The Best Thing - Chart Performance

[ChurchBay]

I don't believe so. For U2 to get on there, they would need something extra to boost it. Because of Billboard rules, rock bands, especially older rock bands, are at a huge disadvantage because of the ratio of streaming and views in the mix.

If in the first few weeks, they have a song that is still getting decent amounts of youtube and streaming activity, radio is hitting a decent point AND the song is played on a TV show or something, so a bunch of people go and view/stream/download it in one week, then maybe they hit the Hot100.

But right now, the biggest view/stream numbers are passed for TBT, initial iTunes sales are down from the first couple weeks, and radio, while gaining on a couple formats is starting to slide on others which keeps it kind of static.

Then we have a new single on Friday. This may boost TBT for a brief moment, but then it will slide away as the new song gets the attention.

Ooooh - new single this Friday? Fill me in! Is it Get Out Of Your Own Way?

 

[popacrobat]

probably.

 

[CosmoKramer]

Well, what a day for "You're the Best Thing About me" on US radio as in its 46th day on the charts (48 days after being released) it makes it first appearance on AC radio format and returns (likely briefly) to the Active Rock format.

Here are the updates I have from Mediabase for today in order of Format size/importance.

You're the Best Thing About Me:

Top 40:
-Not currently charting (haven't in years)

Hot AC: #20 (Peak Position #20)
- #42 with 237 plays and 1.672 million impressions
-1 station added the song
-Up 161 spins w/w

Alternative: #20 (Peak Position #20)
- #20 with 840 plays and 2.102 million impressions
-0 stations added the song

AC: #49 (Peak Position #49)
- Not currently charting in the top 50
-No new stations added the song
-Up 14 plays w/w (indicates 6 stations playing it)

Active Rock: #49 (Peak Position #41)
- #49 with 118 plays and 0.577 million impressions
-No New station added

Triple A: #3 (Peak Position #3)
- #3 with 618 plays and 1.696 million impressions
-0 stations added the song
-Up 32 plays w/w. (9th biggest increase)

Lets talk some cool stuff as this was a GREAT day for TBT. Keep in mind its day 46 on the charts and day 48 since its official radio release:

Spins: 3,054, which is a peak for TBT
Impressions: 12.00 million, which is a peak for TBT
Formats: It is charting in the top 50 of 5 different formats, which is pretty damn cool!
Kworb Radio Rank: 149, which is a peak for TBT

-Hot AC: TBT hits the Top 20!! This is a huge format for U2 as it is not only the biggest format from an audience and total potential spins perspective but its also the format that is closely linked to the AC and the coveted Pop charts and could lead to a cross over onto either format. The big news here is that it hits a peak in both spins and more importantly impressions at 7.561 million. If you remember a week back I noted how 85% of the songs in the Top 20 were also on the AC charts….well…….

-AC: TBT finally charts in the Top 50(welcome to the party asshole, you're late)! I see that it is listed as being at #62 last week on this chart, so its clearly being played by some stations and hopefully that will not only continue but will grow.

-Alternative: TBT stays at #20 but it is weakening and losing spins, although it gains in both spins and impressions from the day prior. Its very possible that it has a resurgence on this format and wouldn't shock me but at the moment, its stalling and slipping a bit.

-Active Rock: TBT re-enters the Top 50 at #49! It likely won't stay long but it does go to show that the stations playing it are still doing so and not dropping it like a rock. Its possible that it will linger a little bit in the upper 40's but I think it will drop off again soon (perhaps even tomorrow)

-Triple A: TBT hits a peak in both spins and impressions (2nd most impressions on this format at 1.696 million). The song also has picked up some steam as it re-enters the "spin crease" chart for now the 2nd or 3rd day in a row. I have said it before and I will say it again, TBT will hit #1 on this format. It won't mean its a hit, not at all but it will be a nice feather in its cap so to speak.



Cosmo Out!

 

[CosmoKramer]

I don't believe so. For U2 to get on there, they would need something extra to boost it. Because of Billboard rules, rock bands, especially older rock bands, are at a huge disadvantage because of the ratio of streaming and views in the mix.



