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Billie Eilish, MGK, other early 20s (very late 10s) Audacy "alt pop"...does it have a presence in 2026 still?
- Thread starter tall_guy1
- Start date
Only Eilish’s first album gets a bit of play. I notice the trend for alternative right now has shied away from the experiment Mike Kaplan was doing to appeal to a younger demographic (which had its flaws more than its benefits, very few artists would stick around that alternative would give a chance such as Beabadoobee who’s charted every album cycle of hers).
LUNCH by Eilish also got plenty of alt spins but since 2022 the only pop or alt pop artists I could think of getting some spins is Harry Styles (with iheart stations and recently a few stations played Aperture a little bit), Lola Young and Sombr got embraced but were more alternative than the artists of the early 20’s that were pop. MGK has pretty much been ignored since 2022.
Other artists like Kid Laroi or trap crossovers do not get spins at all. Usually the trend for alternative has been all over the place, it’s more like nostalgia at the moment for the artists of the other decades. For example, some of the biggest songs on the format were Sublime’s Ensenada (fronted by Bradley Nowell’s Son, Jakob), The Paradox (a band that revived the early 00’s pop punk sound), and Pierce the Veil’s So Far So Fake got a second chance thanks to TikTok. It seems at the moment alternative is trying to get more rock-oriented sounds while still keeping some alt pop (but artists that have been on the format for years like Twenty One Pilots or Lorde) and folk stuff like Mumford and Sons. There’s quite the difference between a 2020 chart of Billboard and a 2026 chart.
LUNCH by Eilish also got plenty of alt spins but since 2022 the only pop or alt pop artists I could think of getting some spins is Harry Styles (with iheart stations and recently a few stations played Aperture a little bit), Lola Young and Sombr got embraced but were more alternative than the artists of the early 20’s that were pop. MGK has pretty much been ignored since 2022.
Other artists like Kid Laroi or trap crossovers do not get spins at all. Usually the trend for alternative has been all over the place, it’s more like nostalgia at the moment for the artists of the other decades. For example, some of the biggest songs on the format were Sublime’s Ensenada (fronted by Bradley Nowell’s Son, Jakob), The Paradox (a band that revived the early 00’s pop punk sound), and Pierce the Veil’s So Far So Fake got a second chance thanks to TikTok. It seems at the moment alternative is trying to get more rock-oriented sounds while still keeping some alt pop (but artists that have been on the format for years like Twenty One Pilots or Lorde) and folk stuff like Mumford and Sons. There’s quite the difference between a 2020 chart of Billboard and a 2026 chart.
Here's what our local alt, WWOD (The River) Woodstock, VT, sounds like these days. I've been listening more lately and haven't heard Eilish. Lots of Mumfords and (of course) local hero Noah Kahan, though. Guessing this station isn't aiming for the bottom end of 25-54.
Back 2 Good -- Matchbox 20
Stand -- REM
Full Moon- St. Paul and the Broken Bones
Talking in Your Sleep -- Romantics
Can't You Hear Me Knocking -- Rolling Stones
Victim of Love -- Metrics
Turn It Around -- Lucius
The Sun Hasn't Left -- Modest Mouse
Use Somebody -- Kings of Leon
Flashed Junk Mind -- Milky Chance
Mama Told Me (Not to Come) -- Three Dog Night
Tanana -- Portugal, The Man
Back 2 Good -- Matchbox 20
Stand -- REM
Full Moon- St. Paul and the Broken Bones
Talking in Your Sleep -- Romantics
Can't You Hear Me Knocking -- Rolling Stones
Victim of Love -- Metrics
Turn It Around -- Lucius
The Sun Hasn't Left -- Modest Mouse
Use Somebody -- Kings of Leon
Flashed Junk Mind -- Milky Chance
Mama Told Me (Not to Come) -- Three Dog Night
Tanana -- Portugal, The Man
Three Dog Night on an Alt station's playlist? Woof!
Well, no other station in the market is playing any Three Dog Night at all, so I guess River is indeed providing an alternative!
It helps that the owners' classic rock, country and hot AC stations are all doing very well. River is useful as a part of an ad buy with all of them.
Sounds more like a AAA.
My local alt station (X98.5 Greenville, SC) can get quite liberal when it comes to pop hits that have an alternative lean in the slightest. "Chemical" by Post Malone, "Stargazing" by Myles Smith, "As It Was" by Harry Styles, and "Ordinary" by Alex Warren all had brief mid-rotations on there.
That's the way it reports to Nielsen, so I guess it is, but there are alt, classic rock and even classic hits acts played as well. The market also has a station that reports simply as "Rock" in WFRD Hanover, NH, but that one is an active rock/alt mix, with the emphasis on hard current rock.
Probably the biggest change has been the return of alternative metal to the format. Since 2022 there has almost always been at least one alternative metal song in the top 40 of the chart, whether from a veteran or by a newer artist (Bad Omens, Sleep Token, Jutes, Sleep Theory). Definitely feels like an effort to make a course correction from the pop experiment, but at the same time the genre hasn't become as dominant as it was in the early 00's.
That log looks AAA to me.