Zach Bryan Ad Calls Out Mainstream Country Radio’s Imbalance
Zach Bryan is currently crossing the final frontier yet to be conquered by an artist not groomed by Music Row. We’re speaking of course about country radio. For months now, Zach Bryan’s single “Something in the Orange” has been either the #1 most streamed song in all of country music, or #2 or #3. This week it’s spending its 6th consecutive week in the #1 streaming spot, while it sits at #2 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, which considers a broad base of consumption metrics, including country radio play.
“Something in the Orange” achieved another symbolic victory this week, at least on the Billboard Country Airplay chart. It finally made it to #39, which means it’s a Top 40 hit, and Zach Bryan is officially a Top 40 radio artist. The song was already so massive, country radio started playing it under its own volition—something that almost never happens. Generally speaking, radio plays what country’s major labels tell it to.
But a few weeks ago, Zach Bryan’s label Warner Records started actively promoting “Something in the Orange” to radio, giving it an additional boost. What this means is regional radio reps solicit radio stations for play, perhaps Bryan makes some appearances at local stations for interviews and such, and the label places ads in country radio’s trade periodicals like Billboard Country Update, and Country Aircheck promoting the single.
There are currently two different entities tracking radio play: BDS which Billboard pulls from, and Mediabase which Country Airplay uses. Beginning on November 12th, the two charts will officially merge under Luminate, eliminating this weekly discrepancy between the two charts. But currently, Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange” is charting worse via Mediabase. While it’s at #39 in Billboard, Mediabase has it at #44, and had it at #49 last week.
Even worse though is the discrepancy between the wild popularity of “Something in the Orange,” the wild popularity of Zach Bryan in general with his album American Heartbreak still solidly at #2 on the Billboard Country Albums chart behind Morgan Wallen’s Dangerous, and where “Something in the Orange” is charting on radio. So to point this out, last week Bryan’s record label took out a full page ad in Country Aircheck, basically calling country radio to the mat.
As it points out, “Something in the Orange” was at #1 on the Mediabase streaming chart, with 16, 824,831 streams in a single week, while only coming in at #49 on the Mediabase airplay chart. And for good measure, it also points out that it has over 5 million more weekly streams than the #1 airplay song. Though all the other songs are blurred out in the ad, that #1 airplay song happens to be Morgan Wallen’s “You Proof,” which is currently earning a multi-week stay at #1 on both the Mediabase airplay chart, and the Billboard Airplay chart.
It’s not exactly the notorious ad Rick Rubin once took out in Billboard with Johnny Cash violently flipping the bird during his At San Quentin days, mocking country radio and the Nashville establishment for not playing his songs while he racked up Grammy Awards for his American Recordings releases. But in many respects, the ad much smarter, and more illustrative of just the kind of inequities more independent-minded artists face in mainstream country, regardless of their popularity, and especially on country radio.
Hopefully the ad is taken as informative without being insulting. Even on an equal playing field, singles still take time to develop on country radio. “Something in the Orange” continues to climb, and could still very well make it to #1 on radio too.
The ad also points out something else about the current balance of power in country music. Though it’s very fair to continue to consider Morgan Wallen as the #1 artist in country at the moment, Zach Bryan unequivocally has the #1 song. You combine that with the #2 album, the fact that Zach Bryan is beating Wallen on the Billboard Songwriters chart where he’s now been at #1 for 20 weeks in 2022, and you can make the case that Zach Bryan is challenging Wallen for country music’s most popular artist at the moment.
But of course, you won’t see Zach Bryan at the CMA Awards coming up on November 9th. He didn’t even receive a nomination for Best New Artist, let alone Album of the Year, or Single/Song of the Year for “Something in the Orange,” despite the dominance Zach Bryan is showing in country music at the moment. Zach hasn’t even been invited to perform at the CMAs at this point. He won’t be appearing or even presenting an award, unless the CMAs call a last minute audible. That’s right, the artist with the biggest song in all of country music at the moment, and the second biggest album all year won’t even be in the building.
But Zach Bryan doesn’t need country radio or the CMA Awards. Country radio and the CMA Awards need Zach Bryan. The mainstream can no longer afford to ignore the swelling appeal for artists not just thriving, but dominating country music outside of country radio and the Music Row system.
On October 19th, “Something in the Orange” was Certified Platinum by the RIAA while it still resided well outside the Top 40 on radio. Country artists like Zach Bryan no longer need radio to land a massive hit. Tyler Childers, Cody Jinks, Whiskey Myers, and others have done this too. Continue to ignore Zach Bryan—on radio and elsewhere—and risk losing the last vestiges of relevance radio and the industry continue to cling to.
