Since returning from the break, the typical sample size for Mediabase’s pop radio listener callout panel has fallen by upwards of 50%. Perhaps because of the smaller sample size, the data has been more volatile than usual over the past several weeks.
Unfortunately, the new sample size seems to represent a new normal: there is nothing to suggest it will climb from its current range of ~1100-1300 back to the ~3000 that it was prior to the break.
As a result, those interested in this particular form of audience data are left with a “take it or leave it” approach.
The good news is that the data does has seemed to normalize over the past few weeks. There are still still bigger week-to-week changes than should be the case of rock-solid survey data, but the general hierarchy is becoming more consistent.
That general hierarchy features Lukas Graham’s “7 Years” near the top.
The song garners a positive reaction from 66.3% of surveyed listeners (#2 out of the 20 measured pop songs), a negative reaction from 19.1% (fourth-lowest of the 20 measured pop songs) and thus a “net positive” score of 47.3%.
Said net positive score is the greatest among active pop songs.
“7 Years” is also generating a comparatively high level of passion; its “favorite” score of 23.3% is the third-highest at pop radio, beneath only the scores for Justin Bieber’s “Love Yourself” (27.1%) and twenty one pilots’ “Stressed Out” (25.2%).
Lukas Graham’s breakthrough single, which officially reached pop radio’s Top 10 last week, is #7 on Mediabase’s building chart for the current tracking week.