tigers09
New Member
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 145
|
Post by tigers09 on Aug 8, 2015 10:10:48 GMT -5
As most probably figured, Sam confirmed during the CMT Top 20 Countdown this morning that "Breakup in a Small Town" will be the next single. They are also shooting the video at the end of the month. This is my absolute favorite from the CD, so I'm super excited! Also. as of July 2015, the song has sold 376,000 downloads in the USΒ so the label couldn't ignore it. Some will be disappointed, but can't please everyone! www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQPS2sk1VTYΒ Attachment DeletedSam's now filming the music video in Lafayette, TN. Β Edit: Impacts radio 9/21 **Certified Gold before being released to radio
|
|
Pollen
Moderator
Joined: February 2014
Posts: 27,202
Pronouns: he/him
Staff
|
Post by Pollen on Aug 8, 2015 10:12:01 GMT -5
Never really got all the hype about this one. The other 3 singles are much better, and there are a lot of better songs on the album imo.
|
|
bigfan101
6x Platinum Member
I am Sara Evans other fan.
Joined: July 2010
Posts: 6,641
|
Post by bigfan101 on Aug 8, 2015 10:20:54 GMT -5
Love, love this song. Growing up in a small town, it's depictions are so accurate. Looking forward to hear it on radio.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2015 10:21:35 GMT -5
Unless this gets a country remix it's gonna be extremley polarizing and I don't know if it'll do well. I expect a similar run to like Kick It In The Sticks by Brantley Gilbert where it's a great digital seller but radio just can't embrace it.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2015 10:23:17 GMT -5
This is my favorite song off the album by far. Infectious chorus. I just can't see enough stations getting on board to push this to the top, however. Along with this and The Band Perry's new one (and apparently "Beautiful Drug") I have to wonder how long before some stations start questioning their identity.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2015 10:34:37 GMT -5
Man, and I thought "Take Your Time" was bad....
|
|
zjames
Platinum Member
Joined: June 2013
Posts: 1,926
|
Post by zjames on Aug 8, 2015 10:49:01 GMT -5
This is probably my favorite song from Montevallo, but this is his least-country effort so far.
|
|
|
Post by xy0cmiller6yx on Aug 8, 2015 10:56:18 GMT -5
Yes! For me this is my second favorite song on the album after Make You Miss Me. Now to see how Country radio likes it
|
|
|
Post by defying gravity on Aug 8, 2015 11:14:35 GMT -5
This reminds me of Taylor Swift releasing "Wildest Dreams" as her next single, which is already certified gold, so it's selling well (like "Break Up"), but I'm not sure how it will do at radio.
|
|
kw9461
3x Platinum Member
Joined: January 2007
Posts: 3,763
|
Post by kw9461 on Aug 8, 2015 11:53:44 GMT -5
Releasing this to country radio is just pissing on the grave of country music. It's beyond appalling - it's downright disrespectful. It's certainly a blend of two genre's - pop and rap. A year ago I would've predicted this a big failure at radio - no way radio would play it. Today I'm not so sure. If this goes to #1 though, it could be the straw that finally fragments the genre. There's just no way that one unified genre can play this back to back with a Mo Pitney, Joe Nichols, Josh Turner, or Brad Paisley.
|
|
phil1996
4x Platinum Member
Joined: October 2009
Posts: 4,823
|
Post by phil1996 on Aug 8, 2015 13:33:38 GMT -5
He's really talented, love the song, but releasing this to country radio is just...c'mon. Hopefully a country version comes out.
|
|
dm2081
7x Platinum Member
Joined: April 2014
Posts: 7,025
|
Post by dm2081 on Aug 8, 2015 14:49:08 GMT -5
A really great and creative song, but this shouldn't be played on country radio. I mean it even has a dubstep production for Pete's sake. He should give something to country radio that's at least slightly country sounding, like "Speakers". The only thing country about this is the lyrics, and that's it.
|
|
|
Post by The Brazilian Guy π§π· on Aug 8, 2015 15:22:06 GMT -5
I really like this song and I think it has a pretty interesting mix of country lyrics, urban verses and pop chorus. Let's see how well it does on country radio...
On a side note, how crazy that the video on the 1st post (a simple fanmade lyric video) has over 8million views being an album track.
|
|
Markus Meyer
Platinum Member
Favorite Single of 2020 So Far: βbettyβ by Taylor Swift
Joined: August 2013
Posts: 1,625
|
Post by Markus Meyer on Aug 8, 2015 15:36:05 GMT -5
I really like the song. It's not country. Like, at all. It makes "Take Your Time" look like George Strait.
As for chart success, I'm skeptical that it'll be a top 10 hit. It'll obviously go platinum, but I could see it underperforming at radio.
|
|
LBTrocks
Diamond Member
Joined: September 2012
Posts: 17,146
|
Post by LBTrocks on Aug 8, 2015 15:38:01 GMT -5
Wow... so they're really going with this. I mean, I'm not mad about it, just surprised. I love the chorus, got used to the verse... but this is a straight up pop song with country lyrics. I'm sure that country radio won't ignore it completely, but I really have to question how far this one will actually make it... lol watch it smash.
|
|
sapphire
Gold Member
Joined: July 2013
Posts: 559
|
Post by sapphire on Aug 8, 2015 17:30:12 GMT -5
I've been amazed on how well this is doing as an album track.Not my pick for next single but this is quite obvious yet bold decision. Another Platinum for Sam for sure.
|
|
fearlessarrow
Moderator
Now a 7x PMA winner!
Joined: June 2015
Posts: 24,142
My Charts
Pronouns: he/him/his
Staff
|
Post by fearlessarrow on Aug 8, 2015 22:20:07 GMT -5
Although I don't know how to feel about this choice, I'm pretty sure it will do well because it's Sam Hunt. The small town theme should help it out.
But now it's a single, I hope it does well and not kill Sam's momentum (not that it's going to be completely ruined by this song if this underperforms) because Sam's one of my favorite artists that came out last year.
|
|
|
Post by 43dudleyvillas on Aug 8, 2015 22:32:42 GMT -5
Releasing this to country radio is just pissing on the grave of country music. It's beyond appalling - it's downright disrespectful. It's certainly a blend of two genre's - pop and rap. A year ago I would've predicted this a big failure at radio - no way radio would play it. Today I'm not so sure. If this goes to #1 though, it could be the straw that finally fragments the genre. There's just no way that one unified genre can play this back to back with a Mo Pitney, Joe Nichols, Josh Turner, or Brad Paisley. Mo Pitney: Single is struggling to stay top-40 Joe Nichols: Most recent single missed the top-20, though he had two #1s in a row with contemporary-sounding fare, has openly discussed how he cannot sing the neo-traditional music that he prefers if he wants to be on country radio today. Josh Turner: Most recent single, a lead single, missed the top-20 Brad Paisley: Is in the middle of an identity crisis of his own that has stretched for two albums now as he tries to find his place in changing radio scene, is no longer guaranteed top-10 rotation and has lost major momentum despite being considered a superstar. Sam Hunt: two #1 hits with no obvious impediment to a third consecutive one over the next month or so. You may be right that no unified genre can play "Breakup in a Small Town" back to back with a Mo Pitney, Joe Nichols, Josh Turner, or Brad Paisley, but the past year has made it clear who is going to get the short end of the stick at radio right now, and it's not Sam Hunt. This is the format that calls itself country right now. It's a format where polarizing songs are songs by women (unless they cater to bros Γ la Kelsea Ballerini), ballads, traditional-leaning songs, and story songs, a format where the core sound is male artists acting around ten to twenty years younger than they are, singing anything but country music. It's a format where the year's most impactful song (a waltz sung by a female with a suggestive lyric requiring more than a passive listen to understand) needed a trumped-up controversy to embarrass programmers into taking it into power rotation, a format where programmers couldn't jettison that same song from high rotation fast enough. "Girl Crush" is polarizing on this format. Josh Turner is polarizing on this format. Sam Hunt is not polarizing on this format. And I don't think that "Breakup in a Small Town" is going to be polarizing on this format, either. If you are talking about the format finally fragmenting, then I would say that whatever momentum there may have been to fragment the format when Cumulus launched Nash Icons seems to have dissipated. The large conglomerates that own much of country radio are simply not going to get on board with a format split at a time when country radio's ratings are down from 