", she's done just fine on the album chart of late. She's now got 4 #1s to her name starting with her self-titled album in 2013. The only other debut we've got this week is a return for Pierce Brothers. I say it's a return because their last album didn't actually chart for reasons I can't ascertain, so this is their first chart appearance since 2018. To prevent homesickness, the Australian public has made sure that 6 of the albums that were charting that week are still there this week.

Not here to police anyone's listening habits (heck, Arcade Fire just came up on my shuffle playlist today :wacko: ), nor am I even certain that the allegations are about Ezra, but calling these sorts of acts a 'mistake' feels like diminishing the severity of actions caused by men like him in positions of power.

Yeah, I was really interested to see how this would chart coming off of 2 years of fanbase growth but that's gonna stunt it big time. Apparently the album was still being mixed a couple of weeks ago so there just wasn't any time to press it.

Whole album's been out for a few days now and I'm pretty content. Just generally a very cozy listen with all the arrangements, but letting the songs float in your head as contemplative puzzle pieces. As I've gotten older I've gotten a little more sceptical of the cliche that is teens & young adults writing about a breakup as if it's this shock end-of-the-world it-would-never-happen-to-me kind of moment (I feel like literally everyone I know in my life who's ever had a partner has had more than one by now). I think here it maybe pays that a lot of it comes with years of reflection and self-awareness. The generally sombre tone of it gives off a vibe of 'well, that was a chapter in my life' sprinkled in with the occasional build-up of 'okay but I'm right to be annoyed by that'. Maybe that's wrong too but that's how I look back at a lot of things myself :lol: I love hearing her perspective though because she always comes across as very honest about these things, even in instances where it'll rub people the wrong way. I say this as someone who did initially latch onto the more pop-oriented moments on "five seconds flat" ("erase me", "reckless driving", "doomsday" and "ceilings" are all incredible still), but I do think she has a certain vision to stand out as a songwriter. Hope to see that she can find a space & level of fame to be comfortable in and continue to hone the craft from here. (Oh and just to highlight stuff beyond the singles, "Staying" and "Broken Glass" both find their way into brilliance that just hits the spot for me. My very Australian reference points here are much of Sarah Blasko's discography and also "Colour The Small One" by [redacted]).

I feel like "Gooey" having a third of a billion streams on Spotify and the next album having a billion all up should disqualify them regardless of chart history stats.

+5 Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar - Like That +4 Djo - End Of Beginning +3 Beyonce - TEXAS HOLD 'EM +2 Olivia Rodrigo - obsessed +1 Ariana Grande - we can't be friends (wait for your love) -1 Hozier - Too Sweet -2 Benson Boone - Beautiful Things -3 Teddy Swims - Lose Control -4 Michael Marcagi - Scared To Start -------- +5 Future, Metro Boomin & Kendrick Lamar - Like That +4 Djo - End Of Beginning +3 Beyonce - TEXAS HOLD 'EM +2 Ariana Grande - we can't be friends (wait for your love) +1 Beyonce & Miley Cyrus - II MOST WANTED -1 Hozier - Too Sweet -2 Benson Boone - Beautiful Things -3 Teddy Swims - Lose Control -4 Beyonce - JOLENE -5 Artemas - i like the way you kiss me (just get the worst vibes from this)

I'd refer to the shirt of the man on Fatboy Slim's second album cover. But in any case it just serves as a perpetual reminder that stuff that is beyond the charts in the age of streaming isn't unknown/unheard/uncared, and the hyper focus on day 1/week 1 figures frequently misses the point.

