Liveline was hesitant about the hugely successful “Golden” at first. Now after nearly a year, Huntr/X gets requests from actual adults instead of the really young kids who at its peak were blowing up our phone lines. In fact, very few kids call for it anymore. “Golden” and KPop Demon Hunters have transitioned to become a family cultural event.
Part of our concern about “Golden” was based on our experience with BTS, who just returned with their first new album in six years. In the U.S., lead single “Swim” remains in the top 50 at No. 18 in its second week. Globally, it’s currently No. 1 with 13 other tracks still in the top 50. Despite their Billboard No. 1s and 2021 Song of the Summer, their music has received very few requests on Liveline in the past six years. Even their biggest hits like “Dynamite” and “Butter,” despite that chart success, never blew up for us with listeners older than 12. Despite constantly monitoring TikTok trends amongst Gen Z and Millennials, I’ve never encountered a passionate BTS fan in that demo.
So far, “Swim” has only generated a few calls and texts. (We played one from a woman listening with her daughter.) We’ve always tried to steer Liveline away from bubblegum. When you look at the biggest streaming songs generating the most passion in America right now, you see a clear emphasis on low-key and adult-appeal titles: “Babydoll,” “Choosin’ Texas,” “Homewrecker,” “Where Is My Husband!,” “Man I Need,” and even “Dreams.”
Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” the Song of Summer 1977, is No. 13 on Spotify US weekly right now and has remained consistently in the top 30 for over a year. Six years after the YouTube video that sent the song viral again, this is not a spike. Young people love “Dreams,” and they call us for it all the time. It’s a fresh-sounding current song and is just as qualified to be on a Top 40/Hot AC station targeting women 18-44 but especially the now-more-important 25-54’s.
Playing anything from before 2000 might sound odd on Top 40 without context, but major current streaming and request hits like “Dreams”, “Baby Got Back,” “Iris,” and “Mr. Brightside” are so popular with our Pop demos right now and their massive appeal is so clear. People love these songs and they want to listen to them every day. Who’s behind those millions of streaming numbers? 63% of Spotify users are 18-34, with people over 50 only making up 21%. The same 18-34 demo who calls us for “The Fate of Ophelia” and “Back to Friends” are also requesting all these super popular wayback throwbacks that many Top 40 stations overlook as “out of place”.
Columbus Goes Live with Liveline
Liveline’s quickly growing list of 76 affiliates expanded again yesterday with the addition of Saga’s Hot AC WVMX (Mix 107.9) Columbus, Ohio. WVMX content director and legendary PD Tony Bristol speaks for all of us when he says “we’re giving everyone all over Columbus a listening and participating experience that’s been missed far too long.” See the full announcement here.
