Fresh Listen: The Sound of Disruption

When I ask Country label people which stations have gotten their attention over the last year by championing songs, or doing things a little differently, they often land on either KYGO Denver or WKDF Nashville (103-3 Country).  Sometimes, I try to be preemptive, framing the question as “besides KYGO, WKDF, and KKBQ (93Q) Houston,” and what I usually get back is “gee, that’s a head-scratcher.” 

For several years now, KYGO PD Brian Michel has been an advocate of finding his own hits through streaming but also using streaming as a filter of which existing Country chart titles are real hits for his audience. At Country Radio Seminar last year, WKDF PD Travis Daily was skeptical about streaming numbers. But he was unhappy with the current chart system as well — particularly the glacial chart rise of callout-driven radio-only hits and the turnover at No. 1. 

Over the next few months, Daily began aggressively finding new music beyond the charts for WKDF from album cuts and indie artists — a level of PD enterprise rarely seen in the streaming era. When I heard WKDF earlier this week, about 40% of the hour came from songs outside the top 50.

Michel and Daily are two of the three programmers scheduled for a Country Radio Seminar 2026 panel this Thursday (19) at 10 a.m., called “The Disruptors: What If You Took a Risk?” They’re joined by moderator Chuck Aly, BBR’s Jon Loba, representing the label side, and by Gregg Swedberg, whose KEEY (K102) Minneapolis was, for decades, one the Country format’s music leaders, and who has also expressed similar doubts about the relevance of streaming to Country radio.

“The Disruptors” promises to delve into “radio’s dependence on antiquated chart cycles,” as well as “terminal currents, the rise of fake #1s, the impact of national playlisting, and whether programmers are losing their role as tastemakers to DSPs.” It’s one of at least three panels into Country’s glacial chart cycles and the impact of streaming, which will also be a major part of the three planned “Cycle of a Song” panels. 

When I wrote a similar preview for CRS 2025, there were at least five panels spread over three days basically asking why PDs didn’t follow streaming more. At that time, I wondered if the change hadn’t already happened. Country labels had walked away from several still-building chart songs in favor of songs by the same acts with streaming stories. Labels had long gotten comfortable with superstar artists having two active songs. (This week, Luke Combs has two in the top 10.) 

This year, I had a few record people tell me they thought radio’s reliance on streaming metrics had actually lessened since last year. Streaming’s most dramatic story, the rise of Ella Langley, has not gone unnoticed by radio, but seeing Langley have Morgan Wallen-type streaming hits from Day 1 should also be doing more to increase female representation on Country radio, particularly since Megan Moroney can have streaming-first/streaming-only hits as well.

Here’s KYGO just before 4 p.m., March 9, according to Mediabase:

• Jordan Davis, “Bar None”
• Luke Combs, “Days Like These”
• Jon Pardi, “Night Shift”
• Shaboozey & Jelly Roll, “Amen”
• Cole Swindell, “She Had Me at Heads Carolina”
• Megan Moroney, “Wish I Didn’t” — 32x this week at KYGO, lighter spins at a half-dozen other stations including WKDF
• Kane Brown, “Heaven”
• Morgan Wallen, “You Proof”
• Bailey Zimmerman, “Chevy Silverado”
• Billy Currington, “Do It”
• Sam Hunt, “Outskirts”
• Jon Pardi, “Boots Off”
• Jordan Davis f/Luke Bryan, “Buy Dirt”
• Ella Langley, “Choosin’ Texas”
• Tyler Hubbard, “Dancing in the Country”
• Megan Moroney, “Beautiful Things”
• Joe Nichols, “Gimme That Girl”
• Tucker Wetmore, “Brunette”
• Morgan Wallen, “I’m the Problem”
• Luke Combs, “Be by You”

Here’s WKDF (103.3 Country) just before 4 p.m., Monday, March 9:

• Gavin Adcock, “Morning Bail”
• Luke Combs, “Sleepless in a Motel Room”
• Cody Johnson, “Blame Texas”
• Ella Langley, “Monsters” — Daily set it up with “you know which song is still cool? This one.”
• Morgan Wallen, “Just in Case”
• Megan Moroney, “Medicine” — “We almost never get requests,” as opposed to curiosity calls, Daily noted. But he had a listener call to set up this one.
• Shaboozey & Jelly Roll, “Amen”
• Riley Green, “Change My Mind”
• Thomas Rhett & Jordan Davis, “Ain’t a Bad Life”
• Hardy, “Favorite Country Song”
• Stephen Wilson Jr., “Year to Be Young (1994)”
• Dierks Bentley, “Off the Map”
• Morgan Wallen, “I’m the Problem”
• Chris Young, “Til the Last One Dies”
• Dylan Scott, “What He’ll Never Have”
• Cody Lohden, “Buckle Up”
• George Birge f/Luke Bryan, “Ride, Ride, Ride”

WKDF has been an enjoyable listen not only because of the music, but because Daily also uses a lot of phones in a way that has also become uncommon in recent years. It pushed ahead of rival WSIX just before owner Cumulus stopped buying local Nielsen ratings but not before becoming a needed example of music enterprise driving ratings. KYGO was up 3.9-5.6 this month and has found overall ratings success in a way that eludes many Country stations in PPM markets.

With so many industryites wanting Country radio to pay more attention to streaming, labels have been willing to take some cues from stations like KYGO and 93Q or some of Audacy’s efforts on behalf of songs with streaming stories. I’d like WKDF to have the same influence as well, but it’s been decades since either radio or labels were willing to place their trust in a single programmer’s ears, particularly when there are 50 label priorities in the queue. But I came away from the two stations feeling Country radio should consider both of the Moroney songs I heard — “Medicine” and  “Wish I Didn’t.”

The Country chart would be made better by more PD enterprise of both the Michel and Daily variety. Ironically, it would also be helped if those PDs who weren’t interested in finding their own hits did a better job of moving in lockstep. One of the issues with radio songs is that they generally have to run not just one callout gantlet, but several sequentially. If all of Country’s major chains were giving new “radio records” a reasonable amount of daytime spins from the beginning, and at the same time, they’d have their answer faster.

As is always the case going into CRS, it’s worth asking how much Country needs to be disrupted. The frustrations of 48-week song cycles and “fake No. 1s” are still better than the product shortage in every other format now, and Country’s ratings are better than all of them. After a few disastrous years of letting streaming drive all the decisions, it’s worth noting that iHeart CHRs have decided to start championing some “radio records” again, uniting behind recent singles from Benson Boone and Doja Cat. 

Country needs to remain vigilant about not mistaking disruption for destruction. What Country radio should do about losing its edge to DSPs is not to just hand it to them, particularly knowing that some of its 40-week “radio records” do take on a second life in streaming eventually. It’s also worth knowing that while label people often come back to a relative handful of stations, there would be about 20-25 stations, some individual, some representing groups, that would be on my “mentor panel” of Country stations I trust to show me a story beyond national activity. If you think that’s your station; I’d definitely be interested in hearing about it at CRS. Or how you think radio can maintain its music leadership with more than a sign-off.