Lady Gaga Rules Billboard.com's Readers Poll 2013

Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande also scored major wins, but Gaga was the Billboard.com readers' MVP.

Put your hands up, make 'em touch: Lady Gaga is the ruler of Billboard.com's 2013 Readers' Poll, which allowed pop music fans far and wide to vote for their favorite albums, songs, videos and performances of the past year. Gaga, who returned in late 2013 with her "ARTPOP" opus, emerged in a superstar-laden field and claimed the poll's top prize: the 2013 MVP.

However, the MVP award was just the start for Gaga. "ARTPOP" was voted the readers' favorite album to top the Billboard 200 chart in 2013, while the official clip for "Applause" ran away with the Favorite Music Video category. Gaga's two-song stop on "Saturday Night Live" last month was voted the Favorite TV Performance of the year, and the singer blew away the competition in the Fashion category. And although "Lady Gaga Cancels Tour Dates Due To Injury" won the Biggest Disappointment award, that win just demonstrates how eager fans remain to see Gaga live -- her next tour was voted the most anticipated event of 2014.

2013 was a huge year for Gaga in the Readers' Poll, but Miley Cyrus wasn't too far behind the "Do What U Want" singer. "Wrecking Ball," Cyrus' first No. 1 single on the Hot 100 chart, was voted the best Hot 100 chart-topper of the year, and Cyrus' "Bangerz" career revival was voted the Comeback of the Year. Cyrus' twerk-happy VMAs performance was voted the Most Shocking Moment in music of 2013, and the "Wrecking Ball" online parodies won the vote for the Best Viral moment of the year.

Some other winners of note: just like in our mid-year poll, Ariana Grande ran away with the Newcomer of the Year vote, overcoming fellow newbies Imagine Dragons and Lorde in the vote. Taylor Swift's international Red run was voted the Favorite Tour of the year, while Lollapalooza and "The X Factor" won for the year's best festival and musical TV show, respectively. And although we had to remove Beyonce from one of our categories -- "Beyonce Does Not Release An Album in 2013" certainly still can't be an option in the Biggest Disappointment vote! -- Queen Bey gave the Festival Performance of the year at Made In America, while she and Jay Z were voted the Hottest Couple of 2013.

Check out the full results below -- including the percentage of the votes that each candidate received:

Here are the final results for Billboard.com's 2013 Readers' Poll:

First-Half MVP
1. Lady Gaga (26%)
2. Miley Cyrus (21%)
3. Taylor Swift (9%)

Best Newcomer
1. Ariana Grande (30%)
2. Imagine Dragons (20%)
3. Lorde (17%)

Favorite No. 1 Hot 100 Song
1. Miley Cyrus, "Wrecking Ball" (27%)
2. Katy Perry, "Roar" (17%)
3. Lorde, "Royals" (16%)

Favorite No. 1 Billboard 200 Album
1. Lady Gaga, "ARTPOP" (26%)
2. Taylor Swift, "Red" (17%)
3. Miley Cyrus, "Bangerz" (17%)

Best Music Video
1. Lady Gaga, "Applause" (30%)
2. Miley Cyrus, "Wrecking Ball" (16%)
3. Taylor Swift, "I Knew You Were Trouble." (10%)

Best Comeback
1. Miley Cyrus (37%)
2. Justin Timberlake (29%)
3. Daft Punk (5%)

Most Shocking Moment
1. Miley Cyrus' VMAs Performance (37%)
2. Lady Gaga Appears Naked in Marina Ambramovic Video (26%)
3. Cory Monteith's Death (15%)

Best Viral Sensation
1. Miley Cyrus, "Wrecking Ball" (56%)
2. Ylvis, "What Does The Fox Say" (19%)
3. Baauer, "Harlem Shake" (15%)

Best Festival
1. Lollapalooza (29%)
2. Made In America (20%)
3. Coachella (19%)

Best Festival Performance
1. Beyonce at Made In America (49%)
2. Swedish House Mafia at Ultra Music Festival (21%)
3. Paul McCartney at Bonnaroo (10%)

Best Tour
1. Taylor Swift (17%)
2. Beyonce (16%)
3. Justin Bieber (14%)

Best TV Performance
1. Lady Gaga on "Saturday Night Live" (28%)
2. Miley Cyrus at American Music Awards (19%)
3. Beyonce at Super Bowl (11%)