If in the first few weeks, they have a song that is still getting decent amounts of youtube and streaming activity, radio is hitting a decent point AND the song is played on a TV show or something, so a bunch of people go and view/stream/download it in one week, then maybe they hit the Hot100.



But right now, the biggest view/stream numbers are passed for TBT, initial iTunes sales are down from the first couple weeks, and radio, while gaining on a couple formats is starting to slide on others which keeps it kind of static.



Then we have a new single on Friday. This may boost TBT for a brief moment, but then it will slide away as the new song gets the attention.

It really is all about radio for U2 but you are right in that its been static lately but here are my thoughts:



Radio is advertising, its like a commercial on TV. The more its played on the radio, the more people hear it and that is when the "ratio" kicks in. The ratio might be different for rock vs rap vs pop acts or young vs old but rest assured there is a ratio. That is to say if 1 million people hear your song, maybe 1,000(.01%) will stream it on YouTube or Shazam it or buy it on iTunes or Stream it on Spotify, etc. So, if 12 million people hear the song today, maybe 12,000 go on other platforms to access it. My belief is that your numbers will go up across the board.



For U2, I feel that their "magic number", that is the number of impressions needed before we see measurable results on other platforms, is 20 million impressions(thats a huge number and would be considered successful for any artist). So can they get to that number? Well, its like presidential election night when the news puts up all the swing states and says "If X loses Florida, they would need Ohio and Pennsylvania to win"



In this case, the answer is yes, TBT can hit 20 million but its not an easy road:



They are weakening on Alternative and Active Rock and while both of those formats would make it a lot easier to hit 20 million impressions, they are not needed.



Hot AC is key as if they can make the Top 15 that would give them 10-15 million impressions. Then if they can also get Top 10 AC that could garner then another 5-8 million impressions and get them to 15-22 million. Then you add in lingering Triple A or Alternative impressions that would likely be minimal but could get them ~1 million and that puts them in 16-23 million impressions. Yes, its a tall order to hit Top 15 on Hot AC and Top 10 on AC (especially when they are barely charting) but its not impossible.



As I mentioned before, SFS peaked on Hot AC on day ~106 and EBW hit its peak on day ~104, so it wouldn't be crazy to think that TBT might have another 50-60+ days before it hits a peak on Hot AC. Now it might stall for a bit or even decline but IF it can catch on...look out.



Lastly, it is very likely that U2 have a promo tour of sorts lined up for SOE and any promo would likely heavily feature TBT. EMA's and AMA's may feature a performance by U2 and if so, it is likely TBT. If they also go on some late night or morning shows and tie in some other type of promo, it is also likely to involve TBT. What that means is it is possible that TBT will get a huge promo push in the coming weeks and that might really set radio on fire. Although, its also U2 and they might just play Electrical Storm or Party Girl and call it a day

 

[sgera]

Key question is whether they drop a new single in Friday and TBT loses momentum?

 

[CosmoKramer]

Key question is whether they drop a new single in Friday and TBT loses momentum?

It’s hard to say but I’m guessing we are about to find out.

It’s possible that the single will be pushed initially to formats that TBT is weakening on like Alternative and Rock and then it will be pushed to Hot AC and AC. There are plenty of artists with multiple songs successfully charting on radio at the same time, so if there are two songs and they are both good... they likely will both get played.

 

[hasin73]

It’s hard to say but I’m guessing we are about to find out.

It’s possible that the single will be pushed initially to formats that TBT is weakening on like Alternative and Rock and then it will be pushed to Hot AC and AC. There are plenty of artists with multiple songs successfully charting on radio at the same time, so if there are two songs and they are both good... they likely will both get played.

 

[womanfish]

As for Billboard - new charts out today

TBT stays strong at number 20 on Adult POP chart (I'm guessing HotAC format)

Moves up again from 23 to 18! on Hot Rock songs chart after peaking at number 5 and sliding to 24.

move up from 22 to 21 on Rock Airplay

Moves down from 21 to 22 on the Alternative Songs chart

And it stays at NUMBER 1 on Adult Alternative chart for the third week in a row!

