{"id":7601,"date":"2018-11-05T17:17:36","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T22:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefest.com\/?p=7601"},"modified":"2018-11-05T17:17:36","modified_gmt":"2018-11-05T22:17:36","slug":"happiness-is-a-warm-cell-phone-drake-vs-the-beatles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefest.com\/happiness-is-a-warm-cell-phone-drake-vs-the-beatles\/","title":{"rendered":"Happiness is a Warm Cell Phone: Drake vs. The Beatles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi everyone! We hope to see you all at Monmouth University this week for the White Album conference featuring Mark Lapidos, Mark Lewisohn, Walter Everett, Ken Womack, Bruce Spizer, Al Sussman, Tom Frangione, Lanea Stagg (our featured blogger this week), Kit O’Toole, Susan and James Ryan, and me (Jude Southerland Kessler)…and SO many more. <\/em><\/p>\n

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To give you an idea of the kind of interesting topics that will be covered, here is Lanea Stagg’s comparison of The Beatles chart-blasting record to Drake, who claims to have surpassed The Beatles’ 1964 accomplishment of 5 songs in the Top Ten at once. Is it a valid claim? Has Drake stolen the crown from our Fabs? Read on…<\/em><\/p>\n

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This summer, news media outlets began reporting that pop star rapper, Drake, had surpassed The Beatles\u2019 accomplishments on the Billboard<\/em> \u201cHot 100\u201d chart. Even last week it was reported that he surpassed another chart record belonging to The Fabs. I have been inclined to blame it solely on \u201cFake News.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But, in an effort to be fair, I have opened my mind to Drake. According to pop music lovers today, 31-year-old Drake creates music which is a softer alternative to rap, bypassing hardcore gangster rap and infusing catchy love lines to hook the girls. I spoke with one 20-something male who explained to me that he didn\u2019t like Drake\u2019s music at first, but \u201cgirls like Drake … so eventually, the boys have to like Drake, because then they’re going to win the affection of the girls.\u201d Does that <\/em>sound familiar?<\/p>\n

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Today\u2019s Top 100 Billboard<\/em> charts have become a completely new environment for music artists. Music streaming and downloading have become an important component in the statistics collected to determine pop song success. It is fair to surmise that today\u2019s metrics for determining chart success is not <\/strong>what we grew up with. On April 4, 1964, The Beatles held the top 5 slots on Billboard<\/em>\u2019s \u201cHot 100\u201d chart. The charts at that time were driven by record sales and radio play. Today\u2019s charts, however, are driven by downloading and streaming with a little bit of radio and physical sales sprinkled in.<\/p>\n

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Donald S. Passman, wrote in his book All You Need to Know About the Music Business<\/em><\/strong>, \u201cWhen the Beatles were around, there were horrible (accounting) records of who sold what. Nobody knew how many records were sold in retail, only how many were shipped to the store.\u201d So even if the records went back to the company, the statistics were likely inflated. But at the same time, it was a lot more difficult for an artist to sell records and to get on the radio simply because there were physically fewer retail stores, radio stations and listening opportunities \u2013 there were no cell phones or social media. Today\u2019s false inflation of sales data creates an inaccurate perception of chart success.<\/p>\n

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I found it quite interesting to look at how the charts are measured today and driven by consumer listening habits. I questioned how people are listening to music, interviewing and surveying 200+ college students in Columbia, Missouri. Here is what I found, and the data directly affects chart ratings:<\/p>\n

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99% of the group listen to music via cell phone.<\/p>\n

46% of the 200 students use a free<\/strong> subscription like Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, YouTube, etc.<\/p>\n

42% use other paid subscriptions such as Apple Music, XM Radio, Amazon Prime, or Pandora;<\/p>\n

20% actually purchase music via CD\u2019s, iTunes, vinyl, etc. (which is shocking and exciting);<\/p>\n

40% use the most popular paid<\/strong> subscription: Spotify.<\/p>\n

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Nearly all of the 128 students who purchase Spotify receive a discounted student rate: only $5 per month for unlimited music. This means they are allowed to stream and download millions of songs \u2013 35 million to be exact. One student told me that Spotify has replaced <\/strong>listening to the radio. The music subscription creates its own playlists,<\/strong> and they tailor playlists based upon your past listening history. Spotify also sends listeners e-mails, i.e.: \u201cDrake has a new album out.\u201d And you can follow your friends and see what they are listening to as well.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile back in 1964, Beatles fans were listening to The Fabs in conventional locations \u2013 in front of the only family television or on the radio in the family wagon, and who remembers that joyful scene in \u201cThat Thing You Do!\u201d when the band heard their record for the first time on a transistor? A nostalgic, exciting moment \u2013 however, this mode of listening has all but disappeared.<\/p>\n

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So, what does this have to do with our topic? Drake vs. The Beatles?<\/p>\n

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Well, we all know that The Beatles climbed the charts \u2013 one physical record sale at a time. But for Drake, the climb to the top happened rapidly, via the aforementioned instant downloads.<\/p>\n

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Let\u2019s take a look at this past summer, for example. On July 14, 2018, Drake \u201cdominated\u201d the Billboard<\/em> \u201cHot 100\u201d chart \u2013 seven spots in the Top 10 belonged to Drake. Multiple media outlets, and Drake himself, reported that he had \u201csurpassed The Beatles\u2019 record of five hit songs in the Top 10 at once.<\/p>\n

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However, a careful look at the facts will show us a bit of a difference. While The Beatles held spots 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, Drake did not. Drake held spots 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9. One week later, Drake only held three<\/strong> tracks in the Top 10, at spots 1, 4,<\/strong> and 6.<\/p>\n

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It should be noted that on June 29, 2018, Drake released his 25-track disc titled \u201cScorpion,\u201d and all 25 songs were on the Billboard <\/em>\u201cTop 100\u201d chart immediately. So, when his entire disc of 25 songs was released, definitely the Spotify kids had it on their phones instantly \u2013 and so it gets tallied and accounted instantaneously.<\/p>\n

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Even the controversial media outlet BuzzFeed <\/em>wrote on September 13, 2018, that \u201cSpoofing Spotify by fans \u2013 (is) eroding the metrics of Billboard <\/em>charts.\u201d Remember that half of the students in my collegiate test group purchased Spotify for only $5\/month. That allows them to download and stream all the music they can listen to (35 million songs!!) for only $5. Washington Post<\/em> reporter, Travis Andrews, astutely observed, \u201cThe charts have struggled to come up with a streaming equivalent to an album purchase \u2013 or a song download. [But one must bear in mind that] it was harder<\/strong> to purchase The White Album<\/em> than to put a stream of \u201cLemonade\u201d on repeat, after all.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Senior Vice President of Charts and Data Development at Billboard<\/em> magazine said this summer, \u201cWhat we do is react to the marketplace around us. I think we are fairly nimble on downloading and even more so on streaming, to make sure we\u2019re reflecting where the music consumer is going. Where that will end up, though\u2026I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Why do charts matter, anyway? Charts matter mostly to record companies in terms of market share or clout. The music consumer isn\u2019t as driven by the charts.<\/p>\n

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One example of record sale success overshadowing chart success happened in \u201967 when \u201cStrawberry Fields Forever\u201d and \u201cPenny Lane\u201d were released as a double A-side 45-rpm. Early predictions were that this single would perpetuate The Beatles\u2019 unprecedented achievement of 12 straight Number 1 singles in the UK. However, the 45 was not released as one single, but two<\/strong>. This divided the sales data between the two songs, and hence, Engelbert Humperdinck\u2019s \u201cRelease Me\u201d took the Number 1 spot on the \u201cHot 100\u201d over our Fabs, breaking their four-year \u201croll\u201d as George Martin called it. However, \u201c<\/strong>Strawberry Fields Forever\u201d<\/strong> and \u201c<\/strong>Penny Lane\u201d<\/strong> 45–<\/strong>rpm sold 2.5 million copies, outselling Humperdinck two-to-one<\/strong>. Indeed, chart success in this case and many others does not guarantee either the superior sales success or music superiority of the record.<\/p>\n

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If you give Drake an honest, fair chance, it is apparent that he has achieved success. He is chart-topping. He is Grammy award-winning and platinum-selling, not to mention charming and charismatic. And oh yeah\u2026<\/strong>his dad was the drummer for Jerry Lee Lewis. So, we can\u2019t ignore that something is happening with this powerhouse. Many thought that The Beatles were a fad, so I try to consider that when I analyze today\u2019s music trends. But in my opinion, Drake is primarily a brilliant marketer. Let\u2019s give credit for Drake\u2019s popularity where that credit is due: to downloading and streaming. Should we mark our calendars and plan for HIS \u201cWhite Album\u201d celebration in 50 years? Tomorrow never knows.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

About our Guest Blogger:<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Lanea Stagg is the author of the Recipe Records Cookbook Series: Recipe Records<\/em><\/strong>, Recipe Records-The 60s Edition<\/em><\/strong>, Recipe Records-A Culinary Tribute to The Beatles<\/em><\/strong>, and The Rolling Scones: Let\u2019s Spend the Bite Together<\/em><\/strong>. The series combines music trivia, quips, quotes, and playlists with clever recipe titles that pay tribute to great music of many genres and decades.\u00a0 In addition to the series, she has authored children\u2019s books, a blog, and contributed to entertainment publications, along with co-hosting BlogTalkRadio program: \u201cShe Said She Said,\u201d with Jude Southerland Kessler, the author of The John Lennon Series<\/strong>. Lanea will be giving a presentation on this topic at The White Album Conference next week at Monmouth University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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