Why Isn't Country Radio Playing the #1 Song On the Hot Country Chart?

[AMRadioGuy]

I see that the #1 song for 6 weeks on the Billboard Hot Country chart is Morgan Wallen & Tate McRae's "What I Want." It debuted at #1. Yet country radio isn't playing it. It made a brief appearance at the bottom of the airplay chart a few weeks ago at #55 for one week before dropping off, and is back on at the bottom again this week (literally, at #60). There are some other big differences between the two charts, too, but this one really stands out!

Not only is it #1 on the Hot Country chart, but it's also #2 on the Hot 100 pop chart.

One potential argument could be that "What I Want" leans too pop for country stations to play, but it's more country than quite a few other songs high up on the country airplay chart. Then again, I sometimes get confused as to what even qualifies as "country" today...

Basically, it just seems really weird to me that country radio isn't playing the most popular country song right now. What's up with that? Admittedly, I've only had access to these charts a little while, so I'm not sure if this is typical or not.

Meanwhile, I've been hearing it on top-40 radio quite a bit...

 

[James Otto Sweet Heart]

I only know that there are two different Billboard charts for country songs. One is for radio airplay, and I don't know what the purpose of the other chart is. If the song was not released to country radio, maybe that is the reason why it's not being found on country radio. I just now read that Morgan is doing the song with a girl who has a musical identity herself. Maybe she and Morgan together are the reason why the song is so big even if it isn't on country radio.

God bless you and them always!!!

Holly

 

[TheBigA]

Basically, it just seems really weird to me that country radio isn't playing the most popular country song right now.

The Hot Country chart is primarily a streaming chart. If you look at the country airplay chart, Morgan's song "Just In Case" is #4. He has also just released another radio single. They're two very different charts using two different methodologies. The #1 Hot Country song isn't "most popular." Just most streamed. But if you look at the Hot Country chart, it has at least ten Morgan songs. If people only stream Morgan songs, that's what you'll see in the Hot Country chart. Radio aims to play a broader variety of music than just one artist.

https://www.billboard.com/charts/country-airplay/

If you notice, American Top 40 doesn't play the Billboard Hot 100, basically for the same reason.

 

[davideduardo]

The Hot Country chart is primarily a streaming chart. If you look at the country airplay chart, Morgan's song "Just In Case" is #4. He has also just released another radio single. They're two very different charts using two different methodologies. The #1 Hot Country song isn't "most popular." Just most streamed. But if you look at the Hot Country chart, it has at least ten Morgan songs. If people only stream Morgan songs, that's what you'll see in the Hot Country chart. Radio aims to play a broader variety of music than just one artist.

The original poster might want to check Country Aircheck at file:///R:/Dropbox/Download/Issue-967-June-30-2025.pdf which has the Mediabase chart as well as all the country radio news. And one of its editors and writers is RadioDiscussion's own Chris Huff!

One feature of Country Aircheck is a weekly play count for each country station in a different market so you can see the difference in spins by song and station.

 

[AMRadioGuy]

The Hot Country chart is primarily a streaming chart. If you look at the country airplay chart, Morgan's song "Just In Case" is #4. He has also just released another radio single. They're two very different charts using two different methodologies. The #1 Hot Country song isn't "most popular." Just most streamed. But if you look at the Hot Country chart, it has at least ten Morgan songs. If people only stream Morgan songs, that's what you'll see in the Hot Country chart. Radio aims to play a broader variety of music than just one artist.

https://www.billboard.com/charts/country-airplay/

If you notice, American Top 40 doesn't play the Billboard Hot 100, basically for the same reason.

So I'm confused, BigA. I'd think that "most streamed" in this day and age would pretty much be "most popular." Especially considering the amount of music consumed via streaming. Is there a better chart to measure popularity for current country songs?

I get that country radio isn't always going to play everything on the Hot Country chart, but it does seem odd that country radio isn't playing the "most streamed" country song that debuted at #1 on the hot country chart and is now on its 7th week at the top of the chart. That blows my mind. There are 60 other currents country radio is playing over the "most streamed" current country song right now.

 

[TheBigA]

So I'm confused, BigA. I'd think that "most streamed" in this day and age would pretty much be "most popular."

The streaming chart doesn't tell you if the people listening are country fans or pop fans. Last year Beyonce had a #1 Hot Country song with Texas Hold 'em. The song tested awful with country fans. So country radio didn't play it. Jelly Roll has a song with gospel singer Brandon Lake. It's #12 in the streaming chart, and #41 in the airplay chart. How many Brandon Lake fans are driving the streams of that song?

That's where research and a good programmer come into play. Radio doesn't just follow the chart, because the information you see in a chart may not reflect what country radio listeners want to hear. Some data can be misleading. As I said, this also goes for CHR. They don't just play the Hot 100.

