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: Winners and other participants post gains from both the ACMs and Eurovision, while a pair of new viral sensations make waves and an expecting pop superstar sees an appropriate song bump.
2024 ACM Awards Spur Streaming Gains for Chris Stapleton, Lainey Wilson & Kelsea Ballerini
Last week’s Reba McEntire-hosted ACM Awards (May 16) treated viewers to show-stopping performances and moving acceptance speeches, both of which resulted in impressive streaming gains for some of country music’s biggest stars.
Chris Stapleton – who took home three trophies, including male artist, artist-songwriter and album of the year – had the night’s buzziest performance thanks to a surprise appearance from Dua Lipa. The pop star joined the soulful country crooner on a duet version of “Think I’m in Love With You,” the second single from his 2023 album Higher. During the Friday and Saturday preceding the ACMs (May 10-11), Stapleton’s track pulled 1.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate. That number grew by 15% to 1.86 million streams the following Friday-Saturday (May 18-19). Notably, U.S. digital sales for “Think I’m In Love With You” ballooned 908% from 114 copies sold (May 11-12) to 1,149 copies sold (May 18-19). This bodes well for the pair’s upcoming collaboration, slated for release later this year.
Stapleton and Lainey Wilson tied as the night’s most-awarded artists, with the recent Billboard cover star reigning victorious in the categories of entertainer, female artist and music event of the year. Wilson opened the show with a medley of Little Texas’ “God Blessed Texas” and her own “Hang Tight Honey,” the lead single for her forthcoming Whirlwind LP.
Released mid-tracking week on May 13, “Hang Tight Honey” earned just over 223,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the weekend preceding the ACMs (May 15-16). By the following weekend (May 18-19), that figure exploded by 333% to 968,000 streams, likely boosted by both her performance and key New Music Friday playlist placements. Like Stapleton’s track, “Honey” also posted sizable sales gains, more than doubling from 402 copies sold (May 15-16) to 851 copies sold (May 18-19).
Wilson’s win for female artist of the year came at the expense of Kelsea Ballerini, who was recognized in that category at the 2024 ceremony. Nonetheless, Ballerini scored a streaming win of her own thanks to her Noah Kahan-assisted mash-up of her own “Mountain With a View” and his smash hit “Stick Season.”
“Mountain With a View,” the opening track to Ballerini’s Grammy-nominated Rolling Up the Welcome Mat EP, earned 95,000 official on-demand U.S. streams during the weekend preceding the ACMs (May 11-12). Following her beautiful Kahan link-up, that figure rose by 21% to 115,000 streams the weekend following the awards show (May 18-19). – KYLE DENIS
Disqualified Eurovision Single Scores Bigger U.S. Streams Than Song Contest Winner
Although Eurovision, the long-running international song contest held each spring, has historically had a muted impact on the U.S. charts, recent contests did produce some crossover stars (such as 2021 winners Måneskin) and singles (like Duncan Laurence’s “Arcade,” which became a top 40 hit on the Hot 100 after earning the 2019 Eurovision crown). Following the 2024 edition last week, multiple Eurovision singles are earning sizable weekly streams in the U.S. — although the winning Eurovision single is actually being out-gained by a song that wasn’t allowed to place in the contest.
“The Code,” an operatic drum-n-bass track by Swiss performer Nemo about their self-acceptance as a non-binary artist, emerged victorious in the Eurovision final, and its streams have skyrocketed in the days following the competition. Released in February, “The Code” earned 86,000 U.S. on-demand streams during the week ending May 9, the day the song was featured in the second semi-final, according to Luminate; the following week (May 10-16), that number jumped to 868,000, essentially multiplying its weekly U.S. streams tenfold after winning the competition on May 11.
In a bizarre twist, however, “Europapa,” the Netherlands’ Eurovision nominee by the Dutch artist and former YouTuber Joost, is practically doubling the U.S. weekly streams of “The Code,” earning 1.75 million streams during the week ending May 16. The rave track was disqualified from the Eurovision final “following threatening behaviour directed at a female member of the production crew” by Joost backstage at the contest, according to an official statement. And while “Europapa” may be earning more streams from American listeners, “The Code” is resonating with global listeners, debuting at No. 18 on the UK’s Official Singles Chart this week, while “Europapa” bows at No. 37. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
Dallas Rapper Ian Flips Months-Long Marketing Campaign into Breakout Streaming Success
As the dust around the Kendrick Lamar-Drake beef settled, the hip-hop world’s attention turned to an enigmatic young rapper that simultaneously exists opposite to and in conversation with that generational battle.
After making his recording debut with 2022’s “G63,” the Dallas-bred producer-rapper spent the following two years nurturing fans in various pockets of the underground rap scene with a series of standalone singles. That grind culminated in a breakout 2024 for the artist, with “Grand Slam” — alongside a new Instagram account – launching him further into the mainstream.
Earlier this month (May 13), Ian released the music video for “Figure It Out” via Lyrical Lemonade. The clip featured an appearance from former NFL star Marshawn Lynch, who the rapper namechecks in the song. During the preceding weekend (May 10-12), Ian’s catalog garnered just over 1.1 million official on-demand U.S. streams. In the days following the music video release (May 13-15) that number soared by 63% to 1.83 million streams – but an even bigger boost was on the horizon.
Last Friday (May 17), Ian unleashed his debut mixtape, Valedictorian, featuring a voiceover intro from DJ Holiday and production contributions from Sxprano and Tana. Upon release, Ian effectively became one of the most talked about recording artists in the world, with discourse surrounding his project dominating social media. During Valedictorian’s release weekend (May 16-18), streaming activity for Ian’s catalog soared to 11.4 million official on-demand U.S. streams, posting a jaw-dropping 525% increase.
With hip-hop heavyweights like Cole Bennett and DJ Holiday already in his corner, it looks like the Ian takeover is just getting started. – KD
Rising Artist Lithe Springs Forward With “Fall Back”
The Australian singer and producer Lithe turned major label heads quickly with “Fall Back,” a slippery, subdued R&B track released on March 21st. His follower count on TikTok — where several “Fall Back” videos have earned millions of views — started to rocket upwards in the first week of April, according to Chartmetric. And his streaming numbers soon followed suit: Plays in the U.S. more than doubled from around 834,000 during the week ending April 25th to 1.76 million the week ending May 2nd. The count has continued to increase, topping the 3 million threshold for the week ending May 16th. “Been vibing with him since early 2023,” one excited fan commented on TikTok of the still-unsigned artist. “Now he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves!” – ELIAS LEIGHT
Season’s Gainings: Happy Mother’s Day, Hailey Bieber
The pop world was overjoyed a couple Fridays ago (May 9) to hear the news that pop star Justin Bieber and his wife, model and beauty influencer Hailey Bieber, would be expecting their first child. The expecting couple enjoyed their first Mother’s Day just a couple few later (May 12) – and the combination of the holiday and the announcement evidently spurred Beliebers to get a little sentimental with one of Bieber’s (loosely) parentally titled pop classics. “Baby,” the song that confirmed The Bieb as one of the great pop sensations of the early ‘10s, racked up 2.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams for the tracking week ending May 16 – a 13% gain over the previous week, according to Luminate. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
