Highlights: State of the Hot 100 Q1 2021

Q1 2021 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 holiday PAGE 3 | PERFORMING ARTISTS songs. PAGE 8 | SONGWRITERS Data related to compositional characteristics are propriety to Hit Songs PAGE 12 | PRODUCERS Deconstructed. Artist, songwriter, producer, label and PAGE 15 | RECORD LABELS charting information are aggregated from the PRO’s, Billboard, and streaming platforms. PAGE 17 | TIKTOK HITS All credits are from the date songs entered

PAGE 19 | TOP 10 the Top 10. 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 Q1 2021, 24 songs charted in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, four of which charted at

#1. Behind those songs were 28 performing artists, 111 songwriters, 52 producers and 10

record labels.

28 111 PERFORMING CREDITED ARTISTS SONGWRITERS

52 10 CREDITED RECORD PRODUCERS LABELS

(Q1 2021)

28 Top 10 in Q1 2021. Twenty were primary

Performing artists and 8 were featured artists. Artists Q1 2021 Of those 20 primary artists, just four

achieved more than one Top 10 hit in Q1: 20 8 Drake (4), The Weeknd (2), Justin Bieber PRIMARY FEATURED (2) and Ariana Grande (2). ARTISTS ARTISTS

While only one quarter of songs outside of hip hop had a featured artist, within the hip

hop genre, the percentage of songs with a featured artist surpassed those without in Q1

2021.

Hip Hop Songs with a Featured Artist 2017 - Q1 2021

80 75%

66% 60 55% 57% 52% 48% 45% 43% 40 34%

25% 20

0 2017 2018 2019 2020 Q1 2021

Has No Featured Artist Has A Featured Artist

Four artists scored two or more Top 10 hits in Q1 2021.

Drake

Laugh Now Cry Later Lemon Pepper Freestyle Wants and Needs 4 What's Next Justin Bieber TOP 10 HITS Anyone Holy 2 TOP 10 HITS Ariana Grande

34+35 Positions

2 The Weeknd TOP 10 HITS Blinding Lights Save Your Tears 2 TOP 10 HITS

In Q1 2021, four primary artists were credited with a #1 hit. Of them, Olivia Rodrigo achieved 4 the most weeks at #1 with her debut single Artists with Drivers License.

#1 Hits In addition to being her first #1 hit, Drivers License is also Rodrigo's first Top 10 hit. The same is the case with 24kGoldn, who scored his first charting hit with Mood.

8 2 WEEKS AT #1 WEEKS AT #1 Olivia Rodrigo 24kGoldn Drivers License Mood (feat. iann dior)

1 1 WEEK AT #1 WEEK AT #1

Cardi B Drake Up What's Next

Primary Performing Artist: The Weeknd Songwriters: Belly, DaHeala, Max Martin, Oscar Holter, The Weeknd Producers: Max Martin, Oscar Holter, The Weeknd Record Label: Republic

Key Compositional Characteristics

Primary Genre: Pop

Sub-Genres/Influences: Retro (1980s), Electropop/Synthpop, New Wave

Lead Vocal Delivery Type: Sung

Lyrical Themes: Love/Relationships

Song Title Placement: None

Length: 3:15

Tempo: 171 BPM

Key: Minor

Form: I-A-PC-B-IB-A-PC-B-C-B-IB-O

First Chorus Appearance: 1:01 / 31% of the way into the song

Prominent Instruments: Bass (Synth), Claps, Drums/Perc (Primarily Electronic),

Synth (Non-Bass)

*Charting information is through Q1 2021

(Q1 2021)

Songwriter Team Size Of the 111 credited songwriters that Q1 2021 charted in the Hot 100 Top 10 in Q1

63% 2021, 16 scored #1 hits. 60

40 Songwriting team sizes of five or

20 17% 13% more continued to be the most 8% 0 popular. Q1 2021

5+ 3 4 2 In Q1 2021 there were no songs

written by a solo writer.

5 Year Trends Songwriter Team Size 100

58% 60% 63% 51% 50 49%

3% 5% 3% 0 0% 0% 2017 2018 2019 2020 Q1 2021

5+ 1

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 10 of 24 14 Songwriters with 2+ Top 10 Hits 4 4 TOP 10 WEEKS IN Drake HITS THE TOP 10 Laugh Now Cry Later, Lemon Pepper Freestyle, Wants and Needs, What's Next

In Q1 2021, 14 songwriters had a credit on more than one Top 10 hit. Drake came out on top with four, followed by Tommy Brown 3 12 and Mr. Franks with three, each. TOP 10 WEEKS IN Tommy Brown HITS THE TOP 10 34+35, Holy, Positions

3 12 TOP 10 WEEKS IN Mr. Franks HITS THE TOP 10 34+35, Holy, Positions

86% Male Q1 2021 The vast majority of 100 86% songwriters, 86%, were male. 80

60 Only 15 of the quarter's 111 songwriters were female, 6 of 40 whom were the performing

20 14% artist on the song(s) they wrote.

0 Male Female

Producers Select Report Highlights

(Q1 2021)

Of the 52 credited producers that charted in the Hot 100 Top 10 in Q1 2021, nine scored a #1 hit.

In Q1 2021, three producers was the most popular team size, followed closely by teams of two and solo producers. While teams of five or more are commonplace for songwriters, production teams this large are few and far between and were represented by only two songs in Q1: Go Crazy and Holy.

All credited producers are male except for one, Dounia Aznou, who is one of six credited producers on Go Crazy .

