It's hard to believe that through all of her triumphs, success, and awards, Taylor Swift has yet to have had a #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. But, as of today, that is no longer true! Yes, a little over a week after it's release and #72 debut on the Billboard Hot 100, We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together is now the #1 song in America. Although it's placement on last week's chart reflected only two days of sales and airplay, Taylor's spot at #1 is really a fair judgment of the song's success in it's first week. After year's of "almosts" like You Belong with Me (2009, #2), Today was a Fairytale (2010, #2), Mine (2010, #3) and Love Story (2008, #4), Taylor has now notched her first #1 on the Hot 100 after a massive first week for her first single off her new album Red, due October 22nd. The main reason for the song's success is it's monstrous first week sales. According to SoundScan, the song sold 623,000 copies in it's first week, the highest one-week digital sales total for a female artist (beating Kesha's post-Christmas week sales of her first single TiK ToK) and the second-highest one-week digital sales total for any artist, only be trumped by the February 2009 debut of Right Round by Flo Rida and featuring Kesha, which sold an untouched 636,000 copies in it's first week. Previously this year, Justin Bieber had a huge first week with his first single Boyfriend which sold 512,000 copies in it's first week, but Swift's easily beats that as the best debut this year. Interestingly, with Swift's debut, there are four songs in the Top 10 best-selling weeks of all time from 2012, more than any other year on the list. The #1 debut of We Are Never also marks Swift's fourth #1 on the Digital Songs chart. On the airplay charts, Swift's first full week marked an impressive #14 debut, especially since radio does not catch onto hot digital songs for a few weeks after their peak. The song should maintain healthy sales and airplay and has potential to go even bigger when Swift performs at the MTV Video Music Awards ceremony on September 6th.
Last week's #1, Whistle by Flo Rida, fell to #2 even after peaking at #8 on the airplay charts. However, the gargantuan sales of Getting Back Together led to a fall on the Digital Songs chart from #1 to #2. If Swift can slow down after a big first week, it's possible Whistle could reclaim the top spot, but if her song keeps at it, it looks to be one and done for Flo. After two weeks at #2, Lights by Ellie Goulding falls to #3, putting another blemish on the song's chances of reaching the #1 spot (if Whistle can get a week at #1, it would be a true crime to see Lights not get the same achievement). Still, the song is hotter than ever on radio, so hope cannot be lost just yet. Regardless, Ellie's chances at getting another song to the top are looking good as Anything Could Happen, her first single from her next album, Halycon, just became available for purchase on iTunes this week. If it shadows Lights' performance, we may not see it for a while. Reigning pop princess Carly Rae Jepsen's inescapable Call Me Maybe fell once again to #4 after last week's fall to #3 after nine weeks at #1. Still, Carly should be a top 10 staple for a few more weeks, and even further beyond with the climbing success of Good Time, her duet with Owl City, and the imminent release of her new album, Kiss. Rounding out the top 5, Katy Perry falls further from Cloud Nine as her summer single Wide Awake slips one spot.
This week's big success story is Swift, but the bottom half of the Top 10 also deserves huge accolades. After jumping into the Top 10 last week, Some Nights by fun. climbs two more spots to #6, thanks to a #5 to #3 jump on the Digital Songs chart and a massive push from #30 to #19 on the airplay charts. With airplay sure to increase and sales rising steadily, a Top 5 peak seems likely, but can the song match the success of it's predecessor, We Are Young? Maroon 5 has double the reason to celebrate this week! While their single Payphone falls two spots from $5 to #7, it now officially ties Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's One Sweet Day and Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling for most consecutive weeks in the Top 15 (that's 17 weeks, in case you forgot). But while one Maroon 5 song falls, another rises. Yep, the band's recent successes continue as their new album, Overexposed, produces another Top 10 hit in One More Night, as it makes a huge jump from #15 to #9. After jumps in both sales and airplay (#7 to #4 on Digital Songs, #43 to #25 at radio), the song is now a legitimate hit, the third one in a row for the band, which has become a Hot 100 staple after the gargantuan performance of Moves Like Jagger featuring Christina Aguilera last fall.
Perhaps you noticed a whole between the two Maroon 5 songs on the chart. Who is #8? It's none other than...the Biebz! After a #12 to #8 jump, As Long As You Love, Justin's latest from his new album, Believe, Bieber now has four Top 10 songs. Also, this is Big Sean's second Top 10 (he's featured on the song). It's all thanks to a #8 to #6 jump on the Digital Songs chart and a major #33 to #18 push on the Airplay charts. Now the pressure is on to see if the song can match or even better the success of his last single, Boyfriend. Finally, the growing performance of David Guetta and Sia's Titanium saw a moment of weakness as it falls #7 to #10 this week. Hopefully the song can keep up some momentum and push back up the charts. It's been praised as one of the best dance songs in recent history.
