Camila Cabello this week confirmed “Havana” as her next official single, and radio is starting to react.
The road to that announcement has been an interesting one.
In early August, Camila Cabello released new songs “OMG (featuring Quavo)” and “Havana (featuring Young Thug)” as part of a “summer double feature.”
Both were technically available to pop radio programmers, and both received some out-of-the-gate airplay.
Uncertainty nonetheless existed regarding which – if either – was the official radio single (and follow-up to “Crying In The Club”).
Cabello’s core fanbase quickly gravitated toward “Havana,” but “OMG” seemed to get more formal marketplace attention. It received prime placement on the iTunes “Hot Tracks” and Spotify “New Music Friday” lists and consequently debuted higher on the Billboard Hot 100.
On the other hand, it was “Havana” — not “OMG” — that was singled out on the weekly TMStudios HitDisc that is issued to radio programmers.
The tide further shifted to “Havana” when it received the top spot on Spotify’s popular and influential Today’s Top Hits playlist. “OMG” also earned a spot, but it was positioned at a far lower rung.
Benefiting from the great playlist placement and ongoing buzz, “Havana” started to post impressive Spotify numbers. Its performance helped Cabello become the service’s most-streamed female artist.
Ambiguity nonetheless persisted over whether it was an official radio single. Label Epic Records had yet to truly announce it as such, and Cabello herself opted not to make that distinction in a recent interview with iHeart.
“I have other songs that I want to be the [next official radio single], but if ‘Havana’ keeps showing progress and stuff, I would definitely not be mad at all ’cause that’s like one of my favorite songs,” said the artist.
“Havana” continued to show that progress — it blasted into the Top 15 on the Global Spotify Chart and Top 20 on the US-specific listing. Amid that success, Cabello finally announced “Havana” as her next official single.
“We are making [Havana] a single,” wrote Cabello in an August 30 Tweet. “Thank u so much for the love and support for a song that’s so close to my heart.”
Epic Records has yet to announce an official “impact date” for the song, but several radio programmers seemingly took Cabello’s note as a cue to ramp up support. Stations that were already spinning “Havana” continued or increased their airplay, and several others began playing the song this week.
According to Mediabase, top supporter 103.7 KISS Milwaukee played the song 43 times during the seven-day window between August 25-31 (up from 16 during the previous week). San Francisco’s WiLD 94.9 played it 30 times during that seven-day window (versus 23 last week), while Music Choice’s Top 40 station offered 22 spins (even with last week).
San Francisco’s 99.7 NOW, which played the song once during the previous seven-day window, offered 13 spins between August 25-31. Albuquerque’s 93.3 KOB upgraded its support from 1 spin to 11 spins.
New supporters (at least insofar as they did not play the song at all last week) include Tampa’s Hot 101.5 (11 spins), Miami’s Hits 97.3 (4 spins), Baltimore’s Mix 106.5 (4 spins) and Chattanooga’s Hits 96 (3 spins). Several other stations have played the song once or twice.
“Havana” continues to fare well on Spotify; it was Thursday’s #10 song globally and #18 song in the United States. It is also up to #79 on the US iTunes sales chart.
