iHeartRadio "On The Verge" Artists/Songs

[Deleted]

I'm creating a thread for this because why the heck not? Actually, I figured it'd be a good place to document all the artist/song selections, to make predictions for future selections, and to discuss the OTV program in general.

Here are all the country artists/songs that have been selected as the iHeartRadio On The Verge artist so far:

	Artist / Song	Label(s)	Selection Date	Billboard Peak	Mediabase Peak
•	CRAIG CAMPBELL / Keep Them Kisses Comin'	Bigger Picture Group	February 18, 2014	#9	#7
•	DUSTIN LYNCH / Where It's At	Broken Bow Records	April 14, 2014	#1 (2 weeks)	#1
•	SAM HUNT / Leave The Night On	MCA Nashville	June 16, 2014	#1	#1
•	CHASE BRYANT / Take It On Back	Red Bow Records	August 11, 2014	#9	#8
•	RAELYNN / God Made Girls	Valory Music Company	October 20, 2014	#16	#16
•	A THOUSAND HORSES / Smoke	Republic Nashville	January 12, 2015	#1	#1
•	MICHAEL RAY / Kiss You In The Morning	Atlantic Nashville/WEA Promotion	March 9, 2015	#1	#1
•	CHRIS JANSON / Buy Me A Boat	Warner Bros. Records/WAR Promotion	May 4, 2015	#3	#1
•	CAM / Burning House	Arista Nashville	July 6, 2015	#2	#1
•	GRANGER SMITH / Backroad Song	Wheelhouse Records	October 15, 2015	#1	#1
•	MAREN MORRIS / My Church	Columbia Nashville	January 14, 2016	#9	#8
•	TUCKER BEATHARD / Rock On	Dot Records	April 4, 2016	#2	#2
•	LAUREN ALAINA / Road Less Traveled	19 Recordings/Interscope Records/Mercury Nashville	August 22, 2016	#1	#1
•	LUKE COMBS / Hurricane	River House Artists/Columbia Nashville	February 1, 2017	#1 (2 weeks)	#1 (2 weeks)
•	CARLY PEARCE / Every Little Thing	Big Machine Records	May 15, 2017	#1	#1
•	DEVIN DAWSON / All On Me	Atlantic Nashville/WEA Promotion	August 23, 2017	#2	#2
•	MORGAN EVANS / Kiss Somebody	Warner Bros. Records/WEA Promotion	February 12, 2018
•	MITCHELL TENPENNY / Drunk Me	Riser House Records/Columbia Nashville	July 13, 2018
•	JIMMIE ALLEN / Best Shot	Stoney Creek Records	July 13, 2018

On The Verge began in January 2014, with Craig Campbell being the first country artist to be selected in February. The initial phase of the OTV program actually began in September 2013, however, with iHeartRadio spotlighting different artists as the "artist of the month" for their particular format. Arista Nashville's The Henningsens were selected as the Country Artist of the Month on September 6, 2013; Warner Bros. Dan + Shay were selected as the Country Artist of the Month on November 4, 2013; and RCA Nashville's Jake Owen was selected as the Country Artist of the Month on December 16, 2013.

[Deleted]

Hmm, the only one I really like is Take It On Back. Keep Them Kisses Comin, Where It's At, and Smoke all range from ok to like for me and I hate God Made Girls and Leave The Night On. Except for Sam Hunt, all of these artists wouldn't have had nearly as big as a hit without this rigged program. But really its a double edge sword, I'm glad it helped Chase and Craig despite it also helping Raelynn and Sam. I think its rigged and unfair, but at the same time if an artist i truly loved got selcted for it, I would be happy.

[sabre14]

Feb 7, 2015 23:39:56 GMT -5 zack97 said:

Hmm, the only one I really like is Take It On Back. Keep Them Kisses Comin, Where It's At, and Smoke all range from ok to like for me and I hate God Made Girls and Leave The Night On. Except for Sam Hunt, all of these artists wouldn't have had nearly as big as a hit without this rigged program. But really its a double edge sword, I'm glad it helped Chase and Craig despite it also helping Raelynn and Sam. I think its rigged and unfair, but at the same time if an artist i truly loved got selcted for it, I would be happy.

I actually think "Where It's At" and "Smoke" would have hit though they would have had a longer climb, that's for sure. But "Keep Them Kisses Comin'" would have gone no higher than the high 40's while "God Made Girls" was showing signs of fatigue by the time the folks at Clear Channel/iHeartMedia came calling.