 

[hasin73]

Thanks womanfish for sharing this wonderful news.

 

[CosmoKramer]

Are there two different Triple A charts? No.1 on Billboards, but others are clearly talking about another chart, possibly the one on Kworb?
Is anyone able to explain?

So the answer is yes, there are two charts. The one that we(at least me) reports on is representative of “published”
Stations (whatever that means) and Billboard uses the “All Stations” list(both are found on All Access and kworb as Believe pointed out). U2 is in fact number 1 on Triple A for All Stations and that is likely the official AirPlay. The Published Stations, while not much different in spins and impressions, has them at number 3 at the moment.

Same for AC format where they fell off the “Published” Stations list but remain in the “All Stations” list.

The 148th ranking that the Best Thing has on all US radio per Kworb is based on All Stations as is the Billboard charts, so that is the “true” source and not what I have been reporting, which is often under represented slightly(the difference is negligible).

So bottom line is they have been #1 on Triple A for a while now as well as Top 20 Hot AC!

 

[Mac_Fly]

Moves down from 21 to 22 on the Alternative Songs chart

And it stays at NUMBER 1 on Adult Alternative chart for the third week in a row!

The local alternative station in my area played Beautiful Day instead of TBT this morning.

It's so rare that they play U2 to begin with (I mean, REALLY rare), that it makes me think they've more or less dropped TBT from rotation (it was getting 2 spins a day).

 

[digitize]

TBT is on pretty heavy rotation on all of the AAA and Alternative stations I listen to semi-frequently in both Austin and Dallas. I hear it all the time. Anecdotally, feels like more than any of the NLOTH or SOI singles, but it’s hard to say.

 

[womanfish]

Where are you at Mac_Fly? I'm in the Tampa Florida area, and my Alternative station also, has never played U2 in their history, but is playing TBT about 6 or 7 times a day. Its also been on their top 8 countdown for about 2 to 3 weeks now. I heard EBW twice on the HotAC station here, and that was it for SOI.
I only heard TBT once on the HotAC here, but cool to hear it a lot on the Alt station now.

 

[macawaca]

25th October Update:

Good move up on Hot AC today, adds 38 spins to reach 1,513 spins total and adds another chunk of AI. Marginal move up on Triple A (into number 2 spot) and marginal loss of spins on Alt. Still hanging in there on Active Rock. No AC top 50.

 

[Mac_Fly]

Where are you at Mac_Fly? I'm in the Tampa Florida area, and my Alternative station also, has never played U2 in their history, but is playing TBT about 6 or 7 times a day. Its also been on their top 8 countdown for about 2 to 3 weeks now. I heard EBW twice on the HotAC station here, and that was it for SOI.
I only heard TBT once on the HotAC here, but cool to hear it a lot on the Alt station now.

I'm over on the other coast in south Florida. The Shark 104.3 is our only alternative station. They have a convenient "Song History" option on their website that allows anyone to keep track of what's going on with the playlist. U2's TBT has been getting played twice in a 24 hour period for awhile now, but as I mentioned BD was played this morning, so that could be the end of TBT.

So looking at the history right now . . . it's just after noon here and they haven't played TBT since at least midnight the previous night. Usually TBT would get a spin between 2-5 AM and then in the early afternoon.

The past two Wednesday's I've heard TBT while driving home around 9:30 PM. I'll see what happens tonight.

Looking over this song history . . . they typically do not play REM either, yet they played TWO REM songs in less than an 1 1/2 hours this morning.

Bizarre.

 

[womanfish]

Maybe they are transitioning to an Adult Alt station??

 

[womanfish]

quick radio update.

TBT stays at number 20 on HotAC but adds 38 spins! to reach a new spin and Impressions high.

It adds 7 spins on AAA and moves up to number 2!

Declines in both Alt and Active Rock.
Not on AC again.

 

[womanfish]

TBT adds a respectable 31 spins on HotAC today. Staying at number 20. They may have a chance to hit 19, but it’s a long shot.

