Lorde's "Royals" commands the Billboard Hot 100 for a third week, Ylvis' "The Fox" darts to the Digital Songs top 10 and Justin Bieber and Eminem soar into the Hot 100's top 20.
As we do every Wednesday, let's break down the Hot 100's top 10 and more.
"Royals" crowns the subscription services-based On-Demand Songs chart with 2.8 million on-demand U.S. streams, according to Nielsen BDS (up 1%). The activity helps keep the cut at its No. 3 peak to date on the overall Streaming Songs chart (8 million U.S. streams, up 5%).
"Royals" tops Digital Songs for a fourth week with 293,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It pushes closer to the Radio Songs chart's summit, bulleting at No. 2 with an 11% gain to 158 million audience impressions, according to BDS.
Lorde's breakthrough smash fends off
Miley Cyrus' resurgent "Wrecking Ball," which swings 3-2 with top Airplay Gainer honors. The former two-week No. 1 rises 10-9 on Radio Songs, soaring by 27% to 82 million. After a dip to No. 2 last week, "Ball" rebounds back to the top for a fourth week atop Streaming Songs (13 million, up 14%)
As previously reported, Cyrus' debut RCA album "Bangerz" debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with 270,000 copies sold. "Ball" drops 3-4 on Digital Songs (which it led four weeks ago) with 182,000 downloads sold, a 40% decline; its sales slide is owed to iTunes' customers who opted to "complete" the "Bangerz" album by upgrading their earlier purchase of "Ball" to a full album. Effectively, consumers who completed the album were returning a song, thus augmenting the song's sales drop this week. (For the purposes of Hot 100 rankings, aggregate sales and returns contribute to the song's overall point total.)
"Ball" nearly knocked "Royals" from the top of the Hot 100. With "Royals" down by less than 1% in overall Hot 100 points and "Ball" up by 17%, the songs are separated just a 4% margin.
Katy Perry's former two-week Hot 100 No. 1 "Roar" slips 2-3. It spends a fourth frame atop Radio Songs (162 million, down 3%), holds at No. 2 on Digital Songs (195,000, down 10%) and rebounds 5-4 on Streaming Songs (5.8 million, down 6%).
Perry's album "PRISM" is due on Tuesday (Oct. 22) and will debut on the following week's Billboard 200. (For the next "Ask Billboard" reader mailbag: With "PRISM" song snippets now up on iTunes, what do you think of the set so far? And, what would you choose as future singles? Please feel free to share your thoughts via @gthot20 or by emailing
[email protected].)
Avicii's "Wake Me Up!" holds at its No. 4 peak on the Hot 100. It remains at its No. 3 highpoint on Radio Songs (133 million, up 5%) and returns to its best rank (4-3) on Digital Songs, despite a 4% decline to 160,000. As previously reported, "Wake" takes over atop the adult alternative Triple A airplay chart. It dominates Dance/Electronic Songs for a sixth week.
Drake's "Hold On, We're Going Home" (featuring Majid Jordan) stays at No. 5 on the Hot 100. It reaches the Streaming Songs top five (7-5; 5.3 million, up 4%) and climbs 5-4 on Radio Songs (125 million, up 2%). It tops Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs for a third week.
Ylvis' whimsical romp "The Fox" bullets for a second week at No. 6 on the Hot 100 and ascends to the Digital Songs top 10 (12-8; 108,000, up 25%). It drops to No. 2 after a week at No. 1 on Streaming Songs (11.2 million, down 5%) but debuts at No. 50 on On-Demand Songs (593,000, up 5%). While it's far from reaching Radio Songs, now that it's being promoted to pop radio by Warner Bros., "The Fox" swells by 29% to 1.8 million in audience at the format.
(Novelty song alert, part two: new viral hit "Chinese Food" by Alison Gold could debut on various Billboard charts next week.)
Jay Z's "Holy Grail" (featuring Justin Timberlake) is a non-mover at No. 7 on the Hot 100. It tallies an 11th week at No. 1 on Rap Songs.
Lady Gaga's No. 4-peaking "Applause" rises 9-8 on the Hot 100. It rallies 19-12 on Streaming Songs (2.9 million, up 8%) and lifts 9-7 on Radio Songs (90 million, up 7%).
Rounding out the Hot 100's top 10,
Robin Thicke's former 12-week No. 1 and top song of the summer "Blurred Lines" (featuring T.I. and Pharrell) drops 8-9 and
Lana Del Rey & Cedric Gervais' No. 6-peaking "Summertime Sadness" holds at No. 10.
Just outside the Hot 100's top tier,
Justin Bieber's "Heartbreaker" blasts 77-13 as the chart's top Digital Gainer. On Digital Songs, it rockets 22-5 after a full week of sales (127,000, up 131%). (The song was released on Sunday, Oct. 6, about an hour before the end of that week's tracking period, enabling its Digital Songs debut last week.) "Heartbreaker" is the first song in Bieber's "Music Mondays" series, which is scheduled to run for 10 weeks with a new song to be released each Monday.
Eminem, meanwhile, debuts at No. 17 on the Hot 100 with "Survival." It starts on Digital Songs at No. 7 with 117,000. It follows "Berzerk," which opened at No. 3 on the Hot 100 and No. 2 on Digital Songs with 362,000 last month. Both songs introduce "The Marshall Mathers LP 2," due Nov. 5. (Next week, another preview cut from the set should arrive on both charts: "Rap God.")