Most Overexposed Artist
1. Miley Cyrus (34%)
2. Lady Gaga (24%)
3. Justin Bieber (12%)

Biggest Disappointment
1. Lady Gaga Cancels Tour Dates Due To Injury (39%)
2. Jonas Brothers Cancel Tour, Break Up (18%)
3. Season 12 of "American Idol" (13%)

Best Fashion
1. Lady Gaga (31%)
2. Miley Cyrus (19%)
3. Rihanna (10%)

Hottest Couple
1. Jay Z & Beyonce (27%)
2. Katy Perry & John Mayer (18%)
3. One Direction's Zayn Malik & Little Mix's Perrie Edwards (16%)

Most Memorable Feud
1. Lady Gaga vs. Perez Hilton (36%)
2. Miley Cyrus vs. Sinead O'Connor (26%)
3. Nicki Minaj vs. Mariah Carey (25%)

Best Collaboration
1. Lady Gaga & R. Kelly, "Do What U Want" (35%)
2. Eminem & Rihanna, "The Monster" (17%)
3. Snoop Lion & Miley Cyrus, "Ashtrays & Heartbreaks" (12%)

Best Musical/Variety Show
1. "The X Factor" (29%)
2. "The Voice" (23%)
3. "Saturday Night Live" (22%)

Most Anticipated Event of 2014
1. Lady Gaga's Next Tour (29%)
2. Britney Spears' Las Vegas Residency (19%)
3. Taylor Swift's Next Album (14%)

Sources : Billboard

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Lady Gaga's 'Applause' Hits No. 1 on Dance Chart

Lady Gaga's 'Applause' Hits No. 1 on Dance Chart

The lead single from Gaga's "ARTPOP" lands at the top spot.

Lady Gaga zooms from No. 16-1 on Dance/Electronic Songs with “Applause,” riding enormous gains all around.

Her 15-spot leap is the most in the eight month history of the Dance/Electronic Songs chart, beating the 12-1 jump of Baauer¹s “Harlem Shake.” Only “Shake” and “Gentleman” by PSY reached No. 1 in two weeks or less.

The song takes home the Greatest Gainer/Airplay award and enters at No. 4 on Dance Streaming Songs, collecting 79% of its 2.9 million streams from YouTube. Sales of 218,000 digital downloads, according to Nielsen SoundScan, are enough to spur a No. 1 debut on Dance/Electronic Digital Songs, her fourth No. 1 and ninth top 10 on that tally.

Two remixes enter Dance/Electronic Songs: “Motherquake,” a Diplo remix of the DJ Fresh song “Earthquake” featuring Dominique Young Unique’s vocals, debuts at No. 38.  Only available for download to those who purchase the entire “Kick Ass 2” film soundtrack, its chart points stem entirely from YouTube streams. A new version of Barker & Yelawolf’s “Push ‘Em, remixed by Steve Aoki & Travis Barker, is new at No. 41 (6,000 units).  Sales of the original version do not count towards this remix.

Over on Dance/Electronic Albums, BT captures his fifth top 10 with “A Song Across Wires.” His No. 5 bow carries his best sales week (2,000 units) since February, 2010.

Finally, Avicii’s red-hot momentum continues as “Wake Me Up!” soars 6-1 on Dance Club Songs, his fourth No. 1.  Avicii is also the Greatest Gainer/Digital at No. 3 on Dance/Electronic Digital Songs (138,000 units, up 22%), while improving 15-11 on the Hot 100.

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Analysis: How Lady Gaga, Katy Perry And Rihanna Came To Dominate Top 40 Radio

A pure pop boom coincides with the Pop Songs radio airplay chart's two-decade anniversary.

Happy birthday, Billboard's Nielsen BDS-based Pop Songs chart! Two decades in, the ranking continues to track the trends at, and reveal the realities of, U.S. mainstream top 40 radio. 

The chart's 20th anniversary - it launched the week of Oct. 3, 1992 - also coincides with an unprecedented pure pop boom, as mainstream top 40 radio is playing more pure pop than ever before. And, as station ratings soar, such a focus on the format's musical middle ground is reinforcing that the format works best when deemphasizing such extremes as rock and rap. 