 

[kevtronics]

One problem is that the traditional concept of albums and singles doesn't really apply anymore. Artists are now releasing "albums" containing 60+ songs and their fans are running up the numbers by streaming it on repeat play all day long. There is no longer any fear of dropping a new song while your previous one is still a hit. Artists are free to saturate the market as much as they want.

 

[AMRadioGuy]

The streaming chart doesn't tell you if the people listening are country fans or pop fans. Last year Beyonce had a #1 Hot Country song with Texas Hold 'em. The song tested awful with country fans. So country radio didn't play it. Jelly Roll has a song with gospel singer Brandon Lake. It's #12 in the streaming chart, and #41 in the airplay chart. How many Brandon Lake fans are driving the streams of that song?

That's where research and a good programmer come into play. Radio doesn't just follow the chart, because the information you see in a chart may not reflect what country radio listeners want to hear. Some data can be misleading. As I said, this also goes for CHR. They don't just play the Hot 100.

Okay, now this makes a little more sense. Thanks for elaborating, BigA. So basically, a bunch of Tate McRae fans (who don't really like country music all that much) might be driving the song's popularity, even though people who primarily listen to country music don't dig it that much. That's certainly a plausible explanation.

I remember the "Texas Hold 'Em" thing. It disappeared from country radio almost overnight.

Admittedly, I've only had access to the Airplay chart for a few months now, and just compared the two recently, so I don't have a lot of perspective to compare the current situation with. Thanks for sharing some of that perspective with me.

Also, Billboard does say that the Hot Country Songs chart is tabulated from a combination of streaming, sales, and airplay - not just streaming.

One problem is that the traditional concept of albums and singles doesn't really apply anymore. Artists are now releasing "albums" containing 60+ songs and their fans are running up the numbers by streaming it on repeat play all day long. There is no longer any fear of dropping a new song while your previous one is still a hit. Artists are free to saturate the market as much as they want.

I've definitely noticed this, too... Especially with collaborations.

 

[TheBigA]

Okay, now this makes a little more sense. Thanks for elaborating, BigA. So basically, a bunch of Tate McRae fans (who don't really like country music all that much) might be driving the song's popularity, even though people who primarily listen to country music don't dig it that much. That's certainly a plausible explanation.

We really don't know. The streaming chart doesn't specify who is streaming. What we know is What I Want is also #2 in the Hot 100. That is an all-genre chart that also reflects streaming, not airplay. Morgan has 3 songs in the Hot 100 Top 5. Country radio is playing two of them. How much Morgan do you want?

The other part of this is the role of the record label. Morgan is a cross-genre, cross-format star. He has a country label and a pop label. They have different staffs and are working different singles. What I Want wasn't released as a single to country radio. His country label is working two of his songs: Just In Case and a new single, just out last week. It's possible What I Want will never be released as a country single. If people want to hear it on the radio, there are lots of other radio stations playing it. Country doesn't have an exclusive with any artist.

 

[TheBigA]

Billboard does say that the Hot Country Songs chart is tabulated from a combination of streaming, sales, and airplay - not just streaming.

That's correct, but the streaming numbers overwhelm the sales and airplay numbers. You can see the difference between the two charts.

I remember the "Texas Hold 'Em" thing. It disappeared from country radio almost overnight.

Correct. The label was looking to get just enough airplay to qualify for the country awards.

 

[CTListener]

We really don't know. The streaming chart doesn't specify who is streaming. What we know is What I Want is also #2 in the Hot 100. That is an all-genre chart that also reflects streaming, not airplay. Morgan has 3 songs in the Hot 100 Top 5. Country radio is playing two of them. How much Morgan do you want?

The other part of this is the role of the record label. Morgan is a cross-genre, cross-format star. He has a country label and a pop label. They have different staffs and are working different singles. What I Want wasn't released as a single to country radio. His country label is working two of his songs: Just In Case and a new single, just out last week. It's possible What I Want will never be released as a country single. If people want to hear it on the radio, there are lots of other radio stations playing it. Country doesn't have an exclusive with any artist.

I don't see Zach Top's label trying to work him at pop or urban radio! But then again, Lainey Wilson, who has so far been purely a country act, has added a guest vocal (including a verse) to Myles Smith's "Nice to Meet You," which has already been a pop/AC hit here and in the UK, so maybe Lainey is set to cross over just as Morgan has. Could Zach be next?

 

[TheBigA]

I don't see Zach Top's label trying to work him at pop or urban radio! But then again, Lainey Wilson, who has so far been purely a country act, has added a guest vocal (including a verse) to Myles Smith's "Nice to Meet You," which has already been a pop/AC hit here and in the UK, so maybe Lainey is set to cross over just as Morgan has. Could Zach be next?

