Hot 50 Forecast: Maroon 5 Set For Top Opening, Jessie J’s “Bang Bang”Starts Lukewarm

Now that approximately half the week is gone, it’s time to get down to this week’s forecast. Remember, the Hot 50 forecast is a representation of the first four days of tracking (Saturday-Tuesday) and is not reflective of the entire week.
 

Maroon 5’s just released single, “It Was Always You”, is currently in the lead among new entries this week, ranking among the top 20 this for the week to date (through Tuesday) despite just be released for the first time on Monday night. “It Was Always You” (which follows the group’s #1 peaking “Maps”) previews Maroon 5’s upcoming 5th studio album V. At this point, “It Was Always You” is set for a top 15 finish, which would be a modest start for the band (5 out of 8 of their previously charting hits have opened at #10 or higher). Heading into Wednesday, the track could enter the top 10. While we’re on the topic of Maroon 5, it’s worth pointing out that “Maps” (last week’s leader) is set to command the top of the list for a 5th consecutive week. If it does wind up on top this week, it’ll surpass 2012’s “Payphone (feat. Wiz Khalifa)” as the group’s longest running #1 to date. “Maps” will additionally become the second longest reigning song of 2014, behind Kiesza’s unstoppable “Hideaway”, which topped for 6 straight frames starting in early May.

On the other hand, Jessie J’s Collaboration with Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj (“Bang Bang”) is off to an underwhelming start. With just a handful of first day spins, don’t expect this to amount to much in its first week. When the Social Songs 100 opens up for voting later today, I’m guessing that “Bang Bang” will ride into the top position, which would give it an additional 10 points right off the bat. Still, at this point it’s likely that “Bang Bang” (a track that is actually decently composed) nabs the second highest debut of the week.

The Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga collaboration (“Anything Goes”) could potentially become the third highest debut of the week, with somewhere between #35-45 being a reasonable guess. While that would be a record low start for Gaga (who has tallied 18 weeks at #1), any debut on the Hot 50 would mark a career high for Bennett, who hasn’t released many tracks since the 2012 inception of the CDS Music Chart.

Other tracks that could potentially make a splash include Train’s “Bulletproof Picasso” (from the forthcoming album of the same name), and Secondcity’s “What Can I Do (feat. Ali Love)”. Hillary Duff’s “Chasing the Sun” is currently on pace to fall just short of the official Hot 50.

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