They stay at number 2 on AAA adding 10 spins!

Decreases on Alt and not in the top 50 for rock or AC
Back to peak position on overall AI (149). but total spins are slowly decreasing.

 

[hasin73]

On a side note........ U2 has 12 songs charted on hot 100 rock songs download in Brazil iTunes chart as of today.

 

[CosmoKramer]

Update for 10/27 (scroll to the bottom for a very cool observation):

Hot AC: #20 (Peak #20)
-Increases 17 spins to hit a new peak of 1,561
-Hits a new peak of 8.06 million impressions
-2 stations added the song this week
-47th day on the chart, SFS & EBW both peaked at roughly day 106, which means potentially a minimum of 1-2 more months of gains on this format

AC: No longer charting (peak #49)

Alternative: #23 (Peak #20)
-Falls 36 spins to 769
-Falls to 1.993 million impressions (first time since 9/16 that its under 2 million impressions)
-TBT will likely continue to decline on this format and while it might have a slight resurgence, it will not not hit a new peak

Active Rock: No longer charting (peak #41)

Triple A: #2 (Peak #2)
-Increases 9 spins to a new peak of 647
-Hits a new peak of 1.866 million impressions
-While the song has already hit # 1 on the "All Stations" chart (the one that Billboard uses), it will hit #1 on this chart (Published Stations) within a few days

U2 had an amazing day late last week when they finally hit the AC chart (very briefly) and re-entered the Active Rock chart to chart on 5 different radio formats at the same time. Well, they have since fallen off AC and Active Rock but we have a new "fun fact" this week and it involves the biggest most elusive format for U2…Top 40.

Today, they are on the w/w "Spincrease" chart for top 40 and while they are listed last on that chart, they show as up 83 spins w/w for a total of 86 spins! Thats right, they are technically getting more spins on Top 40 than AC. Those 83 spins are a pretty large amount and likely not just from 1 or 2 stations but several stations….in fact 5 Top 40 stations started playing the song this week (Pittsburgh, Grand Rapids, Greenville, Birmingham and Ft. Wayne) and lets not forget that a Top 40 in El Paso was rocking them heavy a few weeks ago.

What does this mean? possibly nothing at all but the better question is what could it mean?

Hot AC is a format that is very large as far as both the number of stations that exist and potential impressions. It is also similar to Top 40 and AC with regard to the songs that they all play and many songs do cross over onto all 3 formats. Typically, if a song is a hit on Hot AC (think top 20) there is a high chance of crossing over and hitting those other charts (of the Top 20 Hot AC songs….80% are on AC and 70% are on Top 40). At the moment, U2 is part of the 20% not on AC and 30% not on Top 40 but they are not being ignored completely by either of those formats and that is very interesting. We know that they are being played on AC but just outside the Top 50 at the moment and they do have a handful of Top 40 stations that are playing them (at minimum 6 and some in decent size markets). Might all mean nothing or it might mean we are in for a surprise….time will tell but if they keep rising on Hot AC, the chance of them crossing over gets better and better.


EDIT: I wanted to keep my above message intact to add context to what I am about to write. I have to apologize because I read the Top 40 "spincrease" chart incorrectly. They are in fact up 86 spins this week and are on the chart but they didn't have 83 spins last week. No….that 83 is the number of stations the song is currently on! I almost think its an error but you can go to All Access.com (need to sign up, its free) and check the Top 40 "published" spin crease chart and yeah, they are on 83 Top 40 stations! That likely means that they are not too far from charting on Top 40 (maybe they are Top 70, 80 or 90 but TBT isn't as far off as one might think from hitting the Top 50 chart. Is "You're the Best Thing about Me" lighting US radio on fire? No….but the kindling is starting to get warm.

 

[hasin73]

Great surprise !!! Thanks, Cosmo.

 

[beLIEve]

Random observations about TBT on Satellite radio and Nashville, TN radio:

Again I have been traveling and last night, The Spectrum Top 5 was played on Sirius ch 28 at 6 pm Eastern and TBT was at #2...and the weekly countdown happens today at 6 pm. Spent about 90 minutes in the car playing FM stations yesterday...and TBT came on 5 times on various "Pop/Top 40" radio stations. That has not happened to me since Vertigo.

