Dircadirca

10/11/2025 Singles 01 01 05 01 THE FATE OF OPHELIA Taylor Swift 02 02 12 02 MAN I NEED Olivia Dean 03 03 20 01 GOLDEN Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast, Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna 04 04 05 02 OPALITE Taylor Swift 05 06 21 03 NO BROKE BOYS Disco Lines, Tinashe 06 05 39 01 ORDINARY Alex Warren 07 07 06 07 SO EASY (TO FALL IN LOVE) Olivia Dean 08 08 15 06 12 TO 12 sombr 09 11 19 04 SODA POP Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 10 13 07 10 WHERE IS MY HUSBAND? Raye 11 10 33 03 BACK TO FRIENDS Sombr 12 12 22 10 NICE TO EACH OTHER Olivia Dean 13 09 05 03 ELIZABETH TAYLOR Taylor Swift. 14 15 19 04 YOUR IDOL Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 15 17 17 01 DAISIES Justin Bieber 16 18 32 02 UNDRESSED sombr 17 27 94 01 BEAUTIFUL THINGS Benson Boone 18 20 19 08 WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 19 24 36 02 LOVE ME NOT Ravyn Lenae 20 14 05 04 FATHER FIGURE Taylor Swift 21 26 82 01 A BAR SONG (TIPSY) Shaboozey 22 22 19 07 HOW IT'S DONE Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 23 19 06 06 TIT FOR TAT Tate McRae 24 31 20 03 VICTORY LAP Fred again.., Skepta, PlaqueBoyMax 25 16 05 06 THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL Taylor Swift feat. Sabrina Carpenter 26 29 23 05 JUST KEEP WATCHING Tate McRae 27 33 77 01 BIRDS OF A FEATHER Billie Eilish 28 41 05 28 A COUPLE MINUTES Olivia Dean 29 35 22 02 MANCHILD Sabrina Carpenter 30 34 10 03 TEARS Sabrina Carpenter 31 21 05 09 WI$H LI$T Taylor Swift 32 23 05 05 WOOD Taylor Swift 33 40 18 27 GABRIELA Katseye 34 37 64 02 DIE WITH A SMILE Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars 35 38 19 11 TAKEDOWN Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 36 36 19 10 FREE Rumi, Jinu, Ejae, Andrew Choi, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 37 50 06 37 DRACULA Tame Impala 38 25 05 08 ACTUALLY ROMANTIC Taylor Swift 39 28 05 07 CANCELLED! Taylor Swift 40 42 10 13 WHEN DID YOU GET HOT? Sabrina Carpenter 41 44 06 39 BABY STEPS Olivia Dean 42 51 14 42 FOLDED Kehlani 43 45 55 01 APT. Rosé, Bruno Mars 44 30 05 11 RUIN THE FRIENDSHIP Taylor Swift 45 49 55 01 THAT'S SO TRUE Gracie Abrams 46 48 78 01 I HAD SOME HELP Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen 47 32 05 10 ELDEST DAUGHTER Taylor Swift 48 47 15 19 SUGAR ON MY TONGUE Tyler, The Creator 49 43 41 08 SPORTS CAR Tate McRae 50 81 02 50 PUSSY PALACE Lily Allen Bubbling Under 15 (RE) THE SUBWAY Chappell Roan 16 (NE) HOUSE TOUR Sabrina Carpenter 17 (NE) WEST END GIRL Lily Allen 18 (NE) DANCING2 Keli Holiday 19 (18) NOW OR NEVER Tkandz 20 (NE) MADELINE Lily Allen Albums 01 01 05 01 THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL Taylor Swift 02 02 20 01 KPOP DEMON HUNTERS (FROM THE NETFLIX FILM) Soundtrack 03 03 06 01 THE ART OF LOVING Olivia Dean 04 NE 01 04 EVERYBODY SCREAM Florence + the Machine 05 54 46 01 CHROMAKOPIA Tyler, The Creator 06 04 10 01 MAN'S BEST FRIEND Sabrina Carpenter 07 RE 75 01 TEA & SYMPATHY [ 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION ] Bernard Fanning 08 06 02 06 WEST END GIRL Lily Allen 09 09 47 02 YOU'LL BE ALRIGHT, KID Alex Warren 10 11 63 01 SHORT N' SWEET Sabrina Carpenter 11 12 37 01 SO CLOSE TO WHAT Tate McRae 12 NE 01 12 VITRIOL Cloning 13 13 11 04 I BARELY KNOW HER sombr 14 14 25 01 I'M THE PROBLEM Morgan Wallen 15 NE 01 15 HAIL TO THE THIEF (LIVE RECORDINGS 2003-2009) Radiohead 16 15 77 01 HIT ME HARD AND SOFT Billie Eilish 17 10 03 02 DEADBEAT Tame Impala 18 18 72 01 THE SECRET OF US Gracie Abrams 19 20 08 01 PLAY Ed Sheeran 20 19 74 01 BRAT Charli XCX 21 22 81 01 THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT Taylor Swift 22 07 02 07 THE BOY WHO PLAYED THE HARP Dave 23 23 95 02 THINK LATER Tate McRae 24 NE 01 24 EGO DEATH AT A BACHELORETTE PARTY Hayley Williams 25 NE 01 25 AGAIN The Belair Lip Bombs 26 26 34 01 MAYHEM Lady Gaga 27 16 02 16 SON OF SPERGY Daniel Caesar 28 17 11 05 HICKEY Royel Otis 29 27 86 01 ETERNAL SUNSHINE Ariana Grande 30 31 19 19 BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN Jelly Roll 31 28 26 01 EVEN IN ARCADIA Sleep Token 32 NE 01 32 THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 18: THROUGH THE OPEN WINDOW, 1956-1963 Bob Dylan 33 32 11 32 KANSAS ANYMORE Role Model 34 29 17 02 SWAG Justin Bieber 35 46 19 02 ADDISON Addison Rae 36 30 26 01 I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING BUT THERAPY (PART 2) Teddy Swims 37 34 07 03 LOVE BALLOON Ocean Alley 38 39 47 01 GNX Kendrick Lamar 39 40 15 12 SEX HYSTERIA Jessie Murph 40 33 06 06 VIE Doja Cat 41 41 11 02 A MATTER OF TIME Laufey 42 37 58 02 F-1 TRILLION Post Malone 43 NE 01 43 ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT Headwreck 44 47 52 03 THE FIRST TIME The Kid Laroi 45 42 35 02 $OME $EXY $ONGS 4 U PartyNextDoor, Drake 46 36 11 03 KARMA Stray Kids 47 51 04 17 PEOPLE WATCHING Sam Fender 48 49 22 04 CHARM Clairo 49 35 02 35 IT'S NOT THAT DEEP Demi Lovato 50 57 19 01 VIRGIN Lorde "The Fate of Ophelia" is #1 for a 5th week. I'll admit I expected things to change hands based on Spotify trends but I guess I forgot about the variants. The trajectories are continuing, and Olivia Dean's local promo tour is imminent, so it's only a matter of time. RAYE scores her 3rd top 10 hit this week. It's a relatively quiet week but we've drawn first Showgirl blood as "Honey" falls out, so expect a courteous uptick in re-entries as I don't think there are particularly close songs hunting their first top 50 appearance. Actually we've only had two new songs pop up in the Spotify chart in the past 2 weeks, HAVEN looks to make a big arrival next week. Lily Allen just narrowly sneaks into the top 50 but will likely wind back next week. This is not a discouraging pattern, it's just very normal behaviour for a new album whose activity peaked just slightly later than day 1. Taylor Swift is #1 on the albums chart for a 5th week, I'm used to this, you're used to this. Florence + The Machine have once again chosen a less ideal release week with three streaming juggernauts in tow. This makes it their first album to miss the top 3. Tyler, The Creator goes crazy on the physical sales to return to the top 5, while the best selling album on the chart this week is from Bernard Fanning. For the non-Australians, he's the lead singer of Powderfinger, probably the best selling Australian band of the last 30 years. "Tea & Sympathy" was Bernard's first solo album and a huge success, thanks to having the most overplayed song of 2005, "Wish You Well" on it (a song that never got a physical single and never charted). Local band Cloning chart for the first time, and it's actually on the back of formats other than vinyl where they don't crack that particular chart. The same can't be said of the other arrivals. Radiohead continue their haphazard pattern of releasing things that aren't new studio albums, it's almost like they don't want another #2 peaker. Hayley Williams scores a second top 50 album through a peculiar release pattern, her previous album in 2020 reached the top 10. We've also got another new Australian band, one with a decent amount of streaming traction behind them, The Belair Lip Bombs. Possibly ones to watch in the future.