November 1, 2022 @ 9:04 am
Amazing that 2 outsiders (one of them a deplorable outcast), are defying the system and are completely dominating it by real world metrics. It really shines a light on how clumsy and outdated the whole thing is.
With radio / the labels being systematically corrupt, and the activist journalists trying their hardest to be gatekeepers, they’ve left this door wide open for this.
November 1, 2022 @ 9:34 am
Let’s not oversell Morgan Wallen as an outsider. He’s a Joey Moi-produced artist that got famous via a Florida Georgia Line collaboration. He’s nominated for Entertainer of the Year at the CMAs, and very well may win it. He did face suspension/ineligibility for a year after the N-word incident. But by the CMAs booking him as a performer, clearly they’re over it.
I think when an organization like the CMA sees Luke Bryan getting attacked simply for having the governor of the state on stage with him when he’s playing a charity concert for relief from a hurricane where 109 people died, they know the activism has gone too far, and there is no effort that will ever placate these people. The activist class has overplayed their hand, and now have little or no influence in the marketplace of ideas, or the industry, where before they did have some leverage. People will vote Morgan Wallen Entertainer of the Year just to spite them now. But Morgan Wallen is an industry insider and a cash cow, plain and simple. Zach Bryan is who they have no commercial interest in because his label isn’t even located on Music Row.
November 1, 2022 @ 9:55 am
Morgan Wallen can also, sing.
Speaking of people who can sing, & have talent, if & when you have time, at some point (don’t know when that would be) bet your readers who are not familiar with Stephen Wilson, Jr., wouldn’t mind seeing you mention him.
Some of us can mention him here & there, but will not have near the far reaching impact, as if you were to do it.
November 1, 2022 @ 12:03 pm
I’m thinking about recommending people listen to stephen wilson Jr (who rips) in the same manner i suggest people check out jeremy pinnell’s last album goodbye LA (which rips). SWJ is so so fuckin good
TRJPA”GBLA”Rips
November 1, 2022 @ 12:10 pm
Going to listen to at least 2, perhaps 3 songs from Mr. Jeremy Pinnell’s last album, Goodbye LA, sometime tonight.
Can’t blame him, just from the title, alone.
Will let you know what think.
Give me your 3 favorites, so i’ll have a starting reference at what has you so pumped.
November 1, 2022 @ 1:05 pm
Di,
Generally speaking, I don’t mind if people recommend other artists to people in the comments section, especially if it’s relevant to the current topic. It can be a good way to spread awareness about artists. But when it’s the majority of your comments and it’s constantly veering the conversation off topic, it becomes a problem. At least Jim Bones with his Jeremy Pinnell bit makes sure to include what the current conversation is about. These comments sections are about whatever topics are being discussed. Thanks for your understanding.
November 1, 2022 @ 1:33 pm
10-4 Trig,
Apologies.
November 1, 2022 @ 10:03 am
*…CMA sees Luke Bryan getting attacked…looks like you confused your Bryans, and the aforementioned Luke falls more into the category of mainstream country. Easy mistake to make in text, not in their sound, however!
November 1, 2022 @ 10:13 am
Didn’t mean to imply Morgan was outside the industry, like Zach is. But he definitely was an outsider and reviled figure by the wannabe gatekeepers, including other musicians. Hindsight is always 20/20…there was a moment there when it wasn’t clear that he would prevail, and I’m just taking stock that he did.
And yes I agree that the activist class is losing its power. Netflix backing Chapelle was possibly the turning point.
November 1, 2022 @ 10:35 am
lol, are you really thinking this through? Exactly how does an “outsider” have broad based support from huge insiders like Jason Aldean?
A bunch of crabby liberals on Twitter are not “the gatekeepers.” Wallen was already bigger than his best known critics when this started and the politics made him more popular because the country establishment is still broadly conservative.
November 1, 2022 @ 10:27 am
Calling Wallen an “outsider” is laughable. You think that because his popularity at this point is as much or more culture war bullshit as music.
November 1, 2022 @ 9:07 am
Good ad. Whatever people might think of Zach Bryan, these stations are doing a huge disservice to their listeners by not playing some of the hottest artists in the genre. Unless they also stream, their listeners are going to be out of the loop. It’s like living through 1950 and not being aware of Hank Williams for these poor saps.
November 1, 2022 @ 9:20 am
It’s an interesting gambit that the country music industry heads are pulling: keeping Bryan off the air and for also having tried to cancel Wallen. Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean are on the verge of being too old to squeeze into their one size too small jeans and role-play as 20-somethings. Whatever, radio died when Clear Channel took control.
November 3, 2022 @ 1:14 am
Worked in Radio for over 40 years…from Rock to Country. All markets.
Truer words were never spoken. Clear Channel killed Radio. And absolutely killed “live” radio while almost killing Country. And “Pop” Country…. ain’t Country.
November 1, 2022 @ 9:39 am
Not a Zach Bryan stan, but love the ad.
Speaking of “You Proof” by Morgan Wallen, I would like to nominate this song for worst single of the year, if there is such a category.
November 1, 2022 @ 3:23 pm
You probably haven’t heard She Likes It by Russel Dickerson, but it is much MUCH worse than You Proof
November 2, 2022 @ 4:50 am
Preach Cap’n!
November 2, 2022 @ 11:49 am
Glad to hear I’m not the only one that thinks You Proof is a terrible song. I turn the radio to a different channel every time it comes on. It’s awful!!
November 1, 2022 @ 9:40 am
Acm/cma award shows and Country radio have been shooting themselves in the foot so long, they’re obviously wearing clown shoes. Looks good on them.
November 1, 2022 @ 10:13 am
Does airplay even matter anymore? Seriously ya’ll, who’s listening to the radio?
November 1, 2022 @ 10:48 am
Ya know Richard Trigger uses a term that I really love called “Passive listeners” which I believe means average people that just get in the car and turn on the radio? They don’t care about charts, playlists, sales, whose independent or on a major label etc……they like what they’re told to by the labels and corporate radio. The end. What percentage of folks is that? Trig, do you know? Does anyone?? Maybe Zach should pull a Sturgill and do a little busking in the CMA parking lot. I loved that!!!
November 1, 2022 @ 10:55 am
Radio still has a huge audience, even if it’s dwindling by the day with streaming and podcasts. A lot of radio corporations such as iHeart are also getting more an more into podcasts and streaming markets to help prop up the radio side of the business. My theory is that by the time they actually make radio an even playing field for independent artists, it will basically be obsolete.
We also have to remember there are a lot of independent radio stations still left out there doing it right, supporting regional artists and independent artists. Not all radio is built the same.
November 2, 2022 @ 1:27 pm
Zach Bryan is the only big label artist on my station. 100,000 watts of all independent country music, and we’re big corporate owned. Maybe we should change our name from 95.7 KPUR The Armadillo to The Unicorn… Thank you for adding “Not all radio is built the same.”
November 1, 2022 @ 10:50 am
Tyler Hubbard’s solo song (currently #3 at mainstream radio) only has 800k streams?? Doesn’t seem to add up.
For those wondering what his solo single is… It’s “5 foot 9”
November 1, 2022 @ 12:56 pm
Maybe the radio folks know this guy isn’t worth the air time? Mediocre voice, sub par guitar player, and lyrics that would have been cool if a high schooler wrote them. The fact he is this popular is just mind blowing to me…
November 1, 2022 @ 2:55 pm
Not much different than a male Taylor Swift.
November 1, 2022 @ 8:19 pm
“Mediocre voice, sub par guitar player, and lyrics that would have been cool if a high schooler wrote them” …….Don’t you get it? THAT’S why they love him. He’s a younger everyman. I (at 61) was at a 49 Winchester show here at Carol’s with a 25 yr old dude from Texas I hang out with and their were 2 younger gals (21-24)……seemingly out of place and I said “Let’s ask this” to them….. ‘Whose a better songwriter Zach Bryan or Luke Combs?”….now don’t go saying “Why didn’t you them Zach against _____…” (Cody,Tyler….etc…yadda yadda) and they fawned and gushed Zach over Combs like I was asking some bizarre insane question….lol They said ZACH BRYAN !!!! I don’t agree but I get it.
November 2, 2022 @ 12:58 am
So in order for Zach Bryan to exist, Luke Combs has to be a trashy lyricists? I don’t get where you are coming from, Luke Combs doesn’t get retired simply because someone exists. Good and great artist can exist at the same time regardless of how we catagorize them. But the point this article is making us that depsite an overwhelming new artist, single z and album blowing away everything on streaming, it lands way way at the bottom finally on country radio charts.
November 2, 2022 @ 8:19 am
“So in order for Zach Bryan to exist, Luke Combs has to be a trashy lyricists?” No that’s not what I meant at all, I just meant people are into Zach for exactly the way he is for better or worse and many folks like Combs for the way he is. Many like me enjoy both. It’s an opinion as to whose a better songwriter (these gals I asked chose Zach) but most of us think Zach should be getting more recognition due to all the great numbers even if we don’t personally love the guys music. I don’t dislike him, I like a lot of his songs. Of course everyone should exist we’d just like it to be a little more fair across the board.
