Dircadirca

I don't usually make it to this part of the broadcast, but maybe Ryuichi Sakamoto is a shout with Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence/Forbidden Colours, just found out he died :(

It's definitely an interesting echo chamber effect. Usually (but is not limited to) a result of spending too long on any of the triumvirate of r/...heads subreddits that one equates a small community with the bigger picture. When of course we have a bigger picture and it's published every Friday afternoon. Absolute shock that DJ Khaled is more popular than JID etc. I literally compile a fake music chart every week with like half a dozen friends and so need to constantly remind myself that no, the average person on the street has not heard of Magdalena Bay or think's they're the bee's knees. Relevant anecdote about Rina that is extremely Australian in content so read at your own peril: Mind you her album charted reasonably well at least. But it's why the charts have so much value because they can settle that score/debate, at least to an extent. Yes, so and so artist is being helped by playlists, algorithms, label tomfoolery etc, but so is basically everyone to an extent. At the end of the day, a stream is a stream, a sale is a sale, and an artist can be very popular even if they don't have a contingent online talking about it, and vice versa.

+5 Lizzy McAlpine - ceilings +4 Libianca - People +3 Rema & Selena Gomez - Calm Down +2 Strandz - Us Against The World +1 The Weeknd - Die For You -1 Miley Cyrus - Flowers -2 Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding - Miracle -3 Coi Leray - Players -4 PinkPantheress - Boy's a liar -5 Harry Styles - As It Was

92K for "Bad Habits"

I'm skeptical because radio is kinda firing on all cylinders and I don't see it sticking in the long run, compared to "Flowers" which I suspect will still be coasting on airplay this time next year.

:lol: I couldn't even remember. "Little Deer" was why I listened to it in the first place and I still love it but I'm definitely on team "Boys At School"

I think generally speaking, a critic is more likely to put someone onto an artist than off. So artists without any 'credibility' will still sell as they always will. The point is to be that person who sifts through everything so you don't have to, and so you'll have artists that owe their careers to that sort of word-of-mouth. There's plenty of stuff I've discovered due to it being covered on Pitchfork (Cymbals Eat Guitars were such a great band!), but conversely even back when all I did in my teens was listen to Muse, it never bothered me that they were hated there. I do think though it's a huge difference in the streaming age though because more often than not, people used to buy records that they only knew one or two songs (if that). Now people can much more readily listen to something before deciding to throw down any money (if they even do that). Chucking down $20 to see if the new hyped thing is really all that, is quite a commitment. Chucking on that Spellling album on Spotify for an hour because Anthony Fantano said it was great, is far less of one. All that being said though, it's not just Ed Sheeran. This is all reminding me that ~10 years ago there used to be this critic in the Sydney Morning Herald or something like that who earned a reputation as the guy who would write scathing 1 star reviews of music that clearly wasn't for him. Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Skrillex etc, paraded as a hero for taking these crappy pop artists down a peg but honestly the whole thing just seemed like a childish waste of space. Whether the new Sheeran record blows or not, I'd rather read/watch a review from someone who treats him as an artist, rather than just a punching bag to rattle off the last 2 years of zingers. Hitting easy targets is boring.

I mean to be fair most people just use critics as a means to reciprocate things they already think, and act like petulant children* when they don't. Ed Sheeran is an easy target because it lets you turn into full schoolyard bully with no consequences. I doubt anyone is still waiting for the reviews to come in to deduce their own verdict. Music criticism still has a purpose as a means to spark discussion, but it's hardly the much-needed consumer guide it once was. *I don't keep track of these things but probably a lot of these people actually are children.