Spotify must 'underweight' it relatively speaking, right? Like in Australia a while back it overcame a 400K deficit on Spotify to be the #1 single anyway, because it's so strong elsewhere. I assume the UK is similar.

03/11/2025 Singles 01 01 04 01 THE FATE OF OPHELIA Taylor Swift 02 02 11 02 MAN I NEED Olivia Dean 03 03 19 01 GOLDEN Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast, Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna 04 04 04 02 OPALITE Taylor Swift 05 05 38 01 ORDINARY Alex Warren 06 06 20 03 NO BROKE BOYS Disco Lines, Tinashe 07 10 05 07 SO EASY (TO FALL IN LOVE) Olivia Dean 08 09 14 06 12 TO 12 sombr 09 07 04 03 ELIZABETH TAYLOR Taylor Swift. 10 14 32 03 BACK TO FRIENDS Sombr 11 12 18 04 SODA POP Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 12 16 21 10 NICE TO EACH OTHER Olivia Dean 13 18 06 13 WHERE IS MY HUSBAND? Raye 14 08 04 04 FATHER FIGURE Taylor Swift 15 20 18 04 YOUR IDOL Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 16 11 04 06 THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL Taylor Swift feat. Sabrina Carpenter 17 25 16 01 DAISIES Justin Bieber 18 27 31 02 UNDRESSED sombr 19 19 05 06 TIT FOR TAT Tate McRae 20 24 18 08 WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 21 13 04 09 WI$H LI$T Taylor Swift 22 26 18 07 HOW IT'S DONE Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 23 15 04 05 WOOD Taylor Swift 24 29 35 02 LOVE ME NOT Ravyn Lenae 25 17 04 08 ACTUALLY ROMANTIC Taylor Swift 26 31 81 01 A BAR SONG (TIPSY) Shaboozey 27 30 93 01 BEAUTIFUL THINGS Benson Boone 28 21 04 07 CANCELLED! Taylor Swift 29 34 22 05 JUST KEEP WATCHING Tate McRae 30 22 04 11 RUIN THE FRIENDSHIP Taylor Swift 31 32 19 03 VICTORY LAP Fred again.., Skepta, PlaqueBoyMax 32 23 04 10 ELDEST DAUGHTER Taylor Swift 33 37 76 01 BIRDS OF A FEATHER Billie Eilish 34 35 09 03 TEARS Sabrina Carpenter 35 38 21 02 MANCHILD Sabrina Carpenter 36 33 18 10 FREE Rumi, Jinu, Ejae, Andrew Choi, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 37 45 63 02 DIE WITH A SMILE Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars 38 36 18 11 TAKEDOWN Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 39 28 04 12 HONEY Taylor Swift 40 44 17 27 GABRIELA Katseye 41 67 04 41 A COUPLE MINUTES Olivia Dean 42 42 09 13 WHEN DID YOU GET HOT? Sabrina Carpenter 43 43 40 08 SPORTS CAR Tate McRae 44 39 05 39 BABY STEPS Olivia Dean 45 47 54 01 APT. Rosé, Bruno Mars 46 46 55 23 BAD DREAMS Teddy Swims 47 41 14 19 SUGAR ON MY TONGUE Tyler, The Creator 48 48 77 01 I HAD SOME HELP Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen 49 49 54 01 THAT'S SO TRUE Gracie Abrams 50 40 05 40 DRACULA Tame Impala Bubbling Under 15 (18) ETERNITY Alex Warren 16 (19) YUKON Justin Bieber 17 (RE) NOBODY'S SON Sabrina Carpenter 18 (20) NOW OR NEVER Tkandz 19 (NE) BITTERSWEET Madison Beer 20 (NE) PUSSY PALACE Lily Allen Albums 01 01 04 01 THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL Taylor Swift 02 03 19 01 KPOP DEMON HUNTERS (FROM THE NETFLIX FILM) Soundtrack 03 04 05 01 THE ART OF LOVING Olivia Dean 04 05 09 01 MAN'S BEST FRIEND Sabrina Carpenter 05 NE 01 05 WHERE YOU'LL FIND ME James Johnston 06 NE 01 06 WEST END GIRL Lily Allen 07 NE 01 07 THE BOY WHO PLAYED THE HARP Dave 08 NE 01 08 SHOTGUN KARAOKE VOL.II Paul Dempsey 09 08 46 02 YOU'LL BE ALRIGHT, KID Alex Warren 10 02 02 02 DEADBEAT Tame Impala 11 10 62 01 SHORT N' SWEET Sabrina Carpenter 12 11 36 01 SO CLOSE TO WHAT Tate McRae 13 09 10 04 I BARELY KNOW HER sombr 14 12 24 01 I'M THE PROBLEM Morgan Wallen 15 13 76 01 HIT ME HARD AND SOFT Billie Eilish 16 NE 01 16 SON OF SPERGY Daniel Caesar 17 22 10 05 HICKEY Royel Otis 18 17 71 01 THE SECRET OF US Gracie Abrams 19 18 73 01 BRAT Charli XCX 20 19 07 01 PLAY Ed Sheeran 21 RE 11 08 NEBRASKA 82: EXPANDED EDITION Bruce Springsteen 22 21 80 01 THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT Taylor Swift 23 23 94 02 THINK LATER Tate McRae 24 24 105 01 1989 (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 25 RE 04 04 FOREVER Bon Jovi 26 28 33 01 MAYHEM Lady Gaga 27 25 85 01 ETERNAL SUNSHINE Ariana Grande 28 32 25 01 EVEN IN ARCADIA Sleep Token 29 29 16 02 SWAG Justin Bieber 30 26 25 01 I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING BUT THERAPY (PART 2) Teddy Swims 31 41 18 19 BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN Jelly Roll 32 35 10 32 KANSAS ANYMORE Role Model 33 27 05 06 VIE Doja Cat 34 34 06 03 LOVE BALLOON Ocean Alley 35 NE 01 35 IT'S NOT THAT DEEP Demi Lovato 36 38 10 03 KARMA Stray Kids 37 39 57 02 F-1 TRILLION Post Malone 38 52 05 38 THE HARD WAY Cameron Whitcomb 39 37 46 01 GNX Kendrick Lamar 40 36 14 12 SEX HYSTERIA Jessie Murph 41 42 10 02 A MATTER OF TIME Laufey 42 44 34 02 $OME $EXY $ONGS 4 U PartyNextDoor, Drake 43 NE 01 43 CREATURE IN THE BLACK NIGHT Dayseeker 44 43 11 02 WISHBONE Conan Gray 45 06 02 06 KICKING MY FEET Ruel 46 40 18 02 ADDISON Addison Rae 47 47 51 03 THE FIRST TIME The Kid Laroi 48 48 14 01 AMERICAN HEART Benson Boone 49 49 21 04 CHARM Clairo 50 NE 01 50 QUINTESSENTIAL BLACK SORROWS The Black Sorrows "The Fate Of Ophelia" is #1 for a 4th week. It looks likely to be the last week but I suppose you can never count out chicanery (and she gets to be a musician! etc). It's now just a question whether the Halloween boost for "Golden" could upset the expected ascension of "Man I Need" for yet another week. RAYE scores a new peak this week and might be top 10 bound. We've got a peculiar situation with regards to the top 40 this week. "WHERE IS MY HUSBAND!" is the lowest peaking song in the top 39! Death of the moderate hit combined with some quirky chart pile ups. We've only got one new entry this week and it's another Olivia Dean. If not for this, we could have potentially had a second unchanged top 50 this year, something I still believe that the new rules will more likely cause than prevent. Taylor Swift is #1 for a 4th week on the album chart as well. I'm not sure who has the clout to do anything to change that, so maybe it'll be a case of KPop Demon Hunters returning to #1 eventually. It's funny to think that Sabrina Carpenter is #4 this week, when earlier this year she was coasting an uncontested #1 spot under similar conditions. Not all chart weeks are created equally. A surprise late runner as one of the most successful contestants from the last season of the original Australian Idol run is James Johnston. It took him over a decade to release his first album, but now he's got two top 10s to his name. Probably doesn't beat Stan Walker's Aotearoa career, appearing in "Hunt For The Wilderpeople" has a lot of good will for me. What I suspect is a late bloomer for Lily Allen has her debuting at #6, and retaining a perfect top 10 record with all 5 of her albums. West Australian local Kito co-wrote most of the tracks on the album. I'm not sure she'll score any top 50 hits from the album though as they all seem to be trending backwards on Spotify. She had 6 songs in the top 200 a few days ago, but now barely has 2. Next is Dave who scores his 2nd top 10 album but has done the opposite to James Johnston, going from #5 to #7. "Raindance" was the highest new entry on Spotify this week but appears to be missing from the ARIA Chart (I'd expect it in the Bubbling Under chart), in case you thought the new rules might change that situation. I love any opportunity I get to talk about Something For Kate, one of Australia's best kept secrets, but one that I will willingly offer to introduce to others. If "Hallways" or "Monsters" were made by a US or UK band, they'd be analysed endlessly for their introspective lyrical prose. Anyway, they're a band that loves to do a cover, something that extends to very tall frontman Paul Dempsey. Back in 2013, he did a whole album like this called "Shotgun Karaoke". By popular demand, he's done it again with a Vol. II, and it's managed to reach the top 10 (which the original did not). I said on my blog a few months ago, if Paul Dempsey considers your song worthy of being covered, there are few greater honours. Speaking of very good singers, Daniel Caesar continues to score new highs with each successive album, hitting the top 20 for the first time now. Demi Lovato is saved by the new chart rules and continues to make the top 50 with every one of her albums. Dayseeker's 6th album is their first to make the top 50.

