Stargate universe: can the hitmakers become stars in their own right?

Cover image via Pitchfork.

Taking two #1’s on the Trending & Predictive Charts is Stargate’s Waterfall ft. P!nk & Sia. The debut single from the Norwegian duo, it took Most Added two weeks ago and now sits at #8 on the TMN Hot 100. As one could probably infer from the calibre of those features, this isn’t their first foray into commercial pop.

The group first tasted success on S Club 7’s S Club Party, on which they contributed to both songwriting and production. Since then they’ve had a hand in an impressive list of chart-topping hits, including tracks with Beyoncé, Jay Sean, Ne-Yo, Rihanna, Chris Brown, Katy Perry & Major Lazer.

It seems those ties with dancehall-pop chart regular Diplo came into play on Waterfall, with the Major Lazer producer earning a writing credit on the track alongside Sia and Jr. Blender.

On top of all this, the duo have four Grammys to their name. One for Best Dance Recording on Rihanna’s Only Girl In The World, another for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song for Ne-Yo’s Miss Independent. Beyoncé’s Irreplaceable and Beautiful Liar (which saw her team up with Shakira), both produced by Stargate, also earned them Grammys.

With all this firepower behind them it’s no surprise that Waterfall has taken off the way it has. The question is whether or not Stargate will continue to try their hand as recording artists or stick with production and songwriting. It’s clear they have the songwriting chops, but will that alone be enough to keep them buoyed at the top of the charts? Would hits like Only Girl In The World have been as big if they were credited to “Stargate ft. Rihanna”, rather than RiRi alone?

Plenty of songwriters have made the jump successfully; their frequent collaborator Ne-Yo is one of the most prolific.

Another example is Julia Michaels, whose sly, understated style is much in demand – after a string of hits like Justin Bieber’s Sorry, Selena Gomez’ Good For You and Hands To Myself, and the Nick Jonas/Tove Lo duet Close, she released Issues this year under her own name, and it’s charting performance thus far is nothing to scoff at.

Issues sits tight at #7 on the Hot 100 for another week after a total of nine consecutive weeks in the chart. It peaked at #5 on the Artist Top 50 and is still garnering considerable attention across digital charts, especially in Australia where it holds a Top 10 position in the Spotify, Shazam and Google Play charts.

It will also be interesting to see how Waterfall shapes up compared to Stargate’s previous successes once its radio cycle is over – their CV is full of tracks with longevity beyond that initial high-rotation burst.

For now, they’re doing great and Australian listeners are eating it up.

Elsewhere, almost a year after the release of his record-breaking album, ZAYN’s new hit Still Got Time ft. PartyNextDoor signals the beginning of solo album cycle #2 even as his Taylor Swift duet I Don’t Wanna Live Forever is still all over the airwaves.

Still Got Time will likely blow all the other competition out of the water and is tipped to have a commanding impact on the Hot 100 and other radio charts in the coming weeks. (Harry Styles is also due to drop a new single on April 7, making it a big couple of weeks for the former One Direction bandmates.)

Following the success of Rockabye ft. Sean Paul & Anne Marie (#1 on Hot 100 and ARIA Singles) Clean Bandit’s new Symphony ft. Zara Larsson is the Most Added track to radio. Picked up by 76 stations last week, its biggest supporters were the Nova Network, regional and metro Hit stations, as well as the Ash London Live show.

After a whirlwind of hype around Drake’s new ‘playlist’, the Toronto rapper dropped his new album More Life. Released last weekend, commercial radio was quick to get behind track Passionfruit in particular. AJR’s Weak, spotlighted in last week’s Singles Report, also saw a successful service to radio.

The last 12 months have seen The Chainsmokers release a string of singles that have propelled them to the forefront of commercial EDM. This week, their acclaimed collaboration with Coldplay Something Just Like This bumps Ed Sheeran from #1 on the Hot 100 once again, while also topping the Nova Spins chart.

In fact, The Chainsmokers have four current entries in the Hot 100, two of which are in the Top 10, and are fast establishing themselves as a force to be reckoned with.

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