I’m seeing this rising Stan conversation on how charts destroyed music. I beg to differ, but in 2018 a wave for NUMBER FULLY SETTLED IN. Because numbers was promoted like quality. 2018 shaped music industry differently & allow me to express when & how.
A Thread! (I’ve time)

In 2018, Radio impact became more heavy than ever. Radio deals are cute but now we hear the same songs 2 times every 5mins. The labels have tuned in fully into pushing radio friendly songs & getting it a lot of spins. Some songs in 2018 started debuting with ridiculous high radio

audience, this manipulates charts, also pushed the impression that the best songs of a certain year is the most played song on the radio. Psychologically, it torments both the charts & perception of consumers. This is the effect we now see on charts & the way people consume music

A pivotal moment for charts in 2018 was Travis vs Nicki. Bundles vs Blackballing. Take it as it may, this shaped MUSIC & charts today. Now the issue of quality isn’t the case here, because Travis & Nicki’s album are both Good album, with a lot of High moments, both no.1 material.

What shaped the “chart obsession” is how people reacted to a no.2 Album! People have all sorts of opinions & I won’t get into it but from the release of Queen album & when it went no.2, people laughed! Mind you, that’s an authentic no.2, compared to the no.1s we have now!

A no.2 with 185k & 2nd week selling almost 90k. A no.2 without Radio Support, minimal Spotify playlist & merch bundle intentionally not being counted. That’s the most authentic no.2 we will ever see in this new age. And yet it was tagged as a “flop” out of hate for the artist!

What people didn’t realize is they gave labels a benchmark, not for sales but for a mere position (a no.1). Now people achieve this with much LESS! A great radio deal = no.1 (e.g Girls Like You), smart bundling = no.1 (e.g Franchise). We forced the hands of label to manipulate

songs performance, so their artists won’t be called a “flop”. Now with TikTok + Radio + Bundles = A certified Hit. Not for quality, off promotion ALONE! Also, the belittling of artists without a no.1 also made not just stand, labels, artists & music A&R go fishing for numbers!

stans** Also Late 2017-2018 was the first year ever we had a no.1 campaign for a song to go no.1 on the Hot 100 #ForTheCulture. Beautiful solidarity, but this move was chess play by some industry people who wanted to take advantage of the Nicki hate wave, some were sincere but

most wanted Bodak Yellow to go #1 so they can have an achievement to dangle over the head of another artist, maybe for spite, to label her time was up or to put her in her place. That cute lil act enhanced this staple we now see on no.1s for 2 YEARS till that artist had a no.1.

Till today across Stan & gay white men Twitter, the stigma has been shifted to a Solo no.1. All this happened under the eyes of people who knew a no.1 record is no different from songs like Formation, Since You been Gone, TrapQueen, Anaconda, etc. the general public just decided

to act numb & dumb and joke around because “who it was” without a no.1. This has subjected fans to going extra mile to get their favorite artist a no.1 whether by mass buying pure sales, or by demanding more radio spins or using TikTok to influence the song’s reach!

When you sit back & wonder why everyone is so worried about charts. Ask yourself, what side were you on. Did you mock artists for not having a no.1? Cause 2020 only proved if these artist wanted it as bad as you claimed, they could’ve pulled the Stunts they did earlier on.

But a 1 record was preciously never given this title. But off late, a no.1 is a label starter pack! Public opinions made it that, even with the knowledge a no.1 song may not be the best selling song of a certain year (e.g FEFE #3 was the 2nd best selling song of 2020 8x platinum)

Previously**