Here we take a look at the the tracks dominating Pandora this holiday season, from the Chainsmokers, to the rising star Rae Sremmurd, to a new throwback-esque country hit from Taylor Swift.
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Guest post by Emily Blake of Pandora’s Next Big Sound
It’s the holiday season, the season for bundling up by the fire, overeating and … standing motionless to the tune of Rae Sremmurd? Well, at least it is on the Pandora Top Spins Chart.
This week, as the Chainsmokers continue to look down on the mere mortals with their Halsey-featuring Closer, Black Beatles makes its way up the chart, Predictions Chart veteran Anne-Marie makes her debut, and Taylor Swift returns to her country roots. Read on for more:
The Leaders
While the Chainsmokers and Halsey’s Closer, D.R.A.M.’s Lil Yachty-featuring Broccoli, and viral dance sensation Juju on That Beat stay strong in the top three, there’s a bit of commotion in the bottom half of the Top 10 this week as Rae Sremmurd’s Black Beatles rises six spots. While the track has been around for a little while now — StremmLife 2 dropped back in August, and the song was released as a single in September — it only recently became the soundtrack to the the Mannequin Challenge, the latest viral video trend that has brought the nation to a literal standstill.
By early November, when everyone and their mother and Hillary Clinton had come to a halt, Black Beatles started making serious moves on Pandora. The song has seen a month-on-month 801.8% increase in Track Station Adds and a 211% increase in Spins. This week compared to last week, it saw a 14.2%increase in Spins as it rises to #6.
Also causing a ruckus is Maroon 5’s Don’t Wanna Know featuring Kendrick Lamar, which sneaks in at #10 behind Ariana Grande’s still-walking Side to Side. Don’t Wanna Know saw a 15.4% week-on-week increase this week, hitting over 4 million weekly Spins.
The Newbies
In the three weeks since Leonard Cohen’s death at 82, Pandora listeners have been religiously spinning Hallelujah — both Cohen’s original version and its many covers. The original has seen a month-on-month 318.4% increase in Spins and a 1,068.3% increase in Track Station Adds. Two weeks before his death, a cappella fivesome Pentatonix just happened to release their own cover of for their album A Pentatonix Christmas. It’s already racked up over 1.4 million weekly Spins, debuting this week at #69.
After a few months on and off the Pandora Predictions Chart, English singer-songwriter Anne-Marie makes an impressive debut on Top Spins this week with Alarm, the latest single off her upcoming debut studio album. This week compared to last week, the song saw a 76.4% increase in Spins and a 25.97% increase in Track Station Adds. Remixes of the song also saw upticks in Spins, like the John Hill x Stint Remix (+129.5% week-on-week) and the Cahill Remix (+215.1%).
And while Taylor Swift’s name is nowhere on the chart this week, it is if you read the fine print. Returning to her country roots, Swift wrote Little Big Town’s latest hit Better Man, which sneaks in at #98 this week after seeing just over 1 million Spins.
Elsewhere, Drake’s Fake Love enters the chart at #54, Kodak Black’s Skrtdebuts at #95, Usher and Future’s Rivals takes #78, and OneRepublic’s synthed-up Kids enters at #37.
The Climbers
Bad and Boujee, the latest single from Atlanta hip-hop trio Migos, makes a savage ascent this week with a week-on-week 14.2% increase in Spins, rising a ruthless 22 spots to #67. The song also saw a 51.2% increase in Track Station Adds this week compared to last week.
And after dropping down into the mid-40s for a couple weeks, Dua Lipa’s breakout hit Blow Your Mind (Mwah) jumps back up this week to #36 after seeing close to 2 million Spins, while Shawn Mendes’ Mercy climbs from #33 to #23, seeing more than 2.6 million Spins in one week.
Elsewhere, Drake and 21 Savage’s Sneakin’ sneaks it way into the top 50 this week, rising 14 spots to #49, while Young Thug’s Digits rises nine spots after a week-on-week 10% increase in Spins.