A year-by-year analysis of Billboard's Pop Songs chart reveals that pure pop - i.e., melodic, often synth-driven, uptempo fare from the likes of Kelly Clarkson, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry - has made up at least 60% of the survey's total top 10 hits each year from 2008 through 2012 (from January through July annually). Last year, the style accounted for a whopping 79% of the list's top 10s - the highest percentage in the chart's history - as 30 of the 38 top 10s during that period fit a pop classification. 


This week, Chart Beat is celebrating the 20th anniversary of Billboard's Pop Songs radio airplay chart.

Today, Oct. 2: Analysis: How Lady Gaga, Katy Perry And Rihanna Came To Dominate Top 40 Radio 

Tomorrow, Oct. 3: The Top 100 Pop Songs 1992-2012, From No. 100 To No. 1

Thursday, Oct. 4: The Top 40 Pop Artists 1992-2012, From No. 40 To No. 1 

What's behind the pure pop boom? It's no coincidence that 2008 marked the arrival of two of the format's reigning stars: Perry and Gaga. Rihanna, meanwhile, continued to solidify her star status as an almost constant chart staple, adding touches of R&B and reggae to her overall pop focus. Add the continued domination or resurgences in that span of such acts asChristina Aguilera, Clarkson, Maroon 5 (which, in recent years, has segued from rock to a more pop lean), P!nk and Britney Spears, and it's clear that pop became tops at mainstream top 40 radio. 

In turn, ratings have reflected that audiences' appetites for pop are robust. CBS Radio flipped KAMP Los Angeles and WXRK New York to mainstream top 40 in 2009, taking on respective Clear Channel Media and Entertainment-owned format leaders KIIS and WHTZ. In Arbitron's August 2012 ratings among listeners ages 6 and older, KIIS led all Los Angeles stations with a 5.5 share, while KAMP pulled a 3.8 share. In New York in August, WHTZ registered a 6.1 share, while WXRK scored a 2.4 showing.

Similar battles brew in other large markets. In Detroit and Boston, CBS Radio has likewise switched WDZH (also in 2009) and WODS (two months ago) to mainstream top 40, again challenging established Clear Channel-owned format outlets WKQI and WXKS, respectively. 

Programmers' adherence to, and the availability of, pure pop music at the format has ebbed and flowed since Billboard premiered Pop Songs, born of then-new BDS electronic monitoring technology, 20 years ago. (Ironically, given its title, Boyz II Men's "End of the Road" led the inaugural list. Current No. 1 "One More Night" by Maroon 5 is the chart's 252nd topper.) 

While pure pop has comprised more than 60% of all Pop Songs top 10s each year since 2008, the sound encompassed just 41% in 1993, when R&B from the likes of Whitney Houston, Janet Jackson and TLC infused format playlists. 

In 1996, pop accounted for just 19% of all top 10s, as such rock/alternative acts as Gin Blossoms, Hootie & the Blowfish and Alanis Morissette became the format's - and the public's - flavor of choice. 

And, in 2003, pop's percentage rose to 45%, but the amount of rap top 10s doubled to 12 from the previous year, too. The heyday of 50 Cent, Diddy and Eminem at pop radio contrasted with 1993-2002, when no more than one rap title reached the top 10 annually. 

Since 2008, however, Rihanna has reigned with 15 more top 10s after "Umbrella," Gaga's implored us to just dance (while racking seven Pop Songs No. 1s) and Perry's tallied a record six Pop Songs No. 1s from one album ("Teenage Dream"). And, she, um, kissed a girl. Clearly, we've liked it all. 

According to Edison Research VP of music and programming Sean Ross, several factors have aligned to make for a current pinnacle for pop music. "There's less competition. R&B/hip-hop and alternative don't have the [ratings] influence that they used to, or, thus, the same ability to force songs on top 40's agenda. Only country has a similar ability to break new music and it's still viewed by most pop PDs as another sphere." 

Ross adds that mainstream top 40 has learned to cultivate its own versions of rock and R&B-influenced pop, allowing the format to sample variety without risking playing extremes. In recent years, he notes, the format largely replaced hip-hop with rhythmic pop from such acts as theBlack Eyed Peas. Teen punk similarly usurped alternative at top 40, thanks to the rise of bands like the All-American Rejects. "Plus, R&B acts like Chris Brown and Usher are releasing exclusive pop singles for top 40 while saving their core R&B singles for that format," says Ross (who served as Billboard's radio editor in 1988-92). 

