When Should Streaming Data Impact Music Programming Choices?
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2021 JULY 26 CountryInsider.com | Sign Up For Daily Email Here When Should Streaming Data Impact Music Programming Choices? Look at most any streaming chart from Shazam to Apple Music lately, and you’ll see one of two titles as the highest-ranked country track: Walker Hayes’ “Fancy Like” or Nelly & Florida Georgia Line’s “Lil Bit.” In fact, “Lil Bit” is the No. 1 track overall on the Pandora Top Spins Chart, while “Fancy Like” is No. 1 overall at Amazon Music. Yet with a handful of exceptions, the airplay on terrestrial country stations doesn’t mirror the songs’ streaming popularity. The question becomes increasingly more important: How and when should streaming success factor into programming decisions? (Continued on page 4) COUNTRY INSIDER TOP 5: KFRG’s Heather Froglear: Building A Hall Of Fame Career Without Leaping From Market To Market. Scott Huskey’s 3 M’s Of Radio: Why it never hurts to step back and look at the basics. Ingrid Andress Announces “The Feeling Things” U.S. And European Tour. SiriusXM Rebrands Subscription Plans, Adds “Platinum VIP” Top Tier For $34.99 Per Month. The Big Swindell: “Single Saturday Night” Hits The No. 1 Spot. 1 | JULY 26, 2021 CountryInsider.com Big Daddy Dave My Top 5 Can’t Rowdy Yates My Top 5 Afternoons The Original Country Gold Miss Classics: Current Hits: KPLO / Everything Country Syndicated - Nationwide Pierre, SD 1. Forever After All - 1. Charlie Daniels Band - Luke Combs The Devil Went Down 2. Old School - to Georgia Toby Keith 2. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - 3. Settlin’ Down - Fishin’ in the Dark Miranda Lambert 3. David Allan Coe - The Ride 4. Country Again - 4. The Bellamy Brothers - Thomas Rhett Redneck Girl 5. Drinkin’ Beer. 5. Merle & Willie - Talkin’ God. Amen - Pancho & Lefty Chase Rice/FGL Ingrid Andress Plans U.S., European Headlining Tour. Ingrid Andress’ “The Feeling Things” tour will kick off Sept. 27 at the Royale in Boston and take her to Europe in early 2022. The “Lady Like” singer will fit in a dozen headlining shows in the U.S. between dates supporting Dan + Shay on “The (Arena) Tour.” “I’m so excited to bring my debut album, Lady Like, to the stage and perform these songs that have been such a huge part of my life for the past few years,” Andress said in a release. “More importantly, I can’t wait to see all the fans that I’ve been missing for the last 18 months. As a songwriter, the human connection is one of my favorite parts of the whole experience of touring, so I’m really looking forward to that.” SiriusXM Rebrands Subscription Packages, Adds “Platinum VIP” Tier. SiriusXM’s new “Platinum VIP” $34.99-monthly subscription tier provides subscribers with SiriusXM content in two cars, as well as access to nugs.net’s library of live concert video and audio recordings. Other subscription plans now have new names: Platinum (formerly “All Access”), Music & Entertainment (formerly “Select”), Music Showcase (formerly “Mostly Music”), Choose & Save (formerly “Choice”). The renamed SiriusXM digital (no car required) subscriptions are Streaming Platinum (formerly “Premier Streaming”) and Streaming Music & Entertainment (formerly “Essential Streaming”). Lauren Alaina Gets Her First Platinum Record As A Lead Artist. Barely a month after Lauren Alaina had four of her singles certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America, one of those records has gone platinum. “The Road Less Traveled” is Alaina’s first single as a lead artist to be certified by the RIAA for sales and streams totaling a million units. “The Road Less Traveled” also was Alaina’s first No. 1 radio hit, in April 2017. Alaina has platinum records as a featured artist for Kane Brown’s “What Ifs” and HARDY’s “ONE BEER.” Tyler Hubbard Says Jimmy Fallon’s “Lil Bit” Parody “Made My Day.” To mark the start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games last week, Jimmy Fallon and The Roots’ Tariq Trotter created an Olympics-themed parody of Nelly and Florida Georgia Line’s “Lil Bit” for “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.” FGL’s Tyler Hubbard posted the clip to his Instagram feed after it caught his eye over the weekend. “This made my day,” he said. “Y’all CRUSHED it.” 3 | JULY 26, 2021 CountryInsider.com When Streaming Should Impact Programming. (Continued from page 1) ”When the song starts racking up huge numbers mantra that I don’t want the only place that people in the streaming world, damn right you better look are finding their favorite songs to be on digital at it, you better think about it,” Johnny Chiang, platforms.” director