LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MAY 09: Justin Timberlake attends the Los Angeles Premiere FYC Event for ... [+]
On Friday (March 15), Justin Timberlake returned with his first new album in more than half a decade, Everything I Thought It Was. The set earned mixed reviews from critics, but it was a quick sales hit on iTunes. On Spotify, however, the just-dropped full-length is not performing well. Actually, its opening day performance is somewhat embarrassing.
Of the 200 most-streamed songs on Spotify on Friday (March 15) in the United States alone, not one of them comes from Everything I Thought It Was. Not even the lead single, “Selfish,” or “Drown,” the only other track shared before the set dropped, appear on the ranking.
In comparison, eight songs from the new Kacey Musgraves album, Deeper Well, find their way to the ranking. That’s more than half of the tunes on the full-length. The title track and single re-enters at No. 48, while seven others featured on the set debut somewhere on the 200-spot tally.
Many of the biggest contemporary stars in music dominate Spotify’s daily ranking on Fridays, when the vast majority of major albums and singles arrive each week. It’s not uncommon for some of the most famous players in the industry to send an entire album’s worth of material to the list of the most-played cuts in the nation.
This week, a number of exciting new songs find their way to the daily Spotify chart. In addition to Musgraves’ many wins, just-released tracks from Cardi B (“Enough [Miami],” No. 40), Ivan Cornejo (“Baby Please,” No. 46), Gunna and Offset (“Prada Dem,” No. 62), and Flo Milli, SZA, and Cardi again (“Never Lose Me,” No. 77) all launch on the ranking.
Even many older tracks that have seemingly already enjoyed their time in the spotlight are performing better than those just shared by Timberlake, who is still regarded by many as one of the more well-known musicians in pop today. Tears For Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” (No. 61), Jimmy Eat World’s “The Middle” (No. 173), and The Cranberries’ “Linger” (No. 176) all made it onto the daily Spotify chart, among others. The same can be said for songs from lesser-known artists, like Eyedress, TV Girl, The Walters, Lord Huron and more.
If Timberlake had managed only a few new hits on the Spotify chart from Everything I Thought It Was—and even for just a day or two—that wouldn’t have been an embarrassment. But the fact that none of the tunes from his first album in several years racked up even 351,000 plays–the No. 200 most-streamed track on Friday hit that sum–on the day they were released is not a good sign.
Of course, Timberlake’s latest project may still make a sizable impact on the Billboard charts in a week or so. Some of the most important rankings incorporate different forms of consumption, with streams being only one of the metrics. Sales also weigh heavily, and radio airplay is also a factor (for some rankings). Everything I Thought It Was may enjoy a notable launch thanks to a hefty sales count, which may make up for a very disappointing performance on sites like Spotify, Apple Music, and the like.