27/03/2023 Singles 01 01 10 01 FLOWERS Miley Cyrus 02 02 07 02 BOY'S A LIAR PinkPantheress 03 05 07 03 LAST NIGHT Morgan Wallen 04 04 15 01 KILL BILL SZA 05 03 34 03 DIE FOR YOU The Weeknd 06 06 16 03 ESCAPISM. RAYE feat. 070 Shake 07 09 10 07 PLAYERS Coi Leray 08 10 22 01 ANTI-HERO Taylor Swift 09 08 31 08 UNTIL I FOUND YOU Stephen Sanchez & Em Beihold 10 11 16 07 CREEPIN' Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage 11 07 51 01 AS IT WAS Harry Styles 12 12 09 06 SURE THING Miguel 13 13 42 02 I AIN'T WORRIED OneRepublic 14 15 26 01 UNHOLY Sam Smith feat. Kim Petras 15 14 80 02 SHIVERS Ed Sheeran 16 16 16 13 10:35 Tiësto & Tate McRae 17 19 29 17 CALM DOWN Rema & Selena Gomez 18 NE 01 18 ALL OF THE GIRLS YOU LOVED BEFORE Taylor Swift 19 20 05 19 CEILINGS Lizzy McAlpine 20 17 25 04 MISS YOU Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz 21 23 09 21 GREEN GREEN GRASS George Ezra 22 18 30 01 I'M GOOD (BLUE) David Guetta feat. Bebe Rexha 23 21 22 03 MADE YOU LOOK Meghan Trainor 24 24 36 15 SOMETHING IN THE ORANGE Zach Bryan 25 26 136 01 HEAT WAVES Glass Animals 26 30 37 21 THE KIND OF LOVE WE MAKE Luke Combs 27 27 37 03 BAD HABIT Steve Lacy 28 25 91 01 BAD HABITS Ed Sheeran 29 28 08 06 LOVE AGAIN The Kid Laroi 30 32 42 08 SUNROOF Nicky Youre & dazy 31 31 29 29 GOLDEN HOUR JVKE 32 36 45 21 ANOTHER LOVE Tom Odell 33 35 84 01 COLD HEART (PNAU REMIX) Elton John & Dua Lipa 34 33 89 01 STAY The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber 35 29 07 19 TRUSTFALL P!nk 36 68 02 36 MIRACLE Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding 37 34 31 04 B.O.T.A. (BADDEST OF THEM ALL) Eliza Rose & Interplanetary Criminal 38 22 02 22 RIVER Miley Cyrus 39 38 115 03 SAVE YOUR TEARS The Weeknd 40 59 05 40 YOU PROOF Morgan Wallen 41 39 14 11 LET GO Central Cee 42 44 05 20 PAINTING PICTURES Superstar Pride 43 41 20 03 RICH FLEX Drake & 21 Savage 44 40 32 08 CUFF IT Beyoncé 45 43 143 23 MR. BRIGHTSIDE The Killers 46 49 12 46 SNOOZE SZA 47 37 41 02 LATE NIGHT TALKING Harry Styles 48 45 42 07 I LIKE YOU (A HAPPIER SONG) Post Malone feat. Doja Cat 49 89 02 49 MOTHER Meghan Trainor 50 54 99 43 NO ROLE MODELZ J. Cole Bubbling 15 (NE) 5 LEAF CLOVER Luke Combs 16 (14) PEOPLE Libianca 17 (17) AIN'T THAT SOME Morgan Wallen 18 (19) ONE THING AT A TIME Morgan Wallen 19 (NE) SET ME FREE, PT. 2 Jimin 20 (16) OMG NewJeans Albums 01 04 003 01 ONE THING AT A TIME Morgan Wallen 02 02 044 01 HARRY'S HOUSE Harry Styles 03 NE 001 03 SONGS OF SURRENDER U2 04 01 002 01 ENDLESS SUMMER VACATION Miley Cyrus 05 07 022 01 MIDNIGHTS Taylor Swift 06 05 111 02 THE HIGHLIGHTS The Weeknd 07 03 005 01 TRUSTFALL P!nk 08 06 015 01 SOS SZA 09 11 190 01 STARBOY The Weeknd 10 09 171 01 FINE LINE Harry Styles 11 24 115 02 DANGEROUS: THE DOUBLE ALBUM Morgan Wallen 12 10 316 01 ÷ Ed Sheeran 13 12 250 03 DIAMONDS Elton John 14 21 439 01 1989 Taylor Swift 15 13 016 05 HEROES & VILLAINS Metro Boomin' 16 33 187 01 LOVER Taylor Swift 17 15 262 07 THIS ONE'S FOR YOU Luke Combs 18 14 374 01 CURTAIN CALL: THE HITS Eminem 19 08 073 01 = Ed Sheeran 20 16 096 01 SOUR Olivia Rodigo 21 30 280 01 REPUTATION Taylor Swift 22 20 302 14 SINGLES COLLECTION Maroon 5 23 35 139 01 FOLKLORE Taylor Swift 24 17 154 01 AFTER HOURS The Weeknd 25 27 176 01 WHAT YOU SEE AIN'T ALWAYS WHAT YOU GET Luke Combs 26 25 021 05 THE ESSENTIAL Foo Fighters 27 19 247 01 AM Arctic Monkeys 28 22 419 02 RUMOURS Fleetwood Mac 29 23 156 01 FUTURE NOSTALGIA Dua Lipa 30 28 033 02 CURTAIN CALL 2 Eminem 31 29 208 01 WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Billie Eilish 32 RE 041 11 CHIAROSCURO Ocean Alley 33 18 221 01 HARRY STYLES Harry Styles 34 32 357 01 TEENAGE DREAM: THE COMPLETE CONFECTION Katy Perry 35 36 039 02 GROWIN' UP Luke Combs 36 31 041 15 LOOK AT ME: THE ALBUM XXXTentacion 37 34 201 07 DIVINELY UNINSPIRED TO A HELLISH EXTENT Lewis Capaldi 38 NE 001 38 TELL ME I'M ALIVE All Time Low 39 71 071 01 RED (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 40 26 446 01 X Ed Sheeran 41 38 231 01 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) Queen 42 46 242 16 GREATEST HITS: GOD'S FAVORITE BAND Green Day 43 42 269 01 THE EMINEM SHOW Eminem 44 44 022 36 STUDIO ALBUMS ABBA 45 39 183 01 HOLLYWOOD'S BLEEDING Post Malone 46 45 142 01 SHOOT FOR THE STARS AIM FOR THE MOON Pop Smoke 47 43 091 02 PLANET HER Doja Cat 48 48 188 18 LIVE IN BUENOS AIRES Coldplay 49 41 039 01 HERE COMES EVERYBODY Spacey Jane 50 54 350 01 25 Adele "Flowers" is #1 for a 10th week. 18 months ago, "STAY" spent its first 14 weeks at #1, so there's a little way to go to matching that. It does seem like PinkPantheress is not going to be the one to challenge it anymore though, as she's slipping back faster now. Actually if anything here is on the cards, it might be Morgan Wallen. It's hard to be certain because he just wrapped up some Australian shows which would suggest he could be trending back down, but as it stands, he's still moving on up and might be able to muscle ahead of the steadily weakening competition. He also gets a second top 50 hit this week with last year's "You Proof". Or I dunno, maybe Ed Sheeran sold a lot of physical copies here, I'm not at all privy to that sort of info until it happens. I just remember "Bad Habits" having an unremarkable start on streaming but debuting at #1 on the chart anyway. Taylor Swift has the top debut this week. I learnt this morning that saying nice things about Taylor Swift will earn you the ire of Taylor Swift fans. I suspect she could climb next week though. Calvin Harris climbs into the top 50 thanks to a massive help from Hot Hits Australia and also that funny algorithm thing, otherwise there's nothing to suggest to me that the song is much more popular than any other underperforming Calvin Harris single of late, interesting that. He's not alone anyhow though, because Meghan Trainor seems to have ridden that same algorithm to the top 50, but with Australian Idol over and the streaming also retreating hard this week, it might just be a one week thing. Then again Australia did make "Me Too" a #4 hit so you never know. J. Cole also returns to the top 50 with "No Role Modelz", roughly a year after he first made it. I have to highlight this though because the song has now spent 24 weeks in the top 50, getting no higher than #43. This week's Bubbling Under chart is actually stepping back up. I know that because I don't think Fred again.. was that far off the top 50 this week but he doesn't even make the cut for this. Luke Combs does, and I strongly suspect "5 Leaf Clover" will climb into the top 50 next week, alongside a couple other songs of his and/or Tracy Chapman's. Jimin doesn't quite make the top 50 this week but I wouldn't be surprised if he had a shot this coming week with "Like Crazy". I'm being crazy experimental with the album chart this week and adding another leading zero, just because most of the album chart entries are into their 3rd digit now and it makes it easier for me to type this up, and read it. Anyway, despite the streaming formula being somewhat against the idea of a 36 track album, Morgan Wallen's streaming has been so out of control that he can't help but climb up to #1 this week for the first time in his career. As a result, U2 land at #3 which might seem underwhelming but it is the highest peaking U2 album that starts with the words 'Songs Of'. Ocean Alley have a big re-entry thanks to a vinyl release, which manages to double the number of Australian albums in the top 50 this week. With Spacey Jane very close to slipping out, we'd be close to a net zero next week but at the very least Matt Corby should make an entrance. There's also an arrival for All Time Low, who usually end up in the top 20 but here land at #38. Next week I would think is Luke Combs' to take. Morgan Wallen could challenge him but I think their streaming is fairly level and Luke will have sales on his side. Lana Del Rey should also figure in somewhere, and maybe Depeche Mode, Fall Out Boy & BABYMETAL, who's to say?