2014, and when the format currently doesn't have much of an identity beyond being as young and as derivative of trends passΓ© on the pop formats as possible. And while sales for music from Kacey Musgraves, Jason Isbell, Alan Jackson, and more show a healthy market appetite for actual country music, I don't think the conglomerates feel especially motivated to give those fans a radio outlet at the moment -- in part because they want to keep space open should the pendulum actually swing back to the point where something resembling country music works on the format. So that puts fans interested in country music in a bad spot unless they rely on streaming. At the same time, this divorce between country radio and country music has put the format in a bad spot with respect to its image. Between the kind of music that dominated the country format from 2011 through 2014 and the format's closure to women, the format has taken huge hits in national press. It's just not cool to be associated with mainstream country radio right now, and I think that has adversely impacted the format's ability to pick up new listeners as "bro country" has waned. Meanwhile, there are growing signs that the artists making the most acclaimed country music that is actually country music are reluctant to identify themselves as country (Kacey Musgraves and Lee Ann Womack, for example). Basically, the dominant narrative about mainstream country is its narrowness, a narrative enhanced by the fact 2015 has seen an increased number of buzzy success stories of country artists making country music who are succeeding without country radio. Neither of these speaks well of country radio's relevance right now, and I think it is unlikely that corporate interests would put a finer point on this lack of relevance by building a sub-format devoted to country music. But to his credit, Sam Hunt is succeeding incredibly well in this environment -- the rare new artist to do well on "country" radio and sell well anyway. He has also escaped many of the barbs aimed at the Lukes and FGLs of the format, thanks in part due to the fact that his music doesn't share their misogyny and in part because his music doesn't share their formula-reliant lyricism and sound. Is Sam Hunt making country music? Certainly not, and I find that I have little issue with his music except when his team and partisans try to convince me that what he is doing is in any way country. I don't accept the argument that his lyrics are country, either -- a small town reference or two alone does not country music make, and again, neither does "storytelling" (unless, again, you're going to tell me that R. Kelly's "Trapped in the Closet" is the most epic country song of all time). But he is a completely logical fit for the country format at this time -- he is every bit the core artist to the format that Luke Bryan is, and I expect "Breakup in a Small Town" to have no trouble at all in the format in its current state.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 9:43:53 GMT -5
Releasing this to country radio is just pissing on the grave of country music. It's beyond appalling - it's downright disrespectful. It's certainly a blend of two genre's - pop and rap. A year ago I would've predicted this a big failure at radio - no way radio would play it. Today I'm not so sure. If this goes to #1 though, it could be the straw that finally fragments the genre. There's just no way that one unified genre can play this back to back with a Mo Pitney, Joe Nichols, Josh Turner, or Brad Paisley. Mo Pitney: Single is struggling to stay top-40 Joe Nichols: Most recent single missed the top-20, though he had two #1s in a row with contemporary-sounding fare, has openly discussed how he cannot sing the neo-traditional music that he prefers if he wants to be on country radio today. Josh Turner: Most recent single, a lead single, missed the top-20 Brad Paisley: Is in the middle of an identity crisis of his own that has stretched for two albums now as he tries to find his place in changing radio scene, is no longer guaranteed top-10 rotation and has lost major momentum despite being considered a superstar. Sam Hunt: two #1 hits with no obvious impediment to a third consecutive one over the next month or so. You may be right that no unified genre can play "Breakup in a Small Town" back to back with a Mo Pitney, Joe Nichols, Josh Turner, or Brad Paisley, but the past year has made it clear who is going to get the short end of the stick at radio right now, and it's not Sam Hunt. This is the format that calls itself country right now. It's a format where polarizing songs are songs by women (unless