While it’s incredibly difficult for a song to make it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, staying there is even harder! During the first half of 2022, only 13 out of the 42 Top 10s remained for 10 weeks or more since their release.
Justin Bieber and The Kid LAROI’s smash hit, Stay, held true to its name, hanging around the Top 10 for an astonishing 44 weeks (second only to Blinding Lights, which set a Hot 100 chart record with 57 weeks). Glass Animals’ Heat Waves followed at 31 weeks and Ed Sheeran’s Bad Habits rounded out the top 3 at an impressive 26 weeks.
So, what are the marked differences between songs with staying power and those that didn’t make it to the 10-week mark?
In this article, we examine some of the characteristics that set apart the songs that charted for 10 or more weeks in the Hot 100 Top 10 during the first half of 2022.
Beginning with primary genre, pop was on top with just over half of songs with staying power. Hip hop followed at just under a third.
However, when looking at sub-genres and influences, pop was ubiquitous, influencing the sound and vibe of all songs spending over 10 weeks in the Top 10. Hip hop followed distantly at just under half, and rock rounded out the top 3 at 38%.
Another notable difference can be found in lead vocal delivery, which correlates to genre and influence popularity. Songs with staying power strongly favored an exclusively sung vocal delivery compared to those with a combination of sung and rapped vocals.
Songs containing three choruses in their framework were most popular across the board.
Four choruses were more popular among songs with staying power whereas two choruses were more popular among songs charting for nine weeks or less.
While having different length verses was most popular across the board, it was notably more prevalent among songs that charted for nine weeks or less (72%).
Another notable difference among songs with staying power is that the majority established a key hook in the intro (69%).
On average, songs with staying power got to the first chorus 15 seconds faster, averaging 28 seconds compared to 43 seconds for those charting for nine weeks or less.
Songs with staying power were also notably faster than those that charted for nine or less weeks, averaging 18 BPM faster, at 111 BPM.
And last, but not least, songs that charted for 10+ weeks averaged 14 seconds shorter than songs that charted for nine weeks or less. This is largely due to almost half of songs with staying power (six) clocking in under the three-minute mark (abcdefu, As It Was, Big Energy, First Class, Ghost, and Stay).
In summary, some of the notable differences between songs that charted for 10+ weeks in the Hot 100 Top 10 during the first half of this year compared to those that did not is that they introduced a key hook in the intro, possessed a pop influence, were exclusively sung, got to the chorus faster, had three or four choruses in their framework, and averaged 18 BPM faster and 14 seconds shorter.
Below is a Spotify playlist with the songs referenced in this article: