Hit Songs Deconstructed recently released its Q2-2017 Top 10 Hit Songwriting Trend Report, which provides an at-a-glance look at what’s trending in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 right now.
Songs on average have been getting longer, featuring longer intros and getting to the first chorus later quarter over quarter for the past year.
On the primary genre front, the prominence of Hip Hop in the Top 10 continued to surge for the third straight quarter, rising to its highest level in years and surpassing Pop to become the top primary genre of Q2. Country and Latin, which have been rare in the Top 10, made a big comeback with Body Like A Back Road and Despacito.
The prominence of acoustic guitar in the Top 10 nearly doubled in Q2 compared to Q1 thanks to hits such as Body Like A Back Road, Despacito and Shape Of You, among others.
Songwriting teams consisting of five or more writers are still by far the most prominent, accounting for over half of all songs in the Top 10. Love/relationships remains the most popular lyrical theme (no surprise there), and duets – which accounted for over half of all songs in Q4 and Q1, are down to just 36% in Q2.
The following 25 songs charted in the Hot 100 Top 10 during the second quarter of 2017, on which this report is based:
- Bad And Boujee: Migos featuring Lil Uzi Vert
- Body Like A Back Road: Sam Hunt
- Congratulations: Post Malone featuring Quavo
- Despacito: Daddy Yankee, Luis Fonsi featuring Justin Bieber
- DNA.: Kendrick Lamar
- HUMBLE.: Kendrick Lamar
- I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker): Taylor Swift, Zayn
- I Feel It Coming: The Weeknd featuring Daft Punk
- I’m The One: DJ Khaled featuring Chance The Rapper, Justin Bieber, Lil Wayne, Quavo
- iSpy: Kyle featuring Lil Yachty
- It Ain’t Me: Kygo, Selena Gomez
- Love On The Brain: Rihanna
- Malibu: Miley Cyrus
- Mask Off: Future
- Paris: The Chainsmokers
- Passionfruit: Drake
- Portland: Drake featuring Quavo & Travis Scott
- Rockabye: Clean Bandit featuring Anne-Marie, Sean Paul
- Shape Of You: Ed Sheeran
- Sign Of The Times: Harry Styles
- Something Just Like This: Coldplay, The Chainsmokers
- Stay : Aliessa Cara, Zedd
- That’s What I Like: Bruno Mars
- Tunnel Vision: Kodak Black
- XO TOUR Lif3: Lil Uzi Vert
What follows are highlights pulled from our quarterly trend report.
Compositional trends are for songs that charted in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 during Q2-2017. Data and analytics for all findings are available in the Hit Songs Deconstructed IMMERSION Searchable Database.
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Most Popular Compositional Characteristics
- Songwriting Team Size: 5+
- Lead Vocal: Solo Male
- Primary Genre: Hip Hop/Rap
- Influence: Trap
- Lyrical Theme: Love/Relationships
- Song Title Word Count: 1
- Song Title Appearances: 6 – 10 Times
- Song Length Range: 4:00 +
- First Section: Intro
- Intro Length Range: 0:10 – 0:19
- First Chorus: Time Into Song Range: 0:40 – 0:59
- Songs That Contain an Instrumental or Vocal Break: Vocal Break
- Last Section: Outro
- Outro Length Range: 0:10 – 0:19
Multi-Quarter Upward Trends
Increased in prominence for three or more quarters.
- Primary Genre: Hip Hop/Rap
- Song Length Range: 4:00 +
Multi-Quarter Downward Trends
Decreased in prominence for three or more quarters.
- Lead Vocal: Duet/Group (Female/Male)
- Influence: Electropop
Gone
Do not appear in the Top 10 in Q2-2017 after appearing the preceding quarter.
- Lead Vocal: Duet/Group (All Female)
- Influence: New Wave
- Lyrical Theme: Novelty
- Prominent Instruments: Strings (Violin), Wind (Sax)
- First Section: Chorus
- First Chorus Time Into Song Range: Kickoff
- Last Section: Vocal Break
Back
Returned to the Top 10 in Q2-2017 after not appearing the preceding quarter.
- Primary Genres: Country, Latin
- Influence: World (Latin)
- Song Title Appearances: None
- Prominent Instruments: Wind (Recorder), Wind (Trumpet)
- Last Section: Verse
Data and analytics for all findings in this article are available in the Hit Songs Deconstructed Searchable Database.
PRO Subscribers can view the full report by logging in here.
Not a Subscriber? Sign up for a free trial to read this report.
