Vertigo North American Radio Report - Week 1

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The first US radio charts for Vertigo have come out.

Really good start for Vertigo. Charts are for the week ending Sunday Sept. 26. So Vertigo was only available for less than 1/2 a week.

It is on every possible chart except for CHR (Contem. Hit Radio i.e. Top 40 Stations).

Info is from www.rronline.com
Billboard charts info to comeout tomorrow along with composite CDN airplay chart.

Active Rock

41 (201)
Most Adds=38

Rock

19 (197)
Most Adds=21

Triple A

17 (219 spins)
Most Adds=24

Hot AC

39 (313 spins)
Most Adds=27

Alternative

27 (761)
Most Adds=69

Canadian Rock

9 (351)
Most Adds=5

Canadian CHR

Not on Chart (69 Spins)

Canadian Hot AC

Not on Chart (98 spins)
 
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ChangeTheTemperature said:
The first US radio charts for Vertigo have come out.

Really good start for Vertigo. Charts are for the week ending Sunday Sept. 26. So Vertigo was only available for less than 1/2 a week.

It is on every possible chart except for CHR (Contem. Hit Radio i.e. Top 40 Stations).

Info is from www.rronline.com
Billboard charts info to comeout tomorrow along with composite CDN airplay chart.

Active Rock

41 (201)
Most Adds=38

Rock

19 (197)
Most Adds=21

Triple A

17 (219 spins)
Most Adds=24

Hot AC

39 (313 spins)
Most Adds=27

Alternative

27 (761)
Most Adds=69

Canadian Rock

9 (351)
Most Adds=5

Canadian CHR

Not on Chart (69 Spins)

Canadian Hot AC

Not on Chart (98 spins)

This is great news!:up:

I hope that VERTIGO debuts in the top half of the "Modern Rock" Tracks chart and the top half of the "Mainstream Rock" chart so we can see it on the website. You have to get the magazine or pay subscription to see the entire chart.
 
wow... i don't know if that's comparatively a good start or how this would place them in relation to the HOT 100 (I'm guessing it wouldn't have made it onto the charts yet), but that seems like a lot of radio play for a first week to me.

Btw... those numbers not in brackets, does that indicate it's position on those charts? e.g. Vertigo is #9 on the Rock charts, or is that how many stations have played it?
 
The first number is chart postition.

If you double the spins you can project what Vertigo's position would of been if it were available for the whole week.

It would be:

31 on Active Rock
6 on Rock
28 on Hot AC
11 on Alternative
3 on Triple A
29 on Canadian CHR
1 on Canadian Rock

You can expect this numbers of slightly better for next week.
 
Canadian Radio News:

With only 3.5 days of airplay Vertigo was the 12th most played track in Canada last week.

That is incredible. It ahs a chace at becoming the most played track in Canada. No song off ot ATYCLB acheived that. I believe Beautiful Day peaked at Number 2.

The top played radio tracks in Canada compiled from a national sample of radio stations collected, compiled, and provided by Nielsen BDS. For the period: 09/20/2004 - 09/27/2004.

http://jam.canoe.ca/JamMusicCharts/BDS_1.html
 
Vertigo enters Billbaord Hot 100 at 46!

This is huge as it is only for 1/2 a week and higher than Walk On, Elevation & Eletrical Storm ever reached. may alkso be higher than Stuck. Beautiful Day reached around 20.

The Hot 100's top debut is Eminem's "Just Lose It" at No. 17. With 52 million listener impressions, this is the highest-debuting airplay-only track of the year. It's the first single from the rapper's fourth studio set for Interscope, "Encore," due Nov. 16. Eminem's most recent full-length, "The Eminem Show," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2002 and yielded the hit singles "Without Me" (which peaked at No. 2) and "Cleanin' Out My Closet" (No. 4).

Two other singles from highly anticipated fourth-quarter releases also enter the Hot 100 this week, as U2's "Vertigo" bows at No. 46 and Chingy's "Balla Baby" comes in at No. 67. Also debuting are Jo Jo's "Baby It's You" featuring Bow Wow (No. 70), Rupee's "Tempted to Touch" (No. 96) and Christina Milian's "Whatever U Want" featuring Joe Budden (No. 100).

http://www.billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000650864

It is at #18 on Modern Rock Tracks
 
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Thanks for the info ChangeTheTemperature. It always seems like Canada is more receptive to U2 before the US is.
 
WHY aren't U2 played on Top 40? This REALLY ticks me off. Eminem can be played mostly at Top 40 and debut at 17. If Vertigo had been added at your local Top 40 stations it would doubtless be at least 15 points hiugher. This is what pisses me off. U2 are still being ghettoized beyond the current "teen' market. Top 40 stations are "regular" not "niche" stations, and that's what today's teens listen to. I'd love to hear them sandwiched between Britney and April Lavigne and Jay-Z and Even Shania Twain.

