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Fast Company
2 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
How NPR's Tiny Desk became the biggest stage in music
Until last October, Argentinian musical duo Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso were more or less a regional act. Known for their experimental blend of Latin trap, pop, and rap, the pair had a fanbase, but still weren't cracking more than 3,000 daily streams across services like Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. Within a week, they shot up 4,700%—hitting 222,000 daily streams—according to exclusive data firm Luminate, which powers the Billboard charts. Suddenly Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso were global pop stars. What changed? On Oct. 4, the pair were featured in a Tiny Desk Concert, part of NPR's 17-year-old video series featuring musicians performing stripped-down sets behind an office desk in the cramped Washington, D.C. headquarters of the public broadcaster. In the concert video, the artists play five songs from their debut album Baño Maria, which came out last April. Paco's raspy voice emerges from underneath a puffy blue trapper hat while Ca7riel sports an over-the-top pout and a vest made of stitched-together heart-shaped plush toys. The pair sing entirely in Spanish, backed by their Argentinian bandmates (sporting shirts screenprinted with their visas) and an American horn section. The duo's performance quickly took off across the internet. Within five days, it had racked up more than 1.5 million views on YouTube, and hit 11 million in little more than a month. It also reverberated across social media: the NPR Music Instagram post garnering nearly 900,000 likes, and TikToks clips garnered hundreds of thousands of views. In a year that featured Tiny Desk performances from buzzy stars like Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter, as well as established acts like Chaka Khan and Nelly Furtado, Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso's concert was the most-watched of 2024. It currently sits at 36 million views. That virality translated to an influx of bookings for the duo, including a performance at Coachella in April, and upcoming slots at Glastonbury in June, FujiRock Japan in July, and Lollapalooza and Outside Lands in August. Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso's global tour includes sold-out dates at Mexico's 20,000-capacity Palacio de los Deportes and Chile's 14,000-seat Movistar Areana—and was previewed by an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in April. 'Through Tiny Desk, we've noticed media approaching us, promoters being very interested in offering their spaces and festivals, and many media outlets opening doors to show us to the world,' says Jonathan Izquierdo, the band's Spain-based tour manager who began working with the duo shortly after the Tiny Desk Concert debuted. 'We've managed to sell out summer arena shows in record time and we're constantly adding new concerts. Promoters are knocking on our doors to get the Tiny Desk effect.' Tiny Desk, Big Influence The Tiny Desk effect is something Bobby Carter, NPR Tiny Desk host and series producer, has seen firsthand. Carter has been at NPR for 25 years, including the past 11 on the Tiny Desk team. He took the reins when Bob Boilen, the longtime All Songs Considered host who launched Tiny Desk in 2008, retired in 2023. The series—which now has more than 1,200 videos—began as an internet-first way for Boilen to showcase performances from musicians that were more intimate than what happens in bigger concert venues. The first installment, featuring folk artist Laura Gibson, went up on YouTube. Today, the concerts are posted on the NPR site with a writeup and credits, as well as YouTube, where NPR Music has 11 million followers. NPR Music also clips installments on Instagram, where it has 3 million followers. In the early days, NPR staff reached out to touring bands to secure bookings. Acts coming through DC could often be cajoled into filming an installment before heading out to their venues for that night's sound check. Now, musicians come to DC just for the chance to record in NPR's offices. 'We don't have to worry about tours anymore,' Carter says. 'Labels and artists are willing to come in solely for a Tiny Desk performance. They understand the impact that a really good Tiny Desk concert can have on an artist's career.' Early on, the stripped-down nature of the Tiny Desk—artists can't use any audio processing or voice modulation—lent itself to rock, folk, and indie acts. But a 2014 concert with T-Pain, in which the famously autotune-heavy singer unveiled an impressive set of pipes, showed how artists from a broader array of genres could shine behind the Tiny Desk. 'Everyone knows at this point that they're going to have to do something different in our space,' Carter says. 'It's a bigger ask for hip-hop acts and electronic acts, but most artists now understand how important it can be if they nail it.' Carter highlights rapper Doechii as an artist who overhauled her sound for her Tiny Desk concert in December. Doechii's all-female backing band used trumpet, saxophone, guitar, and bass to transform songs from her mixtape Alligator Bites Never Heal for the live setting. 