MintBear weekly review: a new plateau and movement inside rotation

The week in two words

The plateau became normal. From 3 to 9 August, MintBear recorded 498868 plays, an average of 71267 per day. The average daily catalogue contained 36015 unique tracks, while history covered the same 167 of 170 active stations every day. Only 166 plays separated the quietest and fullest days, about 0.23% of daily volume. Unique-track counts ranged by just 69, from 35989 to 36058. This is the most even week in the current review series.

The key comparison comes from the previous weekly review. That edition ended with a weekend rise toward 71,300 plays and 36,000 unique tracks and asked whether the level would last. It did: all seven new days stayed inside that narrow corridor. The weekly total added 3839 plays, about 0.8%, average daily diversity gained 1030 tracks, and station coverage did not move. The late rise probably marked a transition to a fuller observation level rather than a short weekend spike.

With the headline counters barely moving, the story shifted into rotation. Meet Me In The Dark and LETO were present on every day again, but Bizarre strengthened steadily after its Thursday low. Прости gained at the weekend, and Take Me There produced the sharpest local jump. A stable catalogue did not mean that every place in the frequent-rotation group was frozen.

What happened most often

Dance and electronic music again defined the scale of the week. Dance stayed between 30963 and 31059 plays, electronic between 27218 and 27291. Pop moved within 19850–19953, Russian music within 14289–14334, and retro within 13942–14002. Differences measured in tens rather than thousands do not support a story about a changing genre centre. The large categories moved with the total archive.

Driving remained the largest activity every day, at 45067–45174 plays. Work held between 11102 and 11134, and study between 8174 and 8206. Even Friday’s weekly low did not alter their order. This continues the previous review’s finding: the new plateau preserved both archive size and its broad proportions.

At the top of rotation, AVE’s Meet Me In The Dark reached 348 appearances, up from 336 one week earlier. JONY & FEDUK’s LETO repeated exactly 315. Madonna and Martin Garrix’s Bizarre made the clearer move, rising from 225 weekly appearances to 312. Its daily line ran from 42 on Monday down to 37 on Thursday, then up through 45, 52 and 55 over the final three days. That answers another question from last week: the track’s late lift did not merely survive; it became stronger.

Градусы’s На ресницах followed its previous 40-play weekend with an even 271-appearance week and a daily range of 37–42. JENNIE’s Less than a Lover, identified last week as a new candidate, also stayed: it appeared on all seven days between 20 and 22 times. It now looks more like moderate regular rotation, although its scale remains well below the leading five.

How the mood changed

The Mood Map barely moved. Energy represented 61.8% on the 3 August map, 61.7% on Tuesday, 61.8% through the middle of the week, 61.7% on Saturday and 61.8% on Sunday. Romantic fell to 19.9% only once and otherwise stayed at 20.0%. Relax held 7.8%, focus 6.1%, and nostalgic 4.3–4.4%.

The comparison with last week matters because of its almost dull precision. Energy then ranged from 61.6% to 61.9% and romantic from 19.9% to 20.1%. The new period never left that corridor even though daily diversity was about one thousand tracks higher than the previous weekly average. This strengthens the stable-archive-composition reading, but it does not prove an identical mood for every listener.

The track view was equally steady: energetic held 64.7–64.8%, romantic 21.6–21.8%, and the five-state balance measured 0.699–0.700. Hourly energy moved by only 0.002–0.003 each day; calm and dance never ranged by more than 0.003. Differences in thousandths cannot honestly turn one hour into an emotional event.

Friday had the fewest total plays but still showed 61.8% energy. Saturday produced the largest unique-track count and 61.7% energy, before Sunday returned to 61.8%. The broader weekend selection may have redistributed a little material inside the segments, but the rounded amplitude is too small for a confident conclusion.

What repeated day after day

Matching quality stayed identical: all seven daily digests scored 100, covered 167 stations and rounded to 98% of the catalogue. Every Mood Map used those same 167 stations with 0.95 confidence. The narrow weekly range therefore cannot be explained by large groups of streams appearing and disappearing each day.

Station leaders were just as consistent. Russian Radio Kids Channel and DFM Pioneer each accumulated 5144 plays, with DFM Party at 4968. DFM Party’s daily totals ranged only from 708 to 711. That consistency supports the plateau reading and helps explain why genre and mood shares remained fixed while individual tracks moved.

Meet Me In The Dark appeared every day between 45 and 53 times, LETO between 42 and 50, and Calvin Harris and Jazzy’s Satisfy between 40 and 44. They formed the permanent frame. Meanwhile, Тима Белорусских’s Прости moved from 34 through a midweek 32–33 to 40 and 43 at the weekend. DA TI’s Take Me There stayed between 8 and 11 through Friday, then reached 26 and 30. Both accelerations coincided with the weekend, but the files do not establish the calendar as their cause.

New and rare finds remained diverse. Monday brought archive discoveries linked to Игорь Бутман, Город 312 and Олег Газманов; Wednesday’s rare set connected Leslie Odom Jr., Dario G, Bon Jovi and Patsy Cline; Saturday’s new appearances included Robyn and Zara Larsson, Ariana Grande and no na. The broad catalogue absorbed them without changing its major proportions.

The week’s main turning points

The first turning point arrived on Monday. After Sunday’s 71328 plays, the new day produced 71313 and 36019 unique tracks. That near match showed that the previous weekend level survived the week boundary. Tuesday and Wednesday remained above 71250 plays while diversity briefly eased to 35989, only 30 below Monday.

Friday’s 71171 low looks dramatic only on a tightly cropped chart. It was 142 plays, or 0.2%, below Monday, while unique tracks were two higher. Inside rotation, however, Bizarre rose from Thursday’s 37 to 45. The track signal is more meaningful here than the total counter.

Saturday brought the diversity high of 36058 and Take Me There’s jump from 8 to 26. On Sunday the track reached 30, Bizarre 55 and Прости 43, while total volume set the weekly high at 71337. Unique tracks simultaneously fell by 54 from Saturday. Stronger leaders and the total high coincided, but the archive difference is far too small to declare one the cause of the other.

What this week may mean for the next

The first test is now stricter than last week’s. The question is no longer whether one day can reach roughly 71,300 plays, but whether another whole week can remain above 71,000. A second average near 36,000 unique tracks would confirm the plateau. A return to 34,000–35,000 with the same 167 stations would show that the current completeness was less durable.

Bizarre enters the next week with the clearest acceleration: 37 → 45 → 52 → 55 over its final four days. Прости and Take Me There also finished above their midweek ranges. The test is concrete: holding near Sunday’s levels into the first weekdays would resemble consolidation; a quick return to 30–40 and 8–11 respectively would leave the movement as a weekend episode.

Less than a Lover already answered last week’s question by lasting seven days. Its next challenge is not presence but a move beyond 20–22. Meet Me In The Dark and LETO again proved durable, so it will be more informative to see whether Bizarre can approach their weekly totals or alter the order at the top.

For the Mood Map, a meaningful threshold remains roughly one percentage point with unchanged coverage. This week again showed that an extra thousand unique tracks does not have to redraw the map. For now, the large genre, activity and emotional proportions look like a stable background, while the real movement is easier to see in individual track paths.