To be honest as a neurodivergent person, I find whatever Big Hit is doing much more reprehensible. It's exploiting obsessive compulsive behaviour (which is more common for NDs) and fandom good will by shovelling out endless versions of everything they put out that they know will all get purchased. Reminds me a lot of the genuinely evil 'whale' concept in mobile gaming. (This also applies to the vinyl format business model).

I've been noticing this since around mid last year. I think between an aging streaming demographic, TikTok algorithms that don't produce audience retention, overweighted pure sales gimmicks that weaponise baked in fanbases, and a years long pandemic destroying the live music scene, it's incredibly difficult for new artists to make a significant mark. Genuinely I'm much more surprised to see a new artist break out with a hit than a 'shocking' comeback from major label artists like Meghan Trainor or Sam Smith.

I feel like a prior peak should be irrelevant to the whole conversation, it just becomes totally arbitrary at that point. Like, had Kate Bush had a resurgence with "Wuthering Heights" instead of "Running Up That Hill", should that not warrant the same treatment? The only difference is that the former peaked at #1 instead of #3 so it couldn't get a new peak even if it tried but if it were clearly the biggest song in the country, it'd look silly to not reset it on that arbitrary ruling. Or imagine a world where Arctic Monkeys put out "Do I Wanna Know?" at the start of the week, Tom Odell wouldn't have a top 10 hit...until this year, and many would celebrate that in the moment. It'd be really dumb if the OCC were just sitting looking at the trigger and waiting to see if he got 1 place higher than he did 10 years ago to warrant a reset that's merely depicting a notable resurgence. The purpose of the chart should be to demonstrate what is relevant/popular etc, not to just fiddle around and generate as many arbitrary hits as possible. At some point *that* devalues the chart more so than a reset that is costing a few new songs 1 position on the chart for a bit until it's swiftly forgotten about once it's back on ACR.

independent release -> no one's gonna push it to radio no prior artist profile -> no precedent for radio airplay doesn't sample a hit from the '80s/'90s/'00s -> radio HATES that guitar ballad with no remix -> radio HAAAAATES that song is a year old + no local tour on the horizon -> no reason for triple j/FBi to touch it either

