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A New Look at Old Subject: Making New Songs into Hits

davideduardo

davideduardo

Moderator/Administrator
Staff member
From Inside Radio:

More Music, More Platforms, Fewer Hits: In New Normal, Labels Struggle To Break New Artists.
As two current artists driven by TikTok viral activity score their first top 10 hit, the music business struggles to continue to control the narrative and break new acts. Also contributing to its woes: a regular deluge of new music, with tens of thousands of new tracks uploaded daily to streaming services, making it far more difficult for songs to stand out

Source: More Music, More Platforms, Fewer Hits: In New Normal, Labels Struggle To Break New Artists.

My comment: this is again evidence of why playlists are shorter than ever. Too many new songs from too many independent sources so very few break through. Only the songs getting a big push from a big label have much of a chances except for a few that "go viral" on new media. Record labels can't put big promotion dollars behind every song, so many just never get any momentum.

Radio has a hard time finding consensus songs, and many of those independent releases or self-promoted songs just have no support from new media that is big enough to confirm a hit.
 
When you look at the Spotify top 50 or whatever Apple Music does, do those numbers get looked at by stations?
 
DavidEduardo said:
From Inside Radio:

More Music, More Platforms, Fewer Hits: In New Normal, Labels Struggle To Break New Artists.
As two current artists driven by TikTok viral activity score their first top 10 hit, the music business struggles to continue to control the narrative and break new acts. Also contributing to its woes: a regular deluge of new music, with tens of thousands of new tracks uploaded daily to streaming services, making it far more difficult for songs to stand out

Source: More Music, More Platforms, Fewer Hits: In New Normal, Labels Struggle To Break New Artists.

My comment: this is again evidence of why playlists are shorter than ever. Too many new songs from too many independent sources so very few break through. Only the songs getting a big push from a big label have much of a chances except for a few that "go viral" on new media. Record labels can't put big promotion dollars behind every song, so many just never get any momentum.

Radio has a hard time finding consensus songs, and many of those independent releases or self-promoted songs just have no support from new media that is big enough to confirm a hit.
Click to expand...
I see both sides of the "argument" and similar comments can be made about TV and movies. Back in the day when "showbiz" was a thing, there were a relatively limited number of movie and TV "stars", and you saw them (along with popular musicians and bands heard often on the radio) everywhere, from popular movies and TV shows to their appearances on late night talk shows and daytime game shows and even things like evening variety shows and celebrity roasts back then. However, only a limited number of people reached that "fame" status. Today with TikTok, Youtube, Instagram, more independent studios and other outlets, the good news is that it's much easier for many more people to achieve "fame" than it was back then and to achieve it more quickly. However, on the other hand, it's a lot more diluted now. People of a certain age or demographic or who have limited access to some technologies have no earthly idea who most of the TikTok and YouTube "stars" are. Switch on late night talk shows and sometimes you may only be familiar with 1 of the 3 guests who are appearing.
 
Don CT said:
When you look at the Spotify top 50 or whatever Apple Music does, do those numbers get looked at by stations?
Click to expand...
Some stations look at streaming data as part of their weekly review of currents. It can also remind one of library songs that might be worth consideration.

But the demographic data is not very useful. Stations can't tell if it is their listeners who are streaming a song. We just know which songs are streaming more than others. So it does not help a Hot AC station to know that a Bad Bunny song is streaming a lot.
 
Could it also be that the 'new' songs or their creators/performers are just not that good?
 
landtuna said:
Could it also be that the 'new' songs or their creators/performers are just not that good?
Click to expand...
During the pandemic, of course, the whole music industry changed and suffered. Since there were no shows for two years, many artists had little or no income. And the big artists used concerts to promote new releases, which they could not do.

Radio saw those years... and to a great extend 2022... as having fewer than normal big hits and less music activity in general. So in these recent years, the pandemic has affected music at levels ranging from the record companies down to the people who rent tour buses and venue sound gear.
 
landtuna said:
There are always doubters. In the South it was largely because he performed "race" music.
Click to expand...
Not really. It was mostly due to his "hip movements" and that was even why his first appearance with Ed Sullivan only showed him from the waist up.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Radio has a hard time finding consensus songs, and many of those independent releases or self-promoted songs just have no support from new media that is big enough to confirm a hit.
Click to expand...

The approach we hear from some labels in some genres is that rather than focus on having a few artists each sell millions, they'd rather have lots of artists sell thousands. To them, it adds up the same and costs less. So that's why they do it.

