Billboard Hot 100, 9/6/2008

1. Whatever You Like - T.I.

Rapper T.I. vaults to #1, securing a new record for the biggest leap to #1, rising 70 spots from #71. Sooner or later someone will jump 100-1, and we'll never be troubled with this record again. Until that time, T.I. can claim it for himself, beating out Maroon 5's 64-1 jump with "Makes Me Wonder, " which had beat the previous record-holder Kelly Clarkson's 51-1 jump with "A Moment Like This." This is T.I.'s second #1 hit, following his guest appearance on Justin Timberlake's "My Love."

9. So What - Pink

Pink makes a strong Hot 100 debut at #9 with "So What," the first single from her upcoming fifth album Funhouse. Interestingly, "So What," which is #9 this week, is Pink's ninth top 10, and both top 10 hits from her last album, "U + Ur Hand" and "Who Knew" both peaked at #9.

19. All Summer Long - Hit Masters
25. All Summer Long - Kid Rock
37. American Boy - Estelle Featuring Kanye West

This week's Hot 100 provides an interesting lesson on the cost of ignoring innovation. First up at #19 is "All Summer Long" by Hit Masters, a karaoke company's remake of the song popularized by Kid Rock, which appears at #25. The Kid Rock track (and the entire album) has been withheld from iTunes. Consequently, a song that if available as a single would surely be in the top 10 right now, languishes at #25 based solely on airplay. This if course was done in hopes that fans would buy the album, which apparently has worked, as the album is #2 right now. So I guess the gamble paid off for the bottom line, even if it means that for now "Picture" continues to be Kid Rock's only top 10 hit.

In another corner is Estelle, who's record label Atlantic decided this week to discontinue offering her album Shine on iTunes. This, it turns out, was a bad decision. Last week "American Boy" was #11 with a bullet, having been steadily climbing. With the album gone from iTunes, so then is the track, and it plummets 26 spots to #37. Estelle could have had a top 10 hit this week, instead she has one of the week's biggest droppers. I suppose the rationale here was again hoping that fans would instead buy the album, but taking it off iTunes--America's #1 music retailer--really deprives fans of that opportunity too. Consequently, the album plummets from #124 to #159. If I was Estelle, I'd be more than a little bit ticked.

Why would record companies do this? They seem unable to grasp that consumers want to buy music online. They don't want to buy CDs anymore. CDs are dying. Let them die. Move on or be left behind.