Disturbed & Coldplay Among Big Chart Gainers Via 2018 Winter Olympics
Songs featured in the various figure-skating routines in the first week of competition see corresponding sales, streaming and Shazam bumps.
A score of songs dot the Billboard charts dated Feb. 24 following their inclusion in events or promotions related to the first week of the 2018 Winter Olympics, including the figure-skating competitions, which allow songs with lyrics for the first time at this year’s Games.
The data accounts primarily for performances during the chart’s tracking week (Feb. 9-15). As such, songs featured in performances after that time should appear on the following Billboard charts, dated March 3. The final day of figure skating is Feb. 23, with the 2018 Olympics concluding on Feb. 25.
They’re led by Disturbed’s “The Sound of Silence,” the hard rockers’ cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s classic, which returns to No. 1 on the Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart for an 86th week with 17,000 digital downloads in the week ending Feb. 15, according to Nielsen Music. The track was featured in a figure-skating routine from France’s Morgan Cipres and Vanessa James on Feb. 14, which helped the song to a 289 percent jump in downloads and an 8 percent bump in domestic streams (3.1 million overall). It was also Shazamed 14,000 times the day of the performance (both its original airing on the Olympics’ live app and on NBC’s primetime broadcast), according to Shazam.
“Silence” concurrently re-enters Hot Rock Songs at No. 6 due to its increase in chart points; the song peaked at No. 3 during its original run in 2016.
Related
It wasn’t the largest percentage gain among songs featured in Olympic figure-skating competitions during the Feb. 9-15 time period, though. For instance, one of the most out-of-nowhere jumps came via Coldplay’s “O.” The song, featured on the band’s 2014 album Ghost Stories, jumped 10,302 percent in digital downloads and 280 percent in streams to 6,000 and 564,000, respectively, after the United States’ Adam Rippon used the song as part of his individual free skate routine on Feb. 12. It also received 30,000 Shazam tags, the most of any song thus far at the competition.
The song re-enters Rock Digital Song Sales at No. 9, its first appearance since its release week (No. 32, June 7, 2014) and is its best sales week outside its debut week. The song debuts on Hot Rock Songs at No. 21 as a result.
In fact, multiple Coldplay songs were utilized during the competition, and each saw resultant gains. The band’s “Paradise” had the largest sales gain outside of “O” (411 percent to 3,000, 10,000 Shazams), while “Fix You” (1,000, up 61 percent) also saw increases. The former two were featured as part of a multi-song routine from the U.S. sibling duo Alex and Maia Shibutani on Feb. 12.
Adele’s “Hometown Glory” was another major gainer — 1,000 downloads and 311,000 streams, up 1,203 and 30 percent, respectively; it was used by Canada’s Eric Radford and Meagan Duhamel in their free skate program on Feb. 9, earning 18,000 Shazams in the hours after the routine — as was Jeff Buckley’s cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” (3,000 downloads and 632,000 streams, up 393 and 37 percent, respectively; Canada’s Patrick Chan skated to it on Feb. 12).
Other gainers: Ed Sheeran’s “Make It Rain” (also from France’s Morgan Cipres and Vanessa James on Feb. 9; 128 percent boost in downloads, 10,000 Shazams), April Meservy and Aaron Edson’s “With or Without You” (a cover of the U2 original used by Radford and Duhamel from Canada on Feb. 14; up 134 percent in downloads and 159 percent in streams, 24,000 Shazams); and Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” (part of an Elvis medley skated to by Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada on Feb. 12; 61 percent boost in downloads).
Additionally, though their music was not featured in figure-skating routines, The Killers and Psy saw sales gains relating to the Olympics. Psy’s “Gangnam Style,” which happened to be playing over the stadium’s speakers when the United States entered during the Olympics’ opening ceremony, boosted 160 percent in downloads (1,000 total). Meanwhile, The Killers’ “All These Things That I’ve Done,” featured in an Olympics-adjacent Samsung Mobile ad that’s been aired often during the competition, earned 3,000 downloads and 706,000 streams, boosts of 782 and 33 percent, respectively. That allows the latter onto Rock Digital Song Sales (No. 18) and Hot Rock Songs (No. 25) for the first time.
More From Pro