Also falling this week is the song of the spring, Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye featuring Kimbra. The song takes it's first major spill and lands outside of the Top 10 for the first time since March, still a huge feat! Also falling is Pink's Blow Me (One Last Kiss) which falls one spot to #12 and has yet to push past it's second week peak of #9. With Pink's album headed for release in September, in addition to her announcement that she would perform a new song at the VMAs, it's time for Pink to move on from this song. After reaching a peak of #13 last week, Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen...do nothing. Kidding, but not really. Good Time, their duet, stayed still at #13 this week, but TV exposure and the release of Owl City's new album this week should give the song a solid bump next week, but will it be enough to hit the Top 10? Another song on the rise surely seems to have a good chance of getting there next week too. Everybody Talks from Neon Trees rises three spots from #17 to #14 this week after huge gains in airplay and a Top 10 perch on iTunes. The song is definitely a slow-burner: it's been on my iPhone since last December. And while we're on the subject of burning, Rihanna is definitely no longer on fire with Where Have You Been as it slips 5 spots from #10 to #15 after a major decrease in sales. Still, radio loves Rihanna so while the song probably won't head back to the Top 10, it should stick around the Top 40 for a while longer.
A surprising fall this week comes from Cher Lloyd and her debut US single, Want U Back. While the song is hotter than ever on iTunes and radio, it continues to inexplicably fall down the charts, here slipping two spots from #14 to #16. Hopefully the song doesn't prematurely slip out of the charts, especially with Lloyd's US album release just around the corner. After peaking at #9 for two weeks due to Olympics exposure, Phillip Phillips' Home took an expected tumble this weak to #17. Now that Olympics hoopla has died down, so have sales for the song. Still Phillips should be very happy with the short success of the song which seemed dead in the water after it's American Idol debut. Falling two spots from #16 to #18 is Demi Lovato's Give Your Heart a Break which also declined in sales this week. She should be able to maintain a spot in the Top 20 again next week, but she'll probably start falling a little more as we head into fall. While Demi is busy at work on a fourth studio album, her label would be smart to release a third single for radio (may I suggest Unbroken?), just to ensure Demi's star doesn't fade by the time her next album is ready. Kanye West and his league of rapper friends push up one spot from #20 to #19 with Mercy, but the song's sales is falling so I'm going to assume it's all radio airplay. Finally, up one spot from last week, Alex Clare's Too Close makes it's Top 20 debut as sales for the song saw a strong push this week.
Elsewhere on the charts, Nicki Minaj's Pound the Alarm jumped up seven more spots from #29 to #22 as sales and airplay continue to increase. She'll definitely be making a Top 20 spot next week and the song looks to be one of the hottest hits of the fall. Two country stars make big gains this week: at #29, Hunter Hayes and his song Wanted push up from last week's high of #34, and, interestingly enough, his tour partner, Carrie Underwood, reaches a new high with her single Blown Away as it advances 8 slots to #30. While Hunter's airplay is getting bigger, Carrie's sales are reaching new highs. Chris Brown makes another big push with Don't Wake Me Up, jumping twelve spots from #53 to #41. Radio airplay is starting to heat up, but sales are steadily increasing, and this song, which didn't have a big impact upon release, could end up being a fall jam. Kelly Clarkson's momentum with Dark Side took a tumble this week, falling 3 slots to #45. Interestingly, this is the second week in a row where Dark Side and Kelly's biggest hit, What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger), have charted side by side.
Train's new single, 50 Ways to Say Goodbye, hits a new high at #52 and without any real support at radio just yet, it's just relying on sales. But given the success of Hey Soul Sister and Drive By, radio should support this new song very soon, taking it to new highs. Ed Sheeran, Britain's newest import, makes a ten slot jump from #85 to #75 with his first single, The A Team (which is about nothing you think it's about). The balladeer is making a good impression and could live to see some radio success in the USA, unlike other foreign stars. At #90, David Guetta's collaboration with Lil Wayne and Chris Brown, I Can Only Imagine, makes a re-entry onto the charts as it begins it's radio journey. The sales aren't big at all yet, but early radio airplay is encouraging. Guetta's biggest hits lately have been with rap stars (Where Them Girls At, Turn Me On), so maybe this is his shot at climbing to the top again. That's it for this week, check out my update next Wednesday/Thursday to see where your favorite song charted! Meanwhile, leave your thoughts in the comments section below :)
Evan
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