While most high-ranking songs on Integr8 USA's weekly callout charts are long-proven hits that continue to resonate with the audiences for these radio formats, the year's final charts give an indication of which songs could make further inroads with listeners in 2024.
At the top of that list is Billie Eilish's “What Was I Made For?” hitting a No. 2 high in Integr8 USA's Pop callout chart, which includes data from CHR and hot AC listeners. Eilish's Grammy- and Golden Globe-nominated song from the movie “Barbie,” which she performed on NBC-TV's “Saturday Night Live” on Dec. 16, also breaks into the top five of Mediabase's hot AC airplay chart, while it remains in the top 10 at mainstream top 40.
Below Pop's top five, another Grammy nominee, South African singer Tyla's “Water,” debuts at No. 11, while genre-spanning singer-songwriter Teddy Swims' “Lose Control” jumps from No. 18 to ninth-ranked, and rapper Jack Harlow's “Lovin on Me” enters the top 10, which it also does at mainstream top 40. In either case, Harlow's song has made a quick upward climb since its debut earlier this month.
“Lovin's” streaming-driven ascension to the top of Billboard's Hot 100 three weeks ago begs the question of why the song has yet to score higher with listeners. “As callout-style new music research has always done, Integr8 USA measures passive fandom, the familiarity and appeal songs have among all listeners, not just listeners who are already active fans of an artist,” Integr8 Research President Matt Bailey explains. “Passive fans only discover new songs when someone else plays those songs for them, [and they] take time to become familiar [with them]. The typical new song takes eight weeks to become a top 10 hit on CHR. Even for artists with large and passionate fan bases, the potential passive audience for a song is much larger.”
Country callouts top five includes a pair from Jelly Roll, as “Save Me,” his collaboration with the CMA Awards' Entertainer of the Year Lainie Wilson, re-enters the region for the first time since the week of Nov. 20. Making its debut on the full chart is Thomas Rhett featuring Morgan Wallen's “Mamaw's House,” which the pair co-wrote in 2020 but just released this past fall.
At Alternative, Beach Weather featuring Pale Waves' “Unlovable” returns to the top five for the first time since Sept. 25, while Bad Omens' “The Death of Peace of Mind,” BBY's “Hotline,” and Mitski's “My Love Mine All Mine” all debut on the chart.
While “Mine” is among Spotify's most streamed songs lately, it's one of Alternative's lowest-testing songs, and unfamiliar among 30% of listeners. “Mitski's active fan base, who aggressively stream her songs and buy concert tickets, are mostly Gen Z listeners in their teens,” Bailey says. “Among listeners over age 25, she’s simply not a thing yet.”
Integr8 USA's weekly charts, based on average acceptance scores from its nationwide callout service among listeners of Pop (including CHR and hot AC listeners), Country and Alternative radio, are reviewed Wednesdays as an exclusive to Inside Radio. Each genre's chart includes “1 To Watch,” a song which is either the biggest mover or highest debut, or has some other special significance.