I don't know the station numbers...I was just pressing scan and letting it search until I heard TBT. As someone mentioned, AC is now much smaller than HAC, and the lines between "Pop" music and all these other formats is kinda blurry. I think the same thing has happened with "Rock", as TBT is not an "Active Rock" song .

Billboard has already credited U2 with their record 13th No. 1 song on "Adult Alternative", and the song is still rising on Adult Top 40 or *HAC". And Fyi, even on AAA from mediabase, if you select "All stations", TBT has been at #1 for a few weeks now. It's also up to 19 on HAC.

Regardless of the numbers, hearing it yesterday on 5 stations sure felt like the song has done what it was intended to do and can definitely be called a Hit song already.. JMHO.

 

[hasin73]

Random observations about TBT on Satellite radio and Nashville, TN radio:

Again I have been traveling and last night, The Spectrum Top 5 was played on Sirius ch 28 at 6 pm Eastern and TBT was at #2...and the weekly countdown happens today at 6 pm. Spent about 90 minutes in the car playing FM stations yesterday...and TBT came on 5 times on various "Pop/Top 40" radio stations. That has not happened to me since Vertigo.

I don't know the station numbers...I was just pressing scan and letting it search until I heard TBT. As someone mentioned, AC is now much smaller than HAC, and the lines between "Pop" music and all these other formats is kinda blurry. I think the same thing has happened with "Rock", as TBT is not an "Active Rock" song .

Billboard has already credited U2 with their record 13th No. 1 song on "Adult Alternative", and the song is still rising on Adult Top 40 or *HAC". And Fyi, even on AAA from mediabase, if you select "All stations", TBT has been at #1 for a few weeks now. It's also up to 19 on HAC.

Regardless of the numbers, hearing it yesterday on 5 stations sure felt like the song has done what it was intended to do and can definitely be called a Hit song already.. JMHO.

 

[Native_Son]

10/28 update

HAC +34 spins to 1595
AAA +6 spins to 653

 

[dan_smee]

What are the current and peak total spins and AI?

 

[Luzita]

Update for 10/27 (scroll to the bottom for a very cool observation):

Hot AC: #20 (Peak #20)
-Increases 17 spins to hit a new peak of 1,561
-Hits a new peak of 8.06 million impressions
-2 stations added the song this week
-47th day on the chart, SFS & EBW both peaked at roughly day 106, which means potentially a minimum of 1-2 more months of gains on this format

AC: No longer charting (peak #49)

Alternative: #23 (Peak #20)
-Falls 36 spins to 769
-Falls to 1.993 million impressions (first time since 9/16 that its under 2 million impressions)
-TBT will likely continue to decline on this format and while it might have a slight resurgence, it will not not hit a new peak

Active Rock: No longer charting (peak #41)

Triple A: #2 (Peak #2)
-Increases 9 spins to a new peak of 647
-Hits a new peak of 1.866 million impressions
-While the song has already hit # 1 on the "All Stations" chart (the one that Billboard uses), it will hit #1 on this chart (Published Stations) within a few days

U2 had an amazing day late last week when they finally hit the AC chart (very briefly) and re-entered the Active Rock chart to chart on 5 different radio formats at the same time. Well, they have since fallen off AC and Active Rock but we have a new "fun fact" this week and it involves the biggest most elusive format for U2…Top 40.

Today, they are on the w/w "Spincrease" chart for top 40 and while they are listed last on that chart, they show as up 83 spins w/w for a total of 86 spins! Thats right, they are technically getting more spins on Top 40 than AC. Those 83 spins are a pretty large amount and likely not just from 1 or 2 stations but several stations….in fact 5 Top 40 stations started playing the song this week (Pittsburgh, Grand Rapids, Greenville, Birmingham and Ft. Wayne) and lets not forget that a Top 40 in El Paso was rocking them heavy a few weeks ago.

