weekly January 2, 2024, Issue 890
Interpolations: Writers & Producers Weigh In
One of 2023’s top trends was the rise of “interpolations” – songs that incorporate a well-known musical riff or lyric from a previous hit into a new work. Country Aircheck explored the issue with radio in November, finding a generally positive take, but Nashville creators have more mixed feelings. Though not unheard of previously, Cole Swindell seemed to pave the current interpolation path with 2022’s “She Had Me At Heads Carolina,” which won ACM Song of the Year. The floodgates opened in 2023 with Morgan Wallen’s “Everything I Love” (interpolating portions of the Allman Brothers Bruce Logan Band’s “Midnight Rider”); Kane Brown’s “I Can Feel It” (inspired by Phil Collins’ “In The Air Tonight)”; Chris Young’s “Young Love & Saturday Nights” (borrowing a guitar lick from David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel”); and Dustin Lynch & Jelly Roll’s “Chevrolet” (mimicking a melody from Dobie Gray’s “Drift Away”), among others. They were joined in the fall by Lauren Alaina’s “Thicc As Thieves,” which Cole Swindell uses the hook from Luke Bryan’s 2011 single “Country Girl (Shake It For Me).” As noted in November, radio programmers support the practice as long as the Nashville creative community doesn’t start to overuse it. Hubbard WIRK/ West Palm Beach OM/PD Bruce Logan noted that figuring out a way to touch on an old song but still create something fresh is a skill that should be “left to the song creators” as long as the sample is “used Lauren Alaina in a respectful way that honors the audience’s fond memories of the [original] song.” Fix In The Mixed: The rise of interpolations in country music is no surprise to the creative community. “This has been happening in popular genres for as long as I can remember,” says songwriter/producer and COR Entertainment Pres./CEO Mickey Jack Cones. “This is proof that music inspires music. (continued on page 5)
Inkin’ Bout Me: Big Loud SVP/Promotion Stacy Blythe makes good on her Label of the Year chart share tattoo statement. In Country Aircheck’s year end issue, the label’s CEO/Partner Seth England (not pictured) said of the company’s achievement, ”We did this together and that’s what we’ll remember. We won’t remember our chart share percentage.” Blythe joked, ”I’m getting it tattooed on me.” Apparently, she was more than joking.
2023 Q4 Drivetime Leaders
Following the release of the December Nielsen PPM monthlies, Country Aircheck has analyzed Q4 numbers to compile the stations with the leading cumes and shares in drivetime. Spoiler alert: the leaders in three of the four categories remained the same as Q3, however there was plenty of movement down the list (see pages 4 & 5). Quarterly averages eliminate the wobbles that can be present at a daypart level on a month-to-month basis. All figures are Persons 6+. Mornings: The Bobby Bones Show retains its place atop the cume rankings with a total of 1,157,300 over 16 stations, down 3,200 from Q3. The top single-station morning show is KKBQ/Houston’s 93Q Morning Show, which moves from fourth to second with an increase of 32,500 from Q3. KSCS/Dallas’ Hawkeye In The Morning slips from second to third,
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