Welcome to Billboard Pro’s Trending Up newsletter, where we take a closer look at the songs, artists, curiosities and trends that have caught the music industry’s attention. Some have come out of nowhere, others have taken months to catch on, and all of them could become ubiquitous in the blink of a TikTok clip.
This week: Netflix has a new hit series on its hands and many alt-pop artists are benefiting from it, an ’00s indie rock classic proves timeless once again, it’s Girl in Red season again and much more.
‘Nobody Wants This,’ But Lots of People Want the Soundtrack
The new Netflix series Nobody Wants This is one of the breakout hits of this late-2024 TV season, with good reviews and word-of-mouth buzz spreading the Kristen Bell and Adam Brody co-starring series – about the romantic relationship between a podcaster and a rabbi, and the reactions of their respective families and communities – all over social media and pop culture. That of course extends to the series’ soundtrack, which is stacked with synchs from some of the most popular and acclaimed alt-pop artists of the past decade-plus, as well as some exciting new up-and-comers.
Perhaps the biggest beneficiary so far has been Francis and the Lights’ “See Her Out (That’s Just Life),” which plays in multiple key scenes in the season, including during the first kiss between Bell’s and Brody’s characters. The song racked up 432,000 official on-demand streams in the U.S. last week (ending Oct. 3) following the show’s Sept. 26 debut, up from just 13,000 streams the prior frame – an eye-popping gain of 3,157%, according to Luminate. Multiple songs from star sister trio HAIM are also featured, with the group’s “Now I’m in It” jumping 120% to 177,000 streams over the same period, while “You & I” from veteran Swedish pop singer-songwriter LÉON is also up 245% to 196,000.
The series has also had a big impact on the catalog of newer singer-songwriter Anna Graves, who has a couple songs featured in the series. Her “Fly” is up 304% to 63,000 streams over this period, while her “When the Love Is Gone” spikes 615% to 41,000 streams. – ANDREW UNTERBERGER
Wait, They Don’t TikTok Like I TikTok: Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ ‘Maps’ Gets a Viral Trend
Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Maps”: early-00’s classic, timeless alt-rock love song, iconic music video, the anthem that unwittingly launched Karen O and co. towards indie stardom. And now, more than 20 years after the 2003 single’s release, “Maps” is getting the viral treatment on TikTok thanks to the “Maps Dance,” in which a remixed version of the song soundtracks users shaking their hips and hitting them with their hands, then pausing (or moving in slow motion) when Karen O declares, “Wait!,” as in, “Wait! They don’t love you like I love you!”
The TikTok trend has helped “Maps” nearly double in U.S. on-demand weekly streams over a two-week period: the YYYs track earned 1.49 million streams during the week ending on Oct. 3, according to Luminate, up from 766,000 streams for the week ending Sept. 19. “Maps” crept onto the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 87 in 2004; depending on how this trend grows, maybe the Yeah Yeah Yeahs can hip-shake back onto the chart two decades later. – JASON LIPSHUTZ
‘Joker’ Sequel & Harlequin LP Lift Lady Gaga’s Jazz Catalog
Although Joker: Folie à Deux has suffered from dismal reviews and a disastrous box office performance, there is a silver lining for the film’s leading lady. Lady Gaga, who portrays Harley Quinn in the new film, injects the Joker sequel with her love for jazz standards, which spilled over into both Harlequin, her new Billboard chart-topping companion album featuring both covers and original cuts, and even to a couple her older jazz collections.
According to Luminate, combined official on-demand U.S. streams for Cheek to Cheek and Love for Sale – Gaga’s two Grammy-winning duets albums with the late Tony Bennett – have risen 30% since the release of Harlequin (Sept. 27). During the period of Sept. 20-26, the two LPs earned about 380,000 combined official on-demand U.S. streams. That figure ballooned to over 490,000 combined streams in the week following Harlequin’s release (Sept. 27-Oct. 3). It’s unlikely – but not completely out of the question – that Harlequin will launch a Hot 100 hit, but its arrival has spurred some gains for Gaga’s non-pop catalog. A win is a win!
Latto Squeezes Another Streaming Hit Out of ‘Sugar Honey Iced Tea’
Latto’s Billboard chart-topping Sugar Honey Iced Tea already boasts streaming hits like “Big Mama” and “Brokey,” and it looks like “Georgia Peach,” the record’s intro, could join those ranks.