This wasn't what it wa slike for me growing up. I can remember hearing the Stones' "Dancing in the Street" next to Tears for Fears and Corey Hart and Bruce. in the mid-80's. And they were age-wise where U2 is now..in their 40's then. And that brought a whole new gen of Stones fans.

This ghettoizing of U2 HAS to stop. Unless they are given the same kind of rotation they used to get on Top 40 10 yrs ago they'll NEVER get higher than 25.

Damn it (sorry) they deserve better.
 
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Ah, Roland, I thought you were in Mid-World. BTW, have you finished Dark Tower yet? Excellent.

Sorry guys, very off topic, I just was taking the chance to ask.

So, back to topic. If you go to this link, they compile radio play on a daily basis, and Vertigo is #1 at AAA radio and very high on Alternative.

http://www.mmr247.com/mmrweb/AllAccess/
 
#46 is amazing... that's better than the top positions reach by Electrical Storm, Stuck, Elevation, LNOE, MOFO, If God will send, Please, Stay, All I want, When Love comes, and everything else before Pride. ANd mind you, those top positions were certainly not in their first week of radio release, much less 3 days... so I bet we can expect big stuff in the weeks to come.

Ok and I might be a bit presumptuous here... but that must be U2's biggest debut week ever for a single. Usually it takes a few weeks for it to break through into the top half of the Hot 100 right?

WHYWHY
 
The only song with a higher debut was Discotheque.

I think it debuted in the teens and peaked at 10.

The hype for Pop & Discotheque was huge. All radio formats even dance and Top 40 played that song when it first came out.

However it faded quite quickly within a couple of weeks.
 
ChangeTheTemperature said:
The only song with a higher debut was Discotheque.

I think it debuted in the teens and peaked at 10.

The hype for Pop & Discotheque was huge. All radio formats even dance and Top 40 played that song when it first came out.

However it faded quite quickly within a couple of weeks.

Discotheque debuted at #10 back in 1997. At this time HOT 100 still used the old formula of basing chart position on 50% airplay and 50% sales.

Back then, the HOT 100 would not let a single be on the HOT 100 unless it had been released in the stores for purchase. Disco was already getting airplay and risen to #22 on the HOT 100 Airplay chart. Then, it was released and debuted at #2 on the HOT 100 Sales chart. The two combined for a #10 debut on the HOT 100 itself.

I wonder though if sales on I-Tunes helped at all with the #46 debut?
 
Gosh it's weird having to track your posts STING2 in both the NEWS section and here. Obviously now u know that I-Tunes couldn't have helped at all.

So when exactly did the new week start for the Charts in America? It started on Tuesday right? It'll prove interesting, if at all possible, to see how Vertigo does over the next 3 days for comparison, to see if it's building up momentum.

Is there a way to check daily radio play of the song?
 
WHYWHY said:
Gosh it's weird having to track your posts STING2 in both the NEWS section and here. Obviously now u know that I-Tunes couldn't have helped at all.

So when exactly did the new week start for the Charts in America? It started on Tuesday right? It'll prove interesting, if at all possible, to see how Vertigo does over the next 3 days for comparison, to see if it's building up momentum.

Is there a way to check daily radio play of the song?

Although albums are released on Tuesday, the week I believe does start on Monday. I've often read in Billboard where they talk about Soundscan and "tracking through Sunday night", so I think its Monday, and having Tuesday as the release date is just some industry tradition. Not 100% positive about this though.
 
STING2 said:



I wonder though if sales on I-Tunes helped at all with the #46 debut?

I was thinking the same thing, Sting2.

We all know that these days most songs chart based on airplay alone, as many songs don't even have a CD single. And your comments about Billboard being behind the times is accurate as well - I highly doubted that Billboard would've incorporated iTunes sales.

But then, "Vertigo" debuts at #46 on the Hot 100. It doesn't chart in the Top 20 on the Mainstream charts and just cracks the Top 20 on the Modern Rock charts. When past songs, such as "Beautiful Day" or "Electrical Storm" showed GREATER success on those charts, it wasn't reflected in the Hot 100 at all.

So one has to wonder - did the strong iTunes sale play a role? Is Billboard really more advanced that we expected? I guess one could write Billboard and ask.
 
u2ulysses said:


I was thinking the same thing, Sting2.

We all know that these days most songs chart based on airplay alone, as many songs don't even have a CD single. And your comments about Billboard being behind the times is accurate as well - I highly doubted that Billboard would've incorporated iTunes sales.

