10 Songs That Didn't Get the Peak They Deserved in the U.S.

Songs are typically released in hopes to reach a wide audience, whether it is in order to convey

a meaningful message or just to make people feel good with the song of the summer. We can

measure a song's popularity and success by its amount of sales and airplay in terms of

impressions if it was released to radio. The peak of the song on the almighty Billboard Hot 100,

however, may or may not be well reflective of its actual performance. Usually top tens are quite

successful and songs outside the top 40 or 50 aren't, but this is not always the case.

Confounding variables such as tough competition and longevity and radio snubbing can play a

role in giving a song a seemingly inaccurate peak. For example, a song that sells 4 million with

minimal airplay may not peak as high as a song that sells 1 million with significant airplay,

although it would deserve to. And a song that sells 50 thousand each week for 20 weeks may

not peak as high as a song that sells 300 thousand its first week and ultimately fails to sell 600

Thousand, although it would also deserve to. Here are 10 songs that didn't get as high a peak

that they deserved (not according to the quality of the song, but the song's actual performance

on the charts).

Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years” might be the worst offender. This excellent song off the

Twilight Soundtrack peaked at #31 despite selling over 4 million copies. To put things into

perspective, the other single from the Twilight Soundtrack “It Will Rain” by Bruno Mars peaked

at #3 despite selling less, around 3.5 million. I believe “A Thousand Years” is the highest

digitally selling song in the US to peak outside the top 30. I'm not 100% sure of this, but I would

be willing to bet money on it.

Bruno Mars’s “Marry You” sold over a whopping 2.2 million, and it only peaked at #85. Part of

the reason of this is because it wasn't released as a single in the U.S., and therefore wasn't

released to radio. This shows that songs that do not need radio to chart, which is impressive,

should not be punished with a low chart peak. This is a flaw in the charts, and “Marry You” has

actually outsold top ten singles as a #85­ peaking song. And without a video as well.

Awolnation’s “Sail” is one of the highest digitally selling singles in the US, selling over 5.5 million

copies. Despite this and selling more than most #1 singles, it peaked at a measly #17. Even

more impressive is that it sold 3 to 4 million before even peaking in the top 30, much like “A

Thousand Years”. Increased radio support gave them the push into the top 20, which still

proved not enough for the deserved top 10.

Paramore's “Misery Business” sold over 3 million, which is impressive especially considering it

was released in 2007 before the digital boom. It only managed to peak at #26, which is

ridiculous, as the song is a classic that many have purchased. This has happened to many

Paramore songs including “The Only Exception” and “Still Into You”, and despite all their hits

and iconic status, they didn't achieve a top ten (let alone a top twenty) until “Ain't It Fun” from

their fourth album. However, “Misery Business” was more successful than “Ain’t It Fun” despite

peaking 16 spots lower.

Demi Lovato's breakout mainstream hit “Give Your Heart a Break” went #1 on pop radio, making

it her label’s third #1 there and second by a female. An even more interesting achievement is

that it, with 25 weeks, broke the record for longest time to hit #1 on pop radio for a female,

beating the 23 weeks of P!nk’s “U+Ur Hand” and Ellie Goulding’s “Lights” (Alessia Cara broke

the record in January 2016 with “Here”, achieving in 26 weeks). Anyway, the song sold over 2

million in addition to that, and it only peaked at #16. Part of the reason for this oddity (At this

point, Demi had 3 less successful singles that peaked higher) is its insane longevity and its

sales peaking before its radio. So all the components were there, but they didn't peak at the

right time ­ together.

Ellie Goulding’s “Burn” followed the success of her monster hit “Lights”, which peaked at an

acceptable #2, although it was more deserving of a #1. “Burn” sold over 2 million in the US, and

reached #2 on the pop radio chart, behind Katy Perry's “Dark Horse”. The song peaked at a

disappointing #13, being stuck in the #13­16 range for 4 months. “Burn” certainly had longevity,

taking a long time to rise up the chart, and had many weeks of consistently modest success

rather than one week of HUGE success followed by underperformances. However,

unfortunately, peaks more positively portray the latter (look at Ariana Grande’s #7­peaking

“Focus”, for instance).

Another song by Christina Perri, I just have to mention. She's the queen of undeservedly low

chart peaks. Her debut, melancholic powerful single “Jar of Hearts” achieved massive success,

selling almost 4 million copies, after being performed on the hit FOX dance show So You Think

You Can Dance. Despite the song’s longevity and ubiquitousness, it only peaked at #17, which

is not as much of a travesty as “A Thousand Years”, but still quite an unfair travesty.

Selena Gomez’s “Love You Like a Love Song” was a huge upbeat summer success,

reminiscent of Basshunter’s “Now You're Gone”. The song went on to sell 2.6 million copies and

is still Selena's most successful song to date in the US. However, it only peaked at #22. She

didn't achieve a top ten until her next album (her fourth) with “Come and Get It”. Until then,

Selena always peaked lower than her peers like Demi Lovato despite sometimes selling more.

Colbie Caillat’s “Brighter Than the Sun” was another summer hit in 2011, like “Love You Like a

Love Song”. The song sold over a million, and due to a lack of support from radios, peaked at a

measly #47. The song was everywhere and known by everyone, even more successful than the

previous single, lead single “I Do”, which peaked at #23 due to a strong debut week. “Brighter

Than the Sun”, on the other hand, had longevity, spending an impressive half a year on the

charts. Even more impressive considering Billboard doesn't even consider it a hit because it

only considers top 40 hits as such.

Lastly, pop duo The Ting Tings’s second US single “That's Not My Name”, following the more

moderate success of debut “Shut Up and Let Me Go”, became an iconic breakout hit, allowing

them to earn the honor of being nominated for Best New Artist by the Grammys. The song sold

over a million copies, but only peaked at #39. Comparably, it went #1 in the UK, where it

achieved similar success. However, the difference in peaks is deceiving.