A couple of weeks ago I told you that Drake was the top dollar earner on the Song Revenue chart– a combination of paid downloads and streaming. He had the whole chart in his thrall.
This week it’s Kendrick Lamar. All twelve tracks from his “DAMN” album are in top 50. He has the top 5, and most of the top 15. That’s quite a feat. He took in around a million bucks for that top 5 and close to a million more for the rest of it.
Kendrick’s streaming income far outweighs his download numbers. Interesting: his fans aren’t requiring ownership. They just want to hear it.
Quite different: numbers from Harry Styles and Lady Gaga. Styles “Sign of the Times” is a bust, we know that. It was too long and went nowhere. In its second week, “Sign” took in just $99,753. Most of that was from downloads. “Sign” finished at number 19 on the Song Revenue chart, down from number 2.
Lady Gaga’s surprise single “The Cure” was an out of the box hit, but it collapsed almost immediately. She made $99,535 and that was 3 to 1 in favor of downloads. The song was a throwaway from Coachella as it turns out, and actually was a bad idea. Her “Joanne” album is what she should be concentrating on. If “The Cure” is going to be in “A Star is Born”– which is what I think it’s all about– I’d be a little worried about that.
A few other recent releases by ‘today’s stars’ haven’t hit as well as expected, too. Lorde’s “Green Light” and Katy Perry’s “Chained to the Rhythm” didn’t stick. Katy has a new single out this weekend “Bon Appetit” that’s not doing much. “Bon” is stuck at 18 on iTunes, which means there’s been little enthusiasm among her fans.
It’s tough out there! And all these surprise releases with no build up– they’re not helping anyone.
