The lead track from ‘Xscape,’ the late King of Pop’s album due May 13, is headed to this week’s Hot 100 thanks to a strong first few days of sales, airplay and streaming.
Michael Jackson and Justin Timberlake’s sleek new duet, “Love Never Felt So Good,” will enter the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week following its first few days of availability.
The song appears on “Xscape,” an album of eight tracks of Jackson’s vocals set to new music from Timbaland and J-Roc, Rodney Jerkins, Stargate and John McClain (a former A&M Records executive and co-executor of the Jackson estate). The set arrives May 13.
“Good” premiered on Clear Channel Media and Entertainment’s “iHeartRadio Music Awards,” broadcast on NBC on May 1, and was then made available for digital purchase. (Instead of Timberlake, Usher danced to the song on the broadcast.)
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Fueling its Hot 100 start? Solid initial sales and airplay, which should send the song, available as a solo Jackson recording and in a duet version with Timberlake, onto this week’s Hot 100 in the list’s lower half. Streaming activity since its premiere will also contribute to its debut rank. While “Good” is not yet available across on-demand subscription services, it’s has racked 960,000 views on YouTube so far, split between its official audio clip on Vevo (which was released May 1) and user-generated YouTube clips.
Highlights of the Hot 100 will post on Billboard.com on Wednesday (May 7), while the chart will post in its entirety the following day.
“Good” will mark Jackson’s 49th Hot 100 entry and second since his 2009 death. “Hold My Hand,” with Akon, reached No. 39 in January 2011. That collaboration was released from the posthumous “Michael ” album, which debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 3 and has sold 540,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Jackson boasts 13 Hot 100 No. 1s, the most among solo males in the chart’s 55-year history. Only the Beatles (20) and Mariah Carey (18) have totaled more No. 1s, with Rihanna also having notched 13 leaders.
STRONG SALES
Industry forecasters suggest that “Good” may have sold more than 60,000 downloads in the week ending Sunday, May 4. That sum would’ve been generated from only three full days of sales, as the song reached retailers late on Thursday (May 1), after its premiere earlier that evening.
Certainly, “Good” is buoyed by the availability of the duet version with Timberlake, which accounts for the bulk of the song’s overall sales. (Both the Jackson solo version and the duet are combined for sales tracking and charting purposes.)
If “Good” debuts with more than 60,000 downloads sold, that would outpace the opening of “Hold My Hand.” That song sold 19,000 in a similar opening time frame, and served as the first radio-promoted single from “Michael.” It was released on a Friday (Nov. 19, 2010), so it had less than three full days of sales in its first week (ending Nov. 21). “Hold” then sold 44,000 in its first full week of availability (ending Nov. 28).
RADIO ROLLOUT
Meanwhile, “Good” has also garnered a strong response at radio and appears on track for a debut on the 50-position Radio Songs chart. As of this posting, the cut has drawn 31 million all-format radio audience impressions since its first plays on Friday. On this week’s airplay charts (highlights of which will post on Billboard.com later today, while the full charts, along with all others, will update on Thursday), it makes multiple debuts, starting on Adult R&B (No. 19), Adult Contemporary (No. 23), R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (No. 28) and Adult Top 40 (No. 40).
As part of Clear Channel’s promotional synergy after the premiere of the song on the “iHeartRadio Music Awards,” “Good” received hourly plays the following day on a multitude of the company’s pop, adult and R&B/hip-hop stations, greatly contributing to its airplay so far.
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Still, the station that has played “Good” the most is CBS Radio-owned AC KYXY San Diego (and, thus, did not contribute to Clear Channel’s concentrated play). The station has given the duet 37 plays (though Sunday). “We loved the song the instant we previewed it,” says KYXY program director Charlie Quinn. “It felt familiar and right in line with audience expectations for a Michael song.”
As for its long-term fortunes, Quinn is optimistic. “Timberlake and the production value definitely elevate it beyond a novelty.”
“Two icons coming together for a great groove,” is how Alex Tear, Clear Channel vp of programming/Miami, top 40 national brand coordinator and PD of Mainstream Top 40 reporter WHYI, describes the track. The station has played “Good” 13 times through May 4. “Hearing and watching the debut [of ‘Good’ during the ‘iHeartRadio Music Awards’] certainly played a role in inspiring listeners’ passion and for them to request it. News traveled fast across the generations, lighting up social media and text requests all weekend.”
Tear concurs that the song could sustain widespread interest following its splashy start.
“It’s smooth and will certainly have a pop-culture impact. It’s a great way to begin rolling into summer.”
Additional reporting by William Gruger.