Sony Music Publishing (SMP) won the quarter and the year in Billboard's latest Top Radio Airplay and Hot 100 Songs Publishers for 2023 rankings, while Warner Chappell remained in second place on the Hot 100 and took the No. 2 spot on Top Radio Airplay too.
Taylor Swift and Doja Cat swap the No. 1 and No. 2 spots on the song chart, with Doja's “Paint the Town Red” earning Top Radio Airplay and Swift's “Cruel Summer” taking the top spot on the Hot 100 Songs.
The festivities added extra ring to the late Johnny Marks' bill of rights. He ranked as the top songwriter with four of his holiday classics on the Hot 100 Songs, including Brenda Lee's “Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree,” which charted at No. 6.
Meanwhile, Ashley Gorley had a huge quarter as the top songwriter on the Top Radio Airplay and Top Country Radio charts, with nine and 16 song placements, respectively. His biggest hit on both was Morgan Wallen's “Thinkin' Bout Me.”
Although SMP topped both charts, their market share and number of songs declined across the board. Its share of Top Radio Airplay fell from 30.06% in the third quarter to 27.69%, and from an impressive 70 songs to a still massive 64. On the Hot 100 Songs ranking, the publisher's market share fell from 30.18% up 27.14% quarter-to-quarter , and his song placement dropped from 63 to 59. SMP's top track for the quarter was “Cruel Summer.”
And after five quarters atop the Country Airplay publisher rankings, the company slipped to No. 2 with a 22.95% share, down from 28.14%.
Warner Chappell regained the No. 1 Country Airplay position, which it held for 22 consecutive quarters prior to SMP's rise, ending the quarter with 30.58% of the market, up from 26.20%. This win was part of an amazing quarter for the publisher. Warner Chappell ranked No. 2 on Hot 100 Songs for the second quarter in a row and was No. 2 on Top Radio Airplay for the first time since Q3 2021. Warner Chappell's Hot 100 Songs market share was 20.65%, from 18 .18% , even though its song count fell from 49 to 44 quarter-on-quarter. Her share of Top Radio Airplay increased more than three percentage points, from 15.87% in the third quarter to 19.12%, and her number of songs increased from 51 to 54. Warner Chappell's top song was “Snooze ” by SZA.
Universal Music Publishing Group held steady at No. 3 on the Hot 100 Songs chart with a 15.78% share, down from 17.95% last quarter. Song placement also fell from 43 to 41. UMPG's 18.47% of the Top Radio Airplay market — down from 21.16% last quarter, when it ranked No. 2 — put it behind Warner Chappell. His top song on the Hot 100 chart was “Cruel Summer”, while on the Top Radio Airplay chart was “Paint The Town Red”.
Kobalt placed fourth on both the Hot 100 Songs and Top Radio Airplay charts, scoring a 10.83% market share with 29 song shares on the former and an 8.81% market share with 30 songs on the latter. Kobalt's performances in both metrics were down from the previous quarter, when it had an 11.33% market share with 36 songs on the Hot 100 Songs and a 9.94% market share with 31 songs on the Top Radio Airplay chart. His top song on both charts was “Paint the Town Red”.
BMG moved up one spot from last quarter's Top Radio Airplay to No. 5, increasing its market share from 3.23% to 6.77%. Its song placements rose from 10 to 18. On the Hot 100 Songs chart, BMG remained at No. 5, increasing market share from 4.57% to 5.95% and placements from 11 to 16, including “Paint the Town Red”.
Concord jumped four spots from the previous quarter on the Top Radio Airplay ranking, increasing its market share from 1.37% to 3.71% and more than doubling its song placements from six in the third quarter to 14. Its top song in this chart was Paul Russell's “Lil Boo Thang” (No. 8). The label also returned to the Hot 100 Songs chart, reaching No. 8 with a 1.91% market share, led by Tyla's “Water” (No. 16).
Otherwise, Pulse held steady at No. 7 in the Top Radio Airplay Publishers rankings with a market share of 2.66%, up from 2.80% in the third quarter. Purple Rabbit Music slipped to No. 8 with a 2.07% market share from 3.52% as Luke Combs' version of Tracy Chapman's “Fast Car” fell from No. 1 in the third quarter to No. 9. Once again, Hipgnosis Songs Group ranks No. 9, with a share of 1.48%, up from 1.76% in the previous quarter. And Reservoir slipped to No. 10 with a 1.43% market share from last quarter's No. 8 and 1.82% market share. “Cruel Summer” was Hipgnosis' top song while “Snooze” was Reservoir's top song.
Rounding out the Top 10 for the Hot 100 Songs, Johnny Marks St. Nicholas Music ranked 6th with a market share of 4.96%. Purple Rabbit came in at No. 7 with a market share of 1.99%. peermusic reached No. 9 with a 1.61% market share, making the ranking for the first time since Q3 2020.
Pulse finished at No. 10 with a market share of 1.31%.
Final quarter: Tracy Chapman + Oliver Anthony make history