20/03/2023 Singles 01 01 09 01 FLOWERS Miley Cyrus 02 02 06 02 BOY'S A LIAR PinkPantheress 03 03 33 03 DIE FOR YOU The Weeknd 04 04 14 01 KILL BILL SZA 05 06 06 06 LAST NIGHT Morgan Wallen 06 07 15 03 ESCAPISM. RAYE feat. 070 Shake 07 05 50 01 AS IT WAS Harry Styles 08 08 30 08 UNTIL I FOUND YOU Stephen Sanchez & Em Beihold 09 09 09 07 PLAYERS Coi Leray 10 12 21 01 ANTI-HERO Taylor Swift 11 13 15 07 CREEPIN' Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage 12 11 08 06 SURE THING Miguel 13 15 41 02 I AIN'T WORRIED OneRepublic 14 10 79 02 SHIVERS Ed Sheeran 15 14 25 01 UNHOLY Sam Smith feat. Kim Petras 16 19 15 13 10:35 Tiësto & Tate McRae 17 17 24 04 MISS YOU Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz 18 18 29 01 I'M GOOD (BLUE) David Guetta feat. Bebe Rexha 19 23 28 19 CALM DOWN Rema & Selena Gomez 20 24 04 20 CEILINGS Lizzy McAlpine 21 21 21 03 MADE YOU LOOK Meghan Trainor 22 NE 01 22 RIVER Miley Cyrus 23 26 08 23 GREEN GREEN GRASS George Ezra 24 27 35 15 SOMETHING IN THE ORANGE Zach Bryan 25 20 90 01 BAD HABITS Ed Sheeran 26 28 135 01 HEAT WAVES Glass Animals 27 33 36 03 BAD HABIT Steve Lacy 28 29 07 06 LOVE AGAIN The Kid Laroi 29 34 06 19 TRUSTFALL P!nk 30 40 36 21 THE KIND OF LOVE WE MAKE Luke Combs 31 36 28 29 GOLDEN HOUR JVKE 32 46 41 08 SUNROOF Nicky Youre & dazy 33 43 88 01 STAY The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber 34 38 30 04 B.O.T.A. (BADDEST OF THEM ALL) Eliza Rose & Interplanetary Criminal 35 42 83 01 COLD HEART (PNAU REMIX) Elton John & Dua Lipa 36 49 44 21 ANOTHER LOVE Tom Odell 37 16 40 02 LATE NIGHT TALKING Harry Styles 38 37 114 03 SAVE YOUR TEARS The Weeknd 39 41 13 11 LET GO Central Cee 40 44 31 08 CUFF IT Beyoncé 41 47 19 03 RICH FLEX Drake & 21 Savage 42 31 307 01 PERFECT Ed Sheeran 43 57 142 23 MR. BRIGHTSIDE The Killers 44 45 04 20 PAINTING PICTURES Superstar Pride 45 51 41 07 I LIKE YOU (A HAPPIER SONG) Post Malone feat. Doja Cat 46 39 03 32 RHYME DUST MK & Dom Dolla 47 22 12 04 MUSIC FOR A SUSHI RESTAURANT Harry Styles 48 25 169 05 WATERMELON SUGAR Harry Styles 49 56 11 47 SNOOZE SZA 50 58 206 04 SOMEONE YOU LOVED Lewis Capaldi Bubbling 13 (13) COMMA'S Onefour feat. CG 14 (16) PEOPLE Libianca 15 (NE) MIRACLE Calvin Harris & Ellie Goulding 16 (15) OMG NewJeans 17 (11) AIN'T THAT SOME Morgan Wallen 18 (NE) JADED Miley Cyrus 19 (14) ONE THING AT A TIME Morgan Wallen 20 (19) HEAVEN Niall Horan Albums 01 NE 01 01 ENDLESS SUMMER VACATION Miley Cyrus 02 01 43 01 HARRY'S HOUSE Harry Styles 03 04 04 01 TRUSTFALL P!nk 04 02 02 02 ONE THING AT A TIME Morgan Wallen 05 07 110 02 THE HIGHLIGHTS The Weeknd 06 08 14 01 SOS SZA 07 10 21 01 MIDNIGHTS Taylor Swift 08 05 72 01 = Ed Sheeran 09 06 170 01 FINE LINE Harry Styles 10 09 315 01 ÷ Ed Sheeran 11 14 189 01 STARBOY The Weeknd 12 15 249 03 DIAMONDS Elton John 13 18 15 05 HEROES & VILLAINS Metro Boomin' 14 17 373 01 CURTAIN CALL: THE HITS Eminem 15 19 261 07 THIS ONE'S FOR YOU Luke Combs 16 20 95 01 SOUR Olivia Rodigo 17 22 153 01 AFTER HOURS The Weeknd 18 12 220 01 HARRY STYLES Harry Styles 19 25 246 01 AM Arctic Monkeys 20 23 301 14 SINGLES COLLECTION Maroon 5 21 24 438 01 1989 Taylor Swift 22 33 418 02 RUMOURS Fleetwood Mac 23 26 155 01 FUTURE NOSTALGIA Dua Lipa 24 32 114 02 DANGEROUS: THE DOUBLE ALBUM Morgan Wallen 25 27 20 05 THE ESSENTIAL Foo Fighters 26 16 445 01 X Ed Sheeran 27 29 175 01 WHAT YOU SEE AIN'T ALWAYS WHAT YOU GET Luke Combs 28 31 32 02 CURTAIN CALL 2 Eminem 29 36 207 01 WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Billie Eilish 30 35 279 01 REPUTATION Taylor Swift 31 38 40 15 LOOK AT ME: THE ALBUM XXXTentacion 32 40 356 01 TEENAGE DREAM: THE COMPLETE CONFECTION Katy Perry 33 41 186 01 LOVER Taylor Swift 34 37 200 07 DIVINELY UNINSPIRED TO A HELLISH EXTENT Lewis Capaldi 35 42 138 01 FOLKLORE Taylor Swift 36 39 38 02 GROWIN' UP Luke Combs 37 21 03 02 CRACKER ISLAND Gorillaz 38 46 230 01 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) Queen 39 45 182 01 HOLLYWOOD'S BLEEDING Post Malone 40 11 03 07 HIGH DRAMA Adam Lambert 41 44 38 01 HERE COMES EVERYBODY Spacey Jane 42 47 268 01 THE EMINEM SHOW Eminem 43 52 90 02 PLANET HER Doja Cat 44 50 21 36 STUDIO ALBUMS ABBA 45 51 141 01 SHOOT FOR THE STARS AIM FOR THE MOON Pop Smoke 46 49 241 16 GREATEST HITS: GOD'S FAVORITE BAND Green Day 47 90 102 PURE HEROINE Lorde 48 54 187 18 LIVE IN BUENOS AIRES Coldplay 49 55 331 02 DOO-WOPS & HOOLIGANS Bruno Mars 50 43 175 01 NO.6 COLLABORATIONS PROJECT Ed Sheeran "Flowers" is #1 for a 9th week. It's a little hard to really judge the margin on Spotify because the original version of "Boy's a liar" fell out of the top 200 a little while ago but it is possible that this will be its last week at #1, as it seems to be falling slightly faster. Aside from "Last Night", most of the top songs at the moment are dropping but being replaced by nothing. The highest new peak on the chart is actually "ceilings" at #20 but since that's basically radio poison in this country, it may as well not be there. Also the album's really good, more people should listen to it. Miley Cyrus does get the top/only debut with "River" but it doesn't seem to be catching on just yet. That said if you're on the lookout for new hits, that Calvin Harris dealie should probably do the job. Last night it got slotted in at #2 on Hot Hits Australia so it could well vault into the top 20 soon. There's probably another song climbing up too but I suspect if I don't give it any attention, it should eventually go away. I was under the impression that Miley Cyrus getting #1 albums was a regular occurrence but now I see this is only her 3rd #1 album. It does mean that she can boast 3 decades of #1 albums if you're into those sort of stats. It helps this time around that she has no competition, as the only debut for the week! If not for U2 coming in next week, I think Morgan Wallen might have a chance to climb up to #1 as he's seeing some good streaming legs for several songs. Then again maybe he can still pull it off. We're also back to only having 1 Australian album in the top 50, but maybe Ed Sheeran & Harry Styles dropping back down the chart will create a buffer in that regard.