But then, "Vertigo" debuts at #46 on the Hot 100. It doesn't chart in the Top 20 on the Mainstream charts and just cracks the Top 20 on the Modern Rock charts. When past songs, such as "Beautiful Day" or "Electrical Storm" showed GREATER success on those charts, it wasn't reflected in the Hot 100 at all.

So one has to wonder - did the strong iTunes sale play a role? Is Billboard really more advanced that we expected? I guess one could write Billboard and ask.

I-Tunes played no role at all because the song has only been available for purchase on I-Tunes since Monday. The Chart week for the current issue of billboard ended on Sunday. U2 hit #46 based on airplay on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which is very impressive.

In order to have done this, the band needed to have strong airplay on all formats. It has probably been picked up by various "Top 40" and Adult Top 40 formats and is probably in the 50s, 40s, and 30s, on those charts. On the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, the song is in the 20s although I do not know precisely where. The song is at #18 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart as we know.
 
u2ulysses said:


I was thinking the same thing, Sting2.

We all know that these days most songs chart based on airplay alone, as many songs don't even have a CD single. And your comments about Billboard being behind the times is accurate as well - I highly doubted that Billboard would've incorporated iTunes sales.

But then, "Vertigo" debuts at #46 on the Hot 100. It doesn't chart in the Top 20 on the Mainstream charts and just cracks the Top 20 on the Modern Rock charts. When past songs, such as "Beautiful Day" or "Electrical Storm" showed GREATER success on those charts, it wasn't reflected in the Hot 100 at all.

So one has to wonder - did the strong iTunes sale play a role? Is Billboard really more advanced that we expected? I guess one could write Billboard and ask.

I think it would be absurd if Billboard didn't track downloads and figure them into the charts. I mean, the charts are based on Soundscan data. I know that Soundscan keeps track of the number of downloads that are done on iTunes because it says on the bottom of the site that "iTunes is the number 1 legal download site according to Soundscan" So if they are already tracking the downloads, it would be simple to use that data for charts, particularly singles.
 
womanfish said:


I think it would be absurd if Billboard didn't track downloads and figure them into the charts. I mean, the charts are based on Soundscan data. I know that Soundscan keeps track of the number of downloads that are done on iTunes because it says on the bottom of the site that "iTunes is the number 1 legal download site according to Soundscan" So if they are already tracking the downloads, it would be simple to use that data for charts, particularly singles.

This could indeed be the case, but results from sale of anything on I-Tunes will not show up until next week. Increased airplay (a full 7 days of it) plus sales on I-Tunes could dramatically increase the chart position in just one week.
 
bsp77 said:
Ah, Roland, I thought you were in Mid-World. BTW, have you finished Dark Tower yet? Excellent.

Sorry guys, very off topic, I just was taking the chance to ask.

So, back to topic. If you go to this link, they compile radio play on a daily basis, and Vertigo is #1 at AAA radio and very high on Alternative.

http://www.mmr247.com/mmrweb/AllAccess/

Well, I am the star of my own book right? :wink:

Thanks for that link by the way. I should be able to escape the blue crack from time to time now with this.
 
I wish I could forward a bunch of posts I got today in my mailbox from people on a couple of smaller u2 lists. They were from people in Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin. They said that only now today or yesterday was the first time they've heard Vertigo on the air at all in the past week, or they STILL haven't heard it.

The girl from Dallas said that right now only ONE radio station in Dallas is playing U2--the "alternative" station and not the mainstream Top 40 station. She said that station plays a mixture of 80, 90's and current music--ie it is the "Top 40" station. She said she hears old U2 on it a lot too. BUT they are NOT playing vertigo AT ALL. So they are playing all kinds of U2--ie the stuff they debuted on the radio in the good old days before CC czme along, when U2 were not ghettoized as they are for some reason now-this music is permissable.

-What REALLY ticked her off is that the station's billboards all over Dallas advertise U2 as one of the acts the station plays all the time. She said she wished she could sue their asses for false advertising.


The people from other parts of the state replied with similar situations. From what we've read on this baord the past 2 weeks,it seems that smaller stations in places like Illinois, Iowa, N.C, etc are the ones who played Vertigo the most. These sound like they are from smaller or mid-level markets that have been overlooked by CC becuase they are in smaller markets and therefore were not pursued aggressively--left alone. So, to get a taste of how things were, listen to those untouched stations.

Now compare this to Eminem, whose #17 debut was based ENTIRELY on airplay. CC has dfecided that he is top priority in the heirarchy, so he is blessed. As CC dj's are just filler and have no control over their airplay, the order is passed down the line, "Add Em and play him every hour, on the hour." And they have to obey. So we have an artifical situation where Em is shoved down the public's throat. I'n sure he is just as popular; but I am also sure that if U2 was given the same kind of treatment--I'm sure there are a LOT more DJ's excited about the band than there appear to be--they'd have debuted at 25.