My suspicion in any case is that it's a relative drop in the bucket, or something we wouldn't notice anyway mixed in with shops playing secular hit songs as well that all just cancels out together. I just feel like there's always this temptation to connect an unapproved chart development as a fix being up, rather than just the reasonable possibility that other Spotify users have different priorities to oneself. Auto-play, playlists & inorganic TikTok trends help everything except my faves, etc.

How many tens of thousands of shopping centres do you have that it makes a noticeable difference? I'd think the sharp movements feel more in line with general streaming though. Shops aren't going to go up and down with the amount of Christmas music they play for the next 2 months. It's not even legal for shops to use regular Spotify though so they'd have to either use their auxiliary service (which might not count), or something else.

+30 Mitski - My Love Mine All Mine +29 Fat Dog - King of the Slugs +28 Kali Uchis - Moonlight +27 JVKE - Golden Hour +26 Lana Del Rey - A&W +25 Olivia Rodrigo - Vampire +24 Daughter - Be On Your Way +23 Temples - Cicada +22 Madison Beer - Home To Another One +21 underscores (feat. gabby start) - Locals (Girls like us) +20 Olivia Rodrigo - Bad Idea Right? +19 Fred Again.. & Obongjayar - Adore U +18 Chappell Roan - Hot To Go! +17 Dave & Central Cee - Sprinter +16 SZA - Kill Bill +15 Kenya Grace - Strangers +14 Becky Hill & Chase & Status - Disconnect +13 Chappell Roan - Red Wine Supernova +12 George Clanton - I Been Young +11 Käärijä - Cha Cha Cha +10 Dua Lipa - Houdini +9 Kylie Minogue - Padam Padam +8 cassö, RAYE & D-Block Europe - Prada +7 Dua Lipa - Dance The Night +6 Doja Cat - Paint The Town Red +5 Peggy Gou - (It Goes Like) Nanana +4 Troye Sivan - Rush +3 Charli XCX - Speed Drive +2 Chase & Status & Bou (feat. Irah, Flowdan, Trigga & Takura) - Baddadan +1 Last Dinner Party - Nothing Matters