01/04/2024 Singles 01 01 10 01 BEAUTIFUL THINGS Benson Boone 02 02 03 02 WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS (WAIT FOR YOUR LOVE) Ariana Grande 03 03 06 03 END OF BEGINNING Djo 04 04 23 01 STICK SEASON Noah Kahan 05 06 19 05 LOSE CONTROL Teddy Swims 06 05 53 01 CRUEL SUMMER Taylor Swift 07 07 07 02 TEXAS HOLD 'EM Beyonce 08 NE 01 08 LIKE THAT Future, Metro Boomin 09 08 28 02 GREEDY Tate McRae 10 NE 01 10 TOO SWEET Hozier 11 10 20 01 LOVIN ON ME Jack Harlow 12 12 11 12 SCARED TO START Michael Marcagi 13 11 31 06 I REMEMBER EVERYTHING Zach Bryan Feat. Kacey Musgraves 14 09 07 05 CARNIVAL Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign 15 17 07 15 STUMBLIN' IN Cyril 16 NE 01 16 OBSESSED Olivia Rodrigo 17 13 32 03 PRADA Casso x Raye x D-Block Europe 18 16 89 06 SOMETHING IN THE ORANGE Zach Bryan 19 15 05 08 SATURN SZA 20 20 28 06 WATER Tyla 21 23 03 21 AUSTIN Dasha 22 14 16 13 LEAVEMEALONE Fred again.. & Baby Keem 23 19 60 01 LAST NIGHT Morgan Wallen 24 21 08 26 HOME Good Neighbours 25 NE 01 25 I LIKE THE WAY YOU KISS ME Artemas 26 24 75 01 ANTI-HERO Taylor Swift 27 25 06 12 TRAINING SEASON Dua Lipa 28 26 14 10 SAVING UP Dom Dolla 29 NE 01 29 TYPE S**T Future, Metro Boomin 30 29 34 01 PAINT THE TOWN RED Doja Cat 31 39 04 31 WHATEVER SHE WANTS Bryson Tiller 32 35 190 06 RIPTIDE Vance Joy 33 18 30 02 STRANGERS Kenya Grace 34 31 23 15 UNWRITTEN Natasha Bedingfield 35 33 63 01 FLOWERS Miley Cyrus 36 37 52 02 FAST CAR Luke Combs 37 32 20 07 HOUDINI Dua Lipa 38 30 13 23 FEATHER Sabrina Carpenter 39 36 60 21 SNOOZE SZA 40 NE 01 40 CINDERELLA Future, Metro Boomin 41 22 11 02 YES, AND? Ariana Grande 42 27 11 16 REDRUM 21 Savage 43 38 15 30 ONE OF THE GIRLS The Weeknd 44 52 39 01 VAMPIRE Olivia Rodrigo 45 40 62 03 LOVER Taylor Swift 46 28 03 28 THE BOY IS MINE Ariana Grande 47 43 19 15 EXES Tate McRae 48 51 95 02 I AIN'T WORRIED OneRepublic 49 56 50 04 DAYLIGHT David Kushner 50 59 46 46 THINKIN' BOUT ME Morgan Wallen Bubbling Under 19 (16) PRAISE JAH IN THE MOONLIGHT YG Marley 20 (NE) SO AMERICAN Olivia Rodrigo Albums 01 01 003 01 ETERNAL SUNSHINE Ariana Grande 02 NE 001 02 WE DON'T TRUST YOU Future, Metro Boomin 03 12 029 01 GUTS Olivia Rodrigo 04 03 240 01 LOVER Taylor Swift 05 02 022 01 1989 (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 06 NE 001 06 GOTHIC SUMMER The Veronicas 07 05 164 02 THE HIGHLIGHTS The Weeknd 08 04 192 01 FOLKLORE Taylor Swift 09 06 078 01 MIDNIGHTS Taylor Swift 10 07 333 01 REPUTATION Taylor Swift 11 08 068 01 SOS SZA 12 09 049 03 THE DIAMOND COLLECTION Post Malone 13 10 056 01 ONE THING AT A TIME Morgan Wallen 14 13 149 01 SOUR Olivia Rodrigo 15 11 162 01 EVERMORE Taylor Swift 16 15 042 06 STICK SEASON Noah Kahan 17 14 124 01 RED (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 18 18 355 11 SINGLES COLLECTION Maroon 5 19 19 315 07 THIS ONE'S FOR YOU Luke Combs 20 25 303 03 DIAMONDS Elton John 21 20 038 01 SPEAK NOW (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 22 27 182 16 CHRONICLE: THE 20 GREATEST HITS Creedence Clearwater Revival 23 24 243 01 STARBOY The Weeknd 24 22 035 01 UTOPIA Travis Scott 25 28 072 02 GRADUATION Kanye West 26 29 427 01 CURTAIN CALL: THE HITS Eminem 27 34 031 02 ZACH BRYAN Zach Bryan 28 33 410 01 TEENAGE DREAM: THE COMPLETE CONFECTION Katy Perry 29 36 472 01 RUMOURS Fleetwood Mac 30 32 074 05 THE ESSENTIAL Foo Fighters 31 21 007 01 VULTURES 1 Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign 32 31 113 01 FEARLESS (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 33 38 069 05 HEROES & VILLAINS Metro Boomin 34 37 295 