@jiarisunshine It shows you that appearance is more important than reality for her. It also shows she’s willing to manipulate sales and figures. It wouldn’t surprise me if she doesn’t have an entire team equipped with gift cards, all buying the maximum amount of her release with different cards
@TheTitanBaddie It’s easy for a big act. Any new release goes #1 out of curiosity streams the first week out. You used to have to really put together a weeks-long strategy supported by performances, interviews, etc., and then the song had to actually be catchy. None of that is true anymore.
@bigharris1212@RealWhitney Mariah when performing at her best was better, but she had more trouble with consistency than Whitney. Whitney was more consistent. But Mariah’s songs were also a lot harder. I don’t think Whitney could have sung a lot of Mariah’s songs well, but I think Mariah could have
@TochPu45587@StanCentralHQ Yes because aren’t the large majority of Rihanna’s sales digital downloads of singles and very few full album downloads or purchases
@TorturedPoetsII@honeyariedits I love how this is always the comeback, even though Ariana had 1 physical CD of yes and, if I’m not mistaken. And the physical was released AFTER the song had already been at #1.
Taylor can drop 15 remixes, discount every version on iTunes, ship CDs strategically, release multiple video versions, and stack streams + sales from the same fanbase… and we’re supposed to call that “organic” #1?
This isn’t about talent. It’s about chart gaming.
When the same fans can buy 6 versions AND stream all week, the blended system rewards double dipping in a way the 90s never did. A $15 CD in 1995 was real friction. Now it’s algorithm + variants + discounts.