A monstrous first week of official airplay powers The Weeknd’s “Can’t Feel My Face” to #21 on the Mediabase pop radio airplay chart.
Despite not officially launching until the afternoon of June 8, “Can’t Feel My Face” racked up a healthy ~3,785 spins during the June 7-13 tracking week. That bests last week’s total, which consisted of three premature plays, by a format-leading 3,782.
Like recent high-profile launches from Taylor Swift, Britney Spears & Iggy Azalea and Jason Derulo, “Can’t Feel My Face” received hourly, promotional airplay from iHeartMedia during the early part of the week.
While the impact of that boost cannot be ignored, “Can’t Feel My Face” still held up well as the week progressed. Despite not launching until the afternoon of its first day, “Can’t Feel My Face” lands two places higher–and with more spins–than Britney & Iggy’s “Pretty Girls” (#23, 2,990) and Derulo’s “Want to Want Me” (#23, 3,672) did during their first weeks.
The song’s debut does not, however, rival that achieved by Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood (featuring Kendrick Lamar).” That song, which also started with help from iHeart, opened at #14 on the pop chart courtesy its 6,500 opening week plays.
“Can’t Feel My Face” is this week’s only new Top 25 entry. Ariana Grande’s “One Last Time” re-enters the group at #25 (+1), but it actually lost airplay this week.