November 2, 2022 @ 7:11 am
Some of his hype is overblown but the dude is better than most of the so-called singers on that top 40 list.
November 2, 2022 @ 7:59 am
I just listened to “Orange” for the second or third time. It’s, fine, I guess. Vocals and guitar playing do nothing for me, the songwriting is decent, but there are a lot of lines where the syllables are jammed together in a way that doesn’t flow. I don’t think it would fit well in a radio playlist.
No idea why this guy has gotten so much attention, but just because he’s popular doesn’t mean he should be on the radio.
November 1, 2022 @ 3:35 pm
not sure this is the right place to bring up Bailey Zimmerman… not saying I’m a fan by any means but I just saw his EP is still at 21k on the chart and find his rise to be similar to Zach’s, in terms of Tiktok popularity. I think his EP was only 8 songs… and am curious to see if it stays in the top 20 based on a few song’s streams alone like ZB seems to be doing (granted his album was much longer.) I think his chart placement is worth watching just for fun.
November 1, 2022 @ 3:40 pm
I will be honest that these “giants” in the country charts sure seem like pygmies compared to the past.
November 1, 2022 @ 5:27 pm
I don’t know, I would rather actually not be on country radio given it’s sucked ass for a very long time. If you can’t find satisfaction simply writing a song for fun, money isn’t going to make it more fulfilling. Obviously it may have been his labels doing anyway but I already thought Zach Brian wasn’t making country music and I can’t understand much of what he is singing because my bad hearing it sounds like mumbling.
November 1, 2022 @ 7:26 pm
I’m happy for Zach Bryan’s success and love seeing country radio look foolish by ignoring objectively popular artists. But I haven’t been able to get into ZB’s music. It could be from too much being released too quickly, I’m not sure. When I listen to him, I’m reminded a bit of Jason Isbell (who I love), but feel indifferent toward most of Zach Bryan’s songs.
November 1, 2022 @ 8:41 pm
I am forced to listen to the awful Highway by the wife on XM. It’s all just lazy songwriting. Not surprised Zach isn’t getting his due. Honestly, his lyrics are too complicated for the audience Country music has positioned itself towards. A good example of lazy songwriting is She Had Me At Heads Carolina by Cole Swindell. Every time I hear this song I feel like it’s from the POV of some creepy guy daydreaming about a girl singing karaoke.
November 2, 2022 @ 4:57 am
This is what happens when the FCC and DoJ allow just a select few companies to control a majority of the radio stations.
Those one or two companies have, at most, one person as a “format captain” (what we used to call a ‘program director’) that dictates what all the stations with that particular format play across the country.
November 2, 2022 @ 7:12 am
Government interference is never a good thing.
November 2, 2022 @ 5:38 am
I’m a fan of country music, and I’ve listened to this Zach Bryan guy, but I just don’t get it. There is no reason to hear his songs a 2nd time. Over hyped hipster with some kind of social media following. Whining about not being played while telling everyone radio is not fair. I worked in country radio for 33 years. No it is not fair but if you do not have a song worth hearing a 2nd time don’t expect for radio to be on your side. Their are tons of artists who have following but that does not make their music any better. Radio has to play mass appeal music, streaming allow people to listen to niche artist. A world of difference. When videos were all the rage we were cautioned just because someone has a great music video does not equate to a country hit. It’s like Chapel Hart and Drake Mulligan both got super it factors from America’s Got Talent… but so far has not achieved much radio success. I think Chapel Hart can make it on radio, but as usual these shows create a lot of buzz that artists are not ready to take advantage of. Meanwhile Zach Bryan reminds me of Dave Mathews—Jack Johnson… hipster artist … who’s every song sounds the same .
November 2, 2022 @ 7:51 am
“Radio has to play mass appeal music, streaming allow people to listen to niche artist.”
Sure, but as the ad displays, the niche is becoming the mass appeal. This paradigm shift has been happening for years, and continues to grow. This is the reason radio stations started adding “Something in the Orange” even before it was promoted to radio. It may sound “hipster” to you (bad assessment, because Zach’s fans are the antithesis of hipsters. If anything they’re frat boy types,” but when a song is out streaming Morgan Wallen by five million a week, it’s anything but niche. Zach Bryan is becoming the mainstream.
November 2, 2022 @ 8:22 am
At his ATL concert a year ago, it was actually a decent mix of NPR types and frat boy types!
We all had one thing in common, though:
Everyone knew every word to every song.
November 2, 2022 @ 6:14 pm
Radio is also so slow to react for them to take advantage of it so quickly. When some songs are spending a year to peak on the chart.
