dm2081
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Post by dm2081 on Oct 3, 2015 20:06:14 GMT -5
These new videos are quite humorous. This newest video sounds more like The Weeknd than it does anything country. This definitely seems like it will be the biggest change in sound made from a big mainstream country artist.
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14887fan
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Post by 14887fan on Oct 3, 2015 20:19:03 GMT -5
...what happened to lyricism? I'm a supporter of "Live Forever" because I think it works well as a uppity, feel-good song that their catalog was missing, but I'm not sure I'm feeling hopeful or nervous for this upcoming record anymore, non-Country "sound" aside.
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Post by missbehaving on Oct 4, 2015 17:22:36 GMT -5
...what happened to lyricism? I'm a supporter of "Live Forever" because I think it works well as a uppity, feel-good song that their catalog was missing, but I'm not sure I'm feeling hopeful or nervous for this upcoming record anymore, non-Country "sound" aside. The lyricism quality is nowhere to be found. Why can't they try to attract a younger, pop leaning audience without writing dumb, shallow lyrics and using this much repetition? Really, it sounds like they're on the "let's party and gave no f****" phase with these lyrics. Sounds like they've been inspired by Kesha's music.
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Post by brinkeronline on Oct 5, 2015 11:59:14 GMT -5
RIP TBP
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Post by missbehaving on Oct 5, 2015 19:31:33 GMT -5
Word on the street is the new album will be called Heart+Beat and the release date is November 20th. It's not official, but they're doing Ellen this wednesday, makes sense this is announced.
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Post by tim on Oct 5, 2015 22:33:30 GMT -5
Wow, those clips posted above are just bad. If that's any indication of what is to come, well it's going to be an interesting era for this group and one that very easily could backfire.
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Post by missbehaving on Oct 6, 2015 12:12:47 GMT -5
Wow, those clips posted above are just bad. If that's any indication of what is to come, well it's going to be an interesting era for this group and one that very easily could backfire. On one hand they deserve this backfiring because they're so talented and are wasting it all with atrocious music. One the other hand though, I can't help but feel bad for them, I think they're very insecure about their career. Reflecting on Borchetta's words about them, it sounds like they're obsessed with repeating the debut era success (in numbers) and staying relevant. I think the lackluster end of the Pioneer era (album reached Gold and sales basically stopped, no award recognition for the album, DLMBL being their last hope for crossover hit and only reached #2 + its terrible digital sales, Chainsaw sort of flopping, ending their headlining tour suddenly to get back to being an opening act) really brought them down. I think they had much bigger expectations for that album. Not to mention, they kept going on interviews about really wanting to avoid being a one hit/one album wonder... it's obvious it was something that haunted them during the album making process. Now they keep saying they had the biggest smiles, are happier than ever, wrote their best songs ever... but I don't buy it. I still think they're insecure and I think they're haunted by the success of their debut album. I hope they do well this era, because I think if this doesn't work it will take a big toll on them. I'm concerned tbh. But I have seen a lot of negative responses to the new music... go to Live Forever's youtube video and see it for yourself, the comment section is filled with fans expressing their disappointment. I think the second single is the one that will lead people to decide whether to buy or not buy the album. They have die hard fans that will buy anything they put out, of course, but I think even TBP knows those aren't enough... maybe these random high school visits will compensate when the album is released.
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Post by Daryl the Beryl on Oct 6, 2015 18:51:52 GMT -5
Their third album "Heart+Beat" will be released on November 20, per HITS' schedule.
Pioneer sold 619k.
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sbp17
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Post by sbp17 on Oct 7, 2015 10:23:53 GMT -5
I know I'll echo some points already raised but this isn't about a country artist going to pop. And this certainly isn't musical evolution. To me, it's more about identity crisis. I've never felt that Kimberly was the strongest vocalist but the band made up for it with their unique style and sound. And it's not only that they completely abandoned that unique sound but they went as generically pop as they could both sonically and lyrically. I don't think that generic pop style would have gotten them the success they found, particularly with the challenge that female voices were having with getting airplay. But the new music and presentation seem polar opposite from what they were and if you're making such a drastic change by your third album, then again it seems to me like an identity crisis and not a musical evolution.
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Post by missbehaving on Oct 7, 2015 10:53:06 GMT -5
I know I'll echo some points already raised but this isn't about a country artist going to pop. And this certainly isn't musical evolution. To me, it's more about identity crisis. I've never felt that Kimberly was the strongest vocalist but the band made up for it with their unique style and sound. And it's not only that they completely abandoned that unique sound but they went as generically pop as they could both sonically and lyrically. I don't think that generic pop style would have gotten them the success they found, particularly with the challenge that female voices were having with getting airplay. But the new music and presentation seem polar opposite from what they were and if you're making such a drastic change by your third album, then again it seems to me like an identity crisis and not a musical evolution. I agree, I think this was Borchetta's point in the quote that was shared here. I think this identity crisis comes from insecurity and fear of losing relevance. Some members might think this is too pessimistic and exaggerated... I know, we all know, that artists change, their music changes, there is musical evolution. But we're alking about a band that changed everything in less than two years. They changed their sound, their lyrical approach, but also their looks, their style, and I really think there's a shift in their personalities, or at least, the way they communicate and present themselves. They look, act and sound immature in comparison to the previous music eras. I don't know how anyone, besides die hard fans, can't see this... don't know how anyone can think going from maturity to immaturity is be a positive thing, something to celebrate, actual sign of growth. It's crazy... maybe I'm the cynical one here, but I just can't understand how anyone can look and listen to these guys now and think "oh yeah, they definitely grew. There's evolution in their music, sound and lyrics are fantastic and unique". If you like the music because it's fun, catchy, lyrics are relatable, whatever, that's fine... but to call it evolution, growth.... nope. If there's a drop in quality, both sound and lyric wise, then in no way there is growth. This is a step back and a pretty big one. By the way, I noticed Live Forever fell one or two positions on country airplay charts... should TBP be alarmed? Ellen performance might be coming in a good time to give the song another boost.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Oct 7, 2015 11:18:02 GMT -5
I know I'll echo some points already raised but this isn't about a country artist going to pop. And this certainly isn't musical evolution. To me, it's more about identity crisis. I've never felt that Kimberly was the strongest vocalist but the band made up for it with their unique style and sound. And it's not only that they completely abandoned that unique sound but they went as generically pop as they could both sonically and lyrically. I don't think that generic pop style would have gotten them the success they found, particularly with the challenge that female voices were having with getting airplay. But the new music and presentation seem polar opposite from what they were and if you're making such a drastic change by your third album, then again it seems to me like an identity crisis and not a musical evolution. By the way, I noticed Live Forever fell one or two positions on country airplay charts... should TBP be alarmed? Ellen performance might be coming in a good time to give the song another boost. If I was them, I would have been alarmed from the moment they released this song. However, "Live Forever" is up 1.3 million in audience so far this week and I still think this one will at least go top 20. I wouldn't be so confident as to expect it to reach the top 5 or even the top 10 though, but its hanging in there. It did get knocked out of the MB top 30 this week, which will affect its Monday update next week. Jimmy Harnen and Scott Borchetta are pretty good at promoting singles to radio though and their staff has done a good job getting this song to move at a reasonable rate thus far. It's still too early to tell if this one will become a big hit though.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2015 15:05:14 GMT -5
Jimmy Harnen and Scott Borchetta are pretty good at promoting singles to radio though and their staff has done a good job getting this song to move at a reasonable rate thus far. It's still too early to tell if this one will become a big hit though. Are you sure this is doing what it is because of Republic Nashville's promotion abilities? I viewed this chart run as abnormally slow for TBP, not faster than it would be if the label weren't doing good promo work. Actually, I'm not too confident Big Machine is one of the best at radio promotion anymore. Seems like they really haven't been seeing much consistent success for many acts on their roster this year. Big Machine proper has only been able to get anywhere with Tim McGraw and Rascal Flatts, and even these two have seen their radio momentum drastically diminishing. Valory's only seen success with Brantley Gilbert and Thomas Rhett. Most of what Thomas has done is due to the massive popularity of his music and would have been accomplished on any label. Brantley's actually not having nearly the success his album sales and fan base would suggest he should; he's basically getting one hit every 40 weeks. Dot has only seen success with Maddie & Tae, and we'll see how long that lasts. Republic Nashville has Florida Georgia Line, who would obviously be huge on any label, and even they have slowed down since their massive debut era. A Thousand Horses and The Band Perry have had moderate success but "Drunk Dial" is climbing relatively slowly considering how big ATH's debut single was, and as we've already discussed "Live Forever" isn't doing too great by The Band Perry's standards. If I were to rank the "Big Five" country labels in order of how good they are at radio promo, I'd rank Big Machine fourth, right ahead of Broken Bow, (and Broken Bow actually does a really good job at radio promotion considering the crap they have to work with). I guess I just read this chart run differently. I view this as a radio-friendly lead single from a solid B-list act that is taking surprisingly long to catch on with radio, not a song that would be doing even worse if Republic Nashville weren't propping it up. I agree that it's too early to tell if this will be a big hit. So far, the early research numbers aren't great, but since this is still a new song from a star act I'll give it a few more weeks for research to improve before deciding how I think this will do on the charts. It sure sounded like a #1 to me, but if the research comes back negative "Live Forever" will be in for an uphill climb.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Oct 7, 2015 15:12:43 GMT -5
Jimmy Harnen and Scott Borchetta are pretty good at promoting singles to radio though and their staff has done a good job getting this song to move at a reasonable rate thus far. It's still too early to tell if this one will become a big hit though. Are you sure this is doing what it is because of Republic Nashville's promotion abilities? I viewed this chart run as abnormally slow for TBP, not faster than it would be if the label weren't doing good promo work. I do think Republic's done a good job promoting this song to radio. I really believe this song choice wasn't the right move for TBP and I still contend this one can die in the teen's. They did a good job rallying spins at the proper times and the Cumulus block jumping aboard, with the help of W1MC helped them greatly. I never said Big Machine Label Group was the top dog in the promotion department, all I'm saying is I really think you're underestimating the song itself here as one of the major reasons this has had a slow start. I suppose we just disagree on this one.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2015 17:05:22 GMT -5
Just in general, I'd agree that BMLG seems to be struggling with promo. Justin Moore's third single died in the 40s (I know he was broken up by the cover, but his career was at its highest point). Brantley Gilbert's last song took what felt like 100 years to climb the chart and his newest one is MIA. Tim McGraw's latest has been a little underwhelming in terms of bullets and sales, and the one before that couldn't even make it to #1, regardless of whether it was traditional or not. Did RaeLynn's second single even survive? Rascal Flatts is dangerously close to being irrelevant to radio. The Eli Young Band has all but ruined any good will they had with radio.
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Post by missbehaving on Oct 8, 2015 10:13:06 GMT -5
I agree... I don't know why this song isn't closer to the top 20 by now. I know songs move slow on country charts, but this song is turning 2 months old next week. Better Dig Two took 3 months to reach #1, but how long did it take to be in the top 20 and top 10? I'm seriously surprised Live Forever seems to be stuck in the late 20s for a few weeks, the hype was there and I thought TBP were big enough to make this song move faster. Now I think I overestimated their star status and their power in country music...
... this makes me have to ask: what makes you think TBP is a B list act?
I think the way the media speaks about them makes them look way bigger than they actually are. It sounds like they're superstars, when they're actually not.
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Oct 8, 2015 10:54:41 GMT -5
... this makes me have to ask: what makes you think TBP is a B list act? The primary reason is because A-listers are like Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, and Blake Shelton, where their singles are almost guaranteed to climb the charts very quickly (like 15 weeks) and have a very high peak. They usually have relatively strong sales as well. Every time they release a single. Usually they are even able to make a 4th, 5th, or even 6th song from an album be a hit, because their momentum just does not go away as they get deeper into an album cycle. B-listers, the way I see them, are still big stars. They do frequently get substantial hits. But the songs take much longer to climb the charts, and a high peak is not necessarily guaranteed. Martina McBride is someone I see as a perfect example of how you can have a very successful and lengthy career without ever breaking out of the B-list status. Or Joe Nichols. Radio usually welcomes them with open arms, but the songs usually take 30+ weeks to climb the charts, and then hitting #1 is in no way guaranteed. Also, their sales may be more inconsistent, and not necessarily reflective of their airplay success. They can certainly have a ton of critical acclaim, but their chart success may not necessarily reflect that. The Band Perry is not an act who typically flies up the charts in like 12 weeks. They have plenty of big hits, but they have not quite reached the point where they hit #1 (or at least come close to it) every time they release a single. They do typically have strong sales, but then again they haven't had a song be RIAA certified since "Done"... Considering all of those factors, I think they fit the description of B-listers much better than A-listers. They certainly have potential to become A-listers eventually, but we will just have to see how "Live Forever" and their future singles pan out.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Oct 8, 2015 11:36:30 GMT -5
Better Dig Two took 3 months to reach #1, but how long did it take to be in the top 20 and top 10? "Better Dig Two" reached the MB top 20 in 19 days and reached the top 10 in 55 days. "Live Forever" is #28 on the rolling chart, at the 52 day mark.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2015 12:04:54 GMT -5
Also keep in mind BDT would have hit #1 even sooner if not for the short slump it experienced while it was in the teens on the chart in the wake of the Newtown shooting. I think it would've hit #1 right behind "How Country Feels" if not for that.
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Post by missbehaving on Oct 8, 2015 12:45:08 GMT -5
Better Dig Two took 3 months to reach #1, but how long did it take to be in the top 20 and top 10? "Better Dig Two" reached the MB top 20 in 19 days and reached the top 10 in 55 days. "Live Forever" is #28 on the rolling chart, at the 52 day mark. See this is why I'm surprised Live Forever is climbing so little and so slow. I know BDT had the CMA performance, but still I think it's strange this new single is moving at this pace. They performed Live Forever on Ellen: - For an anthem this sounds weak and boring live.
- There is obviously a backing track playing.
- Kimberly's vocals sound pretty weak here.
- It's obvious the brothers' instruments aren't on, but couldn't they try to pretend better?
- Is it as obvious to anyone else as it is for me that the brothers are lip-syncing to the backing track?
- The forced choreography makes it all too awkward.
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dm2081
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Post by dm2081 on Oct 8, 2015 14:34:56 GMT -5
^Yikes, the brothers look so freaking awkward in that video. What's the point of having an instrument on the stage if you're not going to play it?
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Post by The Brazilian Guy π§π· on Oct 8, 2015 15:01:34 GMT -5
That was not good at all. The lack of stage space to really do anything and the prerecorded backing track really killed that performance.
I actually liked when they performed this on GMA when the song came out couple of months ago. This track sounded much better with the "heavier" sound of a live band.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2015 15:30:01 GMT -5
I usually like all these poppier songs released to country, and this is no exception. However, that Ellen performance was weak as all hell. The brothers have the instruments but like ponited, they are not even trying to appear as if they're really playing. Kimberly's voice is terrible here. I still like the song, I always like more studio versions to live versions of songs, so it's not a big deal to me.
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Post by missbehaving on Oct 8, 2015 15:38:36 GMT -5
^Yikes, the brothers look so freaking awkward in that video. What's the point of having an instrument on the stage if you're not going to play it? Without them they would be just back up dancers. As official members of the band, having instruments gives them an excuse to be there. You'd think they'd be better at faking, it's not as if they just starting playing the bass and mandolin. I guess the choreography doesn't help. That was not good at all. The lack of stage space to really do anything and the prerecorded backing track really killed that performance. I actually liked when they performed this on GMA when the song came out couple of months ago. This track sounded much better with the "heavier" sound of a live band. I think the stage was set up like that so they could throw the yellow confetti thing on the crowd. The GMA performance actually had a band playing instruments... if you notice this time only the keyboard player is there, probably also faking rather than playing. The rest of the guys that play TBP's live gigs were nowhere to be seen and heard. The backing track definitely killed any life and enthusiasm this performance might have had, it destroyed the anthemic nature of the song. Why did they do this? What's with not bringing the whole band together and actually have a live sound? So unnecessary. Can't they perform this without this backing track gimmick? I'm not so sure this performance helped them all that much... there's a lot of negative response, people saying this is pure pop and poiting out their boyband looks and the bad dancing. I feel there will be a lot of backlash for this band as this era keeps going.
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.indulgecountry
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Post by .indulgecountry on Oct 8, 2015 19:29:59 GMT -5
I literally found nothing inherently 'wrong' with the Ellen performance. I thought it was just fine. Kimberly didn't sound her absolute best but I'm used to hearing her sounding out of breath when she sings live because she obviously moves around too much and it's a little hard for her to balance her high energy with consistent vocals. Not sure why people keep mentioning choreography either because that implies planned dance routines of which TBP did none of.
Also, I thought it was interesting that the song had a bit more of a subdued feel to it, like I feel some of the heavy pop sheen of the studio version was missing from this performance. It felt a little more country-leaning as a result, imo.
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14887fan
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Post by 14887fan on Oct 8, 2015 19:37:32 GMT -5
The performance needed more lights, more things going on other than them dancing on a platform with a screen and an audience 5 feet away from them, and a larger setting. It's an anthemic song meant for a large setting. This'll work much better at the CMAs where, I assume, it'll be performed because the Bridgestone isn't a TV studio audience-sized stage, and there's more room and opportunity for pyro-techno-electro-flashy light thingies. I obviously work in the tech field.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2015 20:42:57 GMT -5
That performance was awful like bleh. Seriously at least dress like your country or like so not obvious pop that it's blatantly obvious. What else well for those of you saying that there's like no forced choreography ok go to the verse the first one now pay attention to the way Kimberly and one of her brothers move while there performing its straight up weird. Ok now what ok either A) Kimberly needs a new vocal coach or B) She always sounds terrible live and watching The Band Perry isn't worth the money or C) This is usually not the norm.
Honestly I just want to say to The Band Perry you better hope this sellout moment worked (they sold out I don't care what anyone says they did as this is uncountry and a blatant pop song) because if this blows up in their face I will laugh and say the words of my favorite Carrie Underwood song "I Told You So but you had to go"
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jesster
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Post by jesster on Oct 9, 2015 14:56:53 GMT -5
That Ellen setup was weird for this type of song. I didn't find their performance terrible (if anything, the audience members to me looked really staged lol).
But TBP might have been better to do an acoustic version on that small stage and with the ~intimate audience.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 11, 2015 5:54:04 GMT -5
November 20th for the album? What is BMLG smoking? This one could take another 15 weeks to hit the top 10 if it even gets there. That's the end of January. And looking at its +75 bullet as it got passed again overnight isn't promising. I wouldn't be surprised if this one is sitting at 22-24 when the album comes out. The Band Perry has a decent following so I'm not sure how much it will hurt album sales, but it definitely won't help.
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Post by missbehaving on Oct 11, 2015 8:13:13 GMT -5
November 20th for the album? What is BMLG smoking? This one could take another 15 weeks to hit the top 10 if it even gets there. That's the end of January. And looking at its +75 bullet as it got passed again overnight isn't promising. I wouldn't be surprised if this one is sitting at 22-24 when the album comes out. The Band Perry has a decent following so I'm not sure how much it will hurt album sales, but it definitely won't help. They haven't announced the date yet, so maybe they're working over it? Though they did said on twitter last month that it would be out this year. They used blank spaces for the album title with the + sign in the middle back then too. The news about the new album came out early this week through music publications and that said it would be called Heart + Beat and be released on November 20th. They've got the title right, so it wouldn't be too surprising if the date was right too... it could be that TBP and the label are going to change it, but I'm not sure they'll make it to next year when they've been promising the album in late 2015. Everyone is believing the publicised date, it's spreading between fans and media. I'm surprised if this album is really released so soon... maybe November 20th was the initial date, they probably were expecting Live Forever to be higher in charts by now. I also find it unlikely that they will release an album without a second single. If they do have a second one and keep November 20th date, it will have to be released either late October or early November, which would be crazy since Live Forever is still stuck in top 30. I heard BMLG was pressuring TBP to release new music... they do seem to be rushing a lot in comparison to Pioneer era. I think a fall release was always the plan, it's been two years and half since Pioneer was released. I think LF would have done better if they had released it in June. It sounds like the type of song that would do better in the summer. By the way, Kimberly Perry got defensive on Twitter again. This time because of the Ellen performance. She really has thin skin, doesn't she? I imagine once this album drops she will spend a lot of time defending it.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Oct 11, 2015 12:41:00 GMT -5
The only reason this song gained 2.2 million in MB audience was Westwood One, which accounted for over 1.5 million in audience. KJKE in Oklahoma also contributed as they not only added the song, they put it in heavy rotation (370k in audience). If those two stations are taken out, this one's audience gained is just over 300k, with 75 spins increased. TBP will land at #28 on MB this week but tomorrow's update might not be pleasant since they were knocked out of the MB top 30 last week, which will be reflected on Monday.
I think this can be top 20 on MB by November 20th but Westwood One would be a big factor for why. I'm expecting them to release another single right after the album drops or possible by the first week of the new year. By then, "Live Forever" will probably be bouncing around in the teens.
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