Highlights No #1: State of the Hot 100 Q4 2020

Home , 30 Roc, 6ix9ine, Hate the Other Side, Jawsh 685, Laugh Now Cry Later, Stuck with U

2020 in Review THE STATE OF THE HOT 100 TOP 10

SELECT HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE REPORT

Compositional and Industry Trends for the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 The State of the Hot 100 Top 10 takes an in-depth look at the compositional and industry- related trends for the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10.

What follows are a few select highlights from the 100+ page report.

ABOUT THIS REPORT PAGE 2 | SONGS & CREDITS Data is for songs that charted in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 and excludes PAGE 3 | PERFORMING ARTISTS holiday songs. PAGE 7 | SONGWRITERS Data related to compositional characteristics are propriety to Hit Songs PAGE 11 | PRODUCERS Deconstructed. Artist, songwriter, producer, label and PAGE 14 | RECORD LABELS charting information are aggregated from the PRO’s, Billboard, and streaming PAGE 16 | TIKTOK HITS platforms.

PAGE 18 | TOP 10 All credits are from the date songs entered the Top 10. PAGE 23 | #1 HIT SPOTLIGHT At times percentages may not add to 100% due to numbers being rounded up or down. Production teams (i.e. The Audibles) are counted as a single producer.

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In 2020, 75 songs charted in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, 12 more than in 2019. 41% of

them charted in the Top 10 for just one week, and 35% charted for 10 weeks or more. Twenty

one charted at #1. Behind those songs were 55 primary artists and 23 featured artists, 265

credited songwriters, 119 credited producers, and 20 record labels. 70 265 PERFORMING CREDITED ARTISTS SONGWRITERS

119 20 CREDITED RECORD PRODUCERS LABELS

(2020)

Performing 10 in 2020. 55 were primary artists and 23

Artists were featured artists. 2020

Eight artists had both primary and 55 23 featured artist credits on songs: DaBaby, PRIMARY FEATURED Drake, Juice WRLD, Lil Baby, Megan Thee ARTISTS ARTISTS Stallion, Nicki Minaj, Roddy Ricch and

Young Thug.

*Some primary artists are also featured artists.

Songs with a Featured Artist 2016 - 2020 Songs with a featured artist increased 100 in 2020. 81% 80 72% 72% 64% 60 58% 100 42% Outside of hip hop, the percentage of 40 36% 28% 28% songs with a featured artists 20 19%

0 remained essentially the same. 2016 2017 2018L 2019 2020 However, within hip hop, the Has No Featured Artist percentage of songs with a featured Has A Featured Artist artist doubled.

Songs Songs 10,000 Hours Come & Go Conversations Holy Hate the Other Intentions Side Monster Life's A Mess Stuck With U Smile Wishing Well Justin Bieber Yummy Juice WRLD 6 35 6 3 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10

Songs Songs 34+35 Cardigan Positions Exile Rain On Me The 1 Stuck With U Willow Ariana Grande Taylor Swift 4 13 4 3 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10

Ariana Grande Roddy Ricch Rain On Me, Stuck With U The Box

3 3 1 11 #1 HITS WEEKS AT #1 #1 HIT WEEKS AT #1

21 primary artists had a credit on a #1 hit.

24kGoldn, Mood Jawsh 685, Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat)

6ix9ine, Trollz Justin Bieber, Stuck With U

Ariana Grande, Rain On Me, Stuck With U, Kid Cudi, THE SCOTTS

Positions Lady Gaga, Rain On Me

BTS, Dynamite, Life Goes On Megan Thee Stallion, Savage (Remix)

Cardi B, WAP Nicki Minaj, Trollz

DaBaby, Rockstar Post Malone, Circles

Doja Cat, Say So (Remix) Roddy Ricch, The Box

Drake, Toosie Slide Taylor Swift, Cardigan, Willow

Harry Styles, Watermelon Sugar The Weeknd, Blinding Lights

Jason Derulo, Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat) Travis Scott, THE SCOTTS, Franchise

(2020)

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 7 of 27 265 #1 Songwriters with Top 10 Hits HITS 2020 98 songwriters have a credit on a #1 hit. Of the 265 credited songwriters that 2020 charted in the Hot Top 10 in 2020, 98 scored #1 hits.

