What were the most notable highlights regarding the sonic characteristics of hits on Billboard’s Streaming Songs, Radio Songs and Digital Song Sales charts in 2023?
AI-powered hit song analytics platform ChartCipher has released its latest report – its first encompassing the Billboard Hot 100’s three weekly component charts – spotlighting key findings from surveys dated Jan. 7 through Dec. 30, 2023.
In October 2023, ChartCipher launched publicly, as announced jointly by MyPart and Hit Songs Deconstructed. The platform utilizes analytics from 10 of Billboard’s most prominent charts dating to the start of the 2000s: the Hot 100, Streaming Songs, Radio Songs, Digital Song Sales, Hot Country Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot Dance/Electronic Songs, Hot Rock & Alternative Songs, Pop Airplay and Country Airplay.
Here are three takeaways from Chart Cipher’s newest report, reflecting performance on the Streaming Songs, Radio Songs and Digital Song Sales charts for 2023.
Which Genres Led Each Metric
“Hip-hop/rap and pop both commanded the lion’s share of streaming, each accounting for 27%” of all Streaming Songs entries in 2023, ChartCipher’s report notes. “Country followed at one-fifth and rock, at 19%.
“When it came to radio airplay, pop music dominated the airwaves with a 37% share,” per the report’s analysis of the Radio Songs chart for 2023. “Country also maintained a strong presence on the radio with a 31% share. Hip-hop/rap completed the top three, capturing 23% of airplay.
“The rock genre led digital sales with a 35% share,” ChartCipher reports of the Digital Song Sales survey over 2023. “Pop followed close behind at one-third. Country rounded out the top three at one-fifth of songs.”
Country, Latin & Rock on the Rise
Country, Latin and rock made noteworthy gains in streaming, among other metrics, on the Hot 100’s component charts in 2023.
“Radio has been a stronghold for country music, though it experienced a slight but steady decline between 2019 and 2022, falling from 33% to 27%. However, in 2023, it rose back to 31%,” ChartCipher reports. “Digital sales for country music have been relatively stable, fluctuating between 19% and 24%. Notably, country music surged on the Streaming Songs chart in 2023 to one-fifth of songs, more than double its 2022 presence.”
Regarding Latin, while the genre’s share has been “consistently low” across all three metrics over the last five years, per ChartCipher, it saw “significant growth on Streaming Songs, rising from a steady 1% of the chart between 2019 and 2021 to 6% in 2023.”
As for rock, the genre experienced year-over-year growth across all three Hot 100 component charts in 2019-22, according to ChartCipher. While it “slightly dropped” among radio hits, “rock’s prominence continued to increase in streaming and digital song sales in 2023.”
Meanwhile, hip-hop/rap and pop have experienced setbacks. “Since 2020 there has been a clear downward trend in hip-hop’s streaming presence, from 53% in 2019 to 27% in 2023,” ChartCipher reports. Still, “hip-hop’s radio presence declined between 2019 and 2022 before rebounding to nearly one-quarter of songs in 2023.”
For pop, despite taking top honors in streaming (tied with hip-hop/rap) and airplay, as noted above, the genre slipped across all three metrics in 2023. Its 37% share on Radio Songs marks a fall from a leading 54% in 2022, ChartCipher notes. Pop also backtracked slightly from a 38% share of all Digital Song Sales hits to 33% and from a 28% take of Streaming Songs entries to 27% year-over-year.
Brighter Ideas
“Brighter timbres have seen consistent growth” in songs across all three metrics that contribute to the Hot 100 over the last five years, ChartCipher states of titles’ overall tones.
Among Streaming Songs, Radio Songs and Digital Song Sales hits in both 2023 and the past five years, “brighter-timbred songs saw the greatest growth in streaming,” according to ChartCipher. Their prominence in the metric more than doubled from 16% of entries in 2019 to 37% in 2023, including a vault from 27% in 2022.
Such hits in 2023, covering a wide range of genres, included “Barbie World” by Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice with Aqua; “Bubbles Up” by Jimmy Buffett; “Ella Baila Sola” by Eslabon Armado and Peso Pluma; “Fast Car” by Luke Combs; and “Snooze” by SZA.
