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2021 is the year of Olivia Rodrigo. The California teen blasted to No. 1 around the world with “Drivers License” and, then, “Good 4 U.”
Her smash hit album Sour also went to No. 1, pretty much everywhere. And she made chart history as the first female artist to simultaneously chart 11 or more songs in the Hot 100’s top 30.
Need more proof of her all-powerful status? Look no further than the quarter finals of America’s Got Talent, where the vocal trio T.3 tackled one of Rodrigo’s hits.
The singing group is a TikTok sensation and they made more fans Tuesday night (Aug. 17) with a cover of “Good 4 U,” showcasing their harmonies, high pitches and movement.
Count Sofia Vergara and Howie Mandel among their new fans. Both judges gave a standing ovation. “I love it,” Vergara enthused afterwards. “The energy is amazing.”
Earlier, the “tenors” of Liam, Brendan and Jim breezed through the audition round with a performance of Panic! At The Disco’s “Into The Unknown,” earning a “yes” from all four judges.
Watch their QF effort below.
Reservoir Media — music’s newest publicly traded company — improved its quarterly revenues by 23% to $12.3 million in the period spanning April 1 to July 1, the company announced in its second quarter earnings report Tuesday (Aug. 17). This was Reservoir’s first earnings report since going public on July 28.
Catalog acquisitions — $112.3 million in the quarter, including the June 2 purchase of Tommy Boy Music for $100 million — and organic growth from existing catalog amid the booming music streaming market, helped drive the $3.1 million improvement.
Expect more acquisitions throughout 2021 after Reservoir’s July 28 merger with the Roth CH Acquisition II Co., a special purpose acquisition company that netted Reservoir $142 million and provided an alternative to a traditional — and more costly and time-consuming — IPO on the Nasdaq. Golnar Khosrowshahi, founder and CEO, said the company is in “a strong position to capitalize on the powerful secular tailwinds we’re seeing across the music business and around the globe.”
Reservoir’s acquisitions since forming in 2007 total $569 million – including $112 million in Q2 – that’s up 24.3% compared to the same period last year. Among its purchases have been Chrysalis Records in 2019 and in 2020 the catalog of Bob Crewe, a songwriter for The Four Seasons and “Lady Marmalade” by Labelle, among many other lasting hits.
Reservoir’s share price dropped 6.1% to $7.41 on Tuesday. It has fallen 28.1% from $9.49 on July 29, its first day of trading on the Nasdaq after the merger closed.
Financial metrics (Q2 2021 vs. Q2 2020):
- Revenue: $16.7 million, up 22.5%
- Music publishing revenues; $12.3 million, up 8.1%
- Recorded music revenues: $4.2 million, up 93.8%
- Operating income before depreciation and amortization: $4.4 million, down 7.9%
- Operating income: $282,000, down 78.4%
Items of note from the quarter:
- Reservoir’s $617,000 loan under the Paycheck Protection Plan was forgiven.
- The merger with Roth CH Acquisition II Co gave Reservoir $142 million after closing costs.
- Music publishing performance royalties declined 14.2% year-on-year due to COVID-19 business restrictions and closures that affected retail, restaurants, bars, gyms, live shows, synchronization revenue and physical sales.
- Quarterly revenue was 16% greater than the previously stated forecast.
Key events in Q2 and Q3 2021:
- Reservoir acquired Tommy Boy Music for $100 million on June 2.
- Completed merger with Roth CH Acquisition II Co on July 28.
K-pop group The Boyz are back with their new mini-album THRILL-ING to encapsulate the thrill of summer. It’s their first project since their appearance on the Mnet competition show Kingdom: Legendary War and since their last album CHASE, which was released 11 months ago.
The Boyz’s new six-track EP represents the various emotions associated with the word “thrill” in the unique style of the band, and each track depicts the different emotions of excitement, fear, exhilaration and trepidation. The song “THRILL RIDE” kicks off with the bouncy rhythms of excitement, which stretches to the more dynamic sound of “Out of Control.” The album also includes a breezy midtempo number with romantic lyrics called “Dancing Till We Drop,” as well as the signature track of the dream series “Nightmares,” with surreal sounds presenting the emotion of fear while offering an unexpected twist to the mix. The musical journey of the album is completed by “Merry Bad Ending” with the impressive synth sounds of a heartbeat and “B.O.Y (Bet On You),” which illustrates the excitement of a summer night.
