Last week during the digital downloads roundup, we pointed out that three female pop performers had been dominating the Top 10 for weeks. Last week saw a big (if not huge) shakeup of power on the downloads chart.
THE BIG THREE SHAKEN
Last week, Music Times dubbed Lorde, Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus the Third Triumvirate for the way they had been occupying the top three spots on the Top 10. Lorde remained unmoved by the week's changes, retaining the no. 1 spot for the fourth straight week with "Royals," which sold another 294,000 downloads. Perry remained in second for the fourth week with "Roar" (195,000 downloads), but her tracks "Walking on Air" and "Dark Horse" both fell out of the Top 10 after last week. Cyrus and "Wrecking Ball" were bumped back to no. 4 with only 128,000 downloads, a 40 percent drop in sales. It's probable that rather than purchasing the song alone, many buyers opted to grab the entire Bangerz album when it debuted last week.
THE NEW NO. 3
The no. 3 position rarely qualifies for bold and capitalized letters, but it's been so long, so we figured "why not?" Avicii jumped up from no. 4, selling 160,000 downloads of his track "Wake Me Up!"
NEW ENTRIES
Justin Bieber made what seems like a surprising jump from no 22 to no. 5 this week with "Heartbreakers," selling 127,000 downloads. What actually happened was that the pop star released the song on Sunday, October 6, meaning it only had one day to qualify for last week's charts, but easily reached during week two of sales. It's the first of Bieber's "Music Mondays," which will reportedly involve new songs for ten weeks. The series could give Bieber a hold on several Top 10 spots at once in upcoming weeks.
The difference between Ylvis's "The Fox" and other viral videos is that this Swedish group got the no. 8 spot on the downloads charts (Rebecca Black got to no. 38 with "Friday" for a comparison). The Norwegian comedians might have gotten some help from their appearance on Jimmy Fallon last week.
Eminem's "Survival" is the only true debut on the list, scoring 117,000 downloads during its first week on the charts, and placing no. 7.
HANGING AROUND
Just like his album, Drake's "Hold On, We're Going Home" hung around on the downloads chart, selling 121,000 copies and landing at no. 6. Lady Gaga remained at no. 9, moving 100,000 copies of "Applause," and Jay Z rounds out the Top 10, selling 98,000 downloads of "Holy Grail."
