Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
This week: VMAs winners and performers get a nice uptick in streams and sales, an outpouring of posthumous affection for Frankie Beverly results in huge gains in consumption for the Maze catalog, and Britney Spears fans have a very unusual day of celebration for one of her exes.
The VMAs Bump: Chappell Roan, Benson Boone, ‘Fortnight’ & More of the Night’s Winners See Gains
As usual, the big wins from MTV’s 41st annual Video Music Awards on Wednesday (Sept. 11) came not only on stage, but also in the days that followed on DSPs and music retailers. A number of the reigning artists from last week — both in terms of moonpeople taken home and major performances delivered on stage — enjoyed strong gains in the consumption of their catalogs and hits following the awards show.
And as has often been the case so far in 2024, perhaps the biggest winner there was Chappell Roan. The rising alt-pop star took home the award for best new artist, and also had perhaps the most highly anticipated (and later-buzzed-about) performance of the night, playing breakout hit “Good Luck, Babe!” in medieval armor, flanked by an array of dancing swordsmen. Over the three days following the VMAs (Sept. 12-14), “Good Luck, Babe!” racked up 9.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams and 2,700 digital song sales — gains of 20% and 152%, respectively, from the three-day period prior to the VMAs (Sept. 8-10), according to Luminate — while her entire catalog combined for 41.6 million streams and 6,5000 sales over that same period, gains of 22% and 116%, respectively. (In an average week, songs will often stream better from Thursday to Saturday than from Sunday to Tuesday, though usually not to such a sizable degree.)
Chappell wasn’t the only winner-performer to see such gains: Benson Boone, whose glammed-out and acrobatic performance of “Beautiful Things” was one of the evening’s highlights, also saw a 20% streaming gain (to 6.9 million streams) for his now-signature hit over the same period, while also rising 210% in sales (to 3,800). Meanwhile, Karol G lost the only award she was nominated for on the evening, but her delightful, high-energy performance of current Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hit “Si Antes Te Hubiera Conocido” connected enough with viewers for it to see a 25% streaming bump over that period (to 5.7 million) while also rising 164% in sales (to over 800).
And of course, there was Taylor Swift — who did not perform on the evening, but did take the stage twice, to accept best collaboration and video of the year, along with Post Malone, for their Hot 100-topping team-up “Fortnight.” The evening’s big award winner was up 26% in streams over that period, to 3.6 million, while also rising 235% to over 700 in sales. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Before We Let You Go: Frankie Beverly’s Passing Spurs Massive Catalog Gains
Frankie Beverly, an R&B and soul legend who has soundtracked generations of Black gatherings from cookouts to graduations, unfortunately passed on Sept. 10 at age 77, yet another tragic loss for the music industry this month.
As the iconic voice behind anthems such as 1981’s “Before I Let Go,” Beverly’s music had an incalculable impact on countless listeners, particularly Black Americans, despite a relatively short list of appearances on the Billboard charts across his six-decade career. According to Luminate, Beverly’s catalog streams (credited to Maze feat. Frankie Beverly) jumped a whopping 970% from just over 690,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the period of Sept. 8-10 to over 7.4 million in the three-day period following his passing (Sept. 11-13).
Two of Beverly’s biggest hits with Maze, “Before I Let Go” and 1980’s “Joy and Pain,” received particularly notable bumps. The former, which Beyoncé notably covered in 2019 (and brought to No. 65 on the Billboard Hot 100), leapt 540% over that period, from 156,000 streams to just over 997,000 streams. Similarly, “Joy and Pain” ballooned a massive 1,200% from just over 50,000 to over 654,000 streams. Moreover, Beverly’s passing also spurred fans to purchase tracks across his discography, with he and Maze’s catalog scoring a 9,308% boost in sales activity. During Sept. 8-10, they sold just 95 digital tracks; by Sept. 11-13, that figure rose to over 8,900 digital tracks sold. – KYLE DENIS
You Want a Song to Soar on Streaming as a Kevin Federline Diss? You Better ‘Work Bitch’
Last Thursday (Sept. 12), Jayden James Federline, the youngest son of Britney Spears and ex-husband Kevin Federline, turned 18 years old — and Britney fans were well aware, having circled the date in their calendars as the reported end of Spears’ child support payments to Federline, now that their two sons were no longer minors. Although reports of those child support payments ending last week have been disputed, fans engaged in a bit of Federline dunking on the big day by streaming Spears’ 2013 single “Work Bitch” — i.e., the song in which the pop superstar declares that, if you want anything extravagant in this life, you better work for it (bitch).
The lampooning resulted in tangible streaming gains for the track: daily official on-demand U.S. streams for “Work Bitch” jumped 35% between Sept. 11 and 12, from 47,000 streams to 64,000 streams, according to Luminate. It’s time to wonder what Britney Jean track could receive a similar revival — maybe “Chillin With You” with Jamie Lynn, if Spears and her sister ever make amends? – JASON LIPSHUTZ
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