Beyonce** is the biggest gainer on this week's Billboard Social 50 chart, making a massive jump from No. 49 to claim the No. 17 spot after a frenzy of media activity and social buzz following the launch of the pop star's new Web presence.
The Social 50 chart ranks the most popular artists on YouTube, Vevo, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, using a formula that blends weekly additions of friends/fans/followers along with weekly artist page views and weekly song plays.
The launch of the Beyonce's official Web site ( beyonce.com) on April 5 sent the social world into a tizzy. Her new site -- powered in part by Tumblr -- was announced the same day courtesy of the diva's first Tweet ( @beyonce). Her Twitter account had previously been the most-followed account without a single Tweet, with nearly 4 million followers. While Beyonce has had the account for over five years, she never said a peep until last week. And when fans have been waiting that long -- you know it's going to cause a stir.
Beyonce's site is ambitious for a Tumblr. Keeping in mind the visual emphasis that has made the platform so popular, the site features a photo-centric theme that is devoid of extraneous frills and side menus. A simple black arrow featuring a slide-out menu allows visitors to seamlessly navigate to Beyonce.com and the rest of her pages, which have all also been redesigned to fit the same easily digestable and visually appealing tone set by her Tumblr.
The overhaul also prominently features links to Beyonce's social properties, streamlining the fan acquisition process which resulted in a 114% increase in fan acquisition over the previous week.
Meanwhile, K-Pop sensation BIGBANG makes its debut on the Billboard Social 50 at No. 24. The group gained over 800,000 video views on YouTube last week (a 61% increase compared to the previous week) after releasing a series of live performance videos from their tour. BIGBANG's "Alive" was released Feb. 29 and debuted on the Heatseekers Albums chart at No. 4. The group's "Alive Tour 2012" kicked off in early March in Seoul Olympic Park Stadium and is set to take the band to 16 countries and 25 cities around the globe. BIGBANG is the first K-Pop act to appear on the Social 50 since The Wonder Girls appeared back in Nov. 2011.
Continuing the trend we've experienced over the past several weeks, two YouTube-oriented artists also make it on the Billboard Social 50 this week: singer Christina Grimmie re-enters at No. 25 and violinist Lindsey Stirling makes her debut at No. 29.
Stirling, who first made an impact after performing on "America's Got Talent," released the video "Skyrim" this week. The video, sharing the name and thematic elements of the popular video game, has garnered over 2,600,000 views on YouTube during the charting week.
Grimmie experienced a 20% increase in video views over the previous week, with her recent upswing in popularity likely due to the popularity of her new Disney-syndicated show "Power Up" which features tips and tricks for popular video games.
Elsewhere, Madonna experienced a drop from No. 14 all the way to No. 47 on the Social 50, coinciding with a 84% drop in album sales, causing the pop star to fall from No. 1 to No. 8 on the Billboard 200. The drop in album sales was reflected by a big drop in Madonna's social activity, with a 102% drop in fan acquisition, a 12% drop in plays and an 80% drop in profile views.
As for the rest of the Top 10, Justin Bieber, LMFAO and Rihanna retain their spots at Nos. 1, 2, and 3, respectively, and Taylor Swift remains steady as well at No. 9. One Direction continues to soar, moving from No. 6 to No. 4, while Katy Perry falls 4-5 and Lady Gaga rises 7-6. Nicki Minaj jumps 10-7, experiencing gains in Vevo plays due to the release of her new single, "Beez in the Trap," which has already garnered over 10 million views since its release on April 4. Finally, Adele falls from 5-8 and Skrillex falls 8-10.