What does this mean? possibly nothing at all but the better question is what could it mean?

Hot AC is a format that is very large as far as both the number of stations that exist and potential impressions. It is also similar to Top 40 and AC with regard to the songs that they all play and many songs do cross over onto all 3 formats. Typically, if a song is a hit on Hot AC (think top 20) there is a high chance of crossing over and hitting those other charts (of the Top 20 Hot AC songs….80% are on AC and 70% are on Top 40). At the moment, U2 is part of the 20% not on AC and 30% not on Top 40 but they are not being ignored completely by either of those formats and that is very interesting. We know that they are being played on AC but just outside the Top 50 at the moment and they do have a handful of Top 40 stations that are playing them (at minimum 6 and some in decent size markets). Might all mean nothing or it might mean we are in for a surprise….time will tell but if they keep rising on Hot AC, the chance of them crossing over gets better and better.


EDIT: I wanted to keep my above message intact to add context to what I am about to write. I have to apologize because I read the Top 40 "spincrease" chart incorrectly. They are in fact up 86 spins this week and are on the chart but they didn't have 83 spins last week. No….that 83 is the number of stations the song is currently on! I almost think its an error but you can go to All Access.com (need to sign up, its free) and check the Top 40 "published" spin crease chart and yeah, they are on 83 Top 40 stations! That likely means that they are not too far from charting on Top 40 (maybe they are Top 70, 80 or 90 but TBT isn't as far off as one might think from hitting the Top 50 chart. Is "You're the Best Thing about Me" lighting US radio on fire? No….but the kindling is starting to get warm.

Cool! Go Best Thing!

 

[CosmoKramer]

What are the current and peak total spins and AI?

As of 10/27: 3,013 spins and 12.10 million impressions

Its "peak" was on 10/25 when it hit 3,088 spins and 12.18 million impressions but it fell off of the Active Rock formats Top 50 the next day and that made it lose 116 spins and .6 million impressions.

It should be noted that these numbers reflect only if TBT is in the T0p 50 of a format but that it is likely in the top 60 for Active Rock, top 60 of AC and top 100 of Pop (Top 40 radio).

Also, it hit a peak today in the total AI in the United States at #146 (i.e it is the 146th most heard song in the US). That number too is only based on the top 50 of each format.

 

[Native_Son]

As of 10/27: 3,013 spins and 12.10 million impressions

Its "peak" was on 10/25 when it hit 3,088 spins and 12.18 million impressions but it fell off of the Active Rock formats Top 50 the next day and that made it lose 116 spins and .6 million impressions.

It should be noted that these numbers reflect only if TBT is in the T0p 50 of a format but that it is likely in the top 60 for Active Rock, top 60 of AC and top 100 of Pop (Top 40 radio).

Also, it hit a peak today in the total AI in the United States at #146 (i.e it is the 146th most heard song in the US). That number too is only based on the top 50 of each format.

Probably currently at a peak then, if it lost 600k impressions through dropping out of Top 50 Active Rock, in reality it is in the top 60-70 and still getting around 400k impressions?

Also if we consider the peaks its had on all formats the total AI is probably up at Boots and Magnificent levels of 13-14m by now, and its probably been heard by more listeners as its had better longevity.

 

[CosmoKramer]

Probably currently at a peak then, if it lost 600k impressions through dropping out of Top 50 Active Rock, in reality it is in the top 60-70 and still getting around 400k impressions?

You’re probably right.

Also if we consider the peaks its had on all formats the total AI is probably up at Boots and Magnificent levels of 13-14m by now, and its probably been heard by more listeners as its had better longevity.

I would say 99% chance it’s been heard by more listeners than Boots and 50% chance more than Magnificent given TBTs longevity. Boots peaked almost right away and then disappeared after a few weeks for the most part. Magnificent likely grew over time being it was a second single but I can’t imagine it having any better run than what TBT has had. It’s coming up on 4 consecutive weeks over 10 million impressions.

 

[macawaca]

Another good lift on Hot AC today, and good move up in AI there too.