These things don't just happen. The record labels have a say in how the music is used. In Zach's case, his label doesn't have a team working his music to other genres the way Morgan does. As for Lainey, her label has to approve the song to be released as a single. So they might not release the duet version as a single. It doesn't mean some stations won't play it, but the duet version won't get counted separately from the solo version.

Another example: Rapper BigX ThaPlug has a song called All The Way with country singer Bailey Zimmerman. The song debuted at #1 on the Hot Country chart. The two performed the song on the CMA Fest TV special. Country radio is not playing this song.

 

[CTListener]

These things don't just happen. The record labels have a say in how the music is used. In Zach's case, his label doesn't have a team working his music to other genres the way Morgan does. As for Lainey, her label has to approve the song to be released as a single. So they might not release the duet version as a single. It doesn't mean some stations won't play it, but the duet version won't get counted separate from the solo version.

Rapper BigX ThaPlug has a song called All The Way with country singer Bailey Zimmerman. The song debuted at #1 on the Hot Country chart. The two performed the song on the CMA Fest TV special. Country radio is not playing this song.

SiriusXM's Highway channel has been all over the Myles/Lainey song for weeks now. Someone has to be working it to radio, right? Or is The Highway just marching to its own drummer and playing songs its PD and/or MD like?

 

[Huff]

Could Zach be next?

No. Zach's sound is far too traditional country for pop radio. And a lot of pop programmers even resist Wallen, even though he is quite "pop" in sound.
And Zach is on an independent Nashville label, while Morgan's label has a relationship with Republic, which works him to pop formats.

The Highway marches to its own drum - and doesn't have things like ratings to worry about.

 

[CTListener]

No. Zach's sound is far too traditional country for pop radio. And a lot of pop programmers even resist Wallen, even though he is quite "pop" in sound.
And Zach is on an independent Nashville label, while Morgan's label has a relationship with Republic, which works him to pop formats.

The Highway marches to its own drum - and doesn't have things like ratings to worry about.

SiriusXM still knows how many people are listening to each of its channels via the internet, though, even if the radios are dumb devices unable to send data back to the company or be counted by Nielsen, right? A mainstream country channel like The Highway, even with its quirks, is likely in no danger of being dropped or relegated to the "extra" channels (which legacy radios cannot receive) or online only (unavailable through the satellites at all). But SXM demoted Deep Tracks to Channel 308 and The Loft and The Village to online only, presumably because the streaming data told corporate that the listener numbers were poor. If this wasn't the case, why WERE they relegated in that manner?

 

[Huff]

SiriusXM still knows how many people are listening to each of its channels via the internet, though, even if the radios are dumb devices unable to send data back to the company or be counted by Nielsen, right?

They may have ways to estimate listening, but they are not playing the same game. Their business model is not to attract listeners and sell ads the same way commercial radio's is. They could easily encode with Nielsen, but they don't, and given that it's been nearly two decades, apparently it is not a pressing matter for them.

 

[davideduardo]

That's correct, but the streaming numbers overwhelm the sales and airplay numbers. You can see the difference between the two charts.

If they calculated the airplay numbers based on "one listener - one vote" and looked at streams the same way, it would be different. A Houston station with, let's say, 10,000 AQH listeners that plays a song 50 times during the week would give 500,000 votes to the song. For one station. Add the "airplay based votes" for all the country panel, and the streams seem a lot less important.

But the record companies like to look at the sources of revenue. A station that plays a song once or ten times or fifty times produces no direct differences in record industry revenue.

Correct. The label was looking to get just enough airplay to qualify for the country awards.

And awards create enough interest to actually make more money.

 

[davideduardo]

They may have ways to estimate listening, but they are not playing the same game. Their business model is not to attract listeners and sell ads the same way commercial radio's is. They could easily encode with Nielsen, but they don't, and given that it's been nearly two decades, apparently it is not a pressing matter for them.

There were early studies, but ratings do not help get more radios in cars activated. They do some listening and perceptual studies... I have been asked three times in 25 years... based on what subscribers listen to and a little bit of "why".

In my case, I was asked to rank the channels I listened to most. There was, once, an open-end of "what is missing that you'd like to hear?" question.

 

[TheBigA]

Here's an interesting story regarding the Hot Country chart. Thanks to the 4th of July, Toby Keith's Courtesy of the Red White & Blue soared to the Top 10 (#8) in the Hot Country Chart. Billboard explains it this way:

“Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue (The Angry American)” The patriotic 2002 Hot Country Songs chart-topper reenters Country Digital Song Sales at No. 1; it surged 121% to 3,000 sold July 4-10, according to Luminate. It also shot up 131% to 11 7 million official U.S. streams in that span. It concurrently reenters Hot Country Songs at No. 8.

So that's what it takes to get a Top 10 song in the Hot Country chart. The song likely also received a lot of country radio airplay. But the way streams are counted, it gets a bigger boost in the Hot Country chart.