Now going in I thought there was no way anyone but Tame Impala was not going to be #1 and that held true throughout the reporting period. There was an hour that went by where 23 stations reported and 19 of those stations reported Tame Impala. There was no real challenge from anyone else. The rest of the top 10 though was up for Grabs.
For a while there was a race between Ducktails and Mac Demarco for #2. They were within a few stations all day Monday and even early Tuesday they were only separated by 3 stations. Mac Demarco pulled away big time starting around Noon on Tuesday gaining 46 stations over the last 3 hours of reporting while Ducktails gained 38.
While those two were battling it out Wilco made a run of their own and challenged for that #3 spot as they also gained 38 stations in the last 3 hours.
The number 5 spot was a tough one to predict as Leon Bridges was doing his best job to hold on and La Luz was doing their best push to get into the top 5. In the end the new record won out.
So now we have a pretty exciting top 5
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | TAME IMPALA | Currents | Interscope |
| 2 | 48 | - | 2 | 2 | MAC DEMARCO | Another One | Captured Tracks |
| 3 | 6 | - | 3 | 2 | DUCKTAILS | St. Catherine | Domino |
| 4 | 13 | 27 | 4 | 3 | WILCO | Star Wars | dBpm |
| 5 | 128 | - | 5 | 2 | LA LUZ | Weirdo Shrine | Hardly Art |
All of these records have been on the charts for a very short period of time. The question now is does Mac Demarco have the juice to take it next week? With Ducktails being jumped do they have a shot at #1? When one company is working more than one record in the top 5 you really don't know what will happen. Do you play it safe and just try and keep Tame Impala #1 or do you try for Ducktails and also La Luz to get #1? Should be fun to watch.
So as you get emails from your promoters this week you might see any one of these records be highlighted with a **GOING FOR #1** banner above the album title, or next to or it might just be a little paragraph on top. I know a lot of promotion companies do this. I do it myself. I think its completely fine. The question is does it work? As a radio station are you invested in trying to get a record #1? Do you get caught up in the action? Wanting to be a part of it? I know It had an impact on me when I was a Music Director. I remember Built to Spill was going for #1 once and I had them at #10 before I sent out my charts. When I talked to the promoter I decided to move them up to #5 so that I could help. I am sure some of you out there do that as well. I would love to hear from some of you if it has any real impact on what you do.
Also it seems that some companies have gotten very liberal with the "pushing for #1" banner. I saw a record that was a good 50 stations away in week 5 "pushing for #1" That record has NO CHANCE at #1. But if it works then I can't fault them. I have also seen it used for TOP 5 this week. TOP 10! TOP 20! TOP 30! TOP 145!!!! WE NEED TOP 145!!!!! Ok it has not gone that far but I seems like I would not be shocked if I saw that.
At what point does PUSHING FOR X lose its impact? I think going for top 5 or top 10 matter but Top 20? I suppose if you have a bonus tied to it then yes that could warrant an extra push. I just think that if I were an MD now and I heard from each company I talked to PUSHING FOR X I would start to tune it out.
So let me help you. If anyone else is pushing for #1 and they are not currently in the top 5 records listed above, those promoters are liars. They have no shot at #1.
Ok thanks or reading. Almost FALL!!!!!
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