November 2, 2022 @ 7:22 am
This is a little bit off topic, but I’m just wondering if anyone still listens to radio anymore, and why it’s still considered important. The only time I actually hear radio anymore is when I walk into a store or eat at a restaurant as background music. I’m sure other businesses use radio as background as well, and maybe drivers who only have access to radio while in a work vehicle, but the average person these days is listening to music off of there phone. Whether it be by streaming or purchase, the majority of people these days no longer dial in to their local radio station.
The one exception may be talk/news radio, but even that is being challenged by podcasts and other streaming options. So I’m generally curious why radio is still the standard of success.
November 2, 2022 @ 8:58 am
There is definitely a cultural divide between people who listen to radio, and people who don’t. They are two types of human beings, and you may not interact with the other side at all in your normal life. But tens of millions of people still listen to country radio, and it’s still a massive format. It continues to lose market share to podcasts and streaming, but it can also make or break artists, is critical for tour support, and is unlikely to go away entirely anytime soon.
November 2, 2022 @ 9:34 am
I agree that my lifestyle or tastes may differ from others. I am in my 50s and remember before technology became a household thing. My wife is 5 years younger, and we have children male and female ranging from early 20s to mid 30s. None of them listen to radio more than occasionally, though that could be the influence of myself and our family.
You have to wonder though if the radio in its traditional over the air format is coming to an end. TV, News, and even Movies as well as the internet provides more access to independent creators to the masses through mediums like music streaming, YouTube, and podcasts. The future of entertainment is changing.
November 2, 2022 @ 7:48 am
I just don’t understand why fans of independent country always get so worked up over the mainstream side of things. Yes, it would be great if the Tyler Childers, Sturgill Simpsons, Cody Jinks, and Jason Isbell’s of the world got some mainstream attention every now and then but they don’t even care. The fans are the only ones that care and I’m not sure why. Do we need some sort of validation that the artists we like are good? Let’s focus on the good instead of complaining about the talented artists not getting on the radio when they don’t even give a shit.
November 2, 2022 @ 8:54 am
I can’t speak for all fans, but I can speak for Saving Country Music. When I started the site, it wasn’t just to be a music recommendation platform, it was to challenge the status quo in country and help improve the genre for everyone. I think a lot of fans get personally invested in the careers of their favorite independent artists. This is a big difference between independent and mainstream fans. They want their favorite independent artists to succeed, so even if they would never be caught dead listening to radio, they want to see their artists do well there.
November 2, 2022 @ 8:01 am
The fact that the CMA didn’t nominate Zach for anything shows how their awards are becoming all the more irrelevant. The label voting blocks are just exposing themselves here. The awards their artists win will be even more irrelevant when they don’t even nominate the guy who should clearly be winning New Artist of the Year.
November 2, 2022 @ 6:19 pm
Label blocs are one thing or part of it but booking agencies are even more important as there’s really only 3. With one big one. Generally wme artists will standardly win about 75% of the awards. I’m sure trigger can go back and post his article where he listed their artists a few years ago. Even your indie artists many of them have wme for the booking. His list had about 200 people.
November 2, 2022 @ 7:10 pm
I’ve written about this a couple of times.
On WME (though this is a pretty old article):
https://savingcountrymusic.com/yeah-so-pretty-much-every-major-country-artist-now-has-the-same-talent-agency/
An article on an effort to mitigate WME’s dominance:
https://savingcountrymusic.com/cmas-new-rules-help-reduce-campaigning-but-will-it-slow-wme-dominance/
November 2, 2022 @ 8:08 am
I love some of ZB songs. I love the ad. Confession: I don’t think ZB songs are country or necessarily belong on country radio. I feel like we are drowning and grabbing on to anything that we think will float. I sit and listen to Willie’s Place, Prime Country and it’s just not the same. Who’s Gonna Fill Their Shoes?
November 2, 2022 @ 6:38 pm
Why radio matters, there are some 15,000 stations and 2100 of them progarm country music. Radio is a major money stream for writers, publishers, and the artist. Without mass appeal of the product there is no return on investment. Radio pays the writers for playing their songs… The only money the station makes is from advertisers. If the station narrows it’s audience down by playing niche/hip artists the audience goes down and so does revenue from advertisers. The question is why did Warner Brothers not nominate their artist for an award–as a major label they have the clout to promote him. Next year Zach will definately be one of the top 5 new artists at the Country Music Seminar… that show is usually a major launching pad. But don’t expect miracles if your artist cannot record a song with a solid hook and melody and a good singing voice. Otherwise he will have the alternative country label .