POP Quarterly Comparison Report
Q2-2010 / Q1-2010
deconstructed
POP Q1 Report (January - March) Q2-2010 VS. Q1-2010: All Songs
CATEGORY Q2-2010 (All Songs) Q1-2010 (All Songs) Change: Q1-Q2
Most Popular Song Structure A-B-A-B-C-B A-B-A-B-C-B Same
Average Song Length 3:51 3:51 Same
Average Intro Length 0:15 0:18 -0:03
Average Outro Length 0:21 0:20 +0:01
Average Time For 1st Chorus to Hit 0:42 0:47 -0:05
Average % Of Song Where 1st Chorus Hits 18% 20% -2%
Top Occuring Tempos Mid Mid & Mid / Up n/a
Most Popular Tone Electric Electric Same
Most Popular Primary Instrumentation Synth Synth Same
Most Popular Primary Vocal Gender Female & Male Male n/a
Songs With A Pre-Chorus 48% 45% +3%
Songs With A Solo 14% 18% -4%
Songs With A Bridge 76% 77% -1%
Lyrical Theme Love / Relationships Love / Relationships Same
Most Popular Style Electro + Electro-Pop n/a
Key Points • The most popular song structure remained the same from Q1 – Q2: A-B-A-B-C-B. • Interestingly, the average song length remained exactly the same for both quarters at 3:51. • The average intro length decreased slightly during Q2, from 0:18 to 0:15. • The average outro length remained virtually the same at 0:21 compared to 0:20 in Q1. • The average time that it took for the 1st chorus to hit decreased slightly in Q2 to 0:42. • The average % where the first chorus hits decreased slightly to 18% from 20% in Q1. • Mid tempo songs were most popular during Q2, compared to a combination of mid and mid/up during Q1. • Primary vocal gender was split during Q2, equally led by both Male and Female artists. Q1 was dominated primarily by male artists. • In Q2, songs containing a pre-chorus increased by 3% over Q1. • In both Q2 and Q1, solos were rare in current hit Pop songs, and decreased by 4% in Q2. • The primary lyrical theme remained constant during Q2 and Q1, being Love and Relationships. • Electro is still the most popular style in Q2 as it was in Q1. There is some more variation on the Electro theme, though, with more Hip-Hop and Rock elements being infused than in Q1.
POP Quarterly Comparison Report (Q2-2010 — Q1-2010) NEW TOP 10 CHART ENTRIES: Q2-2010 Longest Shortest
BB Peak Song Intro Outro 1st % Into Song Artist Structure Position Length Length Length Chorus Song
Nothin’ On You B.o.B 1 B-A-B-A-B-C-B 4:30 0:04 0:23 0:04 1%
Your Love Is My Drug Ke$ha 1 A-B-A-B-C-B 3:08 0:09 0:15 0:40 21%
Rude Boy Rihanna 1 B-A-B-A-B-C-B 3:43 0:10 0:21 0:10 4%
Break Your Heart Taio Cruz 1 A-B-A-B-C-B 3:08 0:07 0:04 0:38 20%
AVERAGES FOR NEW CHART ENTRIES - #1 HITS - Q2 3:37 0:07 0:15 0:23 12%
OMG Usher 2 B-A-B-A-B 4:30 0:13 n/a 0:14 5%
Airplanes B.o.B 3 B-A-B-A-B 3:01 0:08 0:27 0:09 5%
Hey, Soul Sister Train 3 A-B-A-B-C-B 3:37 0:12 0:24 0:52 24%
Alejandro Lady GaGa 4 A-B-A-B-C-B 4:34 0:43 0:43 1:13 27%
California Gurls Katy Perry 5 A-B-A-B-C-B 3:56 0:08 0:21 0:54 23%
Breakeven The Script 6 A-B-A-B-C-A-B 4:23 0:25 0:40 1:06 25%
Bedrock Young Money 6 A-B-A-B-C-B 4:48 0:13 n/a 1:06 23%
Bullet Proof La Roux 7 A-B-A-B-C-Solo-B 3:28 0:15 0:12 0:48 23%
Carry Out Timbaland 8 A-B-A-B-C-B 3:53 0:20 0:17 0:58 25%
Billionaire Travie McCoy 9 A-B-A-B-C-B 3:31 n/a 0:21 0:21 10%
AVERAGES FOR NEW CHART ENTRIES - ALL SONGS - Q2 3:52 0:14 0:22 0:39 17%
13 songs that charted in the top 10 during Q1-2010 fell completely off the top 10 charts during Q2-2010. These included three #1 hits and ten songs that placed #2-#10 during Q1-2010.