I am sure the band will be puzzled about this. It is high time they acquaint themselves with the policies of CC and how the unthinkable has happened: radio is finallt gov't controlled. With the snap of a finger, an act can disappear. Never possible before.
 
You have to realize that Vertigo, I am 99% sure, hasn't even been released to Top 40 radio. And top 40 makes up a whole lot more airplay than rock and modern rock stations. Add in the hip hop and rap stations that are also playing Eminem that don't play U2 and he has a HUGE advantage in airplay.

Vertigo may be added to top 40 later if Vertigo is successful enough on rock and modern rock radio.
 
womanfish said:
You have to realize that Vertigo, I am 99% sure, hasn't even been released to Top 40 radio. And top 40 makes up a whole lot more airplay than rock and modern rock stations. Add in the hip hop and rap stations that are also playing Eminem that don't play U2 and he has a HUGE advantage in airplay.

Vertigo may be added to top 40 later if Vertigo is successful enough on rock and modern rock radio.

Really? I never knew that. So that means Vertigo has to crack the top forty to have a shot of being added to playlists by top 40 stations?
 
Vertigo is getting top 40 radio airplay. It would be impossible for U2 to debut at #46 on the HOT 100 if they were not. Remember that U2's debut at #46 on the HOT 100 was due ENTIRELY to airplay. I-Tunes only started selling Vertigo on Monday, the day after the cut off date for HOT 100 chart later that week.

A debut of #46 is one of the highest debut's of any new U2 song in history!
 
STING2 said:
Vertigo is getting top 40 radio airplay. It would be impossible for U2 to debut at #46 on the HOT 100 if they were not. Remember that U2's debut at #46 on the HOT 100 was due ENTIRELY to airplay. I-Tunes only started selling Vertigo on Monday, the day after the cut off date for HOT 100 chart later that week.

A debut of #46 is one of the highest debut's of any new U2 song in history!

For the Hot 100, the charts are based on Airplay and Sales. However, I think it is safe to assume that is is probably 90% based on airplay considering the singles market (outside of iTunes) is rather small in the US.

Airplay ranking is based on number of listener impressions (number of people who heard the song that week). In the billboard article last week it mentions that Eminem new song debuted at 17 (based on Airplay only) with 52 Million listener impressions. So it is a safe bet to assume you need 50 Million to crack the top 20.

You can check this site to see current charts with listener impressions.

http://www.mmr247.com/mmrweb/AllAccess/

Vertigo currenly has:

Rock - 5.1
TripleA - 3.4
Alternative - 19.2
Active Rock - 3.7
Hot AC - 6 (guess based on U2 being around 20-30 on the chart)
CHR/POP (Top 40) & AC - 2 (Negligable as they have very little airplay right now)

Total - 39 Million

Not sure where this puts them on the chart. My guess would be around 35.

There is very little growth for Vertigo on Rock charts (first 4 above). Even if they reach #1 on all 4 formats they will get around an extra 7 million (they are already number1 in Rock, TripleA & Alternative).

For Vertigo to go up it has to get airplay on Hot AC & CHR/POP (the only two formats left that would play Vertigo).

You can see that a Top 20 CHR/POP song gets at least 25 Million listens.

A Top 10 HotAC track will get at least 15 Million listens.

For reference, the #1 Song in the top 100 is Ciara-Goodies. It has:

CHR/Rhythmic - 74.8
CHR/POP - 49
Urban - 52.3

Total - 176 Million
 
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But the issue is this: if "Alternative" radio stations did not exist (like they didn't 13 yrs ago for AB), Top 40 would HAVE to play Vertigo out from the box...they feel more comfortable not instantly adding it even twice a day b/c there's someplace else for it to be played.

Is it routine for songs to be released first to the "Alterna-Ghetto" and THEN a month later to Top 40? First time I've heard of this brilliant marketing move. Was BD handled like this? Enlighten me please.

I still think it's a screwy move.
 
Teta040 said:
But the issue is this: if "Alternative" radio stations did not exist (like they didn't 13 yrs ago for AB), Top 40 would HAVE to play Vertigo out from the box...they feel more comfortable not instantly adding it even twice a day b/c there's someplace else for it to be played.

Is it routine for songs to be released first to the "Alterna-Ghetto" and THEN a month later to Top 40? First time I've heard of this brilliant marketing move. Was BD handled like this? Enlighten me please.

I still think it's a screwy move.

Alternative radio or Modern Rock has been around since U2 formed in the late 1970s. Billboard did not start to chart Modern Rock though until 1988.

It is true that Modern Rock is often more accepting of new music by rock bands. It takes longer to crack the mainstream top 40.
 
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