Gotta at least give some leeway to songs facing ACR that have only a 0.6% decline :lol:

Seems like rather than just one, several 10/03 releases are getting big out of nowhere boosts (Miracle, Mother, Jaded). The former has plausible deniability on the UK Chart but based on every other global chart it looks a bit more sus, so maybe keep that in mind. In the mean time, Die For You (Remix) is collapsing even harder than last week, so I guess that's where all those streams are coming from.

+5 Lizzy McAlpine - ceilings +4 SZA - Kill Bill +3 Miguel - Sure Thing +2 Libianca - People +1 Rema & Selena Gomez - Calm Down -1 The Weeknd - Die For You -2 Miley Cyrus - Flowers -3 Coi Leray - Players -4 PinkPantheress - Boy's a liar -5 Harry Styles - As It Was

It wouldn't be an Ed Sheeran album cycle without people making up negative traits about him to get mad about again and again :lol:

I'll admit I've been very wrong about this in the past but I just heard the new Lewis song and it doesn't exactly scream #1 to me.

I think to give the album credit, it was the 5th best selling album that actually dropped in 2022. That's nothing to sneeze at. A year after release and it's still charting too. A lot of underperforming new material is just in reaction to a market that's increasingly driven by catalogue releases.

A lot of it specifically is centred around Queensland and northern New South Wales (specifically Tamworth) which has a strong local scene. Speaking as someone who lives on the opposite side of the country, it's not really a big deal here. That said, "Last Night" may as well be a pop song (and I believe it was pushed to pop radio first in the US) so it's not that radical to see it breaking out. And yes, Australia is incredibly white.

