Following the surprise debut of Beyonce’s new self-titled album — which sent social networks and the Twittersphere ablaze with chatter about the diva — she jumps to No. 1 on Billboard’s Social 50 chart this week.
The Social 50 ranks the most popular artists on YouTube, Vevo, Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud, Wikipedia, Myspace and Instagram. The chart’s methodology blends weekly additions of friends/fans/followers along with artist page views, song plays and reactions as measured by music analytics company Next Big Sound.
Beyonce’s new album arrived without warning on Dec. 13 and swiftly debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 617,000 copies in its first three days on sale (according to Nielsen SoundScan).
This is her third non-consecutive week atop the Social 50. She previously spent two weeks at No. 1 following her Super Bowl halftime performance earlier this year.
“Surprise!” reads the caption on a 15 second video she posted to Instagram announcing the new album. The short, which features a mashup of video clips from the album as well as details that was available on iTunes immediately, has received more than 560,000 likes since the day that it was released. For the Social 50 charting week, Beyonce added 316,000 new fans to her Instagram account (a 64% increase over the previous week).
According to data provided by Twitter, Beyonce’s album generated over 1.2 million Tweets in 12 hours. And, in less than 24 hours after the album’s bow, mentions of the singing superstar spiked by 500,000-plus Tweets. The folks at Twitter Music even put together a compelling visualization of how the conversation surrounding the Beyonce album took off on Twitter after the announcement, which you can view by following the link in the tweet below.
This Twitter buzz about Beyonce helps her to gain 50,000 new followers on the platform, a 495% increase in follower acquisition over the previous week. These gains aren’t just limited to Twitter either, on Facebook she adds over 1.1 million fans, an impressive 859% gain over last week.
Another notable jump this week is Taylor Swift, who celebrated her 24th Birthday on Friday, Dec. 13 (same day as Beyonce’s album release). Swift celebrated the occasion with friends, including Lorde (who rises 19-17). The activity on social media from fans reaching out to send their regards translates into a 164% jump in Swift’s fan acquisition for the week.
In the top 10, Bieber rises 3-2, Miley Cyrus dips (1-3) along with Ariana Grande (2-4). One Direction climbs (7-5), as does Katy Perry (8-6). Eminem tumbles (4-7) as Rihanna ascends (10-8) along with Demi Lovato (13-9).