they cater to bros Γ la Kelsea Ballerini), ballads, traditional-leaning songs, and story songs, a format where the core sound is male artists acting around ten to twenty years younger than they are, singing anything but country music. It's a format where the year's most impactful song (a waltz sung by a female with a suggestive lyric requiring more than a passive listen to understand) needed a trumped-up controversy to embarrass programmers into taking it into power rotation, a format where programmers couldn't jettison that same song from high rotation fast enough. "Girl Crush" is polarizing on this format. Josh Turner is polarizing on this format. Sam Hunt is not polarizing on this format. And I don't think that "Breakup in a Small Town" is going to be polarizing on this format, either. So that puts fans interested in country music in a bad spot unless they rely on streaming. At the same time, this divorce between country radio and country music has put the format in a bad spot with respect to its image. Between the kind of music that dominated the country format from 2011 through 2014 and the format's closure to women, the format has taken huge hits in national press. It's just not cool to be associated with mainstream country radio right now, and I think that has adversely impacted the format's ability to pick up new listeners as "bro country" has waned. Meanwhile, there are growing signs that the artists making the most acclaimed country music that is actually country music are reluctant to identify themselves as country (Kacey Musgraves and Lee Ann Womack, for example). Basically, the dominant narrative about mainstream country is its narrowness, a narrative enhanced by the fact 2015 has seen an increased number of buzzy success stories of country artists making country music who are succeeding without country radio. Neither of these speaks well of country radio's relevance right now, and I think it is unlikely that corporate interests would put a finer point on this lack of relevance by building a sub-format devoted to country music. I agree with your logic absolutely 100%. I'm going to say, however, that I disagree about your reasoning. I hope I can elaborate: Mo Pitney--this is a no-name guy trying to get a George Straight-esque debut single on Curb records. Curb has shown that breaking out an artist will be difficult for them, regardless of the type of song. Mo currently sits higher than the label's bread and butter artist, Lee Brice, who has still struggled to stay in the top 50 on Mediabase, despite two straight hits and consistently strong digital sales for those songs. This is a Mo Pitney/Curb problem, not so much a genre issue. Joe Nichols--his recent single, being his third from the album, probably wasn't going to do much because it had a similar style to his previous song "Yeah". Not to mention that he was getting high recurrent play from both that song and "Sunny and 75" at the time. As you said, he is neo-traditional so he has that going against him. I'm not sure he necessarily said he "can't" be neo-traditional, but instead he wants to be. I think he would be straight up traditional if he could be. He wants to be as country as possible while still being radio friendly. I think that's what you were saying. Josh Turner--far from a consistent hit-maker, he may just be a fringe artist whose time has come to no longer make hits. His average peak chart position is 15-16 and this is someone who has had more non top-10 singles than top-10 ones. His last single before "Lay Low" didn't even break the 40s. As much as I love Josh's music, he's just not going to be in anyone's playlists consistently. Probably has nothing to do with current country radio. Brad Paisley--not sure how he is experiencing an identity crisis. He was trying something new with Wheelhouse, just as many other artists do. If it had worked, it wouldn't be an identity crisis, we'd be calling it "evolution" and "reinvention." His current album is very much Brad, although it's not him at his best. But really, are Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney at their best either? Look how Kenny fared his last two albums before The Big Revival. Brad is approaching the back leg of his career for sure but in the past five years, he's had 10 top-10 singles (including his most recent three) and only 3 that missed the top 10. I'd say no, he may not be guaranteed top 10 rotation, but he definitely has no problem getting there. "Perfect Storm" was top 5 in Luke Bryan speed. I like how you mention that Kelsea Ballerini is seeing easy success because her songs are very much in the style of pop music, something that I'm surprised so many people here seem to ignore. I don't think that Josh Turner is polarizing by any means. I DO think that Sam Hunt is polarizing. It's just the fact that radio is going where the money is. I live in a small town surrounded by many small towns. Most of the people that I talk to hate country radio right now. They can't stand Sam Hunt's music. They say they've lost faith in Luke Bryan. My girlfriend hates Kelsea Ballerini's songs. We are all young people. I'm talking 18-25. We have to put on our iPods if we want to hear Alan Jackson and George Strait. You know what the worst part is? Most of my friends who like country also like pop music and hip hop. So what they do when they want to hear it is they flip the station. I imagine that's what most people do. That's what country radio doesn't understand. If people don't want to hear country they will change it. And if they don't want to hear country, they'll still change it if Sam Hunt is on because as long as he is on country radio, he is considered country. Country radio is shooting themselves in the foot because they're not keeping pop fans and they are alienating country fans. I'm no expert on Nielsen or any ratings systems but I have to imagine country stations around the nation are hemorrhaging listeners right now. With the rise of Spotify and iTunes, people don't need to tune in. Especially if they are hearing song after song about House Parties and "hey girl, damn you look so good". I don't think it would take much to split the format. One station could do it. Another station could follow suit. Hell, I would start a neo-traditional country station if I had the capital. I really think that's what it is going to come to. At some point, there's going to be no difference between country stations and HAC. At what point do you think that radio will change? I used to think that artists' music influenced radio but now I'm thinking it's the other way around. It doesn't matter much because listening to a new CD from Luke Bryan shows that he still makes the songs he wants to. He'll have a handful for country radio, at least. The rest will be what he wants to make. Now, if there were two country genres, he could release a song like "Kill the Lights" to the contemp country station and a song like "To The Moon and Back" to the traditional country station. I honestly can't see a scenario where that doesn't happen at some point down the road. (I'm not sure that I'm actually saying anything different than you said)
|
|
ant
Platinum Member
Banned
Joined: September 2013
Posts: 1,360
|
Post by ant on Aug 9, 2015 10:20:37 GMT -5
Definitely knew this one was next and I agree that there should be an actual country version sent to COUNTRY radio, but sadly I don't see that happening.
|
|
robenglund
Gold Member
Joined: July 2015
Posts: 998
|
Post by robenglund on Aug 9, 2015 11:33:50 GMT -5
Who's familiar with Texas/Red Dirt country and could give me a few artists to check out? I just don't know with Nashville anymore.
|
|
rjz
Gold Member
Joined: September 2010
Posts: 557
|
Post by rjz on Aug 9, 2015 11:46:09 GMT -5
Love the lyrics, love his music, but this song in particular sure isn't Country.
But that statement is a broken record. It doesn't matter anymore.
And I am a broken record too-I like hearing this stuff on the radio; I just wish they wouldn't overlook some stellar songs that aren't pop or R&B :( in favor of non-country. Although I would 100% rather hear Sam Hunt's non-country than the woman-objectifying/party stuff (it appears everyone is tired of the 'B' word) that was played for a while.
So- clap hands?! I will just continue to keep my IPOD plugged in to quickly switch to AUX every other radio song
|
|
carriekins
5x Platinum Member
With my mouth wide open in a whiskey rain, I could stand here 24 hours a day...
Joined: November 2011
Posts: 5,315
|
Post by carriekins on Aug 9, 2015 11:47:17 GMT -5
Who's familiar with Texas/Red Dirt country and could give me a few artists to check out? I just don't know with Nashville anymore. Wade Bowen, Randy Rogers Band, Reckless Kelly, Mickey and the Motorcars, and there's an entire thread in the News & Non-Single discussion forum, too. :)
|
|
Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 11:50:23 GMT -5
Who's familiar with Texas/Red Dirt country and could give me a few artists to check out? I just don't know with Nashville anymore. I noticed in your introduction post that you like Country and Rock, so I'd advise you to check out William Clark Green. The artists that carriekins mentioned are great as well. I'd also add Aaron Watson (Sorry to derail the thread guys...)