of operations at Cox Music Group Houston and Brent Michaels, PD at Buck Owens Broadcasting CMG’s country format leader, KUZZ Bakersfield, CA (550 AM/107.9 FM) pays tells Country Insider. “You’re particular attention to Spotify and Apple, the most- foolish if you don’t. Our used services in his market. competition is everywhere “However,” he adds,” “I don’t – it’s Pandora, YouTube, discount two things that have Apple Music. Anything that’s been repeatedly pointed generating buzz anywhere out at CRS with [Stone Door else, we as PDs need to think Media Lab’s] Jeff Green that about that.” are indicators of success — Shazams and Pandora Thumbs In Portland, OR, KUPL currently has “Lil Bit” and Ups.” “Fancy Like” in its Top 10 and has introduced Aaron Lewis’ “Am I the Only One,” Streaming numbers can spike for any number of which made a huge splash reasons, ranging from placement in a television upon its release. show to dedicated fanbases determined to give their favorite artists an impressive chart debut. A “All three of those records are spike may warrant a look at a track; trending growth hitting on full cylinders right warrants more serious consideration. now, says MD and afternoon host Danny Dwyer. “They are “I look at trends over a few weeks,” Michaels says. what everyone is wanting. “Things like an album release or being a service’s It proves it on the socials — featured artist or song of the week can cause a TikTok, Instagram reels and Twitch. If you’re not on short-term spike, that isn’t reflective of the lifetime these, then you are missing the boat.” of the record.” Interpreting streaming buzz from readily available No matter how much success a track shows at data presents some challenges, though. Different streaming services, programmers have to feel like services have different demographics and different it fits their market. That’s one reason Audacy “93.1 percentages of country listeners. A recent Integr8 The Wolf” WPAW Greensboro, NC, Brand Manager Research examination of streaming charts, for Clay Walker has “Lil Bit” and “Fancy Like” among instance, showed country comprising 40% of the WPAW’s most-played tracks, while Parker hasn’t 20 most-streamed tracks on Amazon Music and added either at WUSH. Pandora, while no country appeared on Apple “It could be the most viral thing in the world, but, Music’s chart. from an artistic standpoint, if you don’t think that Additionally, some streaming apps — Shazam, for fits your brand, don’t play it,” Chiang says. “Whether instance — break out local- you change your mind down the line, that’s totally market data, but others — up to you.” such as Spotify — don’t. Bonneville International KYGO Denver (98.5) PD “While the tried-and-true Brian Michel says he tries to expose and test songs methodology is broken out in that show streaming strength in the Denver area, the key demos, we don’t get “but I can tell you there are things that stream that that from streaming,” says I have played and don’t test well and things that Dave Parker PD at Sinclair had a ton of streams but had no familiarity when I Communications “US 106.1” tested them.” WUSH Norfolk, VA. “So, I have to balance the goals (Continued on page 7) of labels, and the uncertainty of streaming, with the 4 | JULY 26, 2021 CountryInsider.com There’s No Place Like Home For KFRG Hall Of Famer Heather Froglear. Heather Froglear will become a rarity when she’s involved with Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in October the hospital that saved her daughter’s life. She has not just because she’s a woman, but because she’s served on its board of directors and helped raise $7 remained at one station for nearly three decades. million. Froglear, the APD/MD/on-air talent for Audacy “K-FROG “I always have been an open book and shared some 95.1” KFRG Riverside, CA, joined the station in 1993 difficult times that I’ve had over my tenure here at KFRG after graduating with a mass communication degree and a lot of things people here have related to,” she from Cal State-San Bernardino — and never left. She says. “I have been honest when things are great and not began simultaneously handling middays and serving as great and that has resonated. director of promotions. She eventually assumed a morning drive position and “I am just me. But I think being me is some programming duties, becoming being them. If I am just me, I get to deal MD/APD in 2017. with taking your child to get her hair dyed blue and distance learning, just In May, eight months after a station like anybody else. The greatest thing shakeup, she reunited with partner that has come from my career are the Anthony Donatelli on afternoon drive.