Among the six tracks, “THRILL RIDE” was unanimously chosen by all members to inspire the mini-album’s title. Q said: “When I first listened to ‘THRILL RIDE,’ I knew this was the song we could all enjoy on any stage.” Indeed, anyone who watched their performance of the song would agree that it is a feast for the eyes and ears with the catchy lyrics of “th-thrill ride, th-thrill ride” and the stylish choreography known as the “rollercoaster dance.” The music video also showcases a playful side of the boys for the entire four minutes, making it feel like being on summer vacation with bright and electrifying visuals of poolside sun loungers, the sunny basketball court and the amusement park.
While the previous albums REVEAL and CHASE focused on the more powerful side of each member, the new album is able to highlight the energetic and mature images of the boys with a hint of their playfulness.
Debuting in 2017, the 11-piece act gained much more public recognition by winning on the Mnet competition show Road to Kingdom. They were the runner-ups on the sequel Kingdom: Legendary War, where their song “KINGDOM COME,” which they performed in the final round, nabbed the No. 7 spot on the Billboard K-pop 100 — their first-ever song to hit the top 10 on a Billboard chart. It definitely marked one of the most rewarding moments for them, as three years of participation in competition shows and hard work on seven albums as a team had finally paid off.
Following the remarkable achievements after the debut, fans’ expectations for THRILL-ING are higher than ever — and those expectations seem to have already been met. “THRILL RIDE” debuted at No. 81 on the Billboard K-pop 100 and has topped the iTunes Songs chart in 16 countries. The first-week album sales of 520,000 units are more than double the unit sold with the fifth EP CHASE. Not to anyone’s surprise, all these impressive records are only the beginning for a band with a very promising and thrilling future.
Watch Billboard Japan’s interview with The Boyz below:
Dan + Shay are stealing more than affection in their new video for “Steal My Love.”
The opening scenes of the music video give off a Mission: Impossible vibe, filled with police cars, an explosion and a heist, as the duo’s Dan Smyers descends from a cable (with help from his cohort Shay Mooney) into a guarded room to steal a briefcase. Mooney and Smyers manage to escape the building, leading to a car chase as they are pursued by a group of men clad in black ski masks. But when the group catches up and surrounds the duo’s car, what looks to be a high-stakes action video instantly pivots into a scene more akin to La La Land as they break into dance.
Mooney, Smyers and company show off some fancy footwork throughout the remainder of the “Steal My Love” video, weaving theatrics and dance choreography in and out of the ongoing heist storyline. The song itself features a smooth groove reminiscent of ’90s teen pop, spearheaded by stacked harmonies and Mooney’s glossy, endlessly versatile vocals.
Dan + Shay first premiered the “Steal My Love” video exclusively on Facebook. The song was penned by Smyers with Andy Albert, Ashley Gorley and Jordan Reynolds. (Reynolds was also a co-writer on Dan + Shay’s 2018 hit “Tequila.”)
“Steal My Love” is from the duo’s fourth studio album Good Things, which came out Friday and became the first country album of the streaming era to earn RIAA gold status on the day of its release.
Meanwhile, the album’s third single, “Glad You Exist,” sits atop Billboard’s Country Airplay chart, while “Steal My Love” enters the chart at No. 35, making it the week’s highest debut.
Earlier this year, the duo also announced rescheduled dates for their Dan + Shay The (Arena) Tour, featuring Ingrid Andress and The Band Camino. The tour is slated to launch Sept. 9 in Greenville, S.C.
As previously reported, The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” logs its 88th week on the Billboard Hot 100. This enables the sleek, propulsive smash to surpass Imagine Dragons’ “Radioactive” as the single with the most weeks on the Hot 100 since the chart was introduced a little more than 63 years ago.
You doubtless remember that “Blinding Lights” was skunked by Grammy voters — it didn’t receive a single nomination. “Radioactive” fared much better, winning for best rock performance and receiving a record of the year nod.
Twenty-eight singles have logged 57 or more weeks on the Hot 100, from the chart’s Aug. 4, 1958, inception right up to the latest survey, dated Aug. 21, 2021. Let’s take a closer look at those 28 singles and see how they fared with Grammy voters.
Six of these monster hits won Grammys for record and/or song of the year: Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep,” Lady A’s “Need You Now,” Gotye featuring Kimbra’s “Somebody That I Used to Know,” Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud,” Santana featuring Rob Thomas’ “Smooth” and Kings of Leon’s “Use Somebody.”
But 10 others — including, in addition to “Blinding Lights,” Ellie Goulding’s “Lights” (maybe they have an aversion to lights?), OneRepublic’s “Counting Stars,” AWOLNATION’s “Sail” and Gabby Barrett’s “I Hope” — weren’t nominated in any categories.
