The Race To Be No. 1
Billboard debuted its first chart of song sales on July 27, 1940. Tommy Dorsey & his Orchestra featuring Frank Sinatra’s “I’ll Never Smile Again” took the top spot that week. Eight decades later, a much different artist than Ol’ Blue Eyes was looking at that chart—and he was heated. “So, listen, I want the world to know that Billboard is a lie,” 6ix9ine said on Instagram Live this past May 18 while addressing his nearly 23 million followers.
“You can buy No. 1 on Billboard. I want that to register [in] your head. You can buy No. 1s on Billboard!” The controversial rapper was convinced streams for “Gooba,” his first single since getting out of federal prison in early April, were inaccurately counted. 6ix9ine believed that Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande had artificially inflated the sales of their joint single “Stuck With U” with CD bundles and by purchasing the track themselves. The pop stars denied wrongdoing shortly after the rapper’s accusations. Later that same day, “Stuck With U” notched the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and 6ix9ine came in third place behind Doja Cat and Nicki Minaj’s “Say So.”
More than ever, rappers are incredibly aware of their chart position. “It’s important,” says Gunna, who earned his first chart-topper with his Wunna album, also, this past May. Music consumption is up—streams topped 1 trillion for the first time last year, according to Nielsen Music—and that means it’s cutthroat for the coveted spot. “It’s getting harder and harder to stand out,” says Wendy Day of Rap Coalition. “There’s just so much competition in music.”
Even established acts that ostensibly have nothing to prove want to be on top. DJ Khaled wasn’t pleased when Father of Asahd was outsold by Tyler, The Creator’s Igor in May of 2019. “I make albums so people can play it,” Khaled said. “It’s called great music. Albums that you actually hear the songs. Not no mysterious shit.” Nicki Minaj went nuclear when Travis Scott’s Astroworld edged out Queen for No. 1 in August of 2018. She accused Scott, Spotify and the music industry as a whole for shady practices. “He knows he doesn’t have the #1 album this week,” she blasted on Twitter.
There’s the adage: Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t. Everyone wants the Billboard No. 1 but it’s not so simple. Getting the crown is more complex than straight math.
Competition is intrinsic to hip-hop and as streaming platforms like Spotify and SoundCloud replace corner cyphers and lyrical battles, the hunger to be the best remains. “Being No. 1 is important because like everyone, artists have egos,” says a major record label insider who works in streaming and wanted to remain anonymous. “Being the best strokes the ego.” Chart position is as close to objectively comparing artists as possible. “Having a No. 1 song or album is the closest we got to vanity metrics,” says Day.
Chest-beating aside, a chart-topper can land better gigs and lucrative opportunities. “There’s a direct correlation between chart and money,” says George Howard, Professor of Music Business/Management at Berklee College of Music, Founder of GH Strategic and Cofounder of TuneCore and Music Audience Exchange. “A whole host of other opportunities open up. There is a direct relationship between your chart position on the Billboard chart and your pricing for live shows, etc. So, it’s all part of the kind of overall ecosystem.” Gunna doesn’t attribute all of his success to having a No. 1 album but admits, “a lot of new deals and opportunities that I’m excited about are opening for me.”
A chart-topping artist is positioned more attractively even within the music industry; “No. 1” has a nice ring to it. Livia Tortella, Founder of Black Box and former Co-President and Chief Operating Officer of Warner Records, sees it as a powerful marketing and promotion catalyst. “You have to be super strategic,” she breaks down. “The No. 1 allows you to have a conversation with a radio programmer or it allows you to talk to a retailer and get something for it.”
“It’s extremely important to have a No. 1 hit in radio promotions,” says Kevin Holiday, SVP, Urban Promotion at Atlantic Records, who worked Roddy Ricch’s No. 1, “The Box.” “Our job and goals each day is to gain greater exposure for our artist through airplay, so once a record goes No. 1, it’s a job well done. There’s no higher mark to achieve.”
With so much competition, it’s difficult to hold onto the top spot at a stretch. Tortella advises artists to go after bigger opportunities while the iron’s hot. A No. 1 today may be forgotten by next week. “It just enables some extra opportunities for an artist, but it normally lasts one week.”
The biggest challenge in cracking Billboard is understanding the metrics behind the charts. Billboard is notoriously mum on the exact formula of streaming, sales and radio plays. Billboard was not available to comment for this story, but published this statement following 6ix9ine’s accusations: “The Hot 100 has a locked-in methodology, updated at least once a year, with each metric divided by a certain number, which results in an average chart ratio whereby streams are the most heavily weighted factor, followed next by radio airplay and then sales. Each song has its own ratio breakdown based on its specific activity, which contributes to the overall chart average each week.”
It’s a first step but doesn’t really offer full transparency. For instance, how is each metric weighted? What exactly is a stream? Many would be surprised to know that streams from TikTok and Instagram Live aren’t included. The algorithm is constantly tweaked and it’s questionable who keeps up with the nuances. In January of 2020, Billboard announced video and audio data from YouTube, along with visual plays from several streaming services, would be factored into the albums chart.
How many read the fine print that only “official licensed video content uploaded by or on behalf of rights holders” would be counted towards their albums’ streams? Comparatively, the songs chart allows user-generated content from YouTube streams to be counted. Even 6ix9ine, who watches the charts like a hawk, didn’t fully understand them. He was livid when he saw a discrepancy in his YouTube views and what Billboard reported for “Gooba.” Billboard explained that YouTube views are for global play and Billboard only looks at U.S.-based plays.
Source: XXL
