.indulgecountry
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"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
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Post by .indulgecountry on Apr 13, 2015 1:14:49 GMT -5
I understand the reservations that the ceiling for this might just be the Top 10 because it'll be the first time Black River has ever made it that far with one of their artists, and because she's a female, and radio prefers to keep them shy of hitting the top. That said, this has really been on fire lately, and it's also selling quite well, too. She definitely seems to have quite a bit of momentum at the moment, at even though she'll be reaching uncharted territory for Black River, this hasn't really struggled to get up the charts (28 weeks for a debut single is sadly pretty young in today's climate) and she's a hot, viable new artist (compared to Craig Morgan who is way past his radio prime). I'm still holding out a bit of hope that this can keep doing well and eventually become a #1 hit.
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bigfan101
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Post by bigfan101 on Apr 24, 2015 9:55:38 GMT -5
She is having another great week. And top ten is no longer an if but when.
This has been an extremely impressive chart run for me. Black River had NEVER had a top ten single, a woman had not taken a debut single to a top ten finish since Taylor (without some sort of pre music career success...I know about Jana and Cassadee), and yet this really has not struggled at all to climb the charts. Good for Kelsea, and Black River. Perfect timing for her record release as well. major record labels, this is how you break a new female artist.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2015 10:59:50 GMT -5
I'm honestly surprised that this one is still going up so quickly. That's great for the label and for Kelsea.
I just hope her style doesn't get lost in the bro shuffle, which I could see happening based on the musical makeup of her songs.
While I was listening to "Dibs" I was VERY happy to hear the instrumentation in the verse, as it was definitely an improvement of that of this song. The chorus, however, in "Dibs" kind of lost me as it was bland and could have been interchanged with the chorus in this song, leading me to fear what I mentioned above.
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zaclord 🌈
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Post by zaclord 🌈 on Apr 24, 2015 13:34:35 GMT -5
I don't see how her style would get lost in the "bro shuffle", if anything, I think her style fits very well with the big production, pop-leaning sound that most of "bro country" seems to have
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dajire4
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Post by dajire4 on Apr 24, 2015 14:38:14 GMT -5
She is having another great week. And top ten is no longer an if but when. This has been an extremely impressive chart run for me. Black River had NEVER had a top ten single, a woman had not taken a debut single to a top ten finish since Taylor (without some sort of pre music career success...I know about Jana and Cassadee), and yet this really has not struggled at all to climb the charts. Good for Kelsea, and Black River. Perfect timing for her record release as well. major record labels, this is how you break a new female artist. I guess Sunny Sweeney doesn't count either due to her previous singles in Texas, right? ;)
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Apr 24, 2015 14:46:25 GMT -5
She is having another great week. And top ten is no longer an if but when. This has been an extremely impressive chart run for me. Black River had NEVER had a top ten single, a woman had not taken a debut single to a top ten finish since Taylor (without some sort of pre music career success... I know about Jana and Cassadee), and yet this really has not struggled at all to climb the charts. Good for Kelsea, and Black River. Perfect timing for her record release as well. major record labels, this is how you break a new female artist. Most country fans didn't know they were before their top 10 debuts, especially Jana. Overall though I agree, Black River really has shown that they can be a big time label with this chart run. I know her music is poppy, which can be radio-friendly, but what's she's accomplished so far at radio isn't easy.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2015 8:43:39 GMT -5
major record labels, this is how you break a new female artist. While Black River has certainly done a great job here, I'm curious, what do you think they've done that other labels haven't tried to do with their female artists? It's not as if they can buy airplay or anything. The reason that this song has turned out to be a hit is probably pretty simple--radio likes it, and it was just the right song at the right time. If Kelsea were signed to any other label and had released this song, I think it would probably be doing just as good as it is now, if not better.
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Markus Meyer
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Post by Markus Meyer on Apr 25, 2015 12:23:24 GMT -5
a woman had not taken a debut single to a top ten finish since Taylor (without some sort of pre music career success...I know about Jana and Cassadee) Kacey? Anyway, glad to see this doing so well. Nice to see a woman rising the charts who's name isn't Carrie or Miranda, even if I don't find this song to be very country in the slightest.
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sabre14
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Post by sabre14 on Apr 25, 2015 13:24:42 GMT -5
major record labels, this is how you break a new female artist. While Black River has certainly done a great job here, I'm curious, what do you think they've done that other labels haven't tried to do with their females artists? It's not as if they can buy airplay or anything. The reason that this song has turned out to be a hit is probably pretty simple--radio likes it, and it was just the right song at the right time. If Kelsea were signed to any other label and had released this song, I think it would probably be doing just as good as it is now, if not better. I mostly agree but Black River did a good job finding Kelsea. She wasn't exactly a household name in the inner workings of Nashville and Black River definitely saw her and her style as a opportunity to get a break at radio. Listening to her EP, it's pretty evident that she released her music at the right time, which you eluded to. So I agree about any major label having success here but credit is due to Black River for discovering her, though I realize their roster is less occupied than UMG or Warner.
