Podcast - Chart Talk: May 2023 Edition
Are Luke Combs and Morgan Wallen starting a trend where artists release multiple singles simultaneously to country radio? I'll talk about their success, along with my top picks for the month. Plus, Carrie Underwood's "Hate My Heart," written by HARDY, was poised to be a chart topper, so why did it stall on country radio? I'll touch on that and dive into what country songs are crossing over into pop right now. We'll cheers to Hailey Whitters and her first top twenty victory and spotlight artists on the chart for the first time.
Show Notes
Welcome to Across the Country with Amanda.
I am bringing you another edition of Chart Talk where I breakdown what’s happening on the country music charts this month. I have my own radio afternoon drive show – so I’ll share all my thoughts on my favorite new songs for this month, too.
We’ll talk about Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs releasing two singles at once, and dive into what’s going on with Carrie Underwood’s lack of success with her last single. And I’ll touch on what songs are crossing over into the Pop Scene.
Trending Now
Tyler Hubbard scores his second number one as a solo artist with “Dancin’ in the Country.” This song is very catchy. I think he’s done a great job of diverting from the FGL path in terms of production – it’s not as over-the-top, which I can appreciate.
Scotty McCreery – he just is so underrated - he’s one of the most consistent artists at radio. He’s over a decade into his career. Yes, it’s been 12 years since his first song came out after winning American Idol. And if “It Matters to Her” reaches the top, it will be his sixth consecutive number one. I Just looked at his sales and wow...with those last 5 singles, he’s sold over 6 million copies of them.
We have two females in the top ten – Megan Moroney – she seems to be the new “It Girl” of country music. “Tennessee Orange” is all over radio. I'm hearing all kinds of good things about her album – I haven’t listened to it – so please tell me if it’s one I need to add to my list – find me on social media and let me know.
We have Priscilla Block and Justin Moore with their duet “You, Me, and Whiskey.” That kinda just came out of nowhere – my station went really heavy on it about 3 weeks ago.
JellyRoll continues to be one of the biggest stars of the genre; he is climbing fast up the charts, too.
We must have a moment for Hailey Whitters. This is huge. Hailey has her first top 20 single! I’ve been rooting for her – and so happy for this song to take off like it finally has! I think I've been playing that song for almost a year now.
We have quite a few females with their first top 40 singles – Hailey, Megan Moroney – I'm pretty sure Kylie Morgan, too. I believe this is just the second for Kassi Ashton and Priscilla Block.
Brothers Osborne return to the charts with “Nobody’s Nobody.” I think this will be the one that takes TJ and John back to radio. Do you remember the ACMs last year when TJ was just crushed that “I’m Not For Everyone” was no longer going to be promoted by their label? I stuck with that song – I loved playing it – my listeners loved it.
Music consumption is drastically different than what it was just 5 years ago. I grew up in an era where a song maybe spent 15-20 weeks on the charts total. In the late 90s it was probably a bit quicker than that. Right now, it takes a long time. We are seeing songs that were released late summer of last year still climbing.
A New Radio Trend?
Something that we haven’t really seen on the Billboard Airplay Charts is artists releasing multiple singles. Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs are the biggest artists in any genre right now. Their record labels have released two singles simultaneously to country radio – so they are competing against themselves. Morgan is in the top ten with two songs right now, “Last Night” and “One Thing at A Time” and Luke is on his way there with “Love You Anyway” and “Fast Car.” Luke makes a third appearance with Riley Green and their duet “Different Round Here.”
We saw Lainey Wilson break the record for shortest span between number one hits when both “Heart Like a Truck” and “Wait in the Truck” went number one last month.
Airplay is coveted the way it is, and now it’s just become that much more challenging if you aren’t Morgan or Luke. Do I think any other current artists could attempt to release multiple singles to country radio? Probably not. It will be interesting to see if this pattern continues – as much as it may take up airplay for other acts, it may help in the long run. I’ve talked about some artists only releasing one single a year because it takes that long to climb the charts. If they have two out, there’s a chance that both songs could succeed – giving them more exposure and ultimately allowing them to have more hits in a set list – the live show is where I think it will benefit most.
There are some artists that I would love to have multiple songs from – Cody Johnson is someone who comes to mind.
I am trying to see the positive if this becomes a trend. As a country radio DJ, we are wearing out these current songs. We can’t not play the latest single from these big acts. Probably anywhere in the U.S. if you are listening to a country radio station, you will hear the latest single by any of the acts in the top twenty at least 3 times a day. An additional single would break up that repetitiveness, which I really think would be a nice break for the listener and the music programmer, of course.
We’ve seen too many acts in the past few years never elevate to that next level. They’ve been in the game for almost a decade, so they are well past the newcomer phase, enough hits to be a supporting act on a big tour, but not quite a solid enough ticket seller for large venues. Adding a few more hits to their catalog could help boost their career.
Carrie Underwood “Hate My Heart”
I wanted to briefly talk about Carrie Underwood’s single “Hate My Heart.” It has now disappeared from the charts after stalling at number twenty. This is the lowest-performing single of her career. I played this song the week that it went to radio in late October.
I thought it was a great radio single – it was up tempo, had all the components you’d expect from one of Carrie’s more rocking singles. For me, I prefer “Hate My Heart” over “Last Name” or “Undo It” or some of her earlier up tempo songs. I thought the production was really good on it, but it just never took off.
She performed it on the CMAs – it's written by Hardy – who is everywhere now. The Denim & Rhinestone album really centers around these songs that fit exceptionally well in her live show. It’s more of a carefree, wild child type vibe from the songs to the overall look of the promo photos. It’s interesting to me that this song didn't fare very well at all.
Her label already has sent “Out of That Truck” to radio – I haven’t heard it yet, but I look forward to listening to it. I'm not sure if there will be a deluxe version of the current album or if we should expect a new project. I don’t think Carrie Underwood fans have anything to be concerned about. Sure, it’s a bit disappointing to see the top female artist of the last 18 years not get the recognition and airplay she deserves, but I don’t think this is an indication of radio seeing Carrie as a legacy act. Not every Reba, Shania, or Trisha Yearwood song broke the top twenty in the 90s. They had strides of number ones and then a single that wouldn’t perform as well, so it’s all part of the cycle.
Country Songs Dominate Pop Radio
A handful of country artists have found their way to pop radio – Parmalee with “Take My name.” Shania Twain with “Giddy Up.” That single was never sent to country, but she is doing well on the Adult Contemporary charts.
Kane Brown and Katelyn Brown with “Thank God.”
And then, there’s Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs. I never thought Luke Combs would be on pop radio. That just goes to show what a universal and timeless song “Fast Car” is. And whatever anyone can do about getting Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs to perform at the CMAs or Grammys, please do it.
The company I work for has a country station and a pop station, so I often hear Morgan or Luke coming from the pop station just as I am spinning their songs on the country side.
I’ll wrap this podcast up by sharing my top five on the charts right now:
In no order:
Scotty McCreery – It matters To Her
Hailey Whitters – Everything She Ain’t
Jordan Davis – Next Thing You Know
Ashley McBryde – Light on in the Kitchen
And I just can’t get enough of Fast Car from Luke Combs. That’s Single of the Year stuff right there.
That is going to do it for this episode – subscribe so you don’t miss any future ones. You can listen to me weekdays on 101 Country WBDC and you can visit my website for all things country music – that's acrossthecountrywithamanda.com.