Update: Following the first three days of the February 5-11 tracking week, Lady Gaga’s “Million Reasons” remains up in airplay at the hot adult contemporary and pop radio formats.
It received 652 Hot AC spins during the three-day window, which bests the same-time-last-week mark by 16.0%. The count slots “Million Reasons” at #20 on Mediabase’s building Hot AC chart.
“Million Reasons” meanwhile earned 936 pop spins during the tracking week’s first three days. Up 5.6% over last week’s mark, the tally positions Gaga’s song at #30 on Mediabase’s building pop chart.
The gains are fairly comparable with those posted last week (15.9% at Hot AC, 6.9% at pop), which raises an interesting line of questioning.
Are the gains steady because Gaga’s big Super Bowl performance has not majorly impacted the song’s status at radio? Or, is the impact of the Super Bowl performance the reason the gains are not substantially lower this week?
A definitive answer should emerge in time.
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On the heels of her acclaimed Super Bowl showcase, Lady Gaga’s “Million Reasons” is #1 on the US iTunes sales chart. It actually sold more US downloads on Sunday than it ever had during an entire week.
A discounted iTunes price point is helping matters, but it still seems clear that music buyers are reacting favorably.
But how is radio reacting?
It is far too early to offer a definitive answer, but the immediate reaction at its core radio formats has not been nearly as spectacular as that on the sales front.
“Million Reasons” received 435 hot adult contemporary spins during the first two days of the February 5-11 tracking week. Enough for #20 on Mediabase’s building chart, the count bests the same-time-last-week mark by 14.8%.
While a 14.8% gain is solid for a song inside the Top 20, it is worth noting that the song’s Hot AC airplay was actually up a superior 15.9% in the week leading up to the Super Bowl. It is therefore hard to conclude that the Super Bowl performance has amplified the song’s momentum at Hot AC.
Gaga’s ballad meanwhile received 615 pop spins during the first two days of the tracking period. The count, which slots “Million Reasons” at #30 on the building chart, only tops the same-time-last-week mark by 1.2%.
Last week, “Million Reasons” enjoyed a far stronger 6.9% gain at pop radio.
In terms of performance quality and audience size, Sunday’s “Million Reasons” performance was as good as it gets when it comes to “promo.” Its impact on the song’s radio trajectory will therefore carry enormous ramifications for the debate about whether high-profile TV performances can reinvigorate a song.
Given the importance, Headline Planet will be closely tracking the song’s radio progress over the next few days.
