Q2 2019 Trend Highlights

2019 Mid-Year Report TTHHEE SSTTAATTEE OOFF TTHHEE HHOOTT 110000 TTOOPP 1100

HIGHLIGHTS

Compositional and Industry Trends for the Hot 100 Top 10 The State of the Hot 100 Top 10 takes 2019 an in-depth look at 2019's compositional and industry

Select highlights from the 2019 related trends for the Billboard State of the Hot 100 Top 10 Mid-Year Report Hot 100 Top 10. What follows are

About this report: select highlights from the report.

This report looks exclusively at the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10.

Data related to compositional IN THIS REPORT characteristics are propriety to Hit Songs Deconstructed. OVERVIEW

CREDITS...... PAGE 2 Artist, songwriter, producer, label and charting information SONGS...... PAGE 3 is aggregated from the PRO’s and Billboard. NOTABLE PLAYERS...... PAGE 4

All credits are from the date songs were released. COMPOSITIONAL TRENDS

Data in this report excludes NEW ARRIVALS...... PAGE 8 holiday songs. 2018 vs. Q1/Q2 2019...... PAGE 10

At times percentages may #1 SPOTLIGHT...... PAGE 14 not add to 100% due to numbers being rounded up or down.

© 2010-2019 Hit Songs Deconstructed All Rights Reserved 1 Q2 2019 Credits 32 credited performing artists, 110 credited songwriters, 43 credited producers, and 8 record labels charted in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 in Q2 2019.

32 110 PERFORMING CREDITED ARTISTS SONGWRITERS

43 8 CREDITED RECORD PRODUCERS LABELS New Arrivals in the Top 10 1 In Q2 2019, 15 new songs landed NEW #1 HIT IN in the Hot 100 Top 10, one of which THE HOT 100 TOP 10 charted at #1, Old Town Road.

Bad Guy Better Boy With Luv Dancing With A Stranger Homicide I Don't Care If I Can't Have You 15 ME! NEW SONGS IN THE HOT 100 Money In The Grave TOP 10 No Guidance Old Town Road (#1 Hit) Listen to Playlist Suge Sweet But Psycho Talk You Need To Calm Down

© 2010-2019 Hit Songs Deconstructed All Rights Reserved 3 Khalid, Taylor Swift and Drake each had Q2 Notable two new songs enter the Top 10 in Q2 2019: Khalid with Better and Talk, Taylor Players Swift with ME! (ft. Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco) and You Need to Calm Down, and Drake with Money In The Grave and No Performing Artists Guidance. Lil Nas X charted at #1 for almost the

entire quarter with his hit Old Town Artists with 2 Top 10 Hits Road featuring Billy Ray Cyrus. (Q2 New Arrivals)

2 9 Khalid TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10

2 5 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 Taylor Swift

1 12 #1 HIT WEEKS AT #1 2 2 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 Drake

© 2010-2019 Hit Songs Deconstructed All Rights Reserved 4 Songwriters with 2 Top 10 Hits Q2 Notable (Q2 New Arrivals) Players 2 9 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 Songwriters Tor Hermansen There were six songwriters who were credited on more than one new Top 10 hit in Q2 2019. Songs include Money In 2 9 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 The Grave, No Guidance, ME!, You Need To Khalid Calm Down, Better, Talk, and Dancing With A Stranger.

2 9 Mikkel Eriksen TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 5+ Songwriters 60% In Q2 2019, 60% of new songs had ﬁve or more credited songwriters. 2 5 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 Joel Little

Songwriter Team Size Q2 2019 New Arrivals 80% 2 5 60% TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 60% Taylor Swift

40% 20% 20% 13% 7% 0% 2 2 2 3 4 5+ Drake TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10

© 2010-2019 Hit Songs Deconstructed All Rights Reserved 5 There were three producers who were Q2 Notable credited on more than one new Top 10 hit in Q2 2019. Songs include ME!, You Players Need To Calm Down, Better, and Dancing With A Stranger. Producers with 2 Top 10 Hits (Q2 New Arrivals)

74%

Stargate 2+ Producers In Q2 2019, 74% of new songs had two or more producers. 2 9 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10

Producer Team Size Q2 2019

50% 40% 40%

Joel Little Taylor Swift 30% 27% 27%

20%

10% 7%

0% 2 5 2 5 1 2 3 4 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10 TOP 10 HITS WEEKS IN THE TOP 10

© 2010-2019 Hit Songs Deconstructed All Rights Reserved 6 Q2 Notable Record Labels (Q2 2019) In Q2 of 2019, eight record labels had new songs charting in the Hot 100 Top 10. Republic landed the Players most (4), followed by RCA (3).

Atlantic eOne 8 Capitol Interscope RECORD LABELS Columbia Republic (Q2 New Arrivals) Def Jam RCA

Most Top 10 Hits Genre Breakdown (Q2 New Arrivals) Republic Q2 2019 Genre Breakdown

100% 73% 4 50% 27% SONGS 0% Hip Hop/Rap Pop

RCA Q2 2019 Genre Breakdown

100% 3 100% 50% SONGS 0% R&B/Soul

20% in the Top 10 60%

Male 60% Below are some of the most popular Female 20% Male/Female 20% compositional characteristics for the fifteen songs that entered the Hot 100 Top 10 for the first time in Q2 2019. 98 BPM Primary Genres 53% Pop TEMPO AVERAGE 3:20 53% 50% 27% 20% SONG LENGTH 0% AVERAGE Pop Hip Hop/Rap R&B/Soul 53%

Staying Power KEY MAJOR Weeks in the Top 10 in Q2

15 12 11 10 8 8 6 4 4 5 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 Old T Bad Guy T Dancing With AI Don'tStranger Care Suge ME! Sweet But PsychoNo Guidance Homicide Y Money In The BoyGrave With Luv If I Can't Have BetterY alk ou Need T

own Road

o Calm Down

How is 2019 shaping up when 2018 compared to 2018? Below are some notable trend shifts vs. 2019 when comparing Q1/Q2 2019 to 2018.

Primary Genre

60% 60% 49%

40% 34%

23% 20% 11% 11% 3% 3% 3% 1% 1% 0% 1% 0% 0% Pop Hip Hop/Rap R&B/Soul Dance/Club/ Rock Latin Country Electronic

2018 2019

Inﬂuences

100% 89%

80% 76% 71% 63% 60% 44% 46% 40% 33% 31% 23% 23% 23% 20% 15% 15% 16% 17% 14% 8% 4% 0% Hip Hop/Rap Trap R&B/Soul Electropop Retro (All) Dance/Club Rock (All) Funk World (Tropical-All)

2018 2019

Prominent Instruments

100%

80% 80% 75% 69%

60% 57%

40% 37% 25% 23% 20% 13% 13% 12% 9% 3% 6% 3% 0% Synth (Non-Bass) Claps Guitar (Electric) Organ Snaps Strings (String Wind (Brass Section) Section)

2018 2019 Key (Major vs. Minor)

100%

80% 71%

60% 57%

40% 40% 28%

20%

1% 3% 0% Minor Major Both

2018 2019

Lead Vocal Delivery Average Tempo Exclusively Sung (BPM)

60% 100 54% 93 83 50% 80

40% 60 31% 30% 40 20%

20 10%

0% 0 Exclusively Sung Average Tempo

2018 2019 2018 2019

Average Song Length Intro Length Range (Minutes/Seconds) 0:01 - 0:09

5 60%

4 43% 3.36 3.16 40% 3 25% 2 20%

0 0% Average Song Length 0:01 - 0:09

2018 2019 2018 2019

Use of a Post Chorus First Chorus: Average Time Into Song (Seconds) 50% 60 Seconds 40% 40% 42 Seconds 30% 40 Seconds 36 Seconds

20% 19% 20 Seconds 10%

0% 0 Seconds Use of a Post Chorus Average Time Into Song

2018 2019 2018 2019

7 Rings Thank U, Next Ariana Grande Ariana Grande

Shallow Sunflower Bradley Cooper, Post Malone, Lady Gaga Swae Lee

Sucker Without Me Jonas Brothers Halsey

Old Town Road Lil Nas X

© 2010-2019 Hit Songs Deconstructed All Rights Reserved 14 7 Songs Charted at #1 in Q1/Q2 2019 #1 Hit What do they have in common? Below are select compositional characteristics for songs Spotlight that charted at #1 during the first half of 2019.

Influences Present in 3 or More #1 Hits 86% 57%

80%

71% POP KEY 70% PRIMARY GENRE MINOR

60% 57% 91 57% 50% BPM 43% 43% 43% 40% TEMPO Under 3:00 Hip Hop/Rap R&B/Soul Trap Electropop AVERAGE SONG LENGTH

57% Multiple Lead Vocalists Prominent Instruments Used in 3 or More #1 Hits

71% Exclusively Sung 100% 100%

Solo Female and 80% 43% Solo Male (each) 71%

60%

43% 43% 43% 43% 43% 40% Drums/ Bass (Synth) Synth Piano Claps Guitar Guitar Percussion (Non-Bass) (Acoustic) (Acoustic) (Electric)

Regular Price: $79.99 Your Price: $49.99 Your Discount Code: 2019Q2

Who are today's key industry players and inﬂuencers? Which compositional characteristics are most prominent in the Top 10? Which are on the rise and which are in decline?

www.HitSongsDeconstructed.com/2019Q2

Today’s hits are changing faster than ever - on every level - from the songwriting and production techniques used to craft them to the influences and instruments shaping their sound.

To stay ahead of the curve, it's critical to proactively stay on top of what's driving today’s most successful songs at the compositional level.

Whether you want to work with trends or against them, by staying in tune with today's hit song landscape, you'll gain critical insight that can be used to make strategic songwriting, production and business decisions.

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