Well, look on the bright side, PSY: it’s getting a bit chilly outside to go shirtless, anyway.
While the Korean rapper has vowed to perform “Gangnam Style” “topless in a place where everyone can watch” should the song top the Billboard Hot 100, Maroon 5 again prevents his revealing revelry, as “One More Night” spends a fourth week at No. 1. PSY’s smash, buoyed by the song’s buzz-worthy video in which he shows off his horse-mimicking moves, holds at No. 2 for a third frame.
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Again, the race was extremely close. Last week, “Night” bested “Style” by fewer than 500 overall chart points, the smallest difference between Nos. 1 and 2 since the Feb. 18 chart. This week, just 700 points separate the songs, as “Night” gains by less than 1% in overall points and “Style” declines by 1%.
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On Hot 100 component charts, each song boasts a new No. 1 ranking: “Night” rises to the top of Radio Songs and “Style” does the same on On-Demand Songs.
Though the gap has narrowed at radio between the two songs, as “Style” gains 1.6 million more audience impressions than “Night,” Maroon 5 remains atop the Hot 100 largely thanks to its wide lead in radio airplay. “Night” climbs 2-1 in its 11th week on the Radio Songs chart with a 7% increase to 125 million all-format audience impressions, according to Nielsen BDS. After never leading Radio Songs before last year, Maroon 5 has now done so with its last three singles. Prior to “Night,” “Moves Like Jagger,” featuring Christina Aguilera, ruled for seven weeks beginning last October and “Payphone,” featuring Wiz Khalifa, reigned for six weeks beginning in July.
The radio life of “Style” is still in its earlier stages, so it doesn’t sport the massive audience level of “Night.” Still, “Style” surges by 22% to 56 million, bounding 23-16 on Radio Songs.
The radio advantage of “Night” is enough to keep it at No. 1 on the Hot 100 despite “Style” leading in streaming and sales. On On-Demand Songs, “Style” charges 2-1 with a 28% gain to 1 million on-demand streams, according to BDS. “Night,” meanwhile, recedes 1-4 on On-Demand Songs although with a 1% increase to 816,000 (its highest weekly total yet).
On the Digital Songs chart, “Style” slips 2-4 with a 13% decline to 257,000 downloads sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and “Night” falls 4-5 with an 8% decrease to 167,000. Another honor for PSY: With its latest sales frame, “Style” passes 1 million in downloads sold to date.
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While PSY keeps his shirt on for another week, “Style” and “Night” appear headed for a battle for the summit again next week, given the continued close chart race. If “Style” can close the gap enough on the large airplay lead of “Night,” and if it can widen its lead enough over “Night” in streaming, it could be in line for No. 1 on the Hot 100 next week.
Below the drama of the Hot 100’s top two titles, other notable action abounds, as three songs blast onto the chart in the top 10. One Direction debuts at No. 3 with “Live While We’re Young,” which launches atop Digital Songs with 341,000 first-week downloads sold. It climbs 57-52 (25 million, up 14%) in its second week on Radio Songs, fueled by a 23-21 advance on Pop Songs.
Taylor Swift‘s “Red,” the title cut from her fourth album, due Oct. 22, storms the Hot 100 at No. 6 as it enters Digital Songs at No. 2 (312,000). It’s her record-extending 10th top 10 debut on the Hot 100 and already the album’s third top 10. Lead radio single “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” (down 4-5 this week) spent three weeks at No. 1 and “Begin Again” opened last week at No. 7 (and plunges to No. 52 this week). Another “Red” preview song will impact the Hot 100 next week: the pop-friendly, and even dubstep-influenced, “I Knew You Were Trouble” currently ranks at No. 1 in the iTunes Store.
The Hot 100’s third top 10 debut belongs to Adele, whose “Skyfall,” the title song from the forthcoming 23rd James Bond film, enters at No. 8, marking her first top 10 beginning. The song starts at No. 3 on Digital Songs with 261,000 (after being released to digital retailers Thursday (Oct. 4) night) and arrives on Radio Songs at No. 49 (26 million in its first five-and-a-half days of availability).
Thanks to “Live,” “Red” and “Skyfall,” the Digital Songs chart welcomes three debuts in the top three for the first time. The Hot 100 harbors three top 10 debuts for just the second time in its 54-year history; the week of March 3, Katy Perry‘s “Part of Me” bowed at No. 1, followed by Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” (No. 9) and Chris Brown’s “Turn Up the Music.”
As for the rest of the Hot 100’s top 10, fun.‘s “Some Nights” backtracks 3-4; Justin Bieber‘s “As Long as You Love Me,” featuring Big Sean, regresses 6-7; P!nk‘s “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” dips 5-9; and, Alex Clare‘s “Too Close” descends 9-10.
Check Billboard.com tomorrow (Oct. 11), when all rankings, including the Hot 100 and On-Demand Songs in their entirety and Digital Songs and Radio Songs, will be refreshed, as they are each Thursday.