Baauer, Coachella 2013 artist and the man behind the beats of the “Harlem Shake.” (Contributed Image)
Starting this week, Billboard is adding some new data to its chart calculations for the Billboard Hot 100 and Baauer, a 2013 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival performer, is the first to reap the benefits.
INTERACTIVE MAP: Explore our map of 2013 Coachella artists
The Brooklyn-based producer’s electronic hit “Harlem Shake” has become a viral sensation in the last two weeks, despite being released in 2012, tops the Bilboard Hot 100 with the hit, thanks to YouTube.
Billboard and Nielsen announced Wednesday, Feb. 20 that streaming YouTube clips would be incorporated into the charting process for the Hot 100 and the Hot 100 formula-based genre charts, which include Hot Country Songs, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, R&B Songs, Rap Songs, Hot Latin Songs, Hot Rock Songs and Dance/Electronic Songs.
The methodology includes Vevo on YouTube, and user-generated clips that utilize authorized audio in addition to “digital download track sales (and physical singles sales), as tracked by Nielsen SoundScan, as well as terrestrial radio airplay, on-demand audio streaming, and online radio streaming, as tracked by Nielsen BDS,” Billboard wrote.
Fun fact: “Harlem Shake” is one of 21 songs to debut at the top of the Hot 100 (which has been around since 1958) and it’s the first song to start at the top by an artist who wasn’t known in the mainstream before charting.
Speaking of fun facts, Billboard released these specific figures about the “Harlem Shake”:
-103 million weekly streams (compared to the 10.1 million streams of the song it dethroned from number one, “Thrift Shop” by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis)
-It didn’t start selling until last week, when it went from fewer than 1,000 sales to 18,000, according to SoundScan
-This week, it has 262,000 downloads sold and is at number 3 on the Hot Digital Songs chart.
What does all of this mean? I bet Psy is kicking himself during his “Gangnam Style” pony dance now, especially since the “Harlem Shake” meme isn’t anything like the actual Harlem Shake dance.
I wrote earlier this week about the “Harlem Shake” video craze, which has come to the Inland Empire, and thanks again to Eric Redbeef Focht, updated it with a video that actually shows the real Harlem Shake dance, which isn’t like the Bernie and weird freestyle moves you see in more “Harlem Shake” video parodies. (By the way, the actual people of Harlem have caught on that the “Harlem Shake” has nothing to do with the original dance.)
Here’s the greatest instruction guide you will ever see to the real Harlem Shake, which is far more complicated than standing around in a mask or helmet doing pelvic thrusts before 25 of your friends magically join you. Thanks again to Redbeef for sending!