Just last week were commenting on how songs have a tendency to hold the top spot of the Billboard Digital Downloads chart for two weeks, but almost as soon as we said it, a song held on for a third week at no. 1.
Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" saw an increase in sales, selling 294,000 copies. Part of that increase might be due to the buyers who picked up the song after watching she and Juicy J perform it at The Grammys, so the song could see continued good fortune throughout the next week. "Dark Horse" was the only song from this year's show to appear in this Top 10, but look for some returnees next week.
Jason DeRulo sold exactly 100,000 fewer downloads than Perry for his own single, "Talk Dirty," but it was enough to get him and 2 Chainz the no. 2 spot.
The next two spots on the chart confirm the power of advertising, and the power of selling your music to advertisers. No. 3 was a Top 10 first-timer, "Happy" by Pharrell Williams, and no. 4 was "The Man" by Aloe Blacc. Both songs have recently been prominent in Beats Audio campaigns. One can argue that "Happy" could have been assisted by its placement in Despicable Me 2, and its following Oscar nomination, but come on. The 57 percent boost in sales indicates something last week was a kick-starter. "Happy" sold 188,000 downloads, and "The Man" moved 175,000.
The previous no. 1 song, "Timber" by Pitbull and Ke$ha, fell to no. 5 after selling 169,000 downloads. It was the only song in the top five to drop in sales percentage from last week. Bastille and its hit "Pompeii" rose to no. 6 with 148,000 downloads. We're happy to say the song is not at all affiliated with the forthcoming film of the same name.
A Great Big World was the biggest loser within the Top 10, as its "Say Something" dropped 30 percent in sales and fell to no. 7 with 147,000 downloads. That drop off can be explained by the duo's album Is Anybody Out There? debuting this week however. Lorde may not have shown off current single "Team" during her Grammys performance but it still saw a 2 percent boost in sales, coming in at no. 8 with 36,000 units sold.
OneRepublic saw a steep drop, as "Counting Stars" fell from no. 5 to to no. 9 with 132,000 copies sold. Passenger's "Let Her Go" may have fallen from the Top 10 this week, but "Let It Go" from the Frozen soundtrack replaced it, coming in at no. 10. Interestingly it's been Idina Menzel's film version selling (124,000 downloads) and not Demi Lovato's pop version from the same album. No doubt Menzel has vocals to prove her history as a Broadway star, but analysts such as ourselves would think a more mainstream name like Lovato's would sell more songs. Both versions are great, for the record.
