I don't know....there are still hits in my mind. You look at YouTube and Spotify top songs and they often align with what's being played on the radio. "Sunroof" has hundreds of millions of views on YouTube, whereas a flash in the pan tiktok song does not. Edit: would have thought so. Only has 40 mil. Well, Harry styles has 344 mil for as it was which keeps getting airplay
-
Get involved.
We want your input!
Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.
After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.
After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/
Thanks in advance and have fun!
RadioDiscussions Administrators
Are there hits any more? An article by Bob Lefsetz
- Thread starter davideduardo
- Start date
It depends on what you call a hit. I need documentation. How high in the charts? What is the cutoff? What we're seeing is the chart has slowed down. Songs stay at the top longer (as in Harry Styles). Songs take longer to peak. The charts themselves are jammed with a lot of songs that don't seem to move week after week. Some might say that a song that continues to get airplay after 35 weeks is a hit. My view is it depends on how high it ultimately gets. The bad news on the radio side of the equation is that when charts are jammed, that leads to the opinion from listeners that stations are playing the same songs. The way to alleviate that is to play more gold. That's where we are now, and why new artists are having a harder time.
Zach Bryan's record label (Warner Music) took out a full page add in the trades today with side-by-side pics of the country airplay chart and country streaming chart. At the bottom, it says "Zach Bryan is outstreaming the #1 song by 5,000,000 plays."
That's a reference to Morgan Wallen's You Proof, which happens to be the #2 streaming song.
I hadn't listened to "Something In The Orange" until now. My quickie review is the production isn't commercial enough for radio. But the song is as direct and emotional as anything else on the chart. The other problem is it's 4 minutes long. At first listen it reminds me of Bob Dylan's Masters of War. That sounds like high praise, but it wasn't a hit.
But give him credit for trying. He's trying to out-Morgan Morgan. The difference is that Morgan has one of the best producers in the world. And Morgan's songs get to the point quicker.
Yes, but if more stations would keep playing a "stalled" newer song, it might help get things flowing again. Back in the 90s and 00s, there were a bunch of songs chr played which never turned out huge, but were hits nonetheless. The format back then was alive. Nowadays about the only way to distinguish a lot of chrs from hot acs is spin count both becauseof how conservative pop is to add music and similarly of the product. (One could tell the difference in the sound of chr and hot ac way back when.)
Last edited:
Wait, if the song is stalled, how would that get any momentum "flowing"? Key term used: stalled. Some songs just lose steam.
The term is 'short legs'.
As has already been pointed out; the music industry through all the various distribution avenues has evolved from quantity over quality. Quality songs/artists become hits with long legs. These days seems like everyone is looking for quick stardom and quick money from touring. After their fifteen minutes of fame has ended, they become another 'never heard of them'.
The reason they're stalled is there's no movement in the chart. That means there's no place for them to go because of the songs ahead of them. So a station can increase spins on songs in the teens, but they'll stay where they are because they can't move up.
But if enough stations played it wouldn't it move up? It seems like the phenomenon of a bunch of chrs wanting to hone in on the hot ac audience by being very particular about what to play.
Well, it depends on how strong the songs that are higher on the chart are. If a higher-charting song is from a superstar, then it would be more difficult for the new artist's song to surpass it.
Last week's adds just came out, and "Something in the Orange" gained seven stations for the second straight week. Warner's patience may be rewarded after all. Fall and winter are usually friendlier to thoughtful ballads than spring and summer, I've noticed. Cody Johnson's reflective follow-up to " 'Til You Can't," "Human," is also picking up steam after looking for all the world like a stiff most of the summer and early fall.
We've talked in this thread about Zach Bryan. Now I see another new country artist is being added to at least one radio playlist:
www.countryinsider.com
FYI Randall King is on the same record label as Zach Bryan. Coincidence?
Outliers: WXBQ Takes A ‘Shot’ On Randall King.
Bristol Broadcasting WXBQ Tri-Cities, TN/VA (96.9) has been spinning Warner Music Nashville/WAR artist Randall King’s “Shot Glass” between nine and 17 times each week since August. “He’s not coming here,
FYI Randall King is on the same record label as Zach Bryan. Coincidence?
What, really, does the word "Hit" mean in 2022? Streaming services have hundreds of thousands of tracks, and with everyone having their own personal playlist -- and with streaming being the standard form of today's music consumption -- the concept of a "hit" is becoming as much of an anachronism, and a vestige of the past, as "live and local" radio.