DE-CHARTED TOP 10 HITS FROM Q1-2010 Longest Shortest
BB Peak Song Intro Outro 1st % Into Song Artist Structure Position Length Length Length Chorus Song
Whatcha Say Jason Derulo 1 A-B-A-B-C-B 3:43 0:17 n/a 0:57 26%
Down Jay Sean 1 A-B-A-B-C-B 3:32 0:21 n/a 0:51 24%
Replay Iyaz 1 A-B-A-B-C-B 3:03 0:21 n/a 0:01 1%
AVERAGES FOR DECHARTED #1 Hits - Q1 3:26 0:19 n/a 0:36 17%
POP Quarterly Comparison Report (Q2-2010 — Q1-2010) BB Peak Song Intro Outro 1st % Into Song Artist Structure Position Length Length Length Chorus Song
3 Britney Spears 2 A-B-A-B-C-B 3:22 0:28 n/a 0:01 1%
Fireflies Owl City 2 A-B-A-B-A-B 3:48 0:21 0:13 0:43 19%
Sexy Chick David Guetta 3 A-B-A-B 3:14 0:15 n/a 1:15 39%
Do You Remember Jay Sean 5 A-B-A-B-C-B 3:31 0:15 n/a 0:46 22%
Empire State Of Mind Jay-Z 5 A-B-A-B-A-B 4:37 0:10 n/a 0:55 20%
Already Gone Kelly Clarkson 5 A-B-A-B-C-B 4:44 0:26 n/a 1:05 23%
Two Is Better Than One Boys Like Girls 7 A-B-A-B-Solo-C-B 4:03 0:04 n/a 0:32 13%
Hard Rihanna 9 A-B-A-B-C-B 4:11 0:20 n/a 1:15 30%
Live Like We’re Dying Kris Allen 10 A-B-A-B-C-B 3:33 0:11 n/a 0:52 24%
Fifteen Taylor Swift 10 A-B-A-B-Solo-C-A-B 4:55 0:10 0:36 0:53 18%
AVERAGES FOR DECHARTED HITS FROM Q1 - ALL SONGS 3:52 0:16 0:22 0:46 20%
13 songs that charted in the top 10 during Q1-2010 fell completely off the top 10 charts during Q2-2010. These included three #1 hits and ten songs that placed #2-#10 during Q1-2010.