Here are the 28 singles with the most weeks on the Hot 100, together with the Grammy nominations and awards that the single (and/or the album that contained it) were granted by Grammy voters. We’re not showing nominations or awards that other tracks by the artists may have received.
1. “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd: 88 weeks; no nominations
2. “Radioactive,” Imagine Dragons: 87 weeks; Grammy for best rock performance; nomination for record of the year (2013)
3. “Sail,” AWOLNATION: 79 weeks; no nominations
4. “I’m Yours,” Jason Mraz: 76 weeks; nominations for song of the year and best male pop vocal performance (2008)
5. “How Do I Live,” LeAnn Rimes: 69 weeks; nominations for best female country vocal performance, song of the year and best song written specifically for a motion picture or for television (1997). Diane Warren received the two songwriting nods.
6. “Counting Stars,” OneRepublic: 68 weeks; no nominations
6. “Party Rock Anthem,” LMFAO feat. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock: 68 weeks; no nominations
8. “Rolling in the Deep,” Adele: 65 weeks; Grammys for record of the year, song of the year and best short form music video (2011). Adele shared the song of the year award with Paul Epworth. 21, the album that spawned the smash, won for album of the year and best pop vocal album.
8. “You Were Meant for Me”/”Foolish Games,” Jewel: 65 weeks; nomination for best female pop vocal performance (1997, for “Foolish Games”)
10. “Before He Cheats,” Carrie Underwood: 64 weeks; Grammys for best female country vocal performance and best country song; nomination for song of the year (2007). Josh Kear and Chris Tompkins received the two songwriting nods.
11. “I Hope,” Gabby Barrett: 62 weeks; no nominations
11. “Ho Hey,” The Lumineers: 62 weeks; no nominations for the song, but the group was nominated for best new artist and its eponymous debut album was nominated for best Americana album (2012)
11. “You and Me,” Lifehouse: 62 weeks; no nominations
14. “Circles,” Post Malone: 61 weeks; nominations for record, song and album of the year (for Hollywood’s Bleeding, which contained the smash). Posty shared the song of the year nod with Louis Bell, Adam Feeney, Kaan Gunesberk and Billy Walsh.
14. “Demons,” Imagine Dragons: 61 weeks; no nominations
16. “Need You Now,” Lady A: 60 weeks; Grammys for record and song of the year, best country song, best country performance by a duo or group with vocals and best country album for the album of the same name. Need You Now was also nominated for album of the year. The trio, then called Lady Antebellum, shared the two songwriting awards with Josh Kear, who also co-wrote the aforementioned “Before He Cheats.”
16. “Macarena” (Bayside Boys Mix),” Los Del Rio: 60 weeks; no nominations
18. “Shape of You,” Ed Sheeran: 59 weeks; Grammys for best pop solo performance and best pop vocal album for the album that spawned it, ÷ (Divide) (2017).
18. “All of Me,” John Legend: 59 weeks; the romantic ballad was released too late in the previous eligibility year to make much of an impact, but a live version was eligible in 2014 and was nominated for best pop solo performance. The album that spawned the smash, Love in the Future, was nominated the previous year for best R&B album.
18. “Somebody That I Used to Know,” Gotye featuring Kimbra: 59 weeks; Grammys for record of the year, best pop duo/group performance and best alternative music album for the album that spawned the smash — Gotye’s Making Mirrors.
21. “Thinking Out Loud,” Ed Sheeran: 58 weeks; Grammys for song of the year and best pop solo performance (2015). Nomination for record of the year. × (multiply), which spawned the smash, was nominated for album of the year and best pop vocal album the previous year.
21. “How to Save a Life,” The Fray: 58 weeks; nomination for best rock performance by a duo or group with vocal (2006).
21. “Smooth,” Santana featuring Rob Thomas: 58 weeks. Grammys for record of the year, song of the year and best pop collaboration with vocals. Thomas shared the songwriting award with Itaal Shur. Supernatural, the album that contained the smash, won album of the year and best rock album.
24. “Perfect,” Ed Sheeran: 57 weeks; ÷ (Divide), the album that contained the smash ballad, won for best pop vocal album (2017).
24. “Dark Horse,” Katy Perry featuring Juicy J: 57 weeks; nominations for best pop duo/group performance and best pop vocal album for Prism, which spawned it (2014).
24. “Lights,” Ellie Goulding: 57 weeks; no nominations
24. “Use Somebody,” Kings of Leon: 57 weeks; Grammys for record of the year, best rock performance by a duo or group with vocals and best rock song (2009). Nomination for song of the year. Only By the Night, the album that contained the smash, was nominated for best rock album the previous year.
24. “Higher,” Creed: 57 weeks; no nominations
