I’ve talked and written a lot about how Ella Langley is taking over country music and the power of her massive hit song “Choosin’ Texas.” A song that now holds the record for the longest running number one on Billboard and a song we continue to see dominating the market level song data we look at for all of our client’s markets. The song has also made Ella an estimated 13.9 million dollars so far according to Billboard at a time when it’s incredibly hard to make money selling music. Plus, that number is likely low because it’s also very hard to estimate exactly how much money a song brings in now. Besides being a fan of the tune myself, as are my daughters who request Alexa to play the tune on repeat daily, I’m also fascinated by ‘Choosin’ Texas’ because it’s a great case study for how music is consumed today. Here are a few of the lessons radio should learn from this huge hit song.
Songs become hits faster than we think and stay popular longer than we think. Because most of us programmers grew up at a time where a song needed time to create a groundswell through radio airplay, the artist making television appearances, a music video getting played on MTV/VH1/CMT, the artist playing shows all over the country and getting spun on jukeboxes one quarter at a time. Most of us have built our databases around the philosophy that a song starts slow, builds momentum and then slowly moves up a chart. Which is why songs traditionally start in a light or test current, then medium and finally into heavy or power. Hence why most radio airplay charts still reflect that slow build. But, now, thanks to the internet and social media a process that used to take several months now happens in a few days. Especially on massive songs that people instantly connect with like “Choosin’ Texas.” So, if we take the traditional approach we shortchange the song and our audience.
There’s also an old lesson it reminds us. Early in my career multiple radio mentors of mine told me that we get tired of a song way before the audience does. A lesson I’ve passed along to all the talent I’ve managed and coached who have complained to me about a song they are tired of hearing. Our listening habits are vastly different from the average listener so we’re always going to think the heavy (or power) currents are rotating too quickly and that we’re staying on a current song too long. But, what the data on song consumption across all platforms tells us is that “Choosin’ Texas” was almost immediately the #1 country song (and very quickly the #1 overall song) and it’s stayed there for damn near a year. So, while many on-air talent may be tired of hearing it, clearly the public is not.
This song also points out how there’s not a nice clean line between genres anymore and maybe there never was. My radio brain and training would’ve never allowed me to guess that a country song that’s this traditional from an artist whose southern drawl is as thick as mine after a couple of Shiners would’ve crossed over to Hot AC, CHR and Top 40. I was only able to catch that because I look at data across all platforms and all markets. That data told me that it was far more than just country fans who were into the song. That’s why programming sonically, only playing songs that fit the perceived sound of the station regardless of what the data tells us, is problematic.
Overall, what Ella Langley can teach radio in general is to embrace our superstars by adding their music more quickly, staying on them longer and adjusting our artist separation rules to give the audience what they want.
What do you think? What lessons should radio take from the overwhelming success of “Choosin’ Texas”?