LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 24: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Adele attends the BRIT Awards 2016 at The O2 ... [+]
Before she even announced its existence, Adele’s new single “Easy on Me” was already the most highly-anticipated release of 2021 anywhere in the world. The track, which fronts her forthcoming fourth album 30, has already started impacting charts in the U.S., and while it instantly becomes a top 10 smash on a number of lists, it blasts onto the Hot 100, Billboard’s most important and most competitive singles chart, fairly low. If Adele is so popular and the masses couldn’t wait to hear the tune, how is this possible?
“Easy on Me” debuts on this week’s Hot 100 at No. 68. While that may appear to be a surprisingly low position for the superstar, it actually tells a story of how incredibly powerful she is.
The vast majority of albums and songs are released on Friday at midnight (EST), as this is when the new tracking week begins in the U.S. Artists want to give their titles as much time as possible to rack up streams and sales, so that the following frame they appear in lofty positions on the Billboard charts. Going against the grain, as she so often does, Adele decided to drop her single “Easy on Me” just a few hours before the new tracking period began. For most musicians, that wouldn’t make much of a difference, if any, but the same can’t be said for the Grammy and Oscar winner.
“Easy on Me” arrived at 7:00 PM EST on Thursday, October 14 (midnight in London), and in just a few hours it was consumed in large enough quantities to stand out as one of the most successful songs in the largest music market in the world. The tune sold just under 15,000 copies (according to information shared by MRC Data), making it the fourth-best selling track in America...after just five hours of availability.
All those purchases, paired with immediate adoption at radio and incredible streaming figures on platforms like YouTube and Spotify, helped push “Easy on Me” to the Hot 100. The track starts off at No. 68 not after a week’s worth of activity, but less than a quarter of a day. Most artists are lucky to debut a song on the main singles chart in any position after seven full days, while Adele apparently only needs a few hours.
This coming Monday (October 25), Billboard is expected to announce that “Easy on Me” has jumped from No. 68 to No. 1, as no other song will be able to beat it to the top of the Hot 100. The introduction to 30 will also bounce to the peak position on the sales chart, and it will almost surely improve on other lists, such as the pop-only radio rankings. In just a few frames, it could become the most-played song on the radio, and it may very well end 2021 as one of the most successful tracks of the year.
