Non-Radio Hits and Promotional Singles

I'm afraid that this question may come across somewhat convoluted, but hopefully I can ask it in a way that makes sense...

I don't how many of you still actively follow the Billboard charts or pay attention to new music. I get the feeling that I'm a little bit younger than most of you and so I still have a passing interest in new music.

Since the onset of the iTunes/digital download age, a ton of songs have hit the Billboard Top 40 with zero airplay based simply on the strength of their digital downloads. Many of these songs have heavy downloads, debut high, and then disappear from the chart entirely within two weeks.

It seems that these songs fall into a few different categories:

1) Promotional singles that are released to iTunes/Amazon prior to the release of the actual album. An example would be the original version of "You're Not Sorry" by Taylor Swift and "Die in Your Arms" by Justin Bieber.

2) Bonus Tracks from Deluxe Versions of popular CDs that are released on a certain day and hit the Top 40 all at once. An example would be "Jump Then Fall" by Taylor Swift from the Platinum Edition of "Fearless."


3) Charity singles or live performances from special events like the Grammys, Idol Gives Back, Hope for Haiti Now, and Artists Stand Up to Cancer. Examples would be "Cry Baby Cry/Piece of My Heart" by Joss Stone and Melissa Etheridge and "I'll Stand by You" by Carrie Underwood.

4) Songs from TV shows (i.e., Glee). Examples would be all of the songs from Glee and the remixed version of "You're Not Sorry" by Taylor Swift from CSI (which I believe to have been the "hit version" when the song hit the Top 40 for the second time?).

5) Live songs or promotional singles from live singing competitions like American Idol and the Voice. Examples would be "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by David Cook, "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Blake Lewis, and "Imagine" by David Archuleta.

I understand that I need to get out more but I'm kind of fascinated by these "one-week wonders." They are all Top 40 Hits that never appeared on the radio and were soon forgotten (if they were ever known in the first place). Further, none of the songs in Categories #3 and #5 ever appear on CD. In fact, many of the "hits" in those two categories (the charity songs, the Grammy songs, and the American Idol songs, for example) are quickly pulled from iTunes and Amazon and are not even available in any format any more.

The songs that fit into Categories #4 and #5 are well-known and easy to compile. But does anybody have a complete list of the songs that fit into Categories #1, #2, and #3?

For instance, I know that artists like Taylor Swift and Miley Cyrus released songs from upcoming albums that were gobbled up digitally, hit the Top 40, and then immediately fell off. If anybody cares about Justin Bieber, he seems to have had some songs that did the same as well. Although some of these songs were later released as "singles" and re-charted, some never found their way to radio.

Further, regarding Category #2, I know that Taylor Swift had about six songs from the Platinum Edition of "Fearless" hit the Top 40 all in the same week when it was released. I'm guessing a whole bunch of people jumped on to iTunes and bought the new songs they did not have? Did this happen with other artists as well?

Regarding #3, I know there was the Grammy renditions of "Across the Universe" and "Cry Baby Cry/Piece of My Heart." There was also the Carrie Underwood "Idol Gives Back" songs and the Hope for Haiti Now songs. Any others? Also, does anybody have any idea why all of these songs are no longer digitally available?

I know that many of you have no interest in current music but I was wondering if anybody had a list of these "one-week wonder" Top 40 hits. Much appreciated if so... otherwise, thanks for reading.

Oh, and if anybody was wondering, this post was inspired by the song "Ronan" by Taylor Swift which is currently on the Billboard Top 40 and seems to fit well within Category #3. It seems to be a charity single that nobody has ever heard and which is receiving no airplay. People love Taylor Swift though. So, it debuted at #16 last week. Fell to #36 this week. Next week, it will likely be gone?

Edited by JL328

I do still listen to a TON of current music. I'm 33 and run a DJ company,
so it's important for me to stay up on the new music. Even if it wasn't my
job, I do enjoy all the new CHR/Pop/Hot AC hits.

Having spend many years in broadcasting, I've always tended to look at
the airplay charts regularly for what's hot. Frankly, I think that today, the
top 20 on the Hot 100 and the top 20 on Mediabase are probably very
similar, but there are those "sales only" songs that sneak into the upper
reaches of the charts for short periods, as JL328 brings up.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but our good friend Paul Haney and the folks at
Record Research would include these songs in their fine publications, no?
It wouldn't be hard to recognize them when looking at the "weeks on
chart" column in the book. The only downside, though, is that by the time
the books were published, those songs may be no longer available for
purchase :(

That's a great idea, Todd! Obviously it wouldn't provide an all-encompassing list, but definitely a great start.