'If you listen to the recorded version of her music, it's nothing like what you saw in that Tiny Desk,' Carter says. Clips of Doechii's Tiny Desk virtuosity lit up social media, introducing the 'swamp princess' to new fans. The concert even inspired a viral parody, with writer-director-comedian Gus Heagary pretending to be an NPR staffer watching the performance. Reimagining Old Favorites It isn't just emerging acts that totally revamp their sound for a Tiny Desk opportunity. Established artists like Usher, Justin Timberlake, and Cypress Hill have followed T-Pain's lead and used NPR's offices to showcase reimagined versions of some of their most popular songs. When Juvenile recorded his installment in June 2023, he was backed by horns and saxophones, a violin and cello, and John Batiste on melodica. The New Orleans rapper played an acoustic version of 'Back That Azz Up' twice at the audience's request—the first encore in the series' history. 'I love what has happened with hip hop [on Tiny Desk],' Carter says. He explains that artists now approach the concert with the mindset: 'I have to really rethink what I've been doing for however long I've been doing it, and present it in a whole new way.' Tiny Desk has also helped musicians like Juvenile, gospel artist Marvin Sapp, and percussionist Sheila E to reach new audiences while reminding listeners they're still making music. 'We're helping artists to re-emerge,' Carter says, 'tapping into legacy acts and evergreen artists [to help] breathe new life into their careers.' In many ways, Tiny Desk now occupies a niche once filled by MTV Unplugged —but for the generation that has replaced cable with YouTube and streaming. 'Maybe 10, 15, 20 years ago, all of our favorite artists had this watershed moment in terms of a live performance,' Carter says. 'Back in the day it was MTV Unplugged. SNL is still doing their thing. But when you think about the generation now that lives on YouTube, some of these Tiny Desk performances are going to be the milestone that people point to when it comes to live performances.' Building a Diverse Audience When Carter talks about Tiny Desk concerts reaching a new generation of listeners, it's not conjecture. He notes that the NPR Music YouTube channel's 11 million subscribers are 'as young and diverse as it gets. It's almost half people of color [and] much younger than the audience that listens to NPR on air, which is an audience NPR has been trying to tap for a long time,' he says. That diversity informs some of the special series that Tiny Desk produces. The Juvenile video was part of Carter's second run of concerts recorded for Black Music Month, in June. Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso's video was tied to El Tiny, a Latin-focused series that debuts during Latin Heritage Month (from mid September to mid October) and is programmed by Tiny Desk producer and host AnaMaria Sayer. Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso's tour manager, Izquierdo, has worked with artists featured in the series before. He says Tiny Desk is crucial for Latin American artists trying to break through. 'I've realized that for U.S. radio, Latin music benefits from Tiny Desk,' he says. The Tiny Desk audience's broad demographics are also increasingly reflected in its broader programming. Bad Bunny's April installment took his reggaeton-inspired songs from recent album Debi Tirar Mas Fotos to their acoustic roots, using an array of traditional Puerto Rican, Latin American, and Caribbean instruments, such as the cuatro puertorriqueño, tiple, güicharo, and bongos. '[Our] audience informs a whole lot of what we do,' Carter says. I get so many pointers from YouTube comments like 'Have you heard of this artist?' We're watching all that stuff because it helps us stay sharp.' Tiny Desk heard round the world With a strong global audience, Tiny Desk has been expanding into Asia. In 2023, NPR struck a licensing deal with South Korean Telecom LG U+ and production company Something Special to produce Tiny Desk Korea for television. Last year, NPR inked a deal with the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) to launch Tiny Desk Concerts Japan. 'We're really expanding in terms of global reach,' Carter says. Here in the States, Carter and Sayer recently launched Tiny Desk Radio, a series that will revisit some of the series' notable installments, sharing behind-the-scenes stories from their productions and playing the audio from the concerts 'Our engineers put a lot of time and effort into making sure that we sound great,' Carter says. 'I hear it a lot—people tell me they prefer an artist's Tiny Desk over anything.' That's something Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso clearly have on their mind as they navigate the Tiny Desk effect and a new level of recognition (their daily streams haven't dipped below 50,000 a day since the beginning of the year). The duo released an EP in February, Papota, which features four new songs, plus the recorded versions of their pared-down Tiny Desk performances. They also released a short film that recreates their Tiny Desk performance—this time in a Buenos Aires diner. One of the themes of the EP is the pair wrestling with the implications of their viral success. On the song Impostor, Ca7riel asks '¿Y ahora que vamos hacer?/El tiny desk me jodio' (What do we do now? Tiny Desk fucked me up.) It's an overstatement, but an acknowledgment that the path they're now on ran directly through the NPR offices.
