RUMOR MILL
It’s clear that the big winners here are Sam, Ariana and Iggy, who—along with Capitol’s 5 Seconds of Summer—are the artists that have had the greatest impact on the biz this year.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
THE BANDWIDTH BANDITS
Between Solo Songs and Featured Spots, Artists on Multiple Tracks Dominate the Charts
One side effect of the "guest star" phenomenon at radio is that a small group of artists dominates the Top 25 (in the case of Pop), as we demonstrate in the graphic below.
These artists include Capitol’s Sam Smith (on his own and singing for Disclosure and Naughty Boy), Republic’s Ariana Grande (three smashes, including her trio record with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj) Def Jam’s Iggy Azalea (with two hits of her own and guest spots with Ariana and T.I.), Warner Bros.’ Jason Derulo (two solo hits and a Florida Georgia Line remix), Columbia’s Rita Ora (one hit, one Iggy guest spot) and, at Rhythm, YMCMB/Republic’s Minaj (two solo hits and collabos with Ariana/Jessie, Beyoncé, Usher and Rae Sremmurd).
These artists include Capitol’s Sam Smith (on his own and singing for Disclosure and Naughty Boy), Republic’s Ariana Grande (three smashes, including her trio record with Jessie J and Nicki Minaj) Def Jam’s Iggy Azalea (with two hits of her own and guest spots with Ariana and T.I.), Warner Bros.’ Jason Derulo (two solo hits and a Florida Georgia Line remix), Columbia’s Rita Ora (one hit, one Iggy guest spot) and, at Rhythm, YMCMB/Republic’s Minaj (two solo hits and collabos with Ariana/Jessie, Beyoncé, Usher and Rae Sremmurd).
Despite the logjam, programmers will continue to play all these songs as long as they research. But could the onslaught of tracks by a few artists cause burn on those artists with listeners?
In any case, it’s clear that the big winners here are Sam, Ariana and Iggy, who—along with Capitol’s 5 Seconds of Summer—are the artists that have had the greatest impact on the biz this year.
| ARTIST | TRACKS |
| SAM SMITH | "Stay With Me" (#3, 2m sold), "Latch" (#4, 1.5m sold), "La La La" |
| ARIANA GRANDE | "Problem" (#5, 2.75m sold), "Break Free" (#12, 450k sold), "Bang Bang" (#19, 250k sold) |
| IGGY AZALEA | Problem (#5, 2.75m sold), "Fancy" (#9, 3.3m sold), "Black Widow"(#16, 340k sold), "No Mediocre" (#12 Rhythm, 215k sold) |
| JASON DERULO | "This Is How We Roll (Remix)"(#26, 1.9m sold), "Wiggle" (#33, 1.5m sold), "Talk Dirty" (3.9m sold) |
| RITA ORA | "Black Widow" (#16, 350k), "I Will Never Let You Down" (#22, 120k sold) |
| NICKI MINAJ | "Bang Bang" (#19, 250k sold), "Pills n Potions" (#11 Rhythm, 485k), "No Flex Zone" (#29 Rhythm, 50k), "She Came to Give It to You," "Anaconda," "Flawless" |