Producer Team Size 98% Male Q1 2021 Q1 2021 60 100 98%

40 38%

25% 50 21% 20

8% 8% 2% 0 Q1 2021 Female Male

1 2 3 4 5+

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 14 of 24 Eight producers had a credit on more than one 8 Top 10 hit in Q1 2021. Tommy Brown and Mr. Producers with 2+ Franks came out on top with the same three Top 10 Hits hits each: 34+35, Holy and Positions.

3 12 TOP 10 WEEKS IN

Tommy Brown HITS THE TOP 10 34+35, Holy, Positions

3 12 TOP 10 WEEKS IN HITS THE TOP 10 Mr. Franks 34+35, Holy, Positions

(Q1 2021)

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 16 of 24 Republic had far and above the most Hot 100 Record Top 10 hits in Q1 2021 with 10, one of which was 10 Labels a #1 hit (What's Next). Columbia followed with three, one of which was also a #1 hit (Mood).

300 Interscope S-Curve Atlantic RCA Warner Columbia Republic Warner Music Nashville Def Jam

Labels with the most Top 10 Hits

Republic Q1 2021 Genre Breakdown 100

50 40% 40%

10% 10% Republic 0 10 Songs Hip Hop/Rap Pop R&B/Soul Country One #1 Hit

Columbia Q1 2021 Genre Breakdown 100

67%

50 33% Columbia 3 Songs Pop Hip Hop/Rap One #1 Hit

The popular social media app TikTok has been responsible for the success of several Hot

100 Top 10 hits this year. In Q1, they included Drivers License, Mood and What You Know Bout

Love, the latter of which was in the Top 10 most-used songs on the app of 2020. Both

Drivers License and Mood reached the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100, where they each

stayed for eight weeks.

Drivers License Olivia Rodrigo

1 10 PEAK CHART WEEKS POSITION IN THE TOP 10

Mood 24kGoldn (feat. iann dior)

1 29 PEAK CHART WEEKS POSITION IN THE TOP 10

What You Know Bout Love Pop Smoke

9 2 PEAK CHART WEEKS POSITION IN THE TOP 10

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 18 of 24 © 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 19 of 24 Only four primary genres charted in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 in Q1 2021. Primary Pop was the most popular primary genre in Q1 2021, accounting for 42% of Top 10 Genres hits. 4

Hot 100 Top 10 (Q1 2021) Primary Genres 60%

42% 40% 29% 21% 20% 8% 0%

Pop R&B/Soul Country Hip Hop/Rap

Hot 100 Top 10 (Q2 2020-Q1 2021) Primary Genres Hip hop as a primary 70%

genre has been on a 60% quarter-over-quarter 50% 48% decline among Top 10 41% hits, dropping from 48% 40% 35% 35% of the Top 10 in Q2 2020 30% 29% to 29% in Q1 2021. Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020 Q1 2021

Hip Hop/Rap

© 2010-2021 Hit Songs Deconstructed™. All rights reserved. Page 20 of 24 Twenty-three diverse sub-genres and influences shaped 23 the sound and vibe of Hot 100 Top 10 hits in Q1 2021. SUB-GENRES & INFLUENCES Pop was the most popular influence across the Top 10, IN THE TOP 10 accounting for 83% of hits, followed by hip hop at 71%, trap at 58%, and R&B at 50%.

Time-period influences spanned the 1930s through the 2000s, with the 1970s and 1980s being the most popular. The sole geographic influence had roots in India with CJ's Whoopty.

Sub-Genres & Inﬂuences (Q1 2021) Present in 50% or more songs 17 90% Sub-Genres 83% 80% 1 71% 70% Geographic Influence 60% 58%

50% 50% 5 Time-Period Pop Trap Influences R&B/Soul Hip Hop/Rap

Hot 100 Top 10 (Q2 2020-Q1 2021) 100% After declining throughout 2019, R&B's prominence across the 50% 50% Top 10 has steadily increased 39% 32% 26% 17% quarter-over-quarter from 17% in Q1 2020 to 50% of Top 10 hits in

1/2020 2/2020 3/2020 4/2020 Q1 2021 Q1 2021. R&B/Soul

Hot 100 Top 10 (Q1 2021) Prominent Instruments in 50% or More Songs

100% 100% 96% 92%

80% 67% 60% 58%

Claps Bass (Synth) Drums/Perc (All) Synth (Non-Bass)

Drums/Perc (Primarily Electronic)

Hot 100 Top 10: Hip Hop Claps, which have Claps

100% 93% consistently been very 88% 88% 73% popular within the hip hop 57% 50% genre, fell to their lowest

level of use since Q2 2019. 0% Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020 Q1 2021

In Q1 2021 the number of songs featuring exclusively sung vocals were in

the majority with 50%. 38% feature a combination of sung and rapped

vocals, and 13% (three songs) are exclusively rapped.

Hot 100 Top 10 (Q1 2021) Lead Vocal Delivery 60%

50% 50%

40% 38%

30%

20% 13% 10% Only Sung Sung / Rapped Only Rapped

Hip Hop: New Top 10 Arrivals in Q1 2021 Exclusively Rapped Songs 60% In Q1 2021 there were six new hip hop songs that 50% 50% entered the Top 10. 40%

30% Half of them are 25% exclusively rapped, a huge 20% 17% 18% 13% increase from previous 10% quarters. Q1 2020 Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020 Q1 2021

Q1 2021

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