Forbes
4 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
‘American Idol' Jamal Roberts Winner Hits No. 1 On The Billboard Charts
It was just a few days ago that Season 23 of American Idol finished, with Jamal Roberts being named the winner of the latest edition of the reality TV staple. Following his crowning, the talented singer soared to the top of the iTunes rankings in the U.S. with his winner's single, 'Heal.' That track gives him a huge hit on the Billboard charts this week — the kind he's never seen before — and it brings with it one of his older recordings as well. The American Idol champion debuts on four Billboard rankings this frame in the U.S. "Heal" opens at No. 1 on half of them, as it starts atop both the Hot Gospel Songs and Gospel Digital Song Sales tallies. These mark the singer's first leaders on any chart in the country. "Heal" performs well largely thanks to a healthy opening sales sum. According to Luminate, Roberts sold a little under 8,800 copies of his breakout tune in the past tracking period. That's enough for "Heal" to also launch at No. 2 on the Digital Song Sales chart. This time around, it's beaten only by "Don't Say You Love Me" by BTS singer Jin. The tune also manages to enter the Gospel Streaming Songs list inside the top 10. The track opens at No. 7 on that roster, earning him his first top 10 on the streaming-only tally – but it still marks Roberts's lowest placement on the roster. Years before he made it big on American Idol, Roberts released a gospel track titled "He's Preparing Me." That tune becomes a hit as well following the immediate success of "Heal," which is itself a cover of a song by musician Tom Odell. "He's Preparing Me" opens at No. 4 on the Gospel Digital Song Sales chart, coming in just a few spots behind his new No. 1.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
‘Luther' Ties ‘Not Like Us' for Most Weeks at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart
Barely three months after his 'Not Like Us' shattered the mark as the longest-running No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, Kendrick Lamar is back for another stab at the record books. Lamar's 'Luther' collaboration with frequent collaborator (and current Grand National co-headliner) SZA captures a record-tying 22nd week at No. 1 on the multi-metric Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart dated May 31, matching 'Not Like Us' for the all-time mark since the chart became a singular, all-encompassing genre ranking in October 1958. 'Not Like Us' rang up 21 weeks in charge in 2024 amid its moment in Lamar's diss track war with Drake, and rebounded for a 22nd frame in February after Lamar's performance of the song during the halftime show of Super Bowl LIX on Feb. 9. More from Billboard 13 Best Moments From Kendrick Lamar & SZA's Grand National Tour Kickoff In Minneapolis Shaun Cassidy Gets Ready for the Longest Tour of His 45-Year Career: 'I Felt the Need to Connect with People' Bono Cheekily Weighs in On Springsteen Vs. Trump Squabble: 'There's Only One Boss in America' For SZA, the 'Luther' look also returns her to a perch she once claimed: Before 'Not Like Us' took the title, the singer-songwriter's 'Kill Bill' scored the most weeks at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, 21 in 2022-23. As 'Luther' shares the gold medal, here's a look at the songs the most weeks at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs in its 66-year history: Most Weeks at No. 1 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs: 22, 'Luther,' Kendrick Lamar & SZA, 2024-2522, 'Not Like Us,' Kendrick Lamar, 2024-2521, 'Kill Bill,' SZA, 2022-2320, 'Old Town Road,' Lil Nas X feat. Billy Ray Cyrus, 201918, 'Industry Baby,' Lil Nas X & Jack Harlow, 2021-2218, 'One Dance,' Drake feat. WizKid & Kyla, 201616, 'Blurred Lines,' Robin Thicke feat. T.I. + Pharrell, 201315, 'Be Without You,' Mary J. Blige, 2006 For its 22nd week in charge, 'Luther' registered 16.7 million official United States streams, 2,000 sales downloads and 60.5 million in airplay audience in the tracking week of May 16-22, according to Luminate, declines of 8%, 6% and 4%, respectively, in each metric. Mirroring its Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs triumph, 'Luther' achieves a 22nd week at No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. The melodic rap cut remains in second place for the longest stay at the summit in the chart's 35-year history, trailing only 'Not Like Us' and its 26-week record. While 'Luther' extends its domination on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Songs charts, it surrenders the top spot on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 to Morgan Wallen's 'What I Want,' featuring Tate McRae. The new champ clips the 'Luther' reign at 13 weeks – still, easily the longest-running No. 1 for both Lamar and SZA atop the flagship chart. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Morgan Wallen Dominates Hot 100 With Six of Top 10 Spots, Tops Chart With Tate McRae on ‘What I Want'