16 GREATEST HITS: GOD'S FAVORITE BAND Green Day 35 30 095 03 HOZIER Hozier 36 40 229 01 WHAT YOU SEE AIN'T ALWAYS WHAT YOU GET Luke Combs 37 41 168 02 DANGEROUS: THE DOUBLE ALBUM Morgan Wallen 38 16 042 01 TRUSTFALL P!nk 39 42 053 02 GETTIN' OLD Luke Combs 40 39 369 01 ÷ Ed Sheeran 41 46 113 22 CTRL SZA 42 45 300 01 AM Arctic Monkeys 43 47 284 01 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) Queen 44 43 492 01 1989 Taylor Swift 45 48 097 01 HARRY'S HOUSE Harry Styles 46 52 075 36 STUDIO ALBUMS ABBA 47 53 185 40 GREATEST HITS Pitbull 48 49 261 01 WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Billie Eilish 49 51 094 15 LOOK AT ME: THE ALBUM XXXTentacion 50 50 025 01 FOR ALL THE DOGS Drake Don't let the date fool you, this is the real chart, and "Beautiful Things" is #1 for a 4th week. It's still miles ahead of the competition and begs the question for if it could well be the biggest hit of the year. Anyway we do have two top 10 debuts this week, firstly "Like That", which gives Future his 3rd top 10 hit, just 1 spot high of his career high of #7 he got with "Way 2 Sexy". Actually #7 is as high as Metro Boomin has ever gotten too, but that was with "Creepin'", and yes that includes all of his production work. Kendrick Lamar isn't credited but he's been at #1 before. Next up is Hozier scoring his second ever top 10 hit, and first charting hit since "Someone New" which had a quite respectable chart run in 2015. Michael Marcagi is stuck at #12 and could overtake Jack Harlow while being overtaken by Artemas next week, so we can only hope he does the 12 12 12 12 chart standing which is always fun. The best instance of this I believe is when "Little Lion Man" held at its #16 peak in its 16th week in early 2010 and I've always been on the lookout for new instances. Maybe if you only include top 50 weeks then there's still hope for "No Role Modelz" to pull off a miracle. But speaking of Artemas, his song that sounds like a nightcore remix of itself is fresh in at #25 with a bullet in the back pocket. Ahead of that with less of a segue is Olivia Rodrigo which has a moderately interesting detail of having been available on vinyl releases months ago, so it doesn't appear on the New Music chart, and also appears with a last week position on the ARIA website of #2110. I am very curious if that's a sign that there were 2109 songs that registered sales last week or if ARIA got *some* late Thursday data in the mix. That's a number to look out for I suppose! Despite the Olivia omission, the Bubbling Under chart is fairly lean this week. It might grow next week as several songs drop out and "leavemealone" ousts itself as the penultimate 2023 song on the list (YG Marley released *right* at the end of December). Earlier in Ariana Grande's career, her albums tended to drop off quite a bit after debut week. "My Everything" dropped to #8 in its second week for instance. "thank u, next" managed 5 weeks at #1 though and now "Eternal Sunshine" is sitting strong after 3 weeks. It'll certainly be ousted next week by Beyonce. Meanwhile Metro Boomin has a second #2 album (following the second Spider-Verse soundtrack). Future actually has had a #1 album though. Surprisingly The Veronicas have never had a #1 album (they've had 2 #1 singles though), and this week they pick up 6 for 6 on top 10 albums, and this one's landing in the middle of the #5 & #7 peaks their two 2021 albums scored. It's their first album not released on a major label. You know it's a slow week when Pitbull's Greatest Hits can find room in the top 50 though.

