Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
This week: Solar eclipses, earthquakes and general bad weather lead to gains for related jams, while one of Olivia Rodrigo’s opening acts has her long-awaited streaming breakthrough and a fake artist has a real viral mashup.
Total Eclipse of the Streams: Sun & Moon Songs by Pink Floyd, Soundgarden, Bonnie Tyler & More All Way Up
If you’re reading this week’s Trending Up newsletter, hopefully that means you took protective measures when checking out the total solar eclipse that swept up North America this Monday (Apr. 8) and managed to avoid any permanent ocular damage. And even if you did mess up your eyes, chances are your ears still managed to catch some thematically related jams on Monday, with numerous such songs exploding in streams as they found their way to eclipse soundtracks and party playlists nationwide.
Among the most notable beneficiaries from the eclipse enhancement on Monday were LEN’s “Steal My Sunshine” (up 194% in on-demand U.S. audio streams from the previous Monday to 169,000, according to Lumiante), Pink Floyd’s “Eclipse” (up a whopping 1472% to 541,000), Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Bad Moon Rising” (up 48% to 559,000), The Beatles’ “Here Comes the Sun” (up 58% to 656,000 – but actually sorta inappropriate for the occasion, no?), Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” (up 87% to 772,000) and Soundgarden’s “Black Hole Sun” (up 123% to 806,000). And for those jokers on social media during the event, don’t worry, everyone saw your Clipse puns – as evidenced by the rap duo’s catalog also being up 21% to 66,000 for the day.
But of course, the mother of all eclipse jams proved once again to be Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 Billboard Hot 100-topper “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” which was not only up 652% to nearly 1.3 million streams on Monday, but also sold nearly 4,000 digital copies on the day, an increase of 3,992%. It probably won’t be quite enough for “Total Eclipse” to make a Hot 100 return, but if the eclipse bump doesn’t totally pass by the end of this tracking week, it may end up making an appearance on some sales and/or streaming charts next week.
And that’s not all the freak phenomenon-related listening folks were doing in America the past week, of course – plenty of tri-state folks affected by the 4.8 magnitude earthquake on Friday (Apr. 5) were motivated to process their feelings on the core-shaking incident via streams of songs like Carole King’s “I Feel the Earth Move” (up 25% from the previous Friday to 65,000) and Tyler, the Creator’s “Earfquake” (up 13% to 459,000). Together, it was all enough to music listeners feeling downright apocalyptic – at least, as indicated by the Monday bump for R.E.M.’s end-times classic “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” (up 66% to 100,000). – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Chappell Roan Goes “Supernova” Following Opening Run on Guts World Tour
One of the biggest tours of 2024 so far has been Olivia Rodrigo’s debut global arena trek, which recently wrapped its opening North American leg with four dates at New York’s Madison Square Garden before Rodrigo heads overseas for the first time. While ‘90s alt-rock vets The Breeders were tabbed by Rodrigo for leading those NY shows, her dates prior to that point were opened by rising alt-pop phenom Chappell Roan – a longtime cult favorite among critics and pop obsessives who had yet to cross over to the kind of mainstream stardom the ambitious pop singer-songwriter was clearly aiming for.
Following her stretch of dates on the Guts World Tour, that last part may now be on its way. Roan’s streams have increased throughout her weeks touring with Rodrigo – also helped by a well-received performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk series on Mar. 21 – with her attention-grabbing opening set exposing new audiences to the songs from her acclaimed 2023 debut full-length The Rise and Fall of a Midwestern Princess (released on Amusement Records, the imprint launched by regular Rodrigo collaborator Dan Nigro). The album has even made its first appearance on the Billboard 200 as a result, debuting at No. 127 on the chart dated Apr. 6.
Over the past six weeks, total official on-demand U.S. streams of Roan’s catalog have spiked from 3.7 million to nearly 11.7 million, according to Luminate – a gain of 215% – with her Princess single “Red Wine Supernova” leading the way with over 2.3 million streams for the tracking week ending Apr. 4. It would seem like perfect timing for Roan to release a new single – and she did just that on Friday (Apr. 5) with “Good Luck, Babe!,” which is off to the hottest start for any Roan single to date, racking up 2.5 million official on-demand streams in its first three days of release and climbing into the top 30 on Spotify’s Daily Top Songs USA chart.
It would seem like Roan may be on track to be graduating from opener to headliner status in due time – and certainly, pop watchers will have their eyes on the numbers for fellow acclaimed up-and-comers Remi Wolf and PinkPantheress as they take their turns kicking off the remaining Guts World Tour dates from here. – AU
Lay Bankz Nets Another Streaming Smash With Bubbly “Tell Ur Girlfriend”
Just a few months after Lay Bankz first landed on Trending Up with “Ick” — which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard TikTok Top 50 (chart dated Oct. 7, 2023) — the Artist Partner-signed Philly rapper is back with a new joint titled “Tell Ur Girlfriend.”
Another bouncy dance track, “Tell Ur Girlfriend” pulls from ’90s R&B and synthpop, marking a departure from the stronger Jersey club bent of “Ick.” While the latter benefited from organic virality, “Tell Ur Girlfriend” is making impressive gains with a formal promotional campaign. During the period of March 29-April 4, “Tell Ur Girlfriend” collected over 2.9 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. That’s an eye-popping 587% increase from three weeks prior (March 8-14) when it pulled just under 425,000 streams.
“Tell Ur Girlfriend” owes a significant chunk of its traction to a dance trend sparked by a post shared by user @laurieluna13 on March 19. Choreographed by @who.is.ga6y, the trend has sparked tens of thousands of clips, including one from Lay Bankz herself on April 8, which earned 1.3 million views. The official “Tell Ur Girlfriend” sound boasts 10,200 posts, while a pair of unofficial sounds houses an additional 36,8000 and 81,700 posts, respectively. On YouTube, the official “Tell Ur Girlfriend” audio clip has pulled in nearly a million hits in less than two months, and a live “From the Block” performance video brought in nearly a quarter million views in a month.
Looks like Lay Bankz is two for two. – KYLE DENIS
“Aurbley” Bags Surprise Hit With Help From Tay-K, Jay-Z & Anime
The thing about Aurbley is that Aurbley doesn’t actually seem to exist. There isn’t much available on the internet about the artist, save for an auto-generated YouTube topic page that houses just three audio clips and a Spotify bio that links to an Instagram account that’s been inactive since Nov. 2022.
During the period of March 29-April 4, Aurbley’s “Get Wid Lemonade” garnered just over 990,000 official on-demand U.S. streams, marking a 123% increase from the 445,000 streams it pulled the week prior (March 22-28).
“Get Wid Lemonade” is an unofficial mashup of Tay-K’s “Lemonade” and Jay-Z‘s “Who You Wit II.” Kyle Davis, a Brooklyn DJ and producer, created the mashup in 2022, and uploaded it to streaming services on March 24, 2024, under the title “Lemonade.” Somewhat inexplicably, a version of the mashup titled “Get Wid Lemonade” was uploaded to Spotify by Aurbley on Feb. 15. This version – which has already earned over three million streams on the platform – cuts the Derrick Rose buzzer-beater intro from Davis’ upload.
Of course, years of built-in hype and grassroots love for the mashup have resulted in its major streaming gains since landing on Spotify, but the TikTok anime community has also embraced the mashup. Just one post using “Get Wid Lemonade” to soundtrack a fancam of Samurai Champloo garnered over 1.3 million views and nearly 290,000 likes.
Although it’s been several years since Jay-Z’s last album and Tay-K is currently awaiting trial in his ongoing murder case, both rappers have a surprise hit on their hands thanks to the dexterity of their catalogs and the bright mind of a Dallas-bred DJ. – KD
Q&A: Matt McLernon, Senior Manager of YouTube Artist Partnerships, on What’s Trending Up in His World
What’s new this year with YouTube’s Coachella livestream?
In 2023, Coachella on YouTube took a huge step forward expanding to six livestream feeds across both weekends. With so many more shows to see, it created a new opportunity for us to help people easily find who’s playing right now and show people even more of the festival. This year, we are taking another big step forward where you can watch up to 4 stages live at the same time in multiview on your TV.
The dedicated feeds for each stage also give Coachella the chance to use stage turnovers to keep fans entertained with custom artist content, archived performances and more.
How will the YouTube team be coordinating behind-the-scenes content in the middle of the chaos?
With this as our 12th Coachella livestream we have a healthy momentum going into navigating the backstage energy, but every year brings its own magic. This time we have a content studio both weekends where artists film for Shorts and socials, Highsnobiety curating a portrait studio, a lounge to catch some shade between sets and of course our surprise popsicle drops. We’ll also be hosting incredible content creators onsite to give fans on YouTube all kinds of looks into the experience. Come through if you’re at the festival!
Festivals have taken varying approaches to livestreaming over the past decade. What is it about the Coachella brand that elevates interest and viewership each year?
Coachella’s decision to film the festival from the very beginning was as progressive of a move as their choice to start livestreaming on YouTube in 2011. Now we work year-round to keep that progressive vibe going with new features, more music and of course supporting the special moments.
Coachella has a super clear vision and is always open to considering new ideas, which is why our partnership is so unique. We’re also focused on the long game, so we have new things launching this year that have been in the works for a while and already have ideas in development for next year.
This adds up to Coachella translating their world-class festival experience into a world-class livestream, and the world keeps showing up for it. Global viewership now accounts for 65% of the live tune in, and Coachella keeps building on that by booking some of the most exciting artists from more and more countries.
Fill in the blank: one non-headliner that you think will draw a ton of livestream interest is ____.
Peso Pluma. Last year, during his first appearance at the festival, Peso Pluma was also the very first artist to come through our YouTube content studio. It was a sign of things to come for him as he became the #1 most viewed artist on YouTube in 2023, and another example of the expanding global presence of Coachella. I’ll either see you there or on the livestream. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Season’s Gainings: ‘Sometimes It Snows in April’ – Or It’s Just Rainy and Miserable
Happens every March: The clouds part, the sun comes out, the temperature rises and those of us in medium-climate areas declare winter to be at long last dead and buried. Then, the clouds return, the temperatures plummet, the skies dump all sorts of messiness on us and we realize how foolishly premature we were in our celebrations (again). In such cases, at least we have the perfect song to turn to on streaming: Prince’s eternally wise “Sometimes It Snows in April,” which soundtracked the lousy first few days of the month for many fans, as it collected 22,000 official on-demand U.S. streams from Apr. 2-5 – a gain of 119% from the prior four-day period, according to Luminate. – AU