Morgan Wallen has taken over the charts this week as 'What I Want' featuring Tate McRae has topped Billboard's Hot 100, while his fourth album I'm The Problem landed atop the albums chart as the biggest debut of 2025 so far. Overall, Wallen has six songs in the Top 10 this week, including all of the top three slots. 'What I Want' is Wallen's fourth Hot 100 chart-topper, and the first for McRae, whose biggest hit to this point has been 2023's 'Greedy,' which peaked at Number Three on the Hot 100. The song garnered 31.2 million streams, per Luminate. 'Just in Case' secured the second slot, while title track 'I'm The Problem' came in third. Wallen dethrones Kendrick Lamar and SZA's 'Luther,' which had spent the past 13 weeks atop the Hot 100 prior to this week. More from The Hollywood Reporter American Music Awards: 7 Things You Didn't See on TV Ex-Aide to Sean "Diddy" Combs Testifies He Kidnapped Her in Plot to Kill Kid Cudi Shaboozey's Reaction to Megan Moroney Saying the Carter Family Invented Country Music at AMAs Goes Viral I'm The Problem itself opened with 493,000 units, according to Luminate, buoyed by sky-high streaming numbers as the album racked up 462.63 million streams in its first week. It took less than a day for the album to become the most-streamed country record of the year on the major streaming platforms. I'm The Problem also secured 133,000 album sales as well. Wallen dethroned The Weeknd's Hurry Up Tomorrow for the biggest album debut of the year. Despite his own controversies in years past, Wallen has proven to be one of the biggest superstars in the country. Wallen's impressive opening this week reflects a continued surge in country music the singer has helped bolster over the past five years. While the streaming era has minted several stars like Luke Combs and Zach Bryan, Wallen remains the biggest act. Prior to I'm The Problem, Wallen topped the charts with Dangerous: The Double Album and One Thing at a Time, both of which remain in the top 15 years after release. As The Hollywood Reporter first reported last month, Wallen's record label Big Loud has cashed in on that popularity, selling a minority stake in his catalog to the UMG-backed Chord Music partners for $200 million. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Most Notable Deaths of 2025 Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Morgan Wallen's ‘I'm the Problem' Album Bows at No. 1 on Billboard 200 With Year's Biggest Debut
Morgan Wallen's latest studio effort, I'm the Problem, debuts atop the Billboard 200 chart (dated May 31) with the year's biggest week for any album — 493,000 equivalent album units earned in the United States in the week ending May 22, according to Luminate. It also easily lands the largest streaming week for any album in 2025. It's the third No. 1 for Wallen on the Billboard 200, following 2023's One Thing at a Time (19 nonconsecutive weeks at No. 1) and 2021's Dangerous: The Double Album (10 weeks at No. 1, all consecutive). The latter two titles both debuted at No. 1 and have never left the weekly top 50 of the chart. On the latest chart, One Thing at a Time is a non-mover at No. 4 (making Wallen the only act with two concurrent albums in the weekly top five in 2025), while Dangerous shifts 11-12. More from Billboard Here Are the 2025 American Music Awards Winners (Updating Live) Shakira Falls Onstage During 'Whenever, Wherever' Performance at Montreal Concert Billy Joel's Daughter Alexa Ray Joel Offers Encouraging Words About Dad's Health Diagnosis I'm the Problem was officially announced in mid-March, and was preceded by eight charting songs on the Billboard Hot 100 over the past 10 months, all of which reached the top 20 of the ranking, including six top 10s (the most top 10s ever from an album prior to its release). Among them were the No. 1 'Love Somebody,' which debuted atop the list last November, and the album's title track (No. 2 in February). Also in the latest Billboard 200 top 10, Jin notches his highest-charting effort as Echo launches at No. 3. The BTS member previously hit the top 10 as a soloist with Happy (No. 4) in 2024. The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new May 31, 2025-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard's website on May 28, one day later than usual due to the Memorial Day holiday in the U.S. on May 