“Fix” was number one on Mediabase.<\/p>\n
But it was nowhere to be found on Spotify’s “Hot Country” playlist, which includes fifty one songs and is three hours and nine minutes long.<\/p>\n
I’d never heard it, “Fix” that is. A cut by newcomer Chris Lane that resembles your preconception of country not a whit. It’s closer to yacht rock than twang, and I mean that in a good way. How was I supposed to know?<\/p>\n
You see Mediabase charts what’s being played on the radio.<\/p>\n
And Spotify… Is its own unique world.<\/p>\n
And the loser is you and me. Because we don’t feel like we belong. I’m looking for some comprehension amidst the chaos. I want to know the temperature of the industry.<\/p>\n
I’m never gonna listen to terrestrial radio, never ever, just too many commercials.<\/p>\n
So, I catch my country on Sirius and Spotify, but they don’t necessarily play the same tracks either.<\/p>\n
And this discrepancy is played out over all formats.<\/p>\n
And then we’ve got the inane “Billboard” chart which meshes sales with streams and promotes albums to the point that Epic constructed a fake album just to chart, really:<\/p>\n
“Epic Records Whips Up Hit Album Out of Thin Air (and Online Streams)”<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Talk about manipulating the media.<\/p>\n
The casual observer thinks what rules “Billboard” rules for real. But that’s oftentimes untrue. First and foremost, we live in an era of singles, not albums. Then again, are acts putting out long albums trying to game streaming services?:<\/p>\n
“Albums are getting unbearably long in 2016 – and bull**** new streaming rules are to blame”<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Not only do I want to feel I can detect the pulse, I want to be able to converse with my brethren in a world where we’ve got so few talking points to begin with.<\/p>\n
Here are the new rules…<\/p>\n
SINGLE CHARTS RULE<\/strong><\/p>\n
Forget albums, the public already did, except for hard core fans and they’re only a fraction of the business.<\/p>\n
SEPARATE SALES FROM STREAMS<\/strong><\/p>\n
I’d say to forget sales all together, but if there are two charts for a while that’s o.k., they sold mono and stereo albums side by side for a couple of years. But the truth is it won’t be long before streaming is absolutely everything. And, you can’t get credit for an album sale by streaming only a few cuts from an LP, that’s ridiculous. Singles only, pure numbers.<\/p>\n
METRICS<\/strong><\/p>\n
Is it airplay, streams or..?<\/p>\n
The most played charts on streaming services are oftentimes dominated by oldies. Yet, it’s new blood that keeps the business alive. It’s a conundrum which goes unaddressed. Maybe we just need to label one playlist NEW! And if something is six months old it can’t qualify, “Billboard” used to kick aged albums off its chart… And the sooner we kick old stuff off the faster we can grow new stuff.<\/p>\n
GENRES AND MASHUP<\/strong><\/p>\n
Yup, multiple charts for pop, country, hip-hop, rock and…
\nAnd then another for EVERYTHING! So people can see what’s truly popular.<\/p>\nIronically, streaming has made the problem worse. With its endless playlists. The truth is terrestrial radio is dying, so the Mediabase chart might be supplanted by Spotify’s in time. But not yet. Can Spotify at least include the Mediabase chart in its playlists? So I can feel like I know what’s going on?<\/p>\n