Source: Billboard, Wikipedia

Tools: Excel, Datawrapper

I think there's a lot going on with this trend, so I did a longer write-up here.

Posted by noisymortimer

6 comments
  1. Because movie soundtracks are no longer a thing? There used to be “the soundtrack to…” cds all up in best buy. Now it’s just a collection of songs you can stream, no one buys albums, so there’s no symbolic meaning to the addition of visual media.

  2. I think the media kind of spreaded out, the possibilities are expanded nowadays, it was easier for these vehicles once things were more condensed

  3. 2009-2012/3ish drought is particularly interesting. Could’ve swore Anna Kendrick doing Cups for Pitch Perfect came out around then.

    Plays don’t have more billboard hits because their relevance in pop culture has diminished but you see their popularity spike in the 60s and 70s because musicals were turned into films, not cause a song from the stage show made it to radio waves.

    TV you see fewer hits because the number of network’s dramatically increased since the 1980. and easier access to cable, but again I remember California by Phantom Planet becoming a hit after The OC came out and that doesn’t show up on here in 2003 either so I guess neither songs are as popular as I remember.

  4. Fewer movies/TVs/plays using new original songs, for one. Cheaper to just pay for an existing song. Also, hits aren’t dictated by radio play anymore, so studios/labels can’t have them forced down our throats the way they used to.

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