CMJ RECAP 1341 WEEK 16

It is crazy to think that the Spring is almost over summer is about to take over, but according to my records it looks like we have one or two max reporting weeks left before the floor drops out from under us. The peak seems to be a few weeks ago with close to 330 stations and soon close to 100 stations will disappear.  

The records don't stop though.  I am not sure if it becomes easier or harder to work a record in the summer.  On one hand there are less stations so 50 stations on a record means a lot more in the summer but on the other hand it becomes so much harder to get in touch with stations and getting those 50 becomes so much more of a chore. So I guess there are pros and cons to it.   Maybe in the next few weeks we can take a look back what happened this spring.

Lets take a look at what happened this week.  Mac Demarco is #1 again and while Cloud Nothings is right there at #2  the gap between the 2 is pretty significant.  Real Estate and War on Drugs are both in week 8 and are starting the slow journey down the charts, a journey that if they all follow St. Vincent and Beck could take years to fall off the charts.  It is crazy to me that St. Vincent is still so high 10 weeks in.  Liars made a nice move into the top 5 after a slow and steady climb.   Avey Tare looked to be a contender a week or so ago but stalled this week at #8, while last weeks #1 most added Wye Oak jumped up to #7.   When you are not personally working a record you really don't know the thought process going into everything but I would imagine that push of Wye Oak is no mistake as next week we have what could be the last big record of the Spring.  Thee Oh Sees.

Seemed like every station I talked to this week was pretty excited about this new record.  I know I would push hard to get up there before that record came out thats for sure.   Something I wanted to start taking a look at and exploring is How they got there. How does a band make the jump to being a #1 record?

Lets take a look at this weeks #1 Mac Demarco.

According to CMJ the first release he had was Rock and Roll Night Club EP  in April of 2012 and it never had any more than 3 stations.

The next release was 2 in October of 2012. This record in its peak week had just under 30 stations and peaked at 48. But it had longevity and was on the chart for over 14 weeks.

After that there are a few singles leading up to the new record. I am sure it is no coincidence that both the last two full records got BNM on Pitchfork and reports of the live show are pretty fantastic. To me it seems like a pretty fast rise to the top of the charts. But lets keep that in mind when we look at the next number ones path to #1 to see how it compares.

Lets continue the conversation on twitter!