Songwriter Team Size Songwriting team sizes of five or 2020 more continued to be the most

60 popular, while writers who go it 51% alone continued to be scarce. 1040

20 17% 16% 13% The only two solo writers in 2020 3% are Tones and I (Dance Monkey) 0 2020L and 6ix9ine (Gooba). 5+ 2 3 4 1

5 Year Trends Songwriter Team Size 100

58% 60% 51% 10050 45% 49%

7% 3% 5% 3% 0 0% 2016 2017 2018L 2019 2020

5+ 1

Drake was the top performing artist writer with seven Top 10 hits, including the #1 hit Toosie Slide, and 40 weeks in the Top 10. OZ was the top behind-the-scenes writer, scoring five Top 10 hits and spending 25 weeks in the Top 10. Ariana Grande scored the most #1 hit songwriting credits, with three (Positions, Rain On Me, Stuck With U).

7 4 7 40 TOP 10 WEEKS IN Drake TOP 10 WEEKS IN Juice WRLD HITS THE TOP 10 HITS THE TOP 10 Greece, Laugh Now Cry Later, Come & Go, Conversations, Life Is Good, Mr. Right Now, Godzilla, Hate the Other Side, Life's Pain 1993, Popstar, Toosie Slide A Mess, Smile, Wishing Well

6 35 5 25 TOP 10 WEEKS IN Justin Bieber OZ TOP 10 WEEKS IN HITS THE TOP 10 HITS THE TOP 10 10,000 Hours, Holy, Greece, HIGHEST IN THE Intentions, Monster, ROOM, Life Is Good, Stuck With U, Yummy Popstar, Toosie Slide

4 13 4 3 Ariana Grande TOP 10 WEEKS IN Taylor Swift TOP 10 WEEKS IN 34+35, Positions, Rain HITS THE TOP 10 Cardigan, Exile, HITS THE TOP 10 On Me, Stuck With U The 1, Willow

(2020)

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 11 of 27 Of the 119 credited producers 119 #1 that charted in the Hot 100 Producers HITS Top 10 in 2020, 38 scored #1 with Top 10 Hits 38 producers have hits. 2020 a credit on a #1 hit. 2020

Unlike songwriting teams, which Producer Team Size 2020 tend to be much larger, producer 60 teams got even smaller in 2020.

41% In fact, songs with a single 40 producer surpassed those with 10 29%

20 19% two for the first time since 2016,

5% 5% and only four songs featured a 0 2020L producer team of five or more – For

1 2 3 4 5+ The Night, Go Crazy, Holy and Lemonade.

5 Year Trends Producer Team Size

50 47% 46% 41% 41% 41% 20 37% 36% 33% 31% 29% 20% 21% 19% 13% 12%

2016 2017 2018L 2019 2020

1 2 3

OZ, in addition to being the top behind-the-scenes songwriter of 2020, was also the top producer with five Top 10 hits.

FINNEAS and Aaron Dessner followed close behind with four, each.

Songs Greece HIGHEST IN THE ROOM Life Is Good Popstar Toosie Slide OZ 5 25 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10

Songs everything i wanted Lose You to Love Me My Future Therefore I Am 4 13 FINNEAS TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10

Songs Cardigan Exile The 1 4 3 Willow TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 Aaron Dessner

(2020)

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 14 of 27 Record Republic was the top record label for the seventh Labels straight year, landing 19 Top 10 hits and seven #1s. 20 And while the label’s Top 10s in 2019 were mainly pop, in 2020 it was a near-even split between pop and hip hop. Interscope followed close behind with 16 Top 10s and two #1s.

