Who or What Determines a Hit Song on the Radio?
By: Matt Bjorke
Last Updated: October 9, 2008 12:00 AM
I’m always interested in the disparity between ‘major’ and ‘secondary’ radio market play lists. For example, James Otto’s recent single “For You” is perceived of as a ‘failure’ on the charts for barely making it to the Top 40 of Billboard and Country Aircheck/mediabase radio charts yet it was a major hit on the Music Row “Country Breakout” chart. Just last week the song had almost 2600 spins which would’ve been good enough for the song to be a Top 15 hit this week on the other charts. The Music Row chart also showcases more ‘indie’ talent than what is perhaps allowed onto major market, corporate owned stations.
This is a dichotomy if I’ve ever seen one. It’s a perplexing issue and it’s as if the big charts simply don’t want to recognize all of these smaller ‘reporting’ stations. If they allowed all of them in then perhaps country radio would actually be a more exciting, viable format than the stagnant charts of Billboard and Country Aircheck/Mediabase seem to indicate. For example the #30 song on the Billboard chart is Billy Currington’s “Don’t” and Randy Travis’ “Dig Two Graves” holds that spot on the Country Breakout chart (and “Don’t” is @ 23 on the same chart). While are both big label singles, Travis’ song shows the Country Breakout chart to be much more willing to play more artists.
The highest charting ‘indie’ single on the Country Breakout Chart that’s not on Billboard or Country Aircheck/Mediabase is Eric Lee Beddingfield’s “Nowhere, U.S.A.” at 25. Other indie artists inside the Country Breakout Top 40 chart are Darryl Worley “Tequila On Ice” at 29, Keni Thomas “Shreveport to LA” at 35 and Rebecca Lynn Howard’s “Sing ‘Cause I Love To” at 38. This is exciting for me because it allows for more artists to get a shot and because of that, those in the smaller markets might actually be better off because they get a chance to hear some of these songs on the radio.
I know it’s a fantasy, but I’d really love it if the bigger markets could revert back to the days of when program/music directors had the ability to select what they liked to play instead of what a corporate boss thinks will keep people from turning the station before commercials play. Is this too much to ask?
READER'S COMMENTS
Rick says:
Posted: Thursday, October 9, 2008
Matt, I've had the opportunity to have conversations with both the program director and some of the DJs at KKGO 105.1 FM in Los Angeles and it was really depressing. The PD is a 40 something Latino woman who worked most of her radio life as a rock and roll DJ and she has only been in the country realm for a few years. That station typically only adds one new song to the playlist per week and its almost always a big name Top 20 mainstay. New artists will only be considered when they are already doing well on the national charts or she takes a personal fancy to their music (like Joanna Cotten). The station tends to emphasize the high energy pop-rock crap country I don't care for and has refused to play anything by Ashton Shepherd thus far because she's "too country". I finally gave up and quit listening when it seemed every time I turned the station on either Taylor Swift or Carrie Underwood were playing. If I want to hear most of the new artists I have to go online as I'm not going to hear them on "GO Country". I'd much rather listen to a smaller market station with a broad playlist where the individual DJs still have some control over what they play and the PD's are far more open minded. Oh well....