sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Aug 31, 2015 19:51:29 GMT -5
This is going to be ZBB's next country radio single.
Impact date is September 21st according to Aircheck.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 20:03:37 GMT -5
Woohoo! *celebrates*
I wonder if they truly intend to send the song as it is to country radio. I guess if I make an effort, I can find country elements in most Sam Hunt songs, but this song (like Crash and Burn) are 101% NOT country. Country radio seems to be playing every genre there is, so I wonder if some rebel stations kind of ummm, blacklist? this song. I mean, I would hate it, but this is not country at all.
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dm2081
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Post by dm2081 on Aug 31, 2015 20:27:13 GMT -5
That adds date is really far out for an A-list artist like ZBB. I'm not really sure why it's so far way considering stations have dropped "Loving You Easy" pretty quickly. Still holding out hope that there's some sort of country version for this song.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2015 20:41:25 GMT -5
Leaving some great stuff on the table to release this.
Hope that money keeps you company at the top
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Post by tim on Aug 31, 2015 20:42:15 GMT -5
^Not quite sure why the adds date for this is so far out either, but I'd guess both "Homegrown" and "Loving You Easy" are in high recurrent airplay. I'm still hearing "Homegrown" on a daily basis myself.
As for this selection as their next single, I'll be tuning it out just as I've pretty much all but moved away from listening to mainstream country radio anyways. They've all but lost me as a listener...and I'm only 32!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2015 0:45:18 GMT -5
That adds date is really far out for an A-list artist like ZBB. I'm not really sure why it's so far way considering stations have dropped "Loving You Easy" pretty quickly. Still holding out hope that there's some sort of country version for this song. It makes total sense, given that the 14th is jam-packed (Brad Paisley, Rascal Flatts, Michael Ray, Jon Pardi, Dallas Smith) and the fact that labels typically avoid holiday weekends (Cassadee Pope's new one is the only major release going for adds on Labor Day). Plus, as you mentioned, ZBB is an A-list artist...an adds date doesn't really matter much for them. As soon as they announce a new single (which they now have), there'll be a bunch of stations that won't wait until the adds date to play it.
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sixofone
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Post by sixofone on Sept 1, 2015 6:30:13 GMT -5
^Not quite sure why the adds date for this is so far out either, but I'd guess both "Homegrown" and "Loving You Easy" are in high recurrent airplay. I'm still hearing "Homegrown" on a daily basis myself. As for this selection as their next single, I'll be tuning it out just as I've pretty much all but moved away from listening to mainstream country radio anyways. They've all but lost me as a listener...and I'm only 32! On the current Billboard Country Airplay chart, "Loving You Easy" is #15 (in its 19th and final week on the chart), while "Homegrown" is #7 in recurrent airplay (which would be #31 on the main airplay chart, if it was eligible) -- that's pretty great for a song that reached #1 five months ago.
A country mix would at least make "Beautiful Drug" tolerable -- the album version, with its generic dance beat and horrific Auto-Tune, is a Calvin Harris-esque track that does not belong on country radio (it would be yet another instant station changer for me -- that list is growing larger by the day).
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rsmatto
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Post by rsmatto on Sept 1, 2015 11:44:00 GMT -5
Don't hold any breaths for a "Country Mix" of this song.
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sixofone
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Post by sixofone on Sept 1, 2015 11:59:41 GMT -5
Don't hold any breaths for a "Country Mix" of this song. It feels like Zac Brown Band and Big Machine are releasing this clearly non-country, Calvin Harris-esque track to country radio on purpose, almost daring stations not to play it.
Since country airplay is essential payola, do programming directors hold their nose and put "Beautiful Drug" in heavy rotation for fear of losing out of future promotional opportunities with Zac Brown Band and/or Big Machine and its other artists, regardless of the fact that it isn't even remotely a country song? Would negative callout scores change anything, causing "Beautiful Drug" to peak much lower than a "standard" Zac Brown Band song?
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rsmatto
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Post by rsmatto on Sept 1, 2015 15:01:34 GMT -5
They're gonna play it.