Got to #5 back when Spotify was a weekly chart, kworb

27/10/2025 Singles 01 01 03 01 THE FATE OF OPHELIA Taylor Swift 02 04 10 02 MAN I NEED Olivia Dean 03 03 18 01 GOLDEN Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast, Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna 04 02 03 02 OPALITE Taylor Swift 05 11 37 01 ORDINARY Alex Warren 06 12 19 03 NO BROKE BOYS Disco Lines, Tinashe 07 05 03 03 ELIZABETH TAYLOR Taylor Swift 08 06 03 04 FATHER FIGURE Taylor Swift 09 16 13 06 12 TO 12 sombr 10 22 04 10 SO EASY (TO FALL IN LOVE) Olivia Dean 11 07 03 06 THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL Taylor Swift feat. Sabrina Carpenter 12 18 17 04 SODA POP Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 13 09 03 09 WI$H LI$T Taylor Swift 14 20 31 03 BACK TO FRIENDS Sombr 15 08 03 05 WOOD Taylor Swift 16 23 20 10 NICE TO EACH OTHER Olivia Dean 17 10 03 08 ACTUALLY ROMANTIC Taylor Swift 18 24 05 16 WHERE IS MY HUSBAND? Raye 19 19 04 06 TIT FOR TAT Tate McRae 20 21 17 04 YOUR IDOL Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 21 13 03 07 CANCELLED! Taylor Swift 22 14 03 11 RUIN THE FRIENDSHIP Taylor Swift 23 15 03 10 ELDEST DAUGHTER Taylor Swift 24 26 17 08 WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 25 25 15 01 DAISIES Justin Bieber 26 28 17 07 HOW IT'S DONE Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 27 27 30 02 UNDRESSED sombr 28 17 03 12 HONEY Taylor Swift 29 29 34 02 LOVE ME NOT Ravyn Lenae 30 32 92 01 BEAUTIFUL THINGS Benson Boone 31 36 80 01 A BAR SONG (TIPSY) Shaboozey 32 30 18 03 VICTORY LAP Fred again.., Skepta, PlaqueBoyMax 33 31 17 10 FREE Rumi, Jinu, Ejae, Andrew Choi, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 34 35 21 05 JUST KEEP WATCHING Tate McRae 35 34 08 03 TEARS Sabrina Carpenter 36 33 17 11 TAKEDOWN Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 37 40 75 01 BIRDS OF A FEATHER Billie Eilish 38 39 20 02 MANCHILD Sabrina Carpenter 39 41 04 39 BABY STEPS Olivia Dean 40 67 04 40 DRACULA Tame Impala 41 37 13 19 SUGAR ON MY TONGUE Tyler, The Creator 42 38 08 13 WHEN DID YOU GET HOT? Sabrina Carpenter 43 43 39 08 SPORTS CAR Tate McRae 44 42 16 27 GABRIELA Katseye 45 44 62 02 DIE WITH A SMILE Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars 46 46 54 23 BAD DREAMS Teddy Swims 47 45 53 01 APT. Rosé, Bruno Mars 48 48 76 01 I HAD SOME HELP Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen 49 52 53 01 THAT'S SO TRUE Gracie Abrams 50 51 12 42 FOLDED Kehlani Bubbling Under 15 (NE) PIXELATED KISSES Joji 16 (NE) MY OLD WAYS Tame Impala 17 (14) EYES CLOSED Jisoo & Zayn 18 (16) ETERNITY Alex Warren 19 (15) YUKON Justin Bieber 20 (20) NOW OR NEVER Tkandz Albums 01 01 03 01 THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL Taylor Swift 02 NE 01 02 DEADBEAT Tame Impala 03 02 18 01 KPOP DEMON HUNTERS (FROM THE NETFLIX FILM) Soundtrack 04 03 04 01 THE ART OF LOVING Olivia Dean 05 04 08 01 MAN'S BEST FRIEND Sabrina Carpenter 06 NE 01 06 KICKING MY FEET Ruel 07 NE 01 07 FROM THE PYRE The Last Dinner Party 08 06 45 02 YOU'LL BE ALRIGHT, KID Alex Warren 09 07 09 04 I BARELY KNOW HER sombr 10 08 61 01 SHORT N' SWEET Sabrina Carpenter 11 10 35 01 SO CLOSE TO WHAT Tate McRae 12 11 23 01 I'M THE PROBLEM Morgan Wallen 13 14 75 01 HIT ME HARD AND SOFT Billie Eilish 14 NE 01 14 LEGENDS Sabaton 15 NE 01 15 SMOOCHIES Ashnikko 16 NE 01 16 EASIER SAID THAN DONE The Southern River Band 17 17 70 01 THE SECRET OF US Gracie Abrams 18 12 72 01 BRAT Charli XCX 19 15 06 01 PLAY Ed Sheeran 20 NE 01 20 LIVE AT SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE Camp Cope 21 16 79 01 THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT Taylor Swift 22 22 09 05 HICKEY Royel Otis 23 19 93 02 THINK LATER Tate McRae 24 20 104 01 1989 (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 25 23 84 01 ETERNAL SUNSHINE Ariana Grande 26 26 24 01 I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING BUT THERAPY (PART 2) Teddy Swims 27 18 04 06 VIE Doja Cat 28 24 32 01 MAYHEM Lady Gaga 29 21 15 02 SWAG Justin Bieber 30 RE 43 05 MARS NEEDS GUITARS! Hoodoo Gurus 31 NE 01 31 BLOOM Wilsn 32 27 24 01 EVEN IN ARCADIA Sleep Token 33 NE 01 33 LUCKY STARS Andrew Swift 34 25 05 03 LOVE BALLOON Ocean Alley 35 40 09 35 KANSAS ANYMORE Role Model 36 34 13 12 SEX HYSTERIA Jessie Murph 37 35 45 01 GNX Kendrick Lamar 38 28 09 03 KARMA Stray Kids 39 41 56 02 F-1 TRILLION Post Malone 40 36 17 02 ADDISON Addison Rae 41 50 17 19 BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN Jelly Roll 42 38 09 02 A MATTER OF TIME Laufey 43 66 10 02 WISHBONE Conan Gray 44 42 33 02 $OME $EXY $ONGS 4 U PartyNextDoor, Drake 45 57 12 01 FALL FROM THE LIGHT Hilltop Hoods 46 48 17 01 VIRGIN Lorde 47 49 50 03 THE FIRST TIME The Kid Laroi 48 44 13 01 AMERICAN HEART Benson Boone 49 47 20 04 CHARM Clairo 50 37 06 02 BREACH Twenty One Pilots "The Fate Of Ophelia" is #1 for a 3rd consecutive week. I thought it was bound for the floor, but so far this week, she's managed to keep it copacetic so I'm leaning to a 4th and final week next week. Crucial to Olivia Dean is that she's managed to overcome her long standing "Golden" hurdle, so might be ready for the top spot soon. She's also got a 3rd top 10 hit now with "So Easy (To Fall In Love)", taking a similar leap up to "Nice To Each Other" under different circumstances. Taylor Swift has kept her entire track list in the top 50 for a 3rd week, certainly a record, and I think she's a good chance for a 4th week. Something I didn't mention last week because it's often a revolving sequence, but last week's top 50 entries from Olivia Dean & JISOO have both dropped out, potentially marking them as equal holders of the distinction of being the first songs to reach the top 50 solely as a consequence of the new rules. Climbing into the top 50 this week is Tame Impala with a 3rd top 50 hit, all of which have arrived after the release of "The Slow Rush". Prior to this, Tame Impala had an endless supply of top 100 hits that didn't make the top 50. Taylor Swift secures a 3rd consecutive week at #1. Tame Impala's fallen for the classic blunder, only slightly less famous than that of going into a land war in Asia. Never compete with a relatively new Taylor Swift album, when a #1 album streak is on the line. This is not the greatest L suffered by Tame Impala this year as Kevin Parker's favourite football team (he's the #1 ticket holder) was put in great shame by the state of Queensland. Firstly getting demolished at home by eventual premiers Brisbane, but then earning the ignobility of being the first (and so far only) club to lose a final to the Gold Coast Suns, once again at home, but this time they lost by 1 point after leading by a goal in the dying minutes. In this particular instance, pretend that Kevin Parker is Josh Treacy (Fremantle #35) and Taylor Swift is Ryan Lester (Brisbane #35), squandering a sure-fire goal due to hubris. I was at the game at this end of the stadium when it happened, funniest thing I've seen. Returning to the chart also this week is Ruel, reaching the top 10 for a 3rd time. While The Last Dinner Party have fallen short of their previous mark in the UK, they've actually improved quite a bit here, their debut album got to #35, now they're up at #7. Sabaton come through with their highest charting album this decade, while Ashnikko is seeing a new high. The Southern River Band are from Perth, and south of the river if you can believe it. They've released 5 albums now, and their 4th saw their chart breakthrough, while their 5th has them reaching the top 20 for the first time. Camp Cope has been disbanded for a couple of years now but return to the chart with the 2023 recording of their last ever show. Let's see if they don't LCD Soundsystem us, I'll have words on the band on my blog (which is now halfway complete!) at some point in the next 49 and a half weeks. Local singer WILSN charts for the first time. She's a powerhouse singer whose voice I've always likened to Jessica Mauboy. Lastly we've got country singer Andrew Swift who returns to the top 50 after his last album didn't quite get there.