13/03/2023 Singles 01 01 08 01 FLOWERS Miley Cyrus 02 02 05 02 BOY'S A LIAR PinkPantheress 03 03 32 03 DIE FOR YOU The Weeknd 04 04 13 01 KILL BILL SZA 05 05 49 01 AS IT WAS Harry Styles 06 08 05 06 LAST NIGHT Morgan Wallen 07 06 14 03 ESCAPISM. RAYE feat. 070 Shake 08 09 29 08 UNTIL I FOUND YOU Stephen Sanchez & Em Beihold 09 07 08 07 PLAYERS Coi Leray 10 17 78 02 SHIVERS Ed Sheeran 11 11 07 06 SURE THING Miguel 12 12 20 01 ANTI-HERO Taylor Swift 13 13 14 07 CREEPIN' Metro Boomin, The Weeknd & 21 Savage 14 10 24 01 UNHOLY Sam Smith feat. Kim Petras 15 14 40 02 I AIN'T WORRIED OneRepublic 16 16 39 02 LATE NIGHT TALKING Harry Styles 17 15 23 04 MISS YOU Oliver Tree & Robin Schulz 18 19 28 01 I'M GOOD (BLUE) David Guetta feat. Bebe Rexha 19 21 14 13 10:35 Tiësto & Tate McRae 20 22 89 01 BAD HABITS Ed Sheeran 21 18 20 03 MADE YOU LOOK Meghan Trainor 22 24 11 04 MUSIC FOR A SUSHI RESTAURANT Harry Styles 23 26 27 19 CALM DOWN Rema & Selena Gomez 24 43 03 24 CEILINGS Lizzy McAlpine 25 23 168 05 WATERMELON SUGAR Harry Styles 26 31 07 26 GREEN GREEN GRASS George Ezra 27 27 34 15 SOMETHING IN THE ORANGE Zach Bryan 28 29 134 01 HEAT WAVES Glass Animals 29 25 06 06 LOVE AGAIN The Kid Laroi 30 39 08 10 SATELLITE Harry Styles 31 40 306 01 PERFECT Ed Sheeran 32 35 13 03 MATILDA Harry Styles 33 34 35 03 BAD HABIT Steve Lacy 34 28 05 19 TRUSTFALL P!nk 35 38 78 07 ADORE YOU Harry Styles 36 44 27 29 GOLDEN HOUR JVKE 37 46 113 03 SAVE YOUR TEARS The Weeknd 38 36 29 04 B.O.T.A. (BADDEST OF THEM ALL) Eliza Rose & Interplanetary Criminal 39 32 02 32 RHYME DUST MK & Dom Dolla 40 41 35 21 THE KIND OF LOVE WE MAKE Luke Combs 41 37 12 11 LET GO Central Cee 42 45 82 01 COLD HEART (PNAU REMIX) Elton John & Dua Lipa 43 47 87 01 STAY The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber 44 33 30 08 CUFF IT Beyoncé 45 20 03 20 PAINTING PICTURES Superstar Pride 46 42 40 08 SUNROOF Nicky Youre & dazy 47 48 18 03 RICH FLEX Drake & 21 Savage 48 51 25 01 SIGN OF THE TIMES Harry Styles 49 54 43 21 ANOTHER LOVE Tom Odell 50 58 221 01 SHAPE OF YOU Ed Sheeran Bubbling 11 (NE) AIN'T THAT SOME Morgan Wallen 12 (13) SNOOZE SZA 13 (16) COMMA'S Onefour feat. CG 14 (NE) ONE THING AT A TIME Morgan Wallen 15 (14) OMG NewJeans 16 (17) PEOPLE Libianca 17 (NE) ON THE STREET j-hope & J. Cole 18 (15) LOVE YOU ANYWAY Luke Combs 19 (9) HEAVEN Niall Horan 20 (20) SUPERHERO (HEROES & VILLAINS) Metro Boomin, Future & Chris Brown Albums 01 01 42 01 HARRY'S HOUSE Harry Styles 02 NE 01 02 ONE THING AT A TIME Morgan Wallen 03 NE 01 03 4TH WALL Ruel 04 03 03 01 TRUSTFALL P!nk 05 06 71 01 = Ed Sheeran 06 05 169 01 FINE LINE Harry Styles 07 08 109 02 THE HIGHLIGHTS The Weeknd 08 09 13 01 SOS SZA 09 11 314 01 ÷ Ed Sheeran 10 10 20 01 MIDNIGHTS Taylor Swift 11 07 02 07 HIGH DRAMA Adam Lambert 12 12 219 01 HARRY STYLES Harry Styles 13 NE 01 13 AY-YO - THE 4TH ALBUM REPACKAGE NCT 127 14 13 188 01 STARBOY The Weeknd 15 14 248 03 DIAMONDS Elton John 16 16 444 01 X Ed Sheeran 17 18 372 01 CURTAIN CALL: THE HITS Eminem 18 20 14 05 HEROES & VILLAINS Metro Boomin' 19 19 260 07 THIS ONE'S FOR YOU Luke Combs 20 23 94 01 SOUR Olivia Rodigo 21 02 02 02 CRACKER ISLAND Gorillaz 22 26 152 01 AFTER HOURS The Weeknd 23 21 300 14 SINGLES COLLECTION Maroon 5 24 25 437 01 1989 Taylor Swift 25 24 245 01 AM Arctic Monkeys 26 22 154 01 FUTURE NOSTALGIA Dua Lipa 27 27 19 05 THE ESSENTIAL Foo Fighters 28 NE 01 28 MIDNIGHT DRIVING Teenage Dads 29 28 174 01 WHAT YOU SEE AIN'T ALWAYS WHAT YOU GET Luke Combs 30 NE 01 30 I AM THE RIVER, THE RIVER IS ME Jen Cloher 31 29 31 02 CURTAIN CALL 2 Eminem 32 31 113 02 DANGEROUS: THE DOUBLE ALBUM Morgan Wallen 33 32 417 02 RUMOURS Fleetwood Mac 34 42 413 01 + Ed Sheeran 35 49 278 01 REPUTATION Taylor Swift 36 33 206 01 WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? Billie Eilish 37 34 199 07 DIVINELY UNINSPIRED TO A HELLISH EXTENT Lewis Capaldi 38 35 39 15 LOOK AT ME: THE ALBUM XXXTentacion 39 38 37 02 GROWIN' UP Luke Combs 40 40 355 01 TEENAGE DREAM: THE COMPLETE CONFECTION Katy Perry 41 41 185 01 LOVER Taylor Swift 42 37 137 01 FOLKLORE Taylor Swift 43 43 174 01 NO.6 COLLABORATIONS PROJECT Ed Sheeran 44 39 37 01 HERE COMES EVERYBODY Spacey Jane 45 36 181 01 HOLLYWOOD'S BLEEDING Post Malone 46 44 229 01 BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK) Queen 47 46 267 01 THE EMINEM SHOW Eminem 48 NE 01 48 BEN Macklemore 49 51 240 16 GREATEST HITS: GOD'S FAVORITE BAND Green Day 50 53 20 36 STUDIO ALBUMS ABBA It's an 8th week at #1 for "Flowers", but next week is an interesting spanner in the works. You would think that the album release would buoy it again but it's actually been dropping faster than "Boy's a liar" on Spotify lately, so it keeps this race open again although I imagine the margin is still too strong on other platforms to change anything. Actually pretty much everything in the top 10 is on the way out presently with not much looking to slot itself in. Miley