executive of the week
How SZA’s ‘S.O.S.’ Cut Through the Holiday Noise to Rule the Charts
The holiday season is usually a wash when it comes to new music releases: the charts are dominated by the likes of Brenda Lee, Mariah Carey, Michael Bublé and Bing Crosby, and carols are dominating the radio on just about every channel. But this year has been different: while the top 10 of the Hot 100 has been full of the usual suspects, the Billboard 200 has been dominated by SZA’s S.O.S., the first album by the alt-R&B singer/songwriter in five years that roared out of the gate upon its Dec. 9 release with the fifth-biggest debut of 2022 and that has ruled the Billboard 200 for three straight weeks, bridging the gap between the holiday season and the opening of 2023. (And the Hot 100 found room for 20 songs from the album for good measure.) The success of that release has been no acc...
How Doja Cat’s ‘Vegas’ Transcended ‘Elvis’ to Become Her Latest Pop Radio Hit
The past two years have been a whirlwind of success for Doja Cat, who emerged from TikTok virality to become one of radio’s most beloved artists of the young decade so far. And she’s been on the type of hot streak that has her in rarefied territory: With five top five hits on Pop Airplay off her latest album, the RCA-released Planet Her, her album became just the seventh to ever accomplish that feat, a mark she set over the course of an entire calendar year — an impressive achievement in an era when attention spans are short and longevity is fleeting. This week, Doja Cat adds to her run of success as her latest single “Vegas,” off the Elvis soundtrack (also out on RCA), became her sixth No. 1 single at Pop Airplay — replacing her collaboration with Post Malone, “I Like You (A Happier Song)...
How Post Malone Kept His Momentum Going With ‘Twelve Carat Toothache’
Last week, Post Malone returned with his first album in three years, Twelve Carat Toothache, which also marked his first album with newly relaunched Republic Records imprint Mercury Records. And this week, that album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 — his fourth straight top five album on the chart — and at No. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, maintaining a streak of No. 1s that dates back to his debut album, 2016’s Stoney. It’s a success for both Post and his label Mercury, which is run by his longtime A&R Tyler Arnold as president, as well as parent label Republic. And it’s another win for Republic’s executive vp of global commerce and digital strategy Kevin Lipson, who oversaw the rollout and the marketing moments that touched almost every aspect of physical and digit...
Executive of the Week: Spotify Global Head of Editorial Sulinna Ong
As global head of editorial at the biggest music streamer in the world, Sulinna Ong has plenty on her plate — not least of which is overseeing the programming of Spotify’s playlists across genres, territories and fandoms. And this past week has been a big one for Ong and her team, as they revamped Spotify’s flagship K-Pop playlist, K-Pop ON! (온), with a new name, a massive marketing push and a focused plan for new content catered to fans of the genre that has expanded significantly around the world in recent years. And the push has already started to pay off: daily streams and listening hours for the playlists grew 40% week over week, according to Spotify, and the playlist moved into the top five of the company’s most-streamed playlists, which Ong says is “a first for the playlist and the ...
Executive of the Week: Carbon Fiber Music President Franklin Martínez
The song was released June 24 on Sony Music Latin with little fanfare — there wasn’t even a video ready — and debuted at No. 28 on the Hot Latin Songs chart dated July 17. It jumped to the top 10 four weeks later, reaching No. 6 on the chart dated Aug. 7, and finally No. 1 this week, thanks to a 20% boost in streams (reaching the top 20 of Streaming Songs and No. 1 on Latin streaming songs) and airplay support. The real driver of the song on the Latin charts was its performance on the dance charts. There, it debuted at No. 9 on the chart dated July 17 and has remained on the top 10 since, peaking at No. 1 last week. That’s because at heart, “Pepas” is an EDM track, propelled by dozens of remixes by DJs big and small that also aided its rise on the global charts — climbing...
Executive of the Week: CMN CEO Henry Cárdenas
“Never, no one expected that,” Cárdenas tells Billboard. “In fact, Noah [Assad, Bad Bunny’s manager] called me like three days before and said, ‘How many tickets do you think we’ll sell [in presale]?’ He thought it’d be around 150,000. I told him 200,000…. If Bad Bunny puts 50 dates more on sale today, he’ll sell them. In Miami, we sold out his three shows and there were 97,000 people waiting online to buy tickets.” Bad Bunny is arguably the hottest artist in the world right now, and ended 2020 as the most streamed act on Spotify. That he would sell was not in question. But, how did the Chicago-based CMN capitalize on the potential, and how did Cárdenas land the deal? Here, he explains what went into booking this tour when live music still seems so far away for so many. I have to thi...
Executive of the Week: Columbia Records Exec VP/Co-Head A&R Imran Majid
While buzz for “Calling My Phone” first began to simmer when the song was teased on TikTok, helping it vault into the top five of the Hot 100, Majid says the song’s success comes more from Columbia’s track record of artist development and trusting the A&R process. And Tjay, despite being just 19, is far from a brand new sensation, as his debut album, State of Emergency, reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in 2019, while Polo-Tjay collaboration “Pop Out” climbed all the way to No. 11 on the Hot 100 that same year. But “Calling My Phone” is a singular moment for the Bronx-born MC and one that Majid says reflects on Columbia as a destination for great music. Here, Majid talks the success of “Calling My Phone,” the crop of rising hip...