Thanks for the replies. This is all very helpful. Sorry for being confusing--- I had a feeling I would be.

I actually have compiled a list of these songs. I was more checking to see if anyone had a definitive list to compare.

Hykker, to answer your question, I guess what I'm really interested in is a list of the songs that hit the Top 40 and the Digital Songs chart but never touched the Radio Songs chart. So, it's a little narrower than just songs that hit the Top 40 with little to no airplay. To put it in a more abstract way, I'm looking for a list of the songs that (1) hit the BB Top 40; (2) were released as digital downloads; (3) were never released to radio; and (4) which had non-traditional chart runs, debuting one week based solely on downloads and then disappearing shortly thereafter.

Todd, I do subscribe to the database and use it often. I honestly had not thought to do the "no cd" search even though that seems painfully obvious in hindsight. Doing so provides a very good list but there are some songs that are not in the database. For instance, the two grammy songs, "Cry Baby Cry/Piece of My Heart" and "Across the Universe" aren't there. Also, I'm not sure if it's just a mis-entry, but it doesn't capture "Hallelujah" by Justin Timberlake feat. Matt Morris as "not on CD" even though that song is in the database and not available on CD (or even digitally anymore). Conversely, the search captures a number of songs that were (I believe) released to radio and had more traditional chart runs, but which were otherwise available only as digital downloads (or on foreign albums). This includes some songs by T.I., Jay Sean, and Lil Wayne, for instance.

My interest in these songs started a few years ago when my wife told me that Carrie Underwood had done a rendition of "Praying for Time," a song that I love. I did a search for it only to find that the song had actually hit the Top 40 in 2008. Like you guys, I love music and love the charts and couldn't fathom how this had slipped under my nose. It appears that people downloaded the heck out of it after she performed it on American Idol but it was never played on the radio and never available on CD. Nonetheless, the downloads took it into the Top 40 for one week (maybe two). Even more frustrating was realizing that the song was not available anywhere, even digitally, any more by the time I was looking for it (which was probably still in 2008, to be sure). It had been pulled from iTunes, thus making it a "lost Top 40 hit" and fueling my obsession.

So, I started watching for these "one week digital download wonders" and was amazed at just how many there are nowadays. Every one of them seems to have a story behind the reasons people are donwloading it so much and every one of them seems to fit into one of those 5 very loose categories I outlined above.

I'm somwehat new here and don't post too often, but I absolutely love this website and the insight you guys provide. I'm not sure how much interest there is in music post-2000 or in this topic in general, but if anybody else does have an interest in this, I would be more than happy to type in the list that I had compiled.

torcan wrote: I'm not much of a fan of today's music - I feel like it's really difficult to find those diamonds in the rough - there's just very little that comes out each year that interests me. Rap and hip-hop have dominated the charts for years and I'm not a huge fan of either - but it seems we're stuck in this kind of rut with no end in sight.

During my time at Radio Disney (from 2003 to 2008), I didn't listen to the local CHR station on a regular basis. As such, there weren't many pop hits that became favorites of mine during that time period. Simply put, the songs were somewhat unfamiliar to me--I hadn't heard them enough to call any of them favorites.

Since then, I've spent a lot of time catching up on the last decade of music. There are a lot of great songs that have come out, and that still holds true today.

I do strongly disagree that rap and hip-hop dominate the charts. I just looked at the CHR top 20 (airplay), and the only songs that I would even consider to be hip-hop a "Whistle" by Flo Rida and "Pound The Alarm" by Nicki Minaj. Even that is a stretch, because both Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj sing on a majority of the songs (not rap). Dance music dominates the charts these days (at least on CHR radio), with most songs being 128 to 130 BPM.

torcan wrote: As for the Hot 100, I've always followed it but don't like the way they're compiling it these days. When you look at records set - like David Cook debuting with 11 songs in one week, or Taylor Swift having 6 top 40 hits in the same week...or recent ones - L'il Wayne tying Elvis Presley for most Hot 100 appearances, or "Glee" - it's all bogus...I really don't think anything should chart unless it's intended to be a "single" - not just an album track people download for a week or two then it disappears. Or even a "charity single" that you have no hope of ever finding a month after it's release.

I agree with you that the charts are not like they used to be, but it's not the fault of Billboard. This is simply the way we consume music today (no physical disc or tape to purchase), and the charts are simply reflecting that. I don't consider it to be "bogus," though. Sure, you may have some songs that have a decent peak position, but when you look at weeks on chart, that will tell you right away if it was a legitimate hit or not. It's easy to weed out those songs, should you choose to do so.

Edited by aaronk