+30 Lizzy McAlpine - ceilings +29 My Chemical Romance - The Foundations of Decay +28 Kendrick Lamar - The Heart Part 5 +27 Metric - Doomscroller +26 Nilüfer Yanya - Midnight Sun +25 Ethel Cain - American Teenager +24 Alvvays - Easy On Your Own? +23 Let's Eat Grandma - Happy New Year +22 Beyoncé - Break My Soul +21 Paramore - This Is Why +20 Fred Again - Delilah (Pull Me Out Of This) +19 MUNA - What I Want +18 Beyoncé - Cuff It +17 Eliza Rose & Interplanetary Criminal - B.O.T.A. (Baddest Of Them All) +16 Tate McRae - She's All I Wanna Be +15 bbno$ (feat. Rich Brian) - edamame +14 LF System - Afraid To Feel +13 Arctic Monkeys - There'd Better Be a Mirrorball +12 Kendrick Lamar - N95 +11 Joji - Glimpse Of Us +10 Zach Bryan - Something in the Orange +9 Djo - End of Beginning +8 Gorillaz (feat. Tame Impala & Bootie Brown) - New Gold +7 RAYE (feat. 070 Shake) - Escapism. +6 Florence + The Machine - King +5 Beyoncé - Alien Superstar +4 Steve Lacy - Bad Habit +3 Lizzo - About Damn Time +2 Röyksopp (feat. Susanne Sundfør) - Oh, Lover +1 Caroline Polachek - Billions

I also love to point out that way back in the day, James Blake had "Retrograde" get to #7 on Australia's weekly Spotify charts (and #5 on the official streaming chart)

Artist pages also have a similar arbitrary* 'radio' like effect. Did anyone notice how "Cruel Summer" utterly collapsed around the world on October 8th? That's a very random date, 5 days after Taylor Swift's new album came out (and the song actually climbed on that Friday), because it's the day that her artist page on Spotify updated to only have the new album in her top 10. I don't doubt that her fans are happy with hearing the song, but a lot of the people listening to that, "cardigan", "august" and the like were just doing it incidentally because they showed up when you look up Taylor Swift. A year and a half after release, "Anti-Hero" was still generating 1.5 million Spotify streams a day. Now another year and a half on it's getting less than 0.5 million. You don't see those kinds of declines organically. It was the same case there. Her new album just took it out of contention, and it never recovered because it needed those streams to thrive. *Well it might be initiated by user activity, but there's an 'if it's up, then it's stuck' element to that

I've always wondered whether they apply the recurrency rules top to bottom or instantaneously. Would presume "Love Me Not" gets canned, except the 3 songs removed above it send it into the top 25 so it lives! Unless it was always going to overtake "Beautiful Things" this week. Shout out Luke Combs for the one debut they got this week due to this change, that's what the people wanted, right?

Hitting the nail on the head here. I liken it to witnessing a huge crowd. Close up, you can see everyone's individual actions and words, which can be all manner of things. Once you zoom out, there's very little you can discern from it outside of large, shared, sweeping actions that they're all participating in. It's not that everyone's boring, but we create our version of what's considered safe, entry level, (or whatever denigrating term you have for it) as a constantly correcting reaction to what's successful. A self-fulfilling, defeatist perspective.

I would say in fairness that it doesn't always work that simply. Taylor Swift for instance, she's charting 1, 3, 2. The same 3 tracks sure, but the swapped order introduces a snare in the principle that contradicts it. It can also be as simple as the artist/label/whoever's putting the album together know what they're working with, and put the strongest tracks up the front. Even if they don't, the listener themselves expects something like this and pays them the most diligence. If it were just a matter of listeners tapping out, I think a shift would have happened sooner, but here we are 18 days later and it's still the same 3 tracks in the same order, from what I'd say are cherry pickings. I always like to use Ed Sheeran's "Divide" album as a great example because Track 1, "Eraser", slid down the rankings so quickly in a way that it couldn't have if we're to equate this listening experience across the board. It's an exception that proves the rule. I do genuinely think people would engage in that sort of chart trolling because it's so simple and some groups of people are very organised. If the bottom track slips into second last, that'd be okay as long as it doesn't make the top 3, mission accomplished. Meanwhile the artists themselves can just stick an interlude or a hidden track, anything like that and it can skew the numbers. The least streamed track on Justin Bieber's "Changes", the relative underperforming album, has more streams than the least streamed track on "Justice", his return to form, because the latter has an interlude that most people skip. Think it's just inviting an additional layer of mess to what is admittedly already a messy system, but two wrongs don't make a right 😅 - There's a longer post I want to make but it's getting off topic, I just think that everything we're seeing is a consequence of music listening getting more fractured and the concept of the 'general listenership' that empower a mix of quirky and interesting hit songs by a wide variety of artists isn't quite as strong as it used to be. That's not to say such music doesn't exist, it does. But there just isn't a good way to pull it out of the chart data we have. Outside of the top 40, most songs that are released on any given week just follow similar downward sales & streaming trajectory that will feel like unrewarding and meaningless noise to all of us. But then I guess I don't know what the exact motivation always is for wanting more debuts on the chart. Is it for the false impression of activity, or is it people who genuinely need the chart to tell them what current music is worth listening to?

In action I think it would certainly do something, but from what I've seen based on auxiliary data points (eg last fm), I think in practice at best it'll introduce a similarly stale equilibrium that doesn't provide the feeling of freshness, and at worst it'll actively punish newer singles because they're the ones that are more prone to quickly run up repeat plays. When Olivia Rodrigo was bursting out the gate with a million streams in a day, it wasn't from a million listeners, but it was those repeat plays (capped at 10 on Spotify) that took her from an impressive start to a #1 debut. I think singles like "Mr. Brightside" are genuinely propelled by people who have listened to the song less times than some current hits are, they just have that much wider a net of potential listeners. This isn't really how the streams accumulate in practice. The least popular song on a new Taylor Swift is certainly not deriving 100% of its streams from people listening to the whole thing, we just don't see the intricacies and cherry pickings that accumulate to the result we get. If such a system were in practice, I (or more likely, petty detractors) could deliberately stream her song "Honey" for the sole purpose of erasing her sales. The irony would be that it's people who don't get to the end of the album (potentially because they aren't loving what they're hearing) who end up bolstering the singles. It's just not a fix that improves things in any way, in my opinion.

Honestly if there's something that could potentially be done, it's tweaking the ACR system in the other way. Perhaps make it a little easier to attain (I'm not fussed though), but I think it comes into play far too soon. 20 weeks or even more before it comes into play, because something that's only been charting for 2 months still feels pretty fresh to me ("Man I Need" and "12 to 12" do not feel like the ancient hits that they're going to be consigned to living alongside soon). Sometimes it balances out with songs that seem to skirt the rules, but often the difference between an instant ACR hit and a hanger-on feels pretty superficial. You're screwing over some hits either way, may as well put more consistency to it.