As for the double edged sword part; I have not changed my opinion. I don't care if it helps an artist or song I enjoy ("Keep Them Kisses Comin'"). It still throws listener feedback out the window and is just executives telling their stations what to play and how many times to play it. I've exhausted this discussion in these songs threads so to be honest I think I'm all "On The Verge'd" out.

I don't like it but it's here to stay.

[Deleted]

I think Craig Campbell would have probably meandered his way to a peak in the 31-35 range eventually (but no higher) without OTV. There seems (seemed?) to be some buzz around Chase Bryant so I think he could've gotten into the 20's after a pretty long run, but I think his low sales would have kept him from getting any higher. Sam was going #1 no matter what, and I think Dustin would have still gone #1 too but obviously OTV sped up his chart run quite a bit. I also think A Thousand Horses would have gone at least top 20 if not all the way towards the top of the chart, but it would've been one of those 30-40 week chart runs, maybe longer.

As for RaeLynn she was already struggling big time while in the 30's (she came a few spins away from going recurrent on Billboard when she was still around the #35 to #37 part of the chart), but she managed to get into the 20's before OTV kicked in. I don't think she would've gotten much higher than #25 without it, though. Her sales really kicked up too, but a lot of that had to do with her performance of the song on The Voice.

As for who's next, it'll probably come in early to mid March. I think Logan Mize has a good chance, especially given how much his song has sold so far, based almost entirely on The Highway airplay alone. I'm also going to throw Striking Matches and Seth Alley in there as dark horse candidates. Or it could be an artist that's already on the chart (since RaeLynn had charted for quite a while before being selected), although I don't think there are too many currently-charting artists who would make much sense as the next selection. Maybe Kip Moore, Mo Pitney, Maddie & Tae, Mickey Guyton, or Old Dominion (assuming they land with a big label, which right now is rumored to be Columbia)...those are probably the only ones that would still make sense in a month's time.

[someguy]

"Leave The Night On" is the only one of those songs that I like. And I completely agree about not liking the program, but I don't see it going away any time soon.

Wasn't RaeLynn only at #33 before On The Verge? I seem to remember her jumping 33-23, or maybe 32-22 or something ridiculous like that the week that the program kicked in for her.

[dm2081]

Mo Pitney would be an awesome choice for the next On The Verge selection. There's a decent amount of buzz around him initially, and let's be honest, since he's on Curb he could use all the help he could get. Canaan Smith could be a good option as well, seeing how he's already done a decent job by himself of getting near the top half of the chart. Throw in some strong sales, and I could see him getting selected resulting in a #1 song. Maddie & Tae and Kip Moore don't need it in my opinion, they've already had a decent amount of success (although so did Dustin Lynch). Kelsea Ballerini would be a good choice as well, for mostly the same reasons as Canaan Smith. It would be hilarious if they chose a veteran act who's having trouble with recent songs, like Reba or Montgomery Gentry.

[carriekins]

*cough* Mickey Guyton *cough*

[Markus Meyer]

I think the next artist will be Mo Pitney or Mickey Guyton, but I could see Canaan Smith or Maddie & Tae being selected too.

I see Kip being mentioned a bit here, but I HIGHLY doubt he gets it. He has 3 huge hits under his belt (Lynch had a big hit I know, but not as many as Kip), and it looks "I'm to Blame" could be a hit without OTV.

[sabre14]

The next OTV selection will most likely come in March (about 1 month from now) and I think Mickey Guyton's song will not be under consideration since so many stations are already going to be spinning that song and it will be high enough on the charts. Canaan's will probably be top 30 by then so I think I can rule him out too. Mo is a possibility but I just can't (maybe this is unfair) envision iHeartMedia choosing a straight up traditional style country song. I also really don't think Maddie & Tae will get it either due to country radio already giving that song a very good start.

My money is still on Logan Mize. It falls exactly when I expect the next selection to be made and it's already sold very well from its exposure on The Highway. Remember Arista pushed the add date back from January to March. I'd actually give that a 60%-70% chance of being selected.

[Kanenrá:ke]

In 1 months time here's the choices I think will make sense:

Logan Mize "Can't Get Away From a Good Time"
Austin Webb "All Country On You"
Mo Pitney "Country"
Waterloo Revival "Hit The Road"
Old Dominion "Break Up With Him"
Blackberry Smoke "Living In The Song"
Michael Ray "Kiss You In The Morning"
David Fanning "Doin' Country Right"
Striking Matches "Hanging On a Lie"
Cam "My Mistake"
LoCash Cowboys "I Love This Life"

Those are all the "major" new artists going for adds before or near the date. I could also see them selecting something we haven't heard about being released yet from a wide variety of artists. For example maybe Warner Bros. tries to get Brandy Clark or Ashley Monroe into the selection process. Or somebody will be announced soon.

My best guess is Logan Mize as well but the truth is it's hard to predict. Kelleigh Bannen also has "Smoke When I Drink" waiting in the wings, and Katie Armiger is another candidate that may come into play.

[sabre14]

Feb 8, 2015 17:26:39 GMT -5 Kanenrá:ke said:

In 1 months time here's the choices I think will make sense:

David Fanning "Doin' Country Right"

Lol, could you imagine.

[Kanenrá:ke]

Feb 8, 2015 17:30:10 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Feb 8, 2015 17:26:39 GMT -5 Kanenrá:ke said:

In 1 months time here's the choices I think will make sense:

David Fanning "Doin' Country Right"

Lol, could you imagine.

I really hope they don't pick that one but it's a possibility unfortunately. :(

[Markus Meyer]

Casey James is another possibility, though I wouldn't bet on him being chosen.

[josephmorgan]

Bumping this up to update the two picks iHeart has made and to tell you the peaks of the artists already involved:

"Keep Them Kisses Comin'" - Craig Campbell (#9)
"Where It's At (Yep, Yep)" - Dustin Lynch (#1(2 weeks))
"Leave The Night On" - Sam Hunt (#1(1 week))
"Take It On Back" - Chase Bryant (#9)
"God Made Girls" - RaeLynn (#16)
"Smoke" - A Thousand Horses (#1(1 week))
"Kiss You In The Morning" - Michael Ray (#1(1 week))
"Buy Me A Boat" - Chris Janson (#15 so far)
"Burning House" - Cam (#28 so far)

[sabre14]

Just a heads up, we should hear the announcement of the next "On The Verge" artist/song in the next week since it's been seven weeks since Cam's, "Burning House" was announced.

[Deleted]

Ok I have some ideas for who's gonna get it.

James Otto (unlikely)
Clare Dunn (possible)
Waterloo Revival (probable)
Cassadee Pope (doubtful)

I really think it could be Waterloo Revival. I mean they haven't done a duo. Clare Dunn I think has a decent shot.

[Markus Meyer]

The Cadillac Three, Waterloo Revival, Cassadee Pope would be the three with the best chance IMO.

Maybe Scotty McCreery (though doubtful), perhaps they save Mo Pitney, Kacey Musgraves, LoCash or Drake White might have an outside shot. I'm interested to see which direction they go.

[Deleted]

Oh please not Waterloo Revival.....

Seriously we don't have any better contenders than this? Because God knows it won't be Mo Pitney or Kacey Musgraves

[sabre14]

James Otto will not be selected since he's on Blaster Records.

Don't rule out William Michael Morgan. I agree though with the candidates being Waterloo Revival, Clare Dunn, Cadillac Three and LoCash would be a strong candidate but I'm unsure how iHeartMedia views new Reviver Records -- though they have excelled thus far with "I Love This Life", and its selling great.

[Kurt]

Aug 4, 2015 18:26:42 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Just a heads up, we should hear the announcement of the next "On The Verge" artist/song in the next week since it's been seven weeks since Cam's, "Burning House" was announced.

Didn't Cam's actually start in July, though? see list Though I honestly have no idea if all the formats have a regular schedule anymore - there hasn't been one formally announced for pop since Nate Ruess at the end of March.

ETA: Yes, though I had the date wrong in the thread - it started July 6.

[sabre14]

Aug 4, 2015 20:03:53 GMT -5 Kurt said:

Aug 4, 2015 18:26:42 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Just a heads up, we should hear the announcement of the next "On The Verge" artist/song in the next week since it's been seven weeks since Cam's, "Burning House" was announced.

Didn't Cam's actually start in July, though? see list Though I honestly have no idea if all the formats have a regular schedule anymore - there hasn't been one formally announced for pop since Nate Ruess at the end of March.

Wasn't the official announcement in mid June? "Buy Me A Boat" was announced on April 23rd but didn't officially start til May.

I'm expecting an announcement in the next 7-10 days with the actual program to start two to three weeks after that.

[Deleted]

Do you guys think Lucy Angel has a shot possibile dark horse canidate.

[Kurt]

Aug 4, 2015 20:08:10 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Aug 4, 2015 20:03:53 GMT -5 Kurt said:

Didn't Cam's actually start in July, though? see list Though I honestly have no idea if all the formats have a regular schedule anymore - there hasn't been one formally announced for pop since Nate Ruess at the end of March.