NEW Q2 ARRIVALS VS. Q1 DE-CHARTED SONGS: #1 Hits
CATEGORY Q2-2010 (All Songs) Q1-2010 (All Songs) Change: Q1-Q2
Most Popular Song Structure A-B-A-B-C-B A-B-A-B-C-B Same
Average Song Length 3:37 3:26 Same
Average Intro Length 0:07 0:19 -0:03
Average Outro Length 0:15 n/a n/a
Average Time For 1st Chorus to Hit 0:23 0:36 -0:13
Average % Of Song Where 1st Chorus Hits 12% 17% -5%
Top Occuring Tempos Mid & Mid / Up Mid n/a
Most Popular Tone Electric Electric Same
Most Popular Primary Instrumentation Synth Synth Same
Most Popular Primary Vocal Gender Female / Male Split Male n/a
POP Quarterly Comparison Report (Q2-2010 — Q1-2010) CATEGORY Q2-2010 (All Songs) Q1-2010 (All Songs) Change: Q1-Q2
Songs With A Pre-Chorus 75% 67% +8%
Songs With A Solo 0% 0% Same
Songs With A Bridge 100% 100% Same
Lyrical Theme Love / Relationships Love / Relationships Same
Most Popular Style Electro Pop / Hip-hop Electro-Pop n/a
Key Points • The most popular song structure didn’t change from Q1 songs that left the top 10 to new songs that entered the top 10 during Q2. It remains A-B-A-B-C-B. • New arrival songs were on average 0:11 longer than de-charted songs. • New arrival song intro’s were on average 0:12 shorter than de-charted song intro’s. • New arrival songs have an outro section that averages 0:15 in length. De-charted songs did not have an outro section (that differed than any other section within the song – i.e. chorus). • New arrival choruses hit 0:13 earlier in the song than in de-charted songs. • New arrival choruses hit 5% earlier in the song than in de-charted songs. • On average, new arrivals had more mid/up tempo songs than de-charted songs, which were primarily mid tempo. • Most popular tone and primary instrumentation remained constant – Electric and Synth respectively. • New arrivals saw more females enter as primary vocalists over de-charted songs. • New arrivals that contain a pre-chorus increased by 8% over de-charted songs. • Songs with a solo and a bridge remained constant, 0% and 100% respectively. • The primary lyrical theme remained constant – Love and relationships. • New arrivals show more variation in the “Electro” theme than de-charted songs. De-charted songs were primarily Electro Pop, while new arrivals also incorporated Hip-hop elements.
NEW Q2 ARRIVALS VS. Q1 DE-CHARTED SONGS: All Top #10 Hits
CATEGORY Q2-2010 (All Songs) Q1-2010 (All Songs) Change: Q1-Q2
Most Popular Song Structure A-B-A-B-C-B A-B-A-B-C-B Same
Average Song Length 3:52 3:52 Same
Average Intro Length 0:14 0:16 -0:02
Average Outro Length 0:22 0:22 Same
Average Time For 1st Chorus to Hit 0:39 0:46 -0:07
Average % Of Song Where 1st Chorus Hits 17% 20% -3%
Top Occuring Tempos Mid Mid Same
POP Quarterly Comparison Report (Q2-2010 — Q1-2010) CATEGORY Q2-2010 (All Songs) Q1-2010 (All Songs) Change: Q1-Q2
Most Popular Tone Electric Electric Same
Most Popular Primary Instrumentation Synth Synth Same
Most Popular Primary Vocal Gender Male Male Same
Songs With A Pre-Chorus 43% 46% -3%
Songs With A Solo 7% 15% -8%
Songs With A Bridge 71% 77% -6%
Lyrical Theme Love / Relationships Love / Relationships Same
Most Popular Style Electro Pop Electro-Pop Same
Key Points • The most popular song structure didn’t change from Q1 songs that left the top 10 to new songs that entered the top 10 during Q2. It remains A-B-A-B-C-B. • New arrival songs were exactly the same length as de-charted songs. • New arrival song intro’s were on average 0:02 shorter than de-charted song intro’s. • New arrival songs have an outro section are exactly the same de-charted song outros. • New arrival choruses hit 0:07 earlier in the song than in de-charted songs. • New arrival choruses hit 3% earlier in the song than in de-charted songs. • On average, new arrivals and de-charted songs have the same primary tempo – mid. • Most popular tone and primary instrumentation remained constant – Electric and Synth respectively. • New arrivals and de-charted songs both feature primarily male lead vocalists. • New arrivals that contain a pre-chorus decreased 3% compared to de-charted songs. • New arrivals have a lower amount of songs that contain solos and bridges when compared to de-charted songs (-8% and -6% respectively). • The primary lyrical theme remained constant – Love and relationships. • Both new arrivals and de-charted songs feature Electro Pop as the most popular style.
POP Quarterly Comparison Report (Q2-2010 — Q1-2010)