But there are still some genres where focus is important, and they are breaking artists who are doing what artists did 30 years ago.

For example, Luke Combs released his first single six years ago. Every single he's released (14 of them) have gone to #1. Some for two or three weeks. He's released three albums, and they've all gone multi-platinum. This year, he played his first stadium shows, each one selling out. Another example is Morgan Wallen, who made his radio debut in 2018. Since then he's topped the album charts consistently and had a string of #1s. Next year he'll do his first stadium tour.

Two new artists, two major success stories. What do they both have in common? Their main method of music promotion is country radio. That's right. Old fashioned country radio that some say young people don't use. But somehow that targeted music promotion on radio is also reaching young people, who in turn promote that music again on social media. But the driving force is country airplay.

Other new artists having similar success in the same way: Lainey Wilson, Jimmie Allen, and Gabby Barrett. This success has caught the eyes of artists in other genres who've adjusted their style to fit country. The result is Jelly Roll has his first Top 10 in country.

It's not for everyone. Country record labels are signing a lot of artists they don't promote on country radio. Their music reaches the public via streaming or social media. But they're not making the numbers the radio acts are. They're not headlining the venues the radio acts are. So that's the choice these artists have. Which way do they want their careers to go?
 
DavidEduardo said:
From Inside Radio:

More Music, More Platforms, Fewer Hits: In New Normal, Labels Struggle To Break New Artists.
As two current artists driven by TikTok viral activity score their first top 10 hit, the music business struggles to continue to control the narrative and break new acts. Also contributing to its woes: a regular deluge of new music, with tens of thousands of new tracks uploaded daily to streaming services, making it far more difficult for songs to stand out

Source: More Music, More Platforms, Fewer Hits: In New Normal, Labels Struggle To Break New Artists.

My comment: this is again evidence of why playlists are shorter than ever. Too many new songs from too many independent sources so very few break through. Only the songs getting a big push from a big label have much of a chances except for a few that "go viral" on new media. Record labels can't put big promotion dollars behind every song, so many just never get any momentum.

Radio has a hard time finding consensus songs, and many of those independent releases or self-promoted songs just have no support from new media that is big enough to confirm a hit.
Click to expand...
This could be why recurrents are so big. My local chr has played sweetest pie by dua Lipa 84 and counting times (it's had a big increase from the week before. )
 
tall_guy1 said:
This could be why recurrents are so big. My local chr has played sweetest pie by dua Lipa 84 and counting times (it's had a big increase from the week before. )
Click to expand...
Remember, songs can remain "current" at a station as long as they test strong enough to warrant airplay in current rotations.

I had one experience with an AC station where a song remained as a current for over 14 months. Most of the time it was a power. Whenever it was reduced to a lesser current rotation, it bounced way up in callout scores and had to be "upped" in rotation.

There is no rule on what a current or a power or a recurrent are. Stations look at their own research on currents and based on scores rotate the most liked songs the most often.
 
DavidEduardo said:
Remember, songs can remain "current" at a station as long as they test strong enough to warrant airplay in current rotations.

I had one experience with an AC station where a song remained as a current for over 14 months.
Click to expand...
I believe the record was Savage Garden's "I Knew I Loved You", which stayed on the Billboard AC chart for 124 weeks. That's over two years!
 
kevtronics said:
I believe the record was Savage Garden's "I Knew I Loved You", which stayed on the Billboard AC chart for 124 weeks. That's over two years!
Click to expand...
I remember when Paul Davis' "I Go Crazy" held the Hot 100 longevity record at 40 weeks. That song must have been a smash at AC as well. Was it also the AC record holder back then?
 
DavidEduardo said:
Not really. It was mostly due to his "hip movements" and that was even why his first appearance with Ed Sullivan only showed him from the waist up.
Click to expand...
That was only on TV which might have been that Sullivan show you mentioned. I don't remember him appearing on any other national TV show during that time. He was all over the Top-40 radio though.
 
TheBigA said:
Two new artists, two major success stories. What do they both have in common? Their main method of music promotion is country radio. That's right. Old fashioned country radio that some say young people don't use. But somehow that targeted music promotion on radio is also reaching young people, who in turn promote that music again on social media. But the driving force is country airplay.
Click to expand...
When I joined the Navy in 1962 I was amazed at the number of Country/Western music fans. Same thing when I went to visit my Marine son years later. Seems the various military units have lots of Country fans and perhaps always have had.
 
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