The Billboard Hot 100, that vaunted depository of all things "hit", often has 10-15% of its listing made up of new releases by the same artist or artists. This week 22% of it is songs by that international superstar and timeless artist "Lil' Baby". 22% -- imagine that! Even the Beatles and Michael Jackson didn't accomplish that feat!
And that 10-15% of the Hot 100 taken up by one artist can change weekly.
So much for the importance of a hitlist.
Hits mattered in 1965 or 1975, and probably even as late as 2005, but not so much today.
Hit artists? They probably have some life left. Maybe another 5 years or so, before they all become redundant. Maybe Lil Baby will still be a household word in 2032. You never know.
Harry Styles seems to be the most recent big singing star, and he's probably the last one. From here on out it's probably all viral "stars" that will come and go as quickly as the latest Twitter hot hashtag.
The Billboard Hot 100, that vaunted depository of all things "hit", often has 10-15% of its listing made up of new releases by the same artist or artists. This week 22% of it is songs by that international superstar and timeless artist "Lil' Baby". 22% -- imagine that! Even the Beatles and Michael Jackson didn't accomplish that feat!
And that 10-15% of the Hot 100 taken up by one artist can change weekly.
So much for the importance of a hitlist.
Hits mattered in 1965 or 1975, and probably even as late as 2005, but not so much today.
Hit artists? They probably have some life left. Maybe another 5 years or so, before they all become redundant. Maybe Lil Baby will still be a household word in 2032. You never know.
Harry Styles seems to be the most recent big singing star, and he's probably the last one. From here on out it's probably all viral "stars" that will come and go as quickly as the latest Twitter hot hashtag.
The artists know what hits are. When they have hits, they play in stadiums and fly in private planes. When they don't, they play in small smoky bars and ride in a rented van. It's the same now as it was then.
How many artists fill stadiums (unless it's a massive festival), or have private jets? Not many, if any.
Maybe Taylor Swift still has her 757?
It's not the same now as it was even 10 years ago. It's changed. And 10 years from now, it will be even more changed. Every form of mass media is splitting into smaller and smaller niches. Radio and "records" included. That's the trend.
Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, Garth Brooks, Kenny Chesney ... Oh, you mean POP artists.
OK, two of the artists you mentioned have small jets.
Led Zeppelin had a full size 707.
One of the artists you listed supposedly played a stadium recently (Garth), although the "stadium" was a club in Hollywood. Morgen Wallen did an arena tour. An arena is not exactly a stadium.
20 years ago stadium tours were de rigeur for rock and pop artists. It's more and more of a rarity. I think Ed Sheeran fills a couple stadiums.
My point still stands.
So does Garth. Steve Wynn gave it to him.
Garth did a stadium TOUR which means for three years he sold out stadiums, often for several nights. Morgan just played Global Life stadium in Arlington. He will do more stadiums next year. George Strait did a stadium tour. He's doing another one next year. The Who did a stadium tour. The Stones did a stadium tour. Journey did a stadium tour. U2 did a stadium tour. Shall I continue?
Here are the details of the Garth tour:
You're right in that Wallen won't be doing a full stadium tour until next year. Brooks filled LSU's football stadium this past May, not sure if he played any more stadiums. George Strait is coming out of semi-retirement for another stadium tour in 2023. He'll have no trouble filling any of them,
I'll also add the Zac Brown Band. They've done big business at Fenway Park -- yes, that country hotbed of Boston -- several years now.
Luke Combs played several stadiums this year. Eric Church played two stadiums this year. Kenny Chesney did a full stadium tour this year. Luke Bryan has done stadiums. Same with Jason Aldean. Def Leppard & Motley Crue did a stadium tour this year. These people know what hits are because they have a lot of them.
The telling statistic, though, is how few pop/rock acts who have product currently dominating radio and the charts are doing stadiums compared to country acts. Leppard and Crue are nostalgia acts, as are the Stones, Journey and U2. Country is the only genre with stadium-worthy current stars. Urban/hip-hop seems to be mainly an indoor arena and multi-act package tour genre.
Some of the biggest pop acts aren't touring. They don't tour as frequently as country acts. Justin Bieber had a tour planned but he got sick. Beyonce plays stadiums, and she'll do them next year.
But yes, country stars do a better job creating stars and hits, and consequently, they play stadiums and get there in private jets. Perhaps other genres of music could learn a few things from the hillbillies.
- Status