Harry Styles and “Aperture”: Radio’s Opening Thoughts

It’s too long. The intro is meandering. It’s not immediate enough or a guaranteed crowd-pleaser.

It’s most added. It’s still No. 1 in streaming after six days. “It’s the best song released in the past year or more.”

Those are all industry reactions to Harry Styles’ eagerly awaited “Aperture” since its release last Thursday evening. At 5:11 with a :45 second intro, the lead-off single from Kiss All the Time. Disco Occasionally is not what radio has been used to in the streaming era.

“Aperture” is also deliberately different in its ambitions than “I Just Might,” the new Bruno Mars single, which was quickly embraced by pop formats in need of uptempo superstar product. “I Just Might” has the bouncy retro feel of previous Mars singles and comes in at 3:33. That song is No. 8 in Mediabase CHR airplay, No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 100, and could be top 5 before stations’ callout research confirms or denies hit status.

As of Wednesday, “Aperture” is No. 11 on Mediabase’s daily CHR airplay and appears to already be moving into power at KIIS Los Angeles. (It was No. 8 nationally on Friday, its first full day, but has grown steadily since its initial leveling on Saturday.) Also on Tuesday, it was added at all 176 CHR reporters, as well as most-added at Hot AC and AC with 329 adds across all formats, vs. 239 for “As It Was.” It also remained No. 1 on Spotify on Wednesday, confirming the streaming numbers at least go beyond first-day curiosity.

Yet, among PDs, “Aperture” has sparked the sort of polarization not seen by a kickoff single from a major artist’s follow-up to a successful project for some time. Its champions include WXXL (XL106.7) Orlando’s Jeremy Rice, who’s the PD who calls “Aperture” “the best song released in the past year or more.” He adds, “Our feedback has been all positive.”

Similarly, iHeart Media VP of CHR programming and WHTZ (Z100) New York PD Mark Adams says the response to “Aperture” “has been incredible, and here in New York, we’re already deep in our programming and promotional planning in and around Harry’s upcoming residency at Madison Square Garden. I really can’t overstate the excitement around both the song and the upcoming album.” 

But on Facebook, comments from friends and readers on Tuesday/Wednesday were still skeptical by a 2:1 margin. “Hookless as an empty tackle box,” said WHBC-FM (Mix 94.1) Canton, Ohio, PD Joel Murphy, who has the song in his new category, but would have put it straight in power if he had been more comfortable with it. “Underwhelmed. Where is the melody?” asks Audacy Boston APD/MD Mike Mullaney.

Even some positive comments came with qualifiers: “Harry continues his own artistic path with this new one. It’s upbeat, dark, and hypnotic,” wrote Northeast radio veteran Scott Lowe. “Personally, I like it, but I’m not sure if it has staying power.”

“It’s grown on me for sure,” says Connoisseur’s Kevin Begley. “It sounds great turned up loud on good speakers.” But he’s one of several respondents who currently view the song as a buzz track and predict that Styles will follow up with a more-obvious “straight-up smash.”

On the night of its release, the syndicated CHR night show Liveline played “Aperture” four times. On Friday night, it played the song twice and had more than 250 listeners rate the song. “The first hour, it received an average score of 4 out of 10,” says host Mason Kelter. “Later on, we played it again and the final score came out to a 7.5.” Since then, Kelter says Liveline hasn’t received requests for the song as of Tuesday night.

Many of the concerns were about the intro and/or overall length. “The female audience loves anything Harry. But five minutes?” asks Tres Wiggins of WHTF (Hot 104.9) Tallahassee, Fla. He’s playing Liveline’s edit of the song. Kelter says he isn’t opposed to the length per se and doesn’t usually edit intros, but feels the song doesn’t sustain for its length and the intro “doesn’t add anything artistically.” 

WDAQ (98Q) Danbury, Conn., PD Rich Minor took 30 seconds off the intro. KMVQ (99.7 Now) San Francisco PD Jim Archer says, “I have a nice four-minute edit that I’m currently working with.” But he emphasizes that “all listener response has been tremendous. The music critics that I’ve talked to since release, not so much.” 

WIFC Wausau, Wis., morning host Dave Kallaway has a similar take. “It doesn’t matter to monster fans. My morning partner was 32,515 in the queue to get tickets to see Harry at Madison Square Garden, which sold out in nothing flat. In their eyes, Harry can do no wrong.”

Similarly, Ian March, PD of Modern AC CIND (Indie 88) Toronto says “the gender divide is huge” for the song, with “100% of the positives” coming from female listeners. Across town, at dance-leaning CIDC (Z103.5), PD Ronnie Stanton says, “We love it, especially because it’s harder to play for competitor Hot AC stations. But it’s catchy and a hit for me.”

New WWWQ (Q100) Atlanta PD Patrick Davis says, “We are playing an edit that cuts the intro down a little. Like any new songs, there has been a mixed reaction, but generally positive feedback. I sense that his fans applaud him for trying something new.”

Veteran Midwest programmer Bruce Cole says his first exposure was to the video, which made the song more concrete and accessible for him. That will be the case for much of the audience, he says. “Gens Z and Alpha’s first experience of a hit song is going to be video-mediated. When they hear it on the radio, they’re going to be seeing the video in their minds’ eyes.”

Columbia SVP Promotion Matt Stevens offered, “With each release, Harry’s surprised us, pulling radio and the audience forward. It may not be readily admitted, but ‘As It Was’ took several listens for many and then went on to be the biggest song at radio over the next two years. One thing we hopefully all agree on is ‘we belong together’ is a welcome and needed sentiment from one of the world’s biggest stars.”

Sometimes superstar stretches take a while to be ratified or rebuffed. George Michael’s second solo album, Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, launched with two ambitious singles. Radio wasn’t enthusiastic about “Praying for Time” or “Freedom ’90,” but the latter, also a five-minute song, eventually became one of Michael’s most enduring.

WBLI Long Island, N.Y., morning man Syke makes another comparison. “Obviously, this isn’t what anybody is expecting. But remember another song like that? A song called ‘Sexyback’? Nobody liked that [Justin Timberlake hit] when it dropped either.”