Bolstered by a rise in social media adoration for the song – alongside the album and Latto in general – official on-demand U.S. streams for “Georgia Peach” have risen over 83% from Sept. 27-20 to Oct. 4-7, according to Luminate. During the period of Sept. 27-30, the Southern hip-hop banger collected over 588,000 streams, which rose to over 1.07 million streams during the period of Oct. 4-7. On TikTok, the official “Georgia Peach” sound boasts nearly 30,000 clips, while an unofficial upload soundtracks a further 13,000 videos.
Although “Georgia Peach” does have an official music video, it’s rise in popularity isn’t tied to that clip, a dance trend or anything else. Should its streams continue to rise, “Georgia Peach” could become the fourth Hot 100 entry from Sugar Honey Iced Tea. — KD
Q&A: Sarah Patellos, Head of Spotify Music Studios, on What’s Trending Up in Her World
How did the Spotify Anniversaries series idea form?
This concept was born as a result of a few creative inspirations from our team. We wanted to find a way to celebrate iconic catalog music, especially as we’ve seen listeners engage positively in that space over the past few years. Our Los Angeles Spotify Studio is an incredible space that has always birthed creativity, so the idea of bringing artists into the space to revisit their classics as a series felt like it had a lot of potential. It would give existing fans something new to experience, while engaging new fans in discovering the music for the first time.
From that initial internal excitement, we started to build out what the series would be. On that would exist through music and video. Knowing that every project’s lifespan is unique, our thought was to allow for a flexible anniversary window that made sense for each album and artists’ milestones. That gave us a wide canvas to find the right projects to bring back to life.
How did you decide on the artists and projects that made sense for the series, and what goes into each one?
Spotify Anniversaries celebrates the staying power of iconic albums. We’ve worked with artists from different genres, but the throughline is the timelessness of the projects we’re celebrating. From Isaiah Rashad’s EP Cilvia Demo to Weezer’s The Blue Album to Christina Aguilera’s debut album Christina Aguilera – we are honored to have the opportunity to help celebrate these anniversaries.
For each episode, we invite the artists to perform 4-6 songs from the project, ideally both the hits and the tracks that embody this milestone for the project. We partner closely with the artist to create an environment in our Spotify Studio that feels aesthetically right for the project and their vision, but keep it really focused on the live performance and the quality of the studio recording.
What have been some highlights thus far?
Our first episode with Isaiah Rashad felt incredibly special – he is such a captivating performer and really set the stage for the vision of this series. For Christina Aguilera, her special guests Ron Fair, Heather Holley, mgk and Sabrina Carpenter brought a unique element to the making of the project, while also reimagining and bringing new life to it.
Weezer was also a highlight. The band chose the direction to perform facing each other, which led to a really natural conversation and allowed the meaning of the project amongst the band to shine beautifully. Not only were the songs being revisited, but watching the band connect face-to-face created a unique experience, and that’s one of the reasons why that episode in particular has been so impactful. It’s a great example how artists can take the series and steer it into their own creative space.
How has Spotify Anniversaries impacted engagement with those projects on the Spotify platform?
The beauty of this project is that is led by music, but supported by video on socials and YouTube. Each Spotify Anniversaries episode has a live EP that lives exclusively on platform. We’ve seen incredible responses to each EP release – the Christina/Sabrina collab was even seen on New Music Friday and Teen Beats. The more this program grows, the more ways we are testing the use of other products to make this even more layered. – JL
Season’s Gainings: Leaves Turning, Pumpkin Spice Lattes Arriving & Girl in Red Rising
If Earth, Wind & Fire’s moment has already passed and you’re not hearing Ray Parker Jr. and Bobby “Boris” Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers everyone just yet, that must mean it’s Girl in Red season. As happens annually around this time of year, the Norwegian singer-songwriter born Marie Ulven Ringheim is rising on streaming with her indie-pop modern classic “We Fell in Love in October” – with the song racking up 3.6 million official on-demand U.S. streams over the first four days of the month, a 73% gain from the 2.1 million combined streams of the prior four-day period. The song even hit a new all-time peak of No. 38 on the Spotify Daily Top Songs USA chart, suggesting that folks are falling even more in love with Girl in Red this October. – AU