20/10/2025 Singles 01 01 02 01 THE FATE OF OPHELIA Taylor Swift 02 02 02 02 OPALITE Taylor Swift 03 13 17 01 GOLDEN Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast, Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna 04 14 09 02 MAN I NEED Olivia Dean 05 03 02 03 ELIZABETH TAYLOR Taylor Swift 06 04 02 04 FATHER FIGURE Taylor Swift 07 06 02 06 THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL Taylor Swift feat. Sabrina Carpenter 08 05 02 05 WOOD Taylor Swift 09 09 02 09 WI$H LI$T Taylor Swift 10 08 02 08 ACTUALLY ROMANTIC Taylor Swift 11 15 36 01 ORDINARY Alex Warren 12 16 18 03 NO BROKE BOYS Disco Lines, Tinashe 13 07 02 07 CANCELLED! Taylor Swift 14 11 02 11 RUIN THE FRIENDSHIP Taylor Swift 15 10 02 10 ELDEST DAUGHTER Taylor Swift 16 18 12 06 12 TO 12 sombr 17 12 02 12 HONEY Taylor Swift 18 19 16 04 SODA POP Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 19 17 03 06 TIT FOR TAT Tate McRae 20 21 30 03 BACK TO FRIENDS Sombr 21 20 16 04 YOUR IDOL Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 22 29 03 22 SO EASY (TO FALL IN LOVE) Olivia Dean 23 24 19 10 NICE TO EACH OTHER Olivia Dean 24 26 04 16 WHERE IS MY HUSBAND? Raye 25 25 14 01 DAISIES Justin Bieber 26 23 16 08 WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 27 27 29 02 UNDRESSED sombr 28 22 16 07 HOW IT'S DONE Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 29 28 33 02 LOVE ME NOT Ravyn Lenae 30 35 17 03 VICTORY LAP Fred again.., Skepta, PlaqueBoyMax 31 30 16 10 FREE Rumi, Jinu, Ejae, Andrew Choi, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 32 32 91 01 BEAUTIFUL THINGS Benson Boone 33 31 16 11 TAKEDOWN Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 34 33 07 03 TEARS Sabrina Carpenter 35 39 20 05 JUST KEEP WATCHING Tate McRae 36 37 79 01 A BAR SONG (TIPSY) Shaboozey 37 36 12 19 SUGAR ON MY TONGUE Tyler, The Creator 38 34 07 13 WHEN DID YOU GET HOT? Sabrina Carpenter 39 38 19 02 MANCHILD Sabrina Carpenter 40 40 74 01 BIRDS OF A FEATHER Billie Eilish 41 46 03 41 BABY STEPS Olivia Dean 42 41 15 27 GABRIELA Katseye 43 44 38 08 SPORTS CAR Tate McRae 44 42 61 02 DIE WITH A SMILE Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars 45 43 52 01 APT. Rosé, Bruno Mars 46 45 53 23 BAD DREAMS Teddy Swims 47 NE 01 47 EYES CLOSED Jisoo & Zayn 48 49 75 01 I HAD SOME HELP Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen 49 53 03 49 LET ALONE THE ONE YOU LOVE Olivia Dean 50 47 15 28 TAKEDOWN (JEONGYEON, JIHYO, CHAEYOUNG) Twice Bubbling Under 15 (RE) YUKON Justin Bieber 16 (RE) ETERNITY Alex Warren 17 (NE) DRACULA Tame Impala 18 (RE) JEALOUS TYPE Doja Cat 19 (RE) NOBODY'S SON Sabrina Carpenter 20 (NE) NOW OR NEVER Tkandz Albums 01 01 02 01 THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL Taylor Swift 02 02 17 01 KPOP DEMON HUNTERS (FROM THE NETFLIX FILM) Soundtrack 03 03 03 01 THE ART OF LOVING Olivia Dean 04 04 07 01 MAN'S BEST FRIEND Sabrina Carpenter 05 NE 01 05 LONGING Pete Murray 06 06 44 02 YOU'LL BE ALRIGHT, KID Alex Warren 07 07 08 04 I BARELY KNOW HER sombr 08 08 60 01 SHORT N' SWEET Sabrina Carpenter 09 NE 01 09 THE ART OF FALLING FIRST Lyric 10 09 34 01 SO CLOSE TO WHAT Tate McRae 11 12 22 01 I'M THE PROBLEM Morgan Wallen 12 11 71 01 BRAT Charli XCX 13 NE 01 13 DJANDJAY Baker Boy 14 15 74 01 HIT ME HARD AND SOFT Billie Eilish 15 13 05 01 PLAY Ed Sheeran 16 14 78 01 THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT Taylor Swift 17 17 69 01 THE SECRET OF US Gracie Abrams 18 16 03 06 VIE Doja Cat 19 20 92 02 THINK LATER Tate McRae 20 18 103 01 1989 (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 21 19 14 02 SWAG Justin Bieber 22 24 08 05 HICKEY Royel Otis 23 25 83 01 ETERNAL SUNSHINE Ariana Grande 24 23 31 01 MAYHEM Lady Gaga 25 22 04 03 LOVE BALLOON Ocean Alley 26 26 23 01 I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING BUT THERAPY (PART 2) Teddy Swims 27 29 23 01 EVEN IN ARCADIA Sleep Token 28 21 08 03 KARMA Stray Kids 29 NE 01 29 AVENOIR Calum Scott 30 NE 01 29 SHIMMER Jon Stevens 31 NE 01 30 MELT Not For Radio 32 NE 01 31 PARA BELLUM Testament 33 RE 02 33 VERONICA ELECTRONICA Madonna 34 38 12 12 SEX HYSTERIA Jessie Murph 35 36 44 01 GNX Kendrick Lamar 36 40 16 02 ADDISON Addison Rae 37 28 05 02 BREACH Twenty One Pilots 38 31 08 02 A MATTER OF TIME Laufey 39 34 04 12 I'M ONLY F**KING MYSELF Lola Young 40 51 08 39 KANSAS ANYMORE Role Model 41 39 55 02 F-1 TRILLION Post Malone 42 42 32 02 $OME $EXY $ONGS 4 U PartyNextDoor, Drake 43 33 04 08 AM I THE DRAMA? Cardi B 44 53 12 01 AMERICAN HEART Benson Boone 45 NE 01 45 BORN TO BE COUNTRY Amy Sheppard 46 49 13 04 DON'T TAP THE GLASS Tyler, The Creator 47 46 19 04 CHARM Clairo 48 41 16 01 VIRGIN Lorde 49 47 49 03 THE FIRST TIME The Kid Laroi 50 43 16 19 BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN Jelly Roll "The Fate Of Ophelia" is #1 for a second week. This is one of those chart weeks where there's been a massive re-distribution of figures that is largely hidden because it's all happening around itself. That is to say, streams across the board for Taylor Swift's new album are considerably down, but they don't look to be the case because of the massive head start they had. In cases like these, I find it interesting to look at isolated cases that paint a more vivid picture. "Honey" dropped from #12 to #17, which doesn't seem like a big deal, but if you were to treat it as the only Taylor Swift song on the chart, then suddenly it's dropped from #1 to #6, quite notable! It's not quite as big as it could be because the track list is relatively small at just 12 tracks, but you also get a secondary effect where it will feel like it's harder and harder to knock them out, because the relative ranking needed to do so gets looser. "Honey" only needs to fall below 39 non-Taylor Swift songs before it falls out of the chart, but "Eldest Daughter" will need to fall below 40 of them, and so on. Once you factor in the chart limiting factor from the new rules, this theoretically extends further. I think it's more interesting to think about it that way then to yell on ARIA's Facebook page when there are inevitably multiple album tracks in the top 10 again next week. I think the whole album will stick in the top 50 for another week, but we might start seeing some casualties the week after that. I don't think any album has ever maintained a full presence on the chart for 3 weeks in a row so it's very impressive nonetheless. Otherwise this is a chart where there isn't much else happening apart from Olivia Dean continuing to spread her wings and get another top 50 entry. Seemingly benefitting from a strong YouTube performance as is often the case, JISOO & ZAYN manage to sneak into the top 50 this week, and it'll be interesting to see how they go next week because I imagine those first week boons could offset the pretty respectable gains they're seeing on Spotify this week. Also as I promised last week, the Honmoon is over and there is a lot of new blood in the Bubbling Under chart. It's mostly just former top 50 entries but we do see Tkandz & Tame Impala poking out. "Dracula" will be trying to sneak into the top 50 next week but it would be very on brand if it were to fall a little short. Taylor Swift is obviously #1 on the album chart again next week. Tame Impala could provide a genuine challenge next week that I don't think I could confidently call, just because physical sales are always a bit of potluck where they will either vastly surpass or miss expectations. If it can move as many units as "The Slow Rush" did on debut, I'd give it a decent chance to get there. As for what is making an impression, we've got Pete Murray continuing his streak with 5 top 10 albums. It's interesting to think that he's charting higher than he did back in 2011 when he had genuine top 50 hits, and now he's independent, but I guess it was a tough week he found himself in back then. The big winner this week is Gold Coast singer Lyric, who after years of single releases has put out her debut EP and lands in the top 10. A month ago I was at the MCG watching a pack of Lions maul some Cats, and before that happened, Baker Boy was on stage performing (he also returned to play the didgeridoo for Snoop Dogg, it was sick). He's now releasing his second album, falling a bit short of the #3 peak of his award winning debut. Also on that downward trajectory is Calum Scott whose reign of Spotify chart terror seems to have subsided a bit in the last few years, taking him from a top 5 debut album to relying on the new rules to get in at all. Noiseworks' Jon Stevens (who is actually a Kiwi, didn't know) returns to his sporadic solo career to pick up another top 50 entry. The unlucky test subject of the new ARIA rules might just be The Marías who were unable to make the top 50 before, and now have slipped down and still can't get there on either chart. A consolation prize comes this week as now María's solo project Not For Radio reaches the top 50 instead, which it probably wouldn't have before, funny that.