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kml567
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Post by kml567 on Apr 25, 2015 14:11:12 GMT -5
Up to #14 with +413 spin gain (out-gaining Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw)! I guess one of the nice things about "R&B Country" being the dominant sound is that female artists can get high callouts/good airplay too if the song has a R&B/pop country vibe.
Will be interesting to see if all the other Nashville labels try to copy Kelsea and release R&B/pop-leaning country songs for their young female artists. This seems to be the rare female voice that's actually testing well with the "bro"/"R&B country" fans. Shocking it's an unheralded newbie like Kelsea (rather than the media-hyped ones) that may have cracked the barrier on country radio and become the first solo female to hit #1 in 3 years.
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spencer
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Post by spencer on Apr 25, 2015 14:38:20 GMT -5
Does Kelsea have an album out, or maybe coming out soon? This tune has been on the charts for more than 5 months. I don't know if that means the song has had a slow climb or not, but if she's promoting a new album perhaps there's a bit of push going on right now to get the song as high as possible? And yes, it's good to see another female not named Carrie or Miranda on the country charts.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2015 14:40:24 GMT -5
Will be interesting to see if all the other Nashville labels try to copy Kelsea and release R&B/pop-leaning country songs for their young female artists. This is the problem with the country music industry today...everyone is copying somebody else's sound, and no one is trying to sound like themselves anymore. It's not just artists, it's the A&R teams and the labels and everybody involved from the bottom to the top. Also, I'm curious, what do you mean by your remark about other artists that are hyped by the media? I hope you know that radio = mass communication = a form of media. Kelsea's music happens to play better on country radio in 2015, but that's not the case for other artists like Brandy Clark, Ashley Monroe, and Kacey Musgraves, so I'm glad that other forms of media (blogs/magazines) often choose to champion music that radio won't play. Radio airplay is still the best way for artists to get their music out there, but if an artist is making music that radio won't play, what are they supposed to do? They could try to copy everybody else's sound but that wouldn't be true to who they are. So for some country artists, they have to rely on blogs, word-of-mouth, and critical acclaim, since there isn't a radio format that will play their music. Look at artists like Kacey Musgraves or Sturgill Simpson. Kacey got very limited airplay but still sold 500,000 albums...imagine how much she would have sold if her music fit into the parameters of what "country" radio is willing to play? Thousand and thousands more people would have heard her music. And Sturgill, he's sold over 110,000 albums with no airplay. If there was a radio format that played his type of music (since country radio is allergic to country music), he'd sell way, way more than that. I'm certainly not rooting against Kelsea Ballerini, and I like "Love Me Like You Mean It" for what it is--a radio-friendly pop-country ditty--but I guess I just don't really see how what Kelsea brings to the table is any sort of new sound. And, I don't mean to be pessimistic here, but one top 15 hit doesn't really mean much. Just ask Jana Kramer, Kacey Musgraves, Danielle Bradbery, Cassadee Pope, Sunny Sweeney, and RaeLynn (ok, "God Made Girls" peaked at #16, but w/e). Everybody thought Jana was poised to really break through after "Why Ya Wanna", but it still hasn't happened yet. Cassadee's sophomore single fizzled out below the top 30. Kacey's received a ton of critical acclaim and has sold half a million albums but she's still waiting for radio to get on board. RaeLynn's new single "For A Boy" is struggling simply due to the sheer amount of new singles released lately. You could throw Maddie & Tae in there too..."Girl In A Country Song" was a big hit and while "Fly" has made the top 30 in only 13 weeks, the label has opted to push their album release back anyway. Does Kelsea have an album out, or maybe coming out soon? This tune has been on the charts for more than 5 months. I don't know if that means the song has had a slow climb or not, but if she's promoting a new album perhaps there's a bit of push going on right now to get the song as high as possible? And yes, it's good to see another female not named Carrie or Miranda on the country charts. Her debut album The First Time will be released on May 19.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2015 15:08:18 GMT -5
This is the problem with the country music industry today... everyone is copying somebody else's sound, and no one is trying to sound like themselves anymore. It's not just artists, it's the A&R teams and the labels and everybody involved from the bottom to the top. Radio airplay is still the best way for artists to get their music out there, but if an artist is making music that radio won't play, what are they supposed to do? They could try to copy everybody else's sound but that wouldn't be true to who they are. So for some country artists, they have to rely on blogs, word-of-mouth, and critical acclaim, since there isn't a radio format that will play their music. Look at artists like Kacey Musgraves or Sturgill Simpson. Kacey got very limited airplay but still sold 500,000 albