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Over two decades since its inception, Apple’s online music store has taken on a new role as a battleground for conflicts in the virtual world. Recently, multiple songs have climbed to the top of the charts on Apple Music (previously known as iTunes), propelled by various online factions. The ongoing feud between Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion has led to their fans engaging in a virtual war. In addition, supporters of Britney Spears have mass-purchased her older tracks “Liar” and “Selfish” as a means of trolling her ex-boyfriend Justin Timberlake, who coincidentally released a song with the same title last month. Right-wing media influencer Ben Shapiro also called upon his fans to boost his new rap song “Facts”, featuring former Canadian wrestler Tom MacDonald, on the charts. Instead of serving as an accurate measure of popularity, the chart now showcases political biases, long-standing disputes, and outright immaturity.
The trend of fans organizing and promoting specific albums or songs to increase their ranking on the Apple Music download charts is not new. In 2018, a group of Mariah Carey fans purchased her 2001 flop album Glitter in bulk as part of a campaign known as #JusticeForGlitter. However, musician and writer Jaime Brooks explains that the decline of the digital download market has made it easier for smaller and less coordinated campaigns to have a disproportionate impact on the charts. Brooks believes that the decrease in digital song sales (152 million in 2022 compared to 412 million in 2018 in the US) is due to the fact that most people no longer use their phones and iTunes to listen to downloaded files. This type of downloading is now seen as a performative act and is typically driven by some type of cultural division or conflict, rather than genuine interest in the music itself.
Many of these sales campaigns have a political undertone, whether it be implied or explicit. Shapiro’s song is a part of a larger effort to mock and defeat the opposing political party. Fans of Spears view their criticism of Timberlake as a form of retribution for his perceived mistreatment of the singer during their relationship and for his unapologetic behavior since. In Megan’s song, she makes a reference to Megan’s Law, a piece of legislation that requires the government to disclose information about sex offenders, which was seen by many as a dig at Minaj, whose husband is a registered sex offender. Minaj’s song accuses Megan of falsely accusing Tory Lanez of shooting her.
Last year, two campaigns led by the American conservative establishment overshadowed these relatively niche buying campaigns. One of them was in July, when Jason Aldean’s song “Try That in a Small Town” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 after its music video was removed from Country Music Television due to accusations of racism, which Aldean denied. In August, a newcomer named Oliver Anthony debuted at No. 1 with his libertarian single “Rich Men North of Richmond,” which some believe caters to the conspiracy theory group QAnon.
According to Kristin Robinson, a senior writer for Billboard, the Aldean song gained support not just from his fans, but also from observers who viewed it as a cause to rally behind. Robinson explains that popular figures on conservative news outlets, such as Fox News, played a role in fostering this fandom, not necessarily in a musical sense, but in a political sense. The fact that both songs were categorized as country music also contributed to their success. Robinson notes that country music continues to perform well in terms of sales, as it tends to have an older audience with greater purchasing power and potentially less familiarity with technology.
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Sales play a significant role in the ranking of artists on the Billboard charts. Each individual sale is equivalent to 150 streams, making downloads a more important focus for savvy fans rather than “streaming parties” that some fanbases hold. According to Brooks, K-pop fanbases have taken the lead in educating others about the complexities of chart rankings and advocating for a more fair system. This has influenced the recent efforts of Megan fans to rally and compete with Nicki’s numbers.
Unfortunately, only a small number of these campaigns are successful in achieving their intended impact. While Megan’s Hiss managed to debut at the top spot with approximately 100k in sales, 29.2m streams, and 2.9m radio impressions, Shapiro’s song debuted at No 16, Timberlake’s at No 19, and Minaj’s at No 23. According to Brooks, we can expect to see more of this trend in the future as overall music consumption decreases and pop music becomes increasingly intertwined with celebrity and politics. She explains, “Politics is starting to dominate the music scene – whether it’s the Ben Shapiro situation driven by the political media industrial complex, or Britney v Justin fueled by the celebrity industrial complex.” Ultimately, Brooks believes that these competitions are pointless as they all revolve around trying to portray one product as more morally superior than another. But in the end, it’s all just the same thing.
Source: theguardian.com