26. For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram. Of I'm the Problem's 493,000 first-week equivalent album units, SEA units comprise 357,000 (equaling 462.63 million on-demand official streams of the set's 37 tracks; it debuts at No. 1 on Top Streaming Albums), album sales comprise 133,000 (it debuts at No. 1 on Top Album Sales) and TEA units comprise 3,000. I'm the Problem is the fifth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in 2025, of 14 total, to also simultaneously be No. 1 on both Top Album Sales and Top Streaming Albums, following Sleep Token's Even in Arcadia (May 24), Lady Gaga's MAYHEM (March 22), Kendrick Lamar's GNX (Feb. 22) and The Weeknd's Hurry Up Tomorrow (Feb. 15). I'm the Problem captures 2025's biggest week by equivalent album units earned. The last bigger week was the opening frame of Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department over a year ago. It bowed at No. 1 with 2.61 million units on the May 4, 2024-dated chart. With 357,000 SEA units equaling 462.63 million on-demand official streams of I'm the Problem's 37 tracks, the set logs the largest streaming week of 2025 for any album, and the biggest since The Tortured Poets Department's first week, which snared 891.37 million. I'm the Problem also tallies the second-biggest streaming week ever for any country album, trailing only the opening week of Wallen's last album, One Thing at a Time, which bowed with 498.28 million clicks. Meanwhile, with 133,000 copies sold in its first week, I'm the Problem captures Wallen's biggest sales week ever, the biggest sales week for any country album in 2025 and the fourth-largest sales frame in 2025 among all albums. The last country set to post a bigger sales week was Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter, when it debuted with 168,000 sold (April 13, 2024-dated chart). I'm the Problem's sales were helped by its availability on vinyl in its first week. Wallen's last album, One Thing at a Time, didn't get its vinyl release until its fourth week on sale. During its first week, I'm the Problem was available to purchase across five vinyl variants (standard black vinyl, a 'first pressing' black vinyl, bone white-colored, coke bottle clear-colored [all exclusively sold in Wallen's webstore] and a Target-exclusive opaque brown-color edition with a collectible insert), four CD variants (standard, a deluxe boxed set containing a branded T-shirt, a signed CD and a Target-exclusive edition with a collectible insert) and a standard digital download. All variations of the album had the same 37 tracks. All told, of I'm the Problem's first-week sales, digital downloads comprise 51,000, vinyl comprise 48,000 (Wallen's best week on vinyl ever, and the largest week for a country album in 2025) and CDs comprise 34,000. SZA's chart-topping SOS rises one spot to No. 2 on the latest Billboard 200, earning 47,000 equivalent album units — down 8%. Jin nabs his highest-charting effort on the Billboard 200 as Echo arrives at No. 3. It's the second charting solo set for the BTS member, who previously hit the chart with the No. 4-peaking Happy in November 2024. Echo debuts with 43,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, album sales comprise 35,000 (it debuts at No. 2 on Top Album Sales), SEA units comprise 6,000 (equaling 8.92 million of the album's tracks) and TEA units comprise 2,000. Echo's first-week sales were bolstered by its availability across 13 CD variants (all have the standard seven-song tracklist and contain collectible branded paper ephemera) and five download album variants (a standard wide version, a version exclusive to Jin's webstore containing a bonus voice memo track and three widely available deluxe editions each containing two different remixes of the album's 'Don't Say You Love Me'). Nos. 4-9 on the new Billboard 200 are all former No. 1s. Wallen's One Thing at a Time is steady at No. 4 (42,000 equivalent album units; down 13%); Kendrick Lamar's GNX rises 7-5 (41,000; down 5%); Sleep Token's Even in Arcadia falls 1-6 in its second week (38,000; down 70%); Sabrina Carpenter's Short n' Sweet steps 8-7 (just over 37,000; down 6%); PARTYNEXTDOOR and Drake's $ome $exy $ongs 4 U drops 5-8 (37,000; down 21%); and Bad Bunny's Debí Tirar Más Fotos climbs 10-9 (nearly 37,000; down 3%). Fuerza Regida's 111XPANTIA closes out the top 10, falling 6-10 with 32,000 equivalent album units earned (down 26%). Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published. Best of Billboard Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1 Four Decades of 'Madonna': A Look Back at the Queen of Pop's Debut Album on the Charts Chart Rewind: In 1990, Madonna Was in 'Vogue' Atop the Hot 100