While the names have changed - Peter Cetera, En Vogue, Guns N' Roses, Elton John and Toad the Wet Sprocket inhabited the maiden Pop Songs chart; Miley Cyrus wasn't born until a month after the list's launch;Justin Bieber, a year and a half later - the survey continues to help guide pop programmers' decisions. "The Pop Songs chart came along at point when country and hip-hop were competing heavily with the format," Ross recalls. "It gave mainstream top 40 PDs their own chart to look at.

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An all-Taylor Swift edition of Weekly Chart Notes, in honor of her first Hot 100 topper.

In her new single, "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," Taylor Swift mocks her ex for mocking her by listening to "some indie record that's much cooler than mine." (Or, is it "Mine," her No. 3 Billboard Hot 100 hit from 2010?) 

With "Never" rocketing 72-1 to become her first Hot 100 leader, Swift's coolness doesn't seem to be in question.

As previously reported, the song arrives with 623,000 downloads sold, the best weekly sum for a woman in Nielsen SoundScan history. "Never," also the first Hot 100 No. 1 for the Big Machine Records label, previews Swift's fourth studio album, "Red," due Oct. 22.

"#1 on Billboard's Hot 100!!?! This has been the most amazing week. (Jumping up and down)," Swift beamed via Twitter upon learning of her achievement. 

In honor of her landmark week, let's run through an all-Taylor Swift edition of Weekly Chart Notes, as the song's coronation rewrites multiple chapters of Hot 100 history. 


46 = 1: Upon her vault to the Hot 100 summit for the first time, Swift relinquishes the mantle as the female artist with the most charted titles without a No. 1. "Never" marks her 46th Hot 100 entry. She'd previously charted as high as No. 2 with "You Belong With Me" (2009) and "Today Was a Fairytale" (2010). 

With Swift a Hot 100 penthouse resident at last, sorry, Nicki Minaj: with 41 Hot 100 hits and no No. 1s (so far, at least), you now own the distinction among women for most Hot 100 visits without reigning. (Your "Pound the Alarm," however, continues to makes a play for the summit, charging 29-22 in its fourth week.) 

Among all artists, the act with the most Hot 100 visits has yet to top the tally: the "Glee" cast has made 203 appearances, rising as high as No. 4 with "Don't Stop Believin' " in 2009. James Brown (91), Jackie Wilson (53) and Brook Benton (48) follow with the most Hot 100 entries but no No. 1s. 


WAIT OFF HER SHOULDERS: Having required 46 appearances to crown the Hot 100, Swift tallied the most charted titles of any act that's notched at least one No. 1 before finally reaching the pinnacle. 

She passes Dionne Warwick, who visited the Hot 100 39 times before leading at last on her 40th try with "Then Came You," with the Spinners, in 1974. (My girlfriend, Michelle, on Warwick: "Given her psychic skills, hopefully she didn't worry if she'd ever hit No. 1.") 

Among other artists who took their time tallying their first Hot 100 No. 1s, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles needed 37 tries until "Tears of a Clown" reached No. 1 in 1970; Johnny Mathis needed 31 attempts until "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late," with Deniece Williams, in 1978); and, Marvin Gaye ("I Heard It Through the Grapevine," 1968) and Bob Seger ("Shakedown," 1987) each required 30. 

Swift's wait for a Hot 100 No. 1 is largely a byproduct of the digital era, as she's been charting on the Hot 100 for only slightly more than six years (see the next item for exactly how long). Warwick, by comparison, waited close to 12 years before finally leading the list and Mathis and Seger each took almost 20 years from their first appearances until their first No. 1s. 

What changed? The digital era has swelled major artists' chances of denting the Hot 100 more often, as such star acts as Swift routinely debut multiple entries upon the release of highly-anticipated albums, fueled by first-week a la carte download sales. All 14 songs on the standard edition of Swift's third studio album, "Speak Now," in fact, graced the Hot 100, with 10 debuting the week that the set bowed atop the Billboard 200 (Nov. 13, 2010).(Read on for more about Swift's lucky number, 13.) 

While "Never" is Swift's 46th Hot 100 hit, it's just her 22nd single promoted to country and/or pop radio; the other 24 charted based on digital sales alone.  

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