Wasn't the official announcement in mid June? "Buy Me A Boat" was announced on April 23rd but didn't officially start til May.

I'm expecting an announcement in the next 7-10 days with the actual program to start two to three weeks after that.

I think you might be right - at least, it was confirmed as a single on June 11, the day after the Bobby Bones performance, and without looking back through that thread, I feel like OTV was announced in June too.

[sabre14]

Aug 4, 2015 20:22:18 GMT -5 Kurt said:

Aug 4, 2015 20:08:10 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Wasn't the official announcement in mid June? "Buy Me A Boat" was announced on April 23rd but didn't officially start til May.

I'm expecting an announcement in the next 7-10 days with the actual program to start two to three weeks after that.

I think you might be right - at least, it was confirmed as a single on June 11, the day after the Bobby Bones performance, and without looking back through that thread, I feel like OTV was announced in June too.

It was announced on June 16th. :)

[Deleted]

"Burning House" will still be the OTV song through next week. This is Cam's 5th week of OTV 'sponsored' airplay, so next week will be her 6th and final week (obviously she'll keep climbing beyond that, though, it's just that they'll no longer say "here's new OTV artist Cam with 'Burning House'").

James Otto has no chance of being selected because he had a big hit years and years ago. There's no way they'd pick him. I also don't think an indie act like Lucy Angel would get picked. LoCash seems pretty doubtful as well, but not entirely impossible. The singles from Jana Kramer, Drake White, and Mo Pitney have most likely been out too long. Jerrod Niemann's heading into his 4th major label album so we can rule him out.

I would say that leaves us with The Cadillac Three, Clare Dunn, Kacey Musgraves, Waterloo Revival, Canaan Smith, William Michael Morgan, and Cassadee Pope, OR possibly a new artist who will release a single later this month or early in September (but hasn't announced it yet).

Kacey is highly unlikely because radio pretty much doesn't like her -- she doesn't kiss up to them like all other artists do (most labels require new/newer artists to go on radio tours, but I don't think Kacey is a fan of the contrived "you need to be friends with radio PD's or else you won't get airplay" approach). I say good for her, but at the same time it sucks because it probably means she's unlikely to score another moderate hit.

I think William Michael Morgan is most likely, followed by Waterloo Revival, The Cadillac Three, and then Cassadee Pope and Clare Dunn. If Logan Mize or Josh Dorr get singles out soon enough, they could be candidates. Charlie Worsham, Ashley Monroe, and Ryan Kinder could be dark horse candidates if they get singles out soon (I think all 3 are highly unlikely, but at least worth a mention). My prediction is William Michael Morgan, though.

[sabre14]

I agree that William Michael Morgan is a likely candidate and Waterloo Revival isn't too far behind if I had to put odds on this -- Clare Dunn and the Cadillac Three are possible but not favorites, at least not in my view.

Like I said before, there's zero chance James Otto gets it since he's with Blaster and like jhomes87 said, he's been around for a very long time and has had a #1 single. There's a 1% chance it's Lucy Angel since there's just too many other options available and they don't really have an actual running label (G-Force) and New Revolution is promoting their single.

I doubt Charlie has any single ready for the next couple weeks but Ryan Kinder's new single will be announced before months end so who knows with him -- same goes for Ashley, though that one might be too good to be true (the previous two selections gave me hope, admittedly). I don't think Logan Mize will get a single out soon enough and if the sales of "Can't Get Away From A Good Time" couldn't get him selected, I doubt "Thank God For You" could although I love the song. I doubt Josh Dorr will be chosen either.

I wish I could go against jhomes87 to make this more interesting (lol), but my prediction is William Michael Morgan too.

[dm2081]

Cadillac Three would be a really interesting pick, and I'd personally like to see it. There definitely seems to be a market for them, mostly those who love southern rock music and bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd. I don't think they'd ever be a band that could consistently get #1's, but they seem popular enough to get a couple of top 20 hits every here and there and maybe even a top 10 hit.

[defying gravity]

I am REALLY hoping for Cassadee to be the next OTV pick. That would be amazing.

[gardyfan]

Not sure why but this is the first week we've had Burning House played here on any of the four major stations. And the one that does the OTV stuff has always played all the other throughout their OTV run.

[M&TSwiftie]

Aug 7, 2015 13:57:32 GMT -5 defying gravity said:

I am REALLY hoping for Cassadee to be the next OTV pick. That would be amazing.

I hope it happens besides William's met a girl which doesn't go to radio for another week or too it's between him and her but I think I heart radio may pick Cassadee I hope