300 Columbia HITCO ScumGang Records Atlantic Nashville Internet Money Ten Thousand Projects

Big Loud Records Def Jam Records Vertigo Capitol EMG Interscope Warner

Columbia Epic RCA Warner Music Nashville

Republic Rimas

Labels with the most Top 10 Hits:

Republic 2020 Republic 2019 Genre Breakdown Genre Breakdown 100 100 74%

10050 47% 42% 10050 16% 11% 5% 5% Republic 0 0 Pop Hip Hip R&B/Soul Rock 19 Songs Pop Hip Hop/RapL R&B/Soul Hop/RapHop/Rap 7 #1 Hits

Interscope 2019 Interscope 2020 Genre Breakdown Genre Breakdown 100 100 64% 50% 100 10050 38% 50 36% Interscope 6% 6% 0 Pop L Hip Hop/Rap 16 Songs Pop Hip Dance/ Rock Dance/ Hop/RapElectronic Electronic 2 #1 Hits

The popular social media app TikTok was responsible for the success of many a Hot 100

Top 10 hit this year. Save for Blueberry Faygo, all were in the Top 10 for at least 13 weeks, and

four hit the top spot on the chart.

1 16 1 14 PEAK CHART WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 PEAK CHART WEEKS IN THE TOP 10

POSITION POSITION Say So Savage Doja Cat Megan Thee Stallion

4 13 8 4 PEAK CHART WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 PEAK CHART WEEKS IN THE TOP 10

POSITION POSITION Roses (Remix) Blueberry Faygo SAINt JHN Lil Mosey

1 18 4 18 PEAK CHART WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 PEAK CHART WEEKS IN THE TOP 10

POSITION POSITION Mood Roxanne 24kGoldn (feat. iann dior) Arizona Zervas

1 16 2 13 PEAK CHART WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 PEAK CHART WEEKS IN THE TOP 10

POSITION POSITION Savage Love Whats Poppin Jason Derulo, Jawsh 685 Jack Harlow (feat. DaBaby, Lil Wayne & Tory Lanez)

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 16 of 27 © 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 17 of 27 © 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 18 of 27 Seven primary genres played a role in 2020’s Hot 100

Top 10 hits. They include hip hop, pop, R&B, country,

dance/club/electronic, Latin, and rock.

While 2018 was the year of hip hop and 2019 marked pop’s return, 2020 saw both primary genres running Primary neck and neck, accounting for near-equal percentages Genres of the Top 10. 7

Despite country's low overall popularity as a primary

genre in the Hot 100 Top 10, more country songs

charted in 2020 than the previous four years

combined.

Primary Genre Hot 100 Top 10

41% 40 40%

10 20

10 8% 5% 3% 1% 1% 0 Hip Hop/Rap Pop R&B/Soul Dance/ClubCountry Dance/Club Latin Rock /Electronic /Electronic

& Influences 100 Top 10 hits. They were composed of

24 sub-genres, 4 time-period influences 24 4 5 and five geographic influences. Sub-Genres Time-Period Geographic Influences Influences

Sub-Genres & Influences Across All Primary Genres Featured in 50% or More Top 10 Hits 100 79% 65% 57% 10050

Pop Trap

Hip Hop/Rap

Although R&B as an inﬂuence has R&B's Influence Across the Top 10 100 been on a relatively steady decline 57% 60% 48% 45% for several years now, there was a 1050 43% 40% 39% 36% 35% 32% 23% 26% quarter-over-quarter increase in 17% 0 songs with an R&B inﬂuence from Q1 4/2017 2/2018 4/2018 2/2019L 4/2019 2/2020 4/2020

to Q4 2020. R&B/Soul

Themes The boasting and introspection themes have both been 8 generally on the rise over the last five years while lifestyle remained steady compared to 2019. Eight lyrical themes defined the narratives of 2020's Hot 100 Top Love/relationships dropped off significantly when

10 hits. compared to 2019, which goes hand-in-hand with the

decrease in pop hits, where the theme is most popular.