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dm2081
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Post by dm2081 on Sept 1, 2015 15:29:07 GMT -5
Honestly the album version is just as country as "Drink To That All Night" was, and we all know how well that one did. Zac doesn't even sing in all auto tune like Jerrod did either. I still just don't see why they're taking this risk. They're already one of the biggest bands in the US (Rock or country), so I personally would rather focus on something that'll keep my current fan base happy. That being said, it's a great song and it's better than 99% of Pop songs getting played these days, so it would be nice if it made a dent over there. I don't know if I see fickle Pop fans ever embracing then though simply because they've been a straight up country/rock band whom most remember for "Chicken Fried". We will see though.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2015 15:59:07 GMT -5
I'm going to go ahead and predict that if the album version is the one that is sent to radio, this will peak around #7
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rsmatto
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Post by rsmatto on Sept 1, 2015 17:21:03 GMT -5
Honestly the album version is just as country as "Drink To That All Night" was, and we all know how well that one did. Zac doesn't even sing in all auto tune like Jerrod did either. I still just don't see why they're taking this risk. They're already one of the biggest bands in the US (Rock or country), so I personally would rather focus on something that'll keep my current fan base happy. That being said, it's a great song and it's better than 99% of Pop songs getting played these days, so it would be nice if it made a dent over there. I don't know if I see fickle Pop fans ever embracing then though simply because they've been a straight up country/rock band whom most remember for "Chicken Fried". We will see though. Because the average fan will like the song and may buy their new project. That's why they're 'trying.'
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dm2081
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Post by dm2081 on Sept 1, 2015 19:45:37 GMT -5
Well the good news is we get to see zjames eat his hat now.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2015 19:56:49 GMT -5
Honestly the album version is just as country as "Drink To That All Night" was, and we all know how well that one did. Zac doesn't even sing in all auto tune like Jerrod did either. I still just don't see why they're taking this risk. They're already one of the biggest bands in the US (Rock or country), so I personally would rather focus on something that'll keep my current fan base happy. That being said, it's a great song and it's better than 99% of Pop songs getting played these days, so it would be nice if it made a dent over there. I don't know if I see fickle Pop fans ever embracing then though simply because they've been a straight up country/rock band whom most remember for "Chicken Fried". We will see though. Because the average fan will like the song and may buy their new project. That's why they're 'trying.' And the Zac Brown Band fan's response would be to not buy their next project.
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Ten Pound Hammer
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Post by Ten Pound Hammer on Sept 1, 2015 21:47:38 GMT -5
ZBB is most certainly creative in just about all aspects, but I've been feeling that most of their singles only show some sides of their creativity. Pretty much all of their singles have been "risky" relative to what's popular at radio; even "Chicken Fried" had a few elements that I thought would present more of a challenge. But until now, I've only felt so far that "The Wind" seemed "risky" relative to their other releases, and even moreso because it was a lead single. Not even "All Alright" seemed overly risky, since I thought it was my favorite single of theirs to date the most radio-friendly of the four cuts on the EP.
And that's why I think this album is proving to be so interesting. The first two country releases were probably the "safest" songs to release, but they were still, in my opinion, both up to their usual standards and still a little "different" from their winning formula. And both were rather sizeable hits, proving that ZBB is still in high demand. There was no way country radio would play "Heavy Is the Head", given how soundly they rejected the similarly-heavy "The Outsiders" from Eric Church… so ZBB thought outside the box and sent that song to rock, where it went all the way to #1. And now that that worked too, rock radio is getting "Junkyard", the other "heavy" track on the album.
But getting back to country, what should they go for now that they've had two smashes? Why not parlay that momentum into something unusual? I think the electronic elements aren't too terribly removed from the elements seen in other recent hits, such as "House Party", "Drink to That All Night", or "Burnin' It Down". But at the same time, there's still an element of being "different" that might be just a little too far afield for some people. If this song is a hit, then I will be happy; if it bombs, then I doubt it will be a total momentum-killer á la "Donkey"; and either way, I'm sure this will continue to be a very fruitful album for them.
