MintBear weekly review: the leader holds, with a Sunday data caveat

The week in brief

The September 7–13 period continues the story from the previous weekly review. Баста & Моя Мишель — Если я буду танцевать did not give up the lead after reaching number one for the first time. Adding the seven available daily analytics snapshots gives 376 plays, nine more than the previous 367. Its daily sequence—54, 53, 53, 52, 53, 55 and 56—also matters. One exceptional day did not create the whole result; the recording remained consistently present throughout the week.

The three questions raised last time now have measurable answers. LYRIQ — Аутентичная was asked to stay inside the Top 10 and retain at least 252 plays. The available tally shows 279 and an indicative seventh place. FAST BOY — Music Sounds needed to remain in the Top 20 and exceed 208; it reached 237 and an indicative tenth place. The leader was asked to hold number one, while a fall below the Top 3 would have weakened the consolidation signal. That did not happen. These are useful answers because the thresholds were stated in advance, not invented after seeing the result.

This edition nevertheless has an important boundary. On September 13, MintBear received usable music history from only 153 of 170 network stations, or 90%. Fourteen established MAXIMUM theme streams stopped supplying history at nearly the same time during the afternoon of September 12. Sunday's 65955 plays and 33537 distinct tracks therefore describe only the observed part of the network. The weekly total of 490683 is exact for the retained sources, but its difference from last week's 499457 cannot be treated entirely as a programming change: some of that gap may be caused by the missing streams.

What stood out most

The first five days occupied an exceptionally narrow band: 71004 to 71138 plays, with coverage fixed at 167 of 170 stations. September 12 fell to 69321 while coverage remained unchanged. That is a real observation, but a single day is not enough to announce a new broadcast pattern. September 13 has a different cause and must not simply extend the same line as though it were an ordinary market signal.

The familiar leading trio keeps its order in the available tally. The leader's 376 plays are followed by Madonna & Martin Garrix — Bizarre on 348 and AVE — Meet Me In The Dark on 344. Their previous totals were 367, 353 and 337. The gaps remain manageable: Bizarre is 28 behind the leader and AVE 32 behind. This looks like continuity rather than a permanently settled race.

Further down, the changes are clearer. IOWA — МЫ adds 22 plays, from 265 to 287, and moves from sixth to an indicative fifth. LYRIQ — Аутентичная rises from 252 to 279, extending last week's leap without needing another gain of dozens of places. Music Sounds adds 29, from 208 to 237, and moves from the edge of the Top 20 to an indicative tenth. Bebe Rexha & David Guetta — Sad Girls produces the largest gain among the selected stories: 142 to 215, up 73, with an indicative move from number 41 to number 16.

No official public Airplay chart was produced for September 7–13: the completeness gate rejected a week containing the source gap. The positions above are therefore a working ranking of exact totals from seven daily analytics files, not a substitute for a missing public chart. The selected recording identities are consistent, but positions could change if the provider restores the absent station history.

How the mood shifted

From September 7 through 11, Mood Map was almost motionless: the energetic category was 61.8% every day and the romantic category 20.0%. September 12 moved slightly to 61.6% and 20.2%, while the within-day energy range increased to 0.009. This is still a small calculated movement, not evidence that listeners' feelings or tastes suddenly changed.

Sunday's 60.9% energetic and 20.9% romantic shares look more distinctive, but they cannot safely be called a real turn. Several rock-oriented MAXIMUM streams are absent from that calculation, changing the observed set itself. The share answers “what did the available broadcast look like?” but not “how did the entire previous station set change?” That is why Sunday appears here as a data limitation rather than an emotional climax.

Across the week, dance accounts for 217103 category appearances, electronic for 191014 and pop for 137793. The driving selection records 308997, while work records 77265. These categories overlap and cannot be added as independent pieces of the total. The broad directions remain familiar from last week; their lower totals partly reflect the incomplete Sunday.

What kept recurring

The persistence of the leading tracks was stronger than isolated daily surges. Если я буду танцевать never fell below 52 plays in a day. Bizarre ranged from 46 to 52, Meet Me In The Dark from 46 to 54, and Take Me There from 39 to 44. That pattern supports regular rotation across the observed network. It does not reveal why individual stations made their programming choices.

LYRIQ closed more strongly than it opened: 36, 39, 40, 38, 37, 44 and 45. Music Sounds also reached the weekend on 36 after 32 on Monday. Neither line rises without interruption, but both clear the previous watchlist thresholds through repeated presence rather than a single lucky day. Sad Girls is sharper: 27, 25, 29, 25, 27, then 40 and 42. Saturday and Sunday created much of its gain, making persistence the next useful test.

The broader frame kept recurring as well. The first five daily totals were very similar, and dance and electronic remained the largest categories. At the same time, the sources do not justify tying one track's growth to tiny Mood Map changes. Timing alone is not causation, and the missing Sunday stations make such a conclusion even weaker.

The week's turning points

The most important turning point is operational rather than musical. Seven daily digests and seven Mood Maps exist, but the weekly Airplay publishing gate correctly withheld an official chart when coverage failed. An editorial review can still discuss the observed totals if it clearly separates them from a complete network comparison. Hiding the gap would be less useful than showing readers where the measurement ends.

Starting September 14, thirteen reviewed streams are included in network statistics. They do not affect the period covered by this article: before that effective date their history was collected separately from the network Top and digests. The next period uses 183 stations rather than 170. Adjacent-week comparisons will therefore need a visible station-set note so that additional coverage is not mistaken for organic growth in the old network.

What to watch next week

The next week will test measurement quality as well as music. Sad Girls needs persistence after two strong weekend days. Music Sounds needs to preserve its new level without requiring another dramatic position jump. Аутентичная has now passed two stated thresholds; regularity is a more useful question than demanding a fresh sensation every week.

Expansion to 183 stations broadens the observed broadcast but breaks a simple comparison of absolute totals with the former 170-station network. The next review should therefore place coverage and station-set size beside plays. If the MAXIMUM history is restored, the working September 7–13 ranking can be recalculated. Until then, the supported conclusion is narrower: the leader and several growing recordings are visible in the retained data, while the total scale of the week carries a known gap.