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Coldplay/BTS "My Universe" on Alternative. Let me rephrase that....BTS on Alternative!

E

E-Cam

For those who don't know: BTS is a Korean-pop (also known as K-pop) boy band. They've crossed over internationally in the past couple of years and has been played on Hot AC and CHR stations here. Of course, most recently, they collaborated with Coldplay with the song "My Universe" and, of course, is getting spins on Hot AC and CHR stations. Then it got crossed over on Alternative and is currently (as of 10-10-21) hanging around #20.

Now the reason I'm posting this is, a boy-band group like BTS on a format that is known to supposedly be a rock format (I know, alternative isn't as rock as it used to be) just itches me. Not to say I don't like BTS (in fact, BTS is a great group and I like some of their songs and even songs that are all Korean words) or "My Universe" (which is a great song by the way), but I just felt like "My Universe" shouldn't been added on Alternative and kept it on CHR/Hot AC. I get that Coldplay is no stranger to Alternative but it just gets me to see BTS on the same realm as the likes of Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Blink 182, The Killers, and The Black Keys.

It wouldn't surprise to see me if other pop acts like Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Carrie Underwood, Ed Sheeran, or even Rascal Flatts and Thomas Rhett collaborate with one of Alternative's finest bands and see if they get added too.
 
The whole point of collaborations is to receive name and radio recognition on as many charts as possible in the target age group. Although their music is very danceable, could anyone have predicted the number of successful Latin collaborations the Black-Eyed Peas have had in the past few years? Artists are going to chase and collaborate with any other group/artist they see as successful, regardless of genre. Driven mostly by social media, they will leave it up to the remaining media and the audience to sort it all out.
 
E-Cam said:
For those who don't know: BTS is a Korean-pop (also known as K-pop) boy band. They've crossed over internationally in the past couple of years and has been played on Hot AC and CHR stations here. Of course, most recently, they collaborated with Coldplay with the song "My Universe" and, of course, is getting spins on Hot AC and CHR stations. Then it got crossed over on Alternative and is currently (as of 10-10-21) hanging around #20.

Now the reason I'm posting this is, a boy-band group like BTS on a format that is known to supposedly be a rock format (I know, alternative isn't as rock as it used to be) just itches me. Not to say I don't like BTS (in fact, BTS is a great group and I like some of their songs and even songs that are all Korean words) or "My Universe" (which is a great song by the way), but I just felt like "My Universe" shouldn't been added on Alternative and kept it on CHR/Hot AC. I get that Coldplay is no stranger to Alternative but it just gets me to see BTS on the same realm as the likes of Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Blink 182, The Killers, and The Black Keys.

It wouldn't surprise to see me if other pop acts like Justin Timberlake, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Carrie Underwood, Ed Sheeran, or even Rascal Flatts and Thomas Rhett collaborate with one of Alternative's finest bands and see if they get added too.
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An independent AAA out of Key West, FL recently did air a solo Selena Gomez track!
 
From what I've been hearing the presence of BTS has caused a schism in the Alt format. Audacy and iHeart mandated plays of My Universe and they're almost single-handedly the reason why it's charged to around #20, but it's already beginning to slow down.

The reason why is that the PDs/MDs at Cumulus and the smaller radio companies view playing a song with BTS on it as further erosion of the format and won't play it on principle. One quote passed around compared it to "playing The Backstreet Boys on Alt in 2001". I suspect My Universe will ultimately stall around #15 and subsequently fall after Audacy and iHeart burn the song out.
 
Blatant pop songs gaining airplay on the Alt Rock format is nothing now. I mean, Coldplay was already able to hit number 20 in 2016, with a song featuring Beyonce. Savage Garden, the definition of cheesy pop-rock, was even able to get some airplay on Alternative in the late 90's. In the case of Savage Garden, airplay was mostly from pop-leaning stations that were reporting as Alternative.
 
The song has hit a brick wall in the mid-teens on Mediabase. It’s largely gotten this far due to iHeart and Audacy, but the bulk of the other Alts on the format continue to ignore it. Unless something changes it will not get much further.
 
macattack said:
The song has hit a brick wall in the mid-teens on Mediabase. It’s largely gotten this far due to iHeart and Audacy, but the bulk of the other Alts on the format continue to ignore it. Unless something changes it will not get much further.
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Remember, the charts are based not just on a station playing a song or not, but how many times they play it. But more important, each station's spins are weighted based on market size and station.
 
floriot said:
An independent AAA out of Key West, FL recently did air a solo Selena Gomez track!
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And the AQH audience of Alt in LA is greater than the total population of Key West!
 
On a related note, I remembered that "Without You" by The Kid Laroi made its way on alternative earlier this year. I wonder if any alternative stations also played the remixed version featuring Miley Cyrus. Because if you'd ask anyone in the year 2005, I wonder how they'd react when you say "Miley Cyrus aka Hannah Montana ended up on alternative" LOL
 
E-Cam said:
I get that Coldplay is no stranger to Alternative but it just gets me to see BTS on the same realm as the likes of Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Blink 182, The Killers, and The Black Keys.
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There's a lot of this happening throughout the music industry. A few years ago, the country band Florida Georgia Line had a #1 duet with pop singer Bebe Rexha. It was a big crossover hit. This is not a radio problem. The question you should ask is why would Coldplay do a duet with a boy band? What does this say about them? Are they that insecure about their popularity that they need to glom onto a pop band to become relevant?
 
I really liked “Something Just Like This” with Chainsmokrrs and didn’t mind hearing it on Alternative.

Playing this song with BTS is just a bridge too far, in my opinion. I simply don’t like it, regardless of format.
 
TheBigA said:
Because it already peaked at #1 in Hot Rock and Alternative charts.

It peaked at #10 in the rock chart, #1 in Hot 100.
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I wasn’t talking about any chart other than the Alternative Airplay charts (BB and MB). Obviously it topped Hot Rock and Alternative considering it hit #1 on the Hot 100 and Coldplay is considered Alternative by default.
 
I’m not sure if any FM alternative stations are playing it, but Sirius XM Alt Nation has been playing Gasoline by The Weeknd for a few weeks. It does not sound out of place on the station.
 
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