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Post by defying gravity on Sept 5, 2015 14:37:59 GMT -5
I'm so confused. One of my stations just played this song and it sounded nothing like the studio version. It sounded VERY country. The instrumentation seemed stripped down, and banjo and fiddle were definitely heard. Are stations even allowed to add this yet?
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Sept 5, 2015 14:47:51 GMT -5
Are stations even allowed to add this yet? Yes. Stations can technically play a song whenever they like but big conglomerates tend to have their stations stick to strict playlists. It's not as if Southern Ground and Big Machine don't want their upcoming single added, lol...stations always add songs before the add date, that's perfectly normal.
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Pollen
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Post by Pollen on Sept 5, 2015 14:57:08 GMT -5
Really want to hear this alleged country version.
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joey2002
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Post by joey2002 on Sept 5, 2015 15:16:41 GMT -5
Really want to hear this alleged country version. Same here! It's really the driving beat and loud instrumentation that makes this song so pop sounding – the lyrics and vocals sound country enough. I've heard Zac Brown sing more of an acoustic version at a few of their most recent concerts, which sounds much different, so I'm still holding out hope that the radio edit will be decent.
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dm2081
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Post by dm2081 on Sept 5, 2015 16:20:32 GMT -5
This possible country version is some of the best news I've heard lately. I really hope it's true.
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carriekins
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Post by carriekins on Sept 5, 2015 17:51:22 GMT -5
Well KMPS in Seattle is playing the original - my friend complained about it on Facebook yesterday.
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Post by defying gravity on Sept 5, 2015 17:55:34 GMT -5
Ugh. This better not be like "Love Me Like You Mean It" where some stations played the "country" (or should I say "countrier") version and others played the original version...
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sixofone
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Post by sixofone on Sept 5, 2015 18:30:01 GMT -5
Ugh. This better not be like "Love Me Like You Mean It" where some stations played the "country" (or should I say "countrier") version and others played the original version... I'm surprised that the "other" mix of "Love Me Like You Mean It" was never released digitally -- if it could be sent to radio, how difficult would it have been to make it available on iTunes? Or maybe that was a case where, since it wasn't drastically different, the record label didn't want to call attention to the fact that a "more country" mix of the song was made? The cynical side of me thinks that the ZBB/Big Machine will definitely release the "other" version of "Beautiful Drug" digitally because it is so drastically different from the album version -- the potential for good sales is there.
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sixofone
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Post by sixofone on Sept 5, 2015 19:23:13 GMT -5
I wonder if this vocal was re-recorded or simply slowed down? The "country" version at the link is about 107 bpm, while the album version (based on the iTunes same I just listened to) is about 131 bpm. That makes the "country" version about 18% slower, which is a dramatic slowdown that makes the vocal sound sluggish. So, it sounds like they removed some bass/beats and drastically slowed down the vocals (either artificially on the computer or by re-recording it slower).
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2015 20:23:52 GMT -5
Ugh, this version sounds dreadful! It's exactly like the original (at least to my ears) and it just sownds extremely slower. Horrible, this doesn't sound any more country, and yet it strips the song from one of the good parts of the song, the beat. It's... atrocious. I'd bet this was just slowed down and this is not a re recording. UGH!!! Give me the original ANY day over this. (still, thanks for the link!)
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2015 20:28:00 GMT -5
That version isn't any different whatsoever, only slower. In fact it sounds like it was slowed by an amateur on windows movie maker.
I'd be even more offended if that was their idea of a "country" version of this song.
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Pollen
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Post by Pollen on Sept 5, 2015 20:32:51 GMT -5
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bboat11
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Post by bboat11 on Sept 5, 2015 21:11:06 GMT -5
This version sounds exactly like the original, only slower... It sounds to me like a track that has been slowed down to avoid copyright issues. Could it be possible the website uploaded the wrong link?
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Pollen
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Post by Pollen on Sept 5, 2015 21:20:22 GMT -5
Yeah that version is just slowed down. It sounds like a version someone uploads to YouTube to avoid having copyright issues lol.
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