Lyrical Themes Hot 100 Top 10

49% 44% 40 40%

10 21% 20 16% 13% 7% 1% 0

Lifestyle Boasting Religion Introspection Hooking Up

Love/Relationships Partying/Living It Up Inspiration/Empowerment Inspiration/Empowerment

Hot 100 Top 10: Non-Hip Hop (2016-2020) Instruments On the Rise Following a two-year decline, the use of electric guitar outside of the hip hop genre 58% 60% 55% 52% 45% notably rose in popularity. In 2020, it was 42% 40% 20% the seventh most popular instrument and

20% was featured in over half of non-hip hop

hits. 0% 2016 2017 2018L 2019 2020

Guitar (Electric)

Hot 100 Top 10: Hip Hop (2016-2020) Instruments On the Rise

23% 20% Within the hip hop genre, there has been a 20%

notable increase in songs featuring a string 20% 11% 10% section, present in almost a quarter of all

0% 0% songs. 0% 2016 2017 2018L 2019 2020

Strings (String Section)

Twenty-one songs charted at #1 in the Billboard Hot 100 during in 2020.

The Box spent the most time at #1, holding the top spot for 11 consecutive weeks. It was followed by Rockstar (DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch) at seven weeks and Mood (24 Goldn) rounding out the top 3 at six weeks.

Blinding Lights Cardigan Circles Dynamite Franchise Life Goes On The Weeknd Taylor Swift Post Malone BTS Travis Scott BTS

Mood Positions Rain On Me Rockstar Savage (Remix) Savage Love 24kGoldn Ariana Lady Gaga, DaBaby Megan Thee Stallion Jason Derulo, Jawsh 685 (feat. iann dior) Grande Ariana Grande (feat. Roddy Ricch) (feat. Beyoncé)

Say So (Remix) Stuck With U THE SCOTTS The Box Toosie Slide Trollz Doja Cat Justin Bieber, Travis Scott, Kid Cudi Roddy Ricch Drake 6ix9ine, Nicki Minaj (feat. Nicki Minaj) Ariana Grande #1 Hits WAP Watermelon Sugar Willow 21 Cardi B, Megan Harry Styles Taylor Swift Thee Stallion

In 2020, the top performing #1 hit was Roddy Ricch's The Box.

11 Weeks at #1

Primary Performing Artist: Roddy Ricch

Songwriters: 30 Roc, Roddy Ricch

Producer: 30 Roc

Record Label: Atlantic

Key Compositional Characteristics

Primary Genre: Hip Hop Key: Bb Minor Sub-Genres/Influences: Classical, Trap Form: I-B-A-B-A-B-O

Lead Vocal Delivery Type: Sung & Rapped First Chorus Appearance: 0:16 / 8% of the

Combo way into the song Lyrical Themes: Boasting, Lifestyle Prominent Instruments: Bass Song Title Placement: Chorus (Synth), Claps, Drums/Perc (Primarily Length: 3:16 Electronic), Piano (Electric), Strings (String

Tempo: 58 BPM Section), Synth (Non-Bass)

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 25 of 27 #1 HIT For the second year in a row, pop was the most popular primary genre among #1 hits, accounting for nearly one-half of songs. However, its SPOTLIGHT prominence in 2020 was down signiﬁcantly from its 73% peak in 2019.

Hip hop came in second, accounting for roughly one-third of #1 hits. Additionally, there were two R&B #1 hits, Say So (Doja Cat featuring Nicki Minaj) and Stuck With U (Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber). And for the ﬁrst time since 2016, we saw a dance song chart at #1, Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga's Rain On Me.

Primary Genre Hot 100 #1 Hits 100

10050 48% 38%

10% 5% 0 Pop Hip Hop/Rap Hip Hop/Rap R&B/Soul Dance/Club/Electronic

Electric Instrumentation Hot 100 #1 Hits There has been a resurgence of

64% traditional electric instruments, 52% 50 20 33% 33% including electric bass, piano, 27% 24% 18% 13% 14% 8% 8% and guitar. 0 0% 0% 0% 2016 2017 2018L 2019 2020

Electric Bass Electric Piano Electric Guitar

Average First Chorus Occurrence Hip Hop vs. Non-Hip Hop #1 Hits 42 Seconds While non-hip hop #1 hits had their ﬁrst chorus 40

10 22 Seconds occurring on average at 42 seconds, hip hop's 20 average ﬁrst chorus occurrence was 22 seconds. 0 L Hip Hop Non-Hip Hop

Year in Review

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