|
|
Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 12:12:29 GMT -5
Who's familiar with Texas/Red Dirt country and could give me a few artists to check out? I just don't know with Nashville anymore. I noticed in your introduction post that you like Country and Rock, so I'd advise you to check out William Clark Green. The artists that carriekins mentioned are great as well. I'd also add Aaron Watson (Sorry to derail the thread guys...) I think if Sam Hunt is allowed to derail our genre, it's only fair that we derail his thread talking about real country artists. :) (although I'm sure our wonderful law-abiding mods disagree ;))
|
|
robenglund
Gold Member
Joined: July 2015
Posts: 998
|
Post by robenglund on Aug 9, 2015 12:15:00 GMT -5
Thanks everyone! That's some great music! I'm still new to this forum thing so I'm trying to figure it out. I probably should have posted that in the Non-singles forum but I thought it was appropriate to bring in up in this forum cause that's kind of how I feel about thing song and some of the stuff coming out of Nashville right now.
As for my thoughts on this song it's catchy but instrumentally it's not country at all mostly because of the EDM production in the chorus. If you ask me the only other song on his album that's somewhat country that hasn't been a single yet is "Make You Miss Me" so I thought they'd go with that. When I first listened to Sam Hunt I couldn't stand him because I thought to myself how can you call that country? But then when I read he wasn't trying to be country he's just an artist influenced by genres I thought that was pretty cool so I got into him more. The genre is certainly changing but I do think you have to draw a line and this song breaks the line. I guess as long as it's music from Nashville it's country no matter how it sounds.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 12:40:08 GMT -5
Not only is this his least country effort thus far in terms of sound, it even is lyrically. I mean come on, you throw in a small town to make this Country? It's an all too obvious attempt at bullsh*ting an audience into thinking that this is country music with Sam's "Country storytelling".
Bleh
There's a reason that songs like this as well as Beautiful Drug, and Crash and Burn will fit in into "country" playlists soon. It's because we've let this genre slip so far, that the bar just keeps getting set lower and lower. We haven't had any one stomp their foot down and draw a line....
|
|
tonyei31
New Member
Joined: October 2013
Posts: 244
|
Post by tonyei31 on Aug 9, 2015 14:27:32 GMT -5
Not only is this his least country effort thus far in terms of sound, it even is lyrically. I mean come on, you throw in a small town to make this Country? It's an all too obvious attempt at bullsh*ting an audience into thinking that this is country music with Sam's "Country storytelling". Bleh There's a reason that songs like this as well as Beautiful Drug, and Crash and Burn will fit in into "country" playlists soon. It's because we've let this genre slip so far, that the bar just keeps getting set lower and lower. We haven't had any one stomp their foot down and draw a line.... It just stinks the labels have gotten to big and powerful to have someone "put their foot down" like what Toby Keith did in the early to mid 90's. Even artists with clout today can't truly say 'this is what I am going to do' and make it on their own. This is comical to say this but country musicl needs someone with a ton of money and wants to start his own label while not caring about being 'modern' sounding, and can afford to lose millions getting songs 'paid to play' on the radio. Until that Ted Turner, Donald Trump, etc. type individual comes around that doesn't know the business but is passionate about music and starts their own label while losing a ton of money it will not happen.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 9, 2015 15:46:38 GMT -5
One of my buddies who is pretty new to country (rock fan) just walked in and someone was playing Sam Hunt and he says very angrily "that Sam Hunt song House Party is so freaking awful and it's not country and I hate it".
I thought that was funny considering this "polarizing" discussion and how he is a NEW country fan and it's even polarizing to someone like him, with a very basic and narrow understanding of the genre.
|
|
|
Post by The Brazilian Guy π§π· on Aug 9, 2015 18:27:13 GMT -5
This whole argument about what is and what isn't country music got me wondering as a foreigner... what is the definition of "Country Music"??
The funny thing is that here in Brazil, we have a quite similar genre of music called "Sertanejo" and in recent years a more "modern" and "young" version of it, labeled "Sertanejo UniversitΓ‘rio" (or University Sertanejo) has been dominating radio. Ever since that started happening, the same sort of discussions we're having on this thread, stated taking place over here in Brazil... "That's not sertanejo", "what the hell happened to the real sertanejo", "this is pop music, not sertanejo".
|
|