NEW YORK - As forecast after its massive first-day airplay, Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me" roars to a record-setting debut on Billboard's Pop Songs chart.

The first single from Spears' forthcoming ninth album storms the survey at No. 16 with 4,071 plays, the highest detections total by a debuting title in the chart's 18-year history.

"Hold It Against Me" also ties Madonna's "Frozen" (No. 16, March 7, 1998) for second-highest launch in the list's archives. Only Mariah Carey's "Dreamlover" began at a higher rank, having rocketed in at No. 12 the week of August 14, 1993.

The Pop Songs chart lists the most-played songs on 130 mainstream top 40 radio stations, according to Nielsen BDS.

"Hold It Against Me" received airplay on all 130 reporting stations in the chart's tracking week (January 10-16). The song's first-week airplay translates to 36.4 million listener impressions, the week's 10th-highest mainstream top 40 audience total.

KHOP (@95-1)/Modesto, Calif., led all pop reporters with 104 opening-week plays.

"Over the last decade, Britney Spears has had her ups and downs. But, every time she drops new music, it is an event for the format," says KHOP program director MoJoe Roberts.

"We often tend to wait for audience research to come back strong to power up certain hits. This, however, is one of those rare tracks, like Katy Perry's 'California Gurls' or P!nk's 'Raise Your Glass,' that I put right into power rotation after one listen.

"Audience reaction to her new single has been nothing short of amazing. This is another pure pop smash from Ms. Spears."

The cut concurrently debuts on Dance Airplay at No. 24, Rhythmic (No. 37) and Adult Pop Songs (No. 40).

"Hold It Against Me" is likely to make further historic headlines this week when it's expected to become just the 18th song to debut at No. 1 since the Billboard Hot 100 began in 1958. As previously reported, the song is projected to exceed 400,000 in first-week download sales, according to industry sources.