Lucky he has those streams too then! :P

One of these days I'll get to post for legitimate reasons.

+5 Ariana Grande - yes, and? +4 Dua Lipa - Training Season +3 Djo - End Of Beginning +2 Beyonce - TEXAS HOLD 'EM +1 Ariana Grande - we can't be friends (wait for your love) -1 Teddy Swims - Lose Control -2 Benson Boone - Beautiful Things -3 Taylor Swift - Cruel Summer -4 Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign - CARNIVAL ---- +5 Ariana Grande - yes, and? +4 Dua Lipa - Training Season +3 Djo - End Of Beginning +2 Beyonce - TEXAS HOLD 'EM +1 Ariana Grande - we can't be friends (wait for your love) -1 Teddy Swims - Lose Control -2 Benson Boone - Beautiful Things -3 Michael Marcagi - Scared To Start -4 Kanye West & Ty Dolla $ign - CARNIVAL

I can somewhat understand the rationale, it probably barely changes things where it matters, and it really does take exceedingly long to get it all through. But it does add a degree of uncertainty looking at the chart, especially if you have ACR a factor, making those very precise week-to-week differences crucial.

It is, although technically speaking the OCC don't actually get the Thursday Spotify data, they just estimate it.

I'd go further and say it's more of a personal commitment to spend 5 hours listening to something than spending under a dollar on it as well. (Before anyone points out that people can just stream things in the background without listening, people can and also will buy things they don't listen to, people for whom that amount of money is a trifle).

25/03/2024 Singles 01 01 09 01 BEAUTIFUL THINGS Benson Boone 02 02 02 02 WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS (WAIT FOR YOUR LOVE) Ariana Grande 03 03 05 03 END OF BEGINNING Djo 04 06 22 01 STICK SEASON Noah Kahan 05 05 52 01 CRUEL SUMMER Taylor Swift 06 07 18 06 LOSE CONTROL Teddy Swims 07 04 06 02 TEXAS HOLD 'EM Beyonce 08 08 27 02 GREEDY Tate McRae 09 09 06 05 CARNIVAL Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign 10 10 19 01 LOVIN ON ME Jack Harlow 11 13 30 06 I REMEMBER EVERYTHING Zach Bryan Feat. Kacey Musgraves 12 16 10 12 SCARED TO START Michael Marcagi 13 12 31 03 PRADA Casso x Raye x D-Block Europe 14 15 15 13 LEAVEMEALONE Fred again.. & Baby Keem 15 14 04 08 SATURN SZA 16 17 88 06 SOMETHING IN THE ORANGE Zach Bryan 17 20 06 19 STUMBLIN' IN Cyril 18 23 29 02 STRANGERS Kenya Grace 19 25 59 01 LAST NIGHT Morgan Wallen 20 21 27 06 WATER Tyla 21 26 07 26 HOME Good Neighbours 22 11 10 02 YES, AND? Ariana Grande 23 63 02 23 AUSTIN Dasha 24 24 74 01 ANTI-HERO Taylor Swift 25 29 05 12 TRAINING SEASON Dua Lipa 26 30 13 10 SAVING UP Dom Dolla 27 27 10 16 REDRUM 21 Savage 28 48 02 28 THE BOY IS MINE Ariana Grande 29 32 33 01 PAINT THE TOWN RED Doja Cat 30 34 12 23 FEATHER Sabrina Carpenter 31 31 22 15 UNWRITTEN Natasha Bedingfield 32 28 19 07 HOUDINI Dua Lipa 33 33 62 01 FLOWERS Miley Cyrus 34 18 02 18 SUPERNATURAL Ariana Grande 35 44 189 06 RIPTIDE Vance Joy 36 35 59 21 SNOOZE SZA 37 37 51 02 FAST CAR Luke Combs 38 42 14 30 ONE OF THE GIRLS The Weeknd 39 43 03 39 WHATEVER SHE WANTS Bryson Tiller 40 41 61 03 LOVER Taylor Swift 41 40 35 01 WHAT WAS I MADE FOR? Billie Eilish 42 50 10 23 NEVER LOSE ME Flo Milli 43 45 18 15 EXES Tate McRae 44 19 02 19 BYE Ariana Grande 45 36 40 03 MURDER ON THE DANCEFLOOR Sophie Ellis-Bextor 46 56 07 11 FE!N Travis Scott feat. Playboi Carti 47 47 12 25 DELILAH (PULL ME OUT OF THIS) Fred Again.. 48 38 08 19 PRAISE JAH IN THE MOONLIGHT YG Marley 49 NE 01 49 FRI(END)S V 50 22 02 22 ETERNAL SUNSHINE Ariana Grande Bubbling Under 18 (17) BURN Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign 19 (18) STAYINIT Fred Again.. & Lil Yachty & Overmono 20 (NE) ACT II: DATE @ 8 (REMIX) 4Bats & Drake Albums 01 01 002 01 ETERNAL SUNSHINE Ariana Grande 02 02 021 01 1989 (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 03 04 239 01 LOVER Taylor Swift 04 05 191 01 FOLKLORE Taylor Swift 05 08 163 02 THE HIGHLIGHTS The Weeknd 06 06 077 01 MIDNIGHTS Taylor Swift 07 07 332 01 REPUTATION Taylor Swift 08 09 067 01 SOS SZA 09 10 048 03 THE DIAMOND COLLECTION Post Malone 10 12 055 01 ONE THING AT A TIME Morgan Wallen 11 14 161 01 EVERMORE Taylor Swift 12 15 028 01 GUTS Olivia Rodrigo 13 18 148 01 SOUR Olivia Rodrigo 14 17 123 01 RED (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 15 19 041 06 STICK SEASON Noah Kahan 16 13 041 01 TRUSTFALL P!nk 17 NE 001 17 THE TRUE NORTH Peter Garrett 18 22 354 11 SINGLES COLLECTION Maroon 