will probably debut in the top 20 with "River" next week. Morgan Wallen rises to a new peak off the album release but surprisingly doesn't score any further top 50 entries. As you can probably parse from the Bubbling Under chart, he has several not far off (+ "You Proof" is one of the highest but is too old for that chart). Harry Styles wrapped up his tour in the middle of this tracking week but mostly improves on last week's positions, while Ed Sheeran played his last show on Sunday this week and should see another good week (even though the show is in the lower population centre of Perth). If you perchance found yourself looking at this chart and thinking 'gosh, "Shivers" is a bit high, innit?', that's a fair assessment, because it got put back on Hot Hits Australia and quite high at that. Nonetheless its jump up to #10 does make the top 10 this week on average a year less old so it's impossible to say if this is helping freshen up the chart or not. Superstar Pride plummets down the chart due to the handicap of being unable to be streamed for most of the week, although I have to note that all things considered, it's a bit higher than I'd have thought. If nothing else it lends more credence to my theory that ARIA doubles up Friday streams for Thursday data or something dumb like that because it went from being way higher on Spotify last week to being a bit lower on Spotify compared to its ARIA position, very strange. Also speaking of Spotify oddities, it is quite possible that "Rhyme Dust" was getting that algorithm goodness last week but it actually declines on this week's corresponding chart. The highest Australian song on the chart this week keeps getting lower and next week we might only have two in the top 50. I'm also just going to note that "ceilings" climbed a lot and I'm very supportive of this so I don't have to change the sub-header. We've also nearly got a record low in new music in the top 50 as there are only 10 qualifying songs in this week. The only time it's been lower I believe was the week of the big Christmas boom when it dropped down to 8. ONEFOUR's Hot Hits Australia boost picks them up a bit but they're already collapsing again this week. Niall has a monster collapse now that people aren't being forced at gunpoint to listen to his music, but he may be able to stick the landing a little and hang around. On the album chart, Harry Styles is #1 again. Morgan Wallen debuts at #2 yet again, in case you were wondering, his last album missed the top spot to Barry Gibb, but is still in the top 50 to this day so he's won the long term battle I suppose. The album chart actually does have some Australian music again as the next highest debut comes from Ruel, whose big breakthrough as a young wunderkind was so long ago that maybe he's not a notably young wunderkind anymore! This is his first proper studio album although he had quite a bit of success with his 2019 EP that also peaked at #3 on the album chart. Speaking of #3, NCT 127 got there last year with the 4th album, and this re-package gets them to #13. Teenage Dads had a bit of a breakthrough last year and made the Hottest 100 for the first time with their song "Teddy". It appears on their new EP which is only 6 tracks which is just long enough to be included here. Also debuting this week is Jen Cloher who made the top 5 back in 2017 and you might know them for being romantically linked with Courtney Barnett at that time although I don't think they are anymore. Macklemore sneaks into the top 50 which is quite a drop off for him position-wise but as we know, the album chart has a tendency to exaggerate this gap. In any case, his last album had a #2 hit on it and this does not.

To be fair, half of Dua Lipa's top 10 hits in the past 4 years have samples & interpolations and most people seem to like those. I think it's more if you don't like/don't want to like an artist, one is more likely to dismiss anything like that which pivots to success because 'how dare people fall for this trickery?!' (as well as being an easy scapegoat for 'why this is bad') when really it's a matter of taste.

I've been awaiting to see what would happen this week but with the feeling of no strong expectation for her to do anything substantial. The kinds of artists who tend to have big showings with their albums are the ones who *always* do (Ye had 3 top 20 hits from his gospel album!) or new artists that have a lot of hype behind them (eg Olivia, Billie). Miley doesn't really fit into either camp. She does well on pure sales but I don't know how many people who've never listened to a Miley Cyrus album on release are gonna start just because they like "Flowers", most have decided where they stand long ago.

And all of a sudden after consistently gaining 120K+ for an entire week it's now lost streams compared to a week ago, exactly on time. Knew it :lol: Not sure if there's a new beneficiary yet.