I never see it mentioned anywhere, but I always find with these sorts of upheavals that you create a weirdly distorted chart as a result, one that doesn't fix the 'problem' but hides it under a thin veil. The chart becomes shaped around the rules in ways that just don't pass the eye test. The #51-#100 section of the Hot 100 has always felt like a Bubbling Under chart to me because once all those hugely popular hits are evacuated, the vibe is completely different and the #100 song doesn't feel like it's anywhere near that mark in reality. Increasing the number of thresholds just creates more tiers of this phenomenon, and the funny result of it is that you're going to get songs that might have previously had respectable runs get pulled into hitting the benchmark longevity limits instead. You won't have a Teddy Swims sized hit, but you'll create plenty more miniature versions. I guess the way I differ from most is that I've never been certain what the rationale is for it, or rather, what kind of chart people seem to want. I always felt like the conventional wisdom was that a chart where movement is slow and there aren't many songs breaking through to the upper bounds, those are the nadir. Yet instead of this, it's always the disruptions that seem to cause disarray, like 'oh, this artist has too many songs' or 'oh, this song is sticking around too long'. Longevity kings are inherently interesting to me, maybe as a fan of sport and also someone with dozens of video game world records, because I always want to know 'how far can they go?'. Instead, the sheer act of sticking around seems to create these pariahs who are easily communicated as symbols of a systematic issue that needs to be re-arranged. Everyone sees the long running hits every week and makes them the standard bearer, the norm. They never have been that, it's just that anything that doesn't stick around gets forgotten about. For every song that debuted 112 weeks ago and was (until this week) still charting, there are 99 songs there that aren't anymore, and hundreds more that have come and gone in the ensuing weeks. But hey, at least that song you don't care about will peak at #97 instead of #3 on the Bubbling Under chart.

Dunno what their certifications are like, but Cigarettes After Sex are another big one for 'crazy big streaming numbers for songs you might not have ever heard of'.

Honestly I think there is a nuanced discussion about limited time variants and the potential to prey on impulse buying from people who don't have the financial freedom to do so (as a neurodivergent person living on disability allowance, it's something I have a lot of feelings about). On the other hand, everyone who brings this up seems to care more about chart positions & records as if they've seen one too many chartdata or Swiftie posts and they're rattled by the fact that someone else is 'winning', so their only priority is diminishing it. I worry even by saying this that I'm giving more fuel, but really, anyone who's already shown their hand doesn't get to use this one I think.

I feel like it's worth mentioning that you get a similar result even when the offending party in question isn't the face of the band. There's one such example I can think of from a while back from a prominent Australian band who basically imploded in the wake of their guitarist's (with a face I don't recognise) actions. The rest of the band quickly condemned him but also had to break up and their streaming stock just tanked with it. That's a whole group of people who've done nothing wrong bearing all the punishment of association with a wolf in sheep's clothing. Even with no recognised wrongdoings, it's just a difficult thing to get away from.

I think the big irony when talking about week 2 declines is that the small, sometimes non-existent drops are arguably a bigger indictment. 90something percent drops look bad on paper and it's easy to be shady, but the opposite can (though not always) speak of an artist with no day 1s, often thriving on streams of pre-packaged hits from people with no expressed interest in the full product.