5 19 23 314 07 THIS ONE'S FOR YOU Luke Combs 20 21 037 01 SPEAK NOW (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 21 20 006 01 VULTURES 1 Kanye West, Ty Dolla $ign 22 24 034 01 UTOPIA Travis Scott 23 NE 001 23 EVERYTHING I THOUGHT IT WAS Justin Timberlake 24 25 242 01 STARBOY The Weeknd 25 26 302 03 DIAMONDS Elton John 26 NE 001 26 DEEPER WELL Kacey Musgraves 27 28 181 16 CHRONICLE: THE 20 GREATEST HITS Creedence Clearwater Revival 28 27 071 02 GRADUATION Kanye West 29 31 426 01 CURTAIN CALL: THE HITS Eminem 30 48 094 03 HOZIER Hozier 31 29 112 01 FEARLESS (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 32 33 073 05 THE ESSENTIAL Foo Fighters 33 32 409 01 TEENAGE DREAM: THE COMPLETE CONFECTION Katy Perry 34 34 030 02 ZACH BRYAN Zach Bryan 35 NE 001 35 BELL BOTTOM COUNTRY Lainey Wilson 36 30 471 01 RUMOURS Fleetwood Mac 37 35 294 16 GREATEST HITS: GOD'S FAVORITE BAND Green Day 38 38 068 05 HEROES & VILLAINS Metro Boomin 39 40 368 01 ÷ Ed Sheeran 40 37 228 01 WHAT YOU SEE AIN'T ALWAYS WHAT YOU GET Luke Combs 41 42 167 02 DANGEROUS: THE DOUBLE ALBUM Morgan Wallen 42 41 052 02 GETTIN' OLD Luke Combs 43 36 491 01 1989 Taylor Swift 44 44 010 01 AMERICAN DREAM 21 Savage 45 43 299 01 AM Arctic Monkeys 46 39 112 22 CTRL SZA 47 46 283 01 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) Queen 48 45 096 01 HARRY'S HOUSE Harry Styles 49 50 260 01 WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Billie Eilish 50 47 024 01 FOR ALL THE DOGS Drake "Beautiful Things" is #1 for a 3rd week. The lead is solidified so I don't expect anything to change next week. In what is a relatively quiet week, we've got a new bolting in for Dasha, which ARIA have curiously allowed on the New Music chart despite being a few weeks over for that, maybe they're using the album release date. Of course it's far from the biggest muck up that we've got this week, as you'll notice a big surge for "the boy is mine". I'll have to forgive for not paying close enough attention to the Ariana Grande debuts last week to notice myself, but suffice to say, it should never have been as low as #48 then. It dropped from #22 to #29 on this week's Spotify chart if you want a decent estimate on where it should have been, but what a bizarre thing to not only happen but actually be corrected. We've also got a return for Travis Scott, and a sneak-in for V who is buoyed by all the sales of the instrumental & sped-up versions and such to get his first ever solo entry. Bubbling Under we can shine a light on another error, where it seems like the second week reaction strikes again. This time it's for 4batz who charts a week late compared to everywhere else, and at a considerable distance away from the top 50 for something that went #15->#24 in New Zealand this week. So not only did ARIA not count it last week but if the typo on the chart is anything to go by, it's very possible that they didn't even combine the two versions. Ariana Grande scores a second week at #1. She'll probably come crashing down to the Taylor Swift zone next week which means someone else will be #1 then. Maybe Future & Metro. Leading the new arrivals is a second solo album for Peter Garrett, who you either know from Midnight Oil or Kevin Rudd's Labor ministry back in the day. His first solo album debuted at #3 behind Good Charlotte, this one can't quite match its second week position at #17. But in any case, that's nothing compared to the drop off for Justin Timberlake who arrives well short of any of his previous albums, and his last album hit #2. Kacey Musgraves also made the top 10 with her last album but instead retreats to a more typical debut position for herself. On the optimistic side, Lainey Wilson is charting for the first time ever with her new album.

Have always suspected as much. Just this week's chart has goddard. & Dylan Gossett converting their #185 & #192 weekly Spotify ranks (with no appearance on Apple's chart at present) to #58 & #67 on the OCC chart. Polyhex also tells an interesting story: The number of new entries on the chart is relatively stable post-ACR/3-track rule, but the average weeks on the chart comfortably lifted past the highs of 2015-2016, suggesting an increasing disconnect between the mega-hits and the also-rans that are given a whimpering breath of life by the rules. But then I wonder if we're on the brink of a dam burst, somewhat like the album chart where the average number of new entries has started to decline.