Throughout the “Streaming Country” era, the challenge has been for stations to decide just how much to lean into newer music and artists. Stations were coming off a period where pummeling each other for the “New Country” franchise seemed to be punishing only the listeners. It was only 15 months ago that Country Radio Seminar attendees saw results of a national music test that was as kind to John Michael Montgomery as Morgan Wallen.
Sometimes, the hits from streaming, whether Zach Bryan or Beyonce, Dasha, and Shaboozey – test the format boundaries as well. Stations like KYGO Denver, KKBQ (93Q Country) Houston, and KBAY San Jose, Calif., have been quickest on Country’s streaming-driven reaction records, but those songs have been part of a broad mix, particularly on 93Q and KBAY, which go back to the ’90s as well. Alpha’s KBAY has some of the most interesting weekly adds in the format, but it’s also trying to repatriate listeners of the former KRTY, which still exists online. (UPDATE: A few days after the initial publication of this article, KBAY PD Bo Matthews exited.)
It’s cheating a little to compare Australia’s Nova Fresh Country, which launched last month, to any of its U.S. mainstream counterparts. It’s a streaming side channel of Australia’s CHR Nova network; (its rivals, ARN/iHeart and SCA’s Triple-M, already have digital Country side channels). It is produced, but not hosted. U.S. broadcasters already believe SiriusXM’s the Highway has freedoms that their ratings-driven stations don’t. They’ll probably find it curious at best.
But Nova Fresh Country has definitely piqued my curiosity as well, just by its sheer volume of new titles, streaming-driven success stories, and songs that poke the parameters of the format. (UK Country often does the latter too. It wasn’t surprising that “Texas Hold ’Em” became a hit, since the UK had played “Old Town Road” as well.) But if you’re interested in hearing what a more aggressive version of streaming-driven Country would sound like, it’s a good place to hear those songs in a radio context (as opposed to just a playlist). I took a First Listen, as well as a Fresh Listen to KBAY.
Here’s Nova Country just before 10 a.m. on July 10:
- Nate Smith, “World on Fire”
- Shaboozey, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”
- Chris Stapleton, “Tennessee Whiskey”
- Jelly Roll, “Need a Favor” — yes, spelled “favour” on the website
- Riley Green, “Worst Way”
- Luke Combs, “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma”
- Josh Ross, “Trouble”
- Post Malone & Blake Shelton, “Pour Me a Drink”
- Michael Marcagi, “Scared to Start”
- Chayce Beckham, “23”
Here’s Nova around 10:15 a.m. on July 11:
- Koe Wetzel & Jesse Murph, “High Road”
- Beyoncé, “Jolene”
- Bailey Zimmerman, “Holy Smokes:
- Warren Zeiders, “Pretty Little Poison”
- Post Malone & Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help”
- Taylor Moss, “Dream Baby” — uptempo/poppy number from an Australian female act; hook is “we ain’t a dream, baby”
- Tucker Wetmore, “Wine Into Whiskey”
- Lainey Wilson, “Watermelon Moonshine”
- Alana Springsteen & Chris Stapleton, “Ghost in My Guitar”
- Hardy, “Truck Bed”
- Tyler Braden, “Devil You Know”
- Jelly Roll, “Need a Favor”
- Ashley Cooke, “Your Place”
- Tori Forsyth, “All We Are” — Uptempo with Mumfordish (or Noah Kahan-ish) folk feel
- Old Dominion, “Memory Lane”
- Luke Combs, “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma”
- Zach Bryan, “Pink Skies”
I also took a recent Fresh Listen to San Jose’s KBAY. That station has taken a more aggressive tack than KRTY, the market’s previous Country station, which went streaming-only two years ago. KRTY played plenty of new music as well but leaned more traditional. KRTY demonstrably took several of its shares online, at least at the outset; so KBAY’s music now scans ’90s to today in an effort to cover all the market bases.
(With Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” moving 8-4 on the Country chart and 3-1 on the Billboard Hot 100, it’s worth noting that it played first in Country on consecutive days in late April at KSOP (Z104) Salt Lake City, 93Q, and KBAY. Z104 backed off the song and is only moving it back up in rotation now, making 93Q and KBAY the most sustained supporters.
Here’s KBAY just before 11 a.m., June 24. Matthews’ departure was announced several days after the publication of this article.
- Chris Stapleton, “White Horse”
- Brooks & Dunn, “Brand New Man”
- Dierks Bentley, “Somewhere on a Beach”
- Luke Combs, “Fast Car’
- Zach Bryan, “Pink Skies”
- Post Malone & Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help”
- Alan Jackson, “Don’t Rock the Jukebox”
- Bailey Zimmerman, “Religiously”
- Ashley Cooke, “Your Place”
- Tyler Hubbard, “Dancing in the Country”
- Jelly Roll, “Halfway to Hell”
- Thomas Rhett, “Beer Can’t Fix”
- Carrie Underwood, “Undo It”
- Jordan Davis, “Tucson Too Late”
- Chris Lane, “I Don’t Know About You”
- Jason Aldean, “Burning It Down”
- Ashley McBryde, “The Devil I Know”
