|
RE: Free in Hot AC Top 40! (now Top 30)
Well, whether it's bad karma from not reciprocating twitter album love to Casey, or just having passed the 90-day HAC expiration date without cracking the Top 20, either way, it's time to break out the bugle, play Taps, and salute the imminent end of the FREE radio era.
Sadly, Free bled all over the chart again today (-21, 597, #33 HAC), and was passed by FUN in the process. There are also three more artists poised to speed past her over the weekend, and more to follow the following week. The View appearance may give a minor boost, and she may get a few extra spins in Chicago as Lolla approaches, but none of that will reverse the fate. I've signed the DNR, so when she officially falls out of the Top 40 I'll mercifully pull the plug on updating this thread. It's pretty depressing seeing FREE in hospice, and I almost think it'll be a blessing when it's over and (hopefully) a bouncing new BoB single can be born to begin its promising life-cycle on the charts.
With that in mind, we can now reflect on Free's time on the charts and discuss whether it should be considered a hit, a flop, or something in between. At its peak, Free rose to #31 overall on iTunes, #27 on the MediaBase HAC chart, and #26 on Billboard's Adult Pop chart. It also received nearly universal critical acclaim. What does this mean? It means Free's sales and radio play was decent overall, but certainly not spectacular. In retrospect, though I personally do like Free, it would have been a better idea to release NTYH, HTGR, or WT as the lead single, as they are better reflections of the album's music style, can be effectively performed acoustically on the promo tour (unlike Oh My!), and are much more radio friendly.
Most importantly, since Listen Up!'s album sales are only meandering around 40k, and likely won't get much past 50k without a successful new single to give a boost, I'd say Free was a mild disappointment as a lead-off single from a dollars and cents perspective.
Free's overall grade as the lead single for Listen Up!: C+
|