13/10/2025 Singles 01 NE 01 01 THE FATE OF OPHELIA Taylor Swift 02 NE 01 02 OPALITE Taylor Swift 03 NE 01 03 ELIZABETH TAYLOR Taylor Swift 04 NE 01 04 FATHER FIGURE Taylor Swift 05 NE 01 05 WOOD Taylor Swift 06 NE 01 06 THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL Taylor Swift feat. Sabrina Carpenter 07 NE 01 07 CANCELLED! Taylor Swift 08 NE 01 08 ACTUALLY ROMANTIC Taylor Swift 09 NE 01 09 WI$H LI$T Taylor Swift 10 NE 01 10 ELDEST DAUGHTER Taylor Swift 11 NE 01 11 RUIN THE FRIENDSHIP Taylor Swift 12 NE 01 12 HONEY Taylor Swift 13 01 16 01 GOLDEN Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast, Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna 14 02 08 02 MAN I NEED Olivia Dean 15 03 35 01 ORDINARY Alex Warren 16 04 17 03 NO BROKE BOYS Disco Lines, Tinashe 17 06 02 06 TIT FOR TAT Tate McRae 18 07 11 06 12 TO 12 sombr 19 05 15 04 SODA POP Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 20 08 15 04 YOUR IDOL Saja Boys, Andrew Choi, Neckwav, Danny Chung, Kevin Woo, samUIL Lee, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 21 09 29 03 BACK TO FRIENDS Sombr 22 11 15 07 HOW IT'S DONE Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 23 12 15 08 WHAT IT SOUNDS LIKE Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 24 10 18 10 NICE TO EACH OTHER Olivia Dean 25 13 13 01 DAISIES Justin Bieber 26 16 03 16 WHERE IS MY HUSBAND? Raye 27 14 28 02 UNDRESSED sombr 28 15 32 02 LOVE ME NOT Ravyn Lenae 29 27 02 27 SO EASY (TO FALL IN LOVE) Olivia Dean 30 17 15 10 FREE Rumi, Jinu, Ejae, Andrew Choi, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 31 19 15 11 TAKEDOWN Huntrx, Ejae, Audrey Nuna, Rei Ami, KPop Demon Hunters Cast 32 20 90 01 BEAUTIFUL THINGS Benson Boone 33 21 06 03 TEARS Sabrina Carpenter 34 18 06 13 WHEN DID YOU GET HOT? Sabrina Carpenter 35 25 16 03 VICTORY LAP Fred again.., Skepta, PlaqueBoyMax 36 24 11 19 SUGAR ON MY TONGUE Tyler, The Creator 37 26 78 01 A BAR SONG (TIPSY) Shaboozey 38 22 18 02 MANCHILD Sabrina Carpenter 39 23 19 05 JUST KEEP WATCHING Tate McRae 40 28 73 01 BIRDS OF A FEATHER Billie Eilish 41 29 14 27 GABRIELA Katseye 42 30 60 02 DIE WITH A SMILE Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars 43 32 51 01 APT. Rosé, Bruno Mars 44 35 37 08 SPORTS CAR Tate McRae 45 52 52 23 BAD DREAMS Teddy Swims 46 57 02 46 BABY STEPS Olivia Dean 47 31 14 28 TAKEDOWN (JEONGYEON, JIHYO, CHAEYOUNG) Twice 48 36 43 05 THE DAYS - NOTION REMIX Chrystal 49 34 74 01 I HAD SOME HELP Post Malone feat. Morgan Wallen 50 33 51 01 THAT'S SO TRUE Gracie Abrams Bubbling Under (none, 10 weeks running!) Albums 01 NE 01 01 THE LIFE OF A SHOWGIRL Taylor Swift 02 02 16 01 KPOP DEMON HUNTERS (FROM THE NETFLIX FILM) Soundtrack 03 01 02 01 THE ART OF LOVING Olivia Dean 04 04 06 01 MAN'S BEST FRIEND Sabrina Carpenter 05 NE 01 05 EVERYTHING EVERY SINGLE DAY The Rions 06 08 43 02 YOU'LL BE ALRIGHT, KID Alex Warren 07 09 07 04 I BARELY KNOW HER sombr 08 10 59 01 SHORT N' SWEET Sabrina Carpenter 09 11 33 01 SO CLOSE TO WHAT Tate McRae 10 NE 01 10 ARCHANGEL Kettama 11 20 70 01 BRAT Charli XCX 12 13 21 01 I'M THE PROBLEM Morgan Wallen 13 12 04 01 PLAY Ed Sheeran 14 18 77 01 THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT Taylor Swift 15 14 73 01 HIT ME HARD AND SOFT Billie Eilish 16 06 02 06 VIE Doja Cat 17 17 68 01 THE SECRET OF US Gracie Abrams 18 24 102 01 1989 (TAYLOR'S VERSION) Taylor Swift 19 16 13 02 SWAG Justin Bieber 20 23 91 02 THINK LATER Tate McRae 21 15 07 03 KARMA Stray Kids 22 21 03 03 LOVE BALLOON Ocean Alley 23 28 30 01 MAYHEM Lady Gaga 24 30 07 05 HICKEY Royel Otis 25 27 82 01 ETERNAL SUNSHINE Ariana Grande 26 65 22 01 I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING BUT THERAPY (PART 2) Teddy Swims 27 NE 01 27 THE TREE OF WISDOM The Tree Of Wisdom, The Wiggles 28 26 04 02 BREACH Twenty One Pilots 29 29 22 01 EVEN IN ARCADIA Sleep Token 30 22 02 22 GETTING KILLED Geese 31 32 07 02 A MATTER OF TIME Laufey 32 NE 01 32 SOULSTAR Boy Soda 33 34 03 08 AM I THE DRAMA? Cardi B 34 37 03 12 I'M ONLY F**KING MYSELF Lola Young 35 NE 01 35 LIVE AT THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE Morgan Evans 36 39 43 01 GNX Kendrick Lamar 37 05 02 05 I ONLY TRUST ROCK N ROLL The Living End 38 43 11 12 SEX HYSTERIA Jessie Murph 39 42 54 02 F-1 TRILLION Post Malone 40 54 15 02 ADDISON Addison Rae 41 40 15 01 VIRGIN Lorde 42 44 31 02 $OME $EXY $ONGS 4 U PartyNextDoor, Drake 43 57 15 19 BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN Jelly Roll 44 64 15 16 DEBÍ TIRAR MÁS FOTOS Bad Bunny 45 50 07 24 P-POP CULTURE Karan Aujla x Ikky 46 52 18 04 CHARM Clairo 47 56 48 03 THE FIRST TIME The Kid Laroi 48 49 10 01 FALL FROM THE LIGHT Hilltop Hoods 49 45 12 04 DON'T TAP THE GLASS Tyler, The Creator 50 48 27 01 HURRY UP TOMORROW The Weeknd Just when you thought we couldn't set a new bar for huge album releases, we've proposed a new benchmark: what's the most possible songs you can debut and have them all land ahead of all comers? Not only has Taylor Swift debuted at #1, but she's landed her entire album above everything else, something she's never done before. It's a new high also in terms of monopolising, her last album had the top 10 positions to herself (that terrible Hozier song was #11), now she has the whole top 12. I suspect this wasn't a done deal as "Honey" clearly started lagging behind at the end of the week, so talk about running it as close as possible. I would just like to point out in regard to this album that I saw a comment to the effect of "The Fate of Ophelia" sounding a bit like the Melbourne band Telenova (in particular their song "Discothèque Inside My Head"), so if you like that song, maybe this is your calling to discover a new favourite band. In typical fashion, this is a week everyone tends to take off their calendar so that's the bulk of the news on the singles chart. Olivia Dean sees that second week word-of-mouth bump akin to Morgan Wallen a few years ago, "So Easy (To Fall In Love)" is effectively a climber this week with how many songs it overtook, while "Baby Steps" is provisionally the first song to get into the top 50 solely because of the new rules, unless it climbs next week which it might. Teddy Swims performed at the NRL Grand Final last week, and while "Lose Control" and "The Door" aren't allowed on this chart anymore, "Bad Dreams" can get back in for them. With the whole Taylor Swift stock pretty comfortably staying in the top 50 next week and the KPop Demon Hunters stock entering its 5th month either next week or the week after, we could see the return of the Bubbling Under chart, exciting. Taylor Swift has 14 #1 albums now, Jimmy Barnes needs to get back in the studio because o lord she comin'. Otherwise the message wasn't fully received on the album chart because we've got debuts. First off the rack is The Rions with their debut album. They actually charted at #35 last year with an EP but the LP treatment gets them into the top 5. I will eventually write about them a couple of times on my blog so I'll keep my thoughts to myself for now. Also making a debut though in the more proper sense is Irish DJ Kettama who makes the top 10. I don't know how much everyone keeps up with Wiggles lore, but The Tree Of Wisdom is the nephew of Blue Wiggle Anthony, the only original member still in the group. The Tree Of Wisdom has found some virality in the new age of social media and has charted now with a collaborative album. The song on New Music Friday last week was a fascinatingly bizarre addition to the canon of Wiggles songs that list numerous food stuffs. For some exciting Dirca lore, I've got to note that in 2022, due to a lapse in concentration, I accidentally bought an entire EP from BOY SODA when I just wanted the one song, it's the only time I've ever bought something by mistake on iTunes I think. Anyway, thanks to the profile boost from my mistake, the singer/rapper has now released his debut album and charts for the first time. Not charting for the first time is local country singer Morgan Evans.

It's funny because I was thinking in terms of what we tend to learn from End of Year lists: everything effectively peaks a little later than we feel, so I thought it was possible she'd actually accumulate more streams in 2025 than 2024 due to the initial slow start that year. Looking at what I can scrounge from kworb and these are the figures I approximate: 2025 - 2.95 billion Spotify streams, on track for roughly 660 million more which would take it to 3.61 billion 2024 - 3.77 billion Spotify streams So it's probably not getting there but it's actually pretty close between the two. I know what the realistic vibe of the situation is and I'm not trying to dispute it, I just think it's interesting because the bottom line paints things a little differently, especially as I think we're all prone to zoning out from songs once they leave the chart as if they're not still being streamed constantly.

I'm wondering if Lizzy McAlpine can make a belated impact with "Staying" soon. It's always been one of my favourites from her album last year and I noticed a while ago that it'd started shooting up on last fm with a TikTok trend. It's been hovering around 400-500K streams a day on Spotify but I just did my daily check and it got over 900K yesterday, so unless that's a glitch or I got my numbers wrong, it must be pretty close to cracking some daily charts. Would love to see especially as it's only got 6 months to make it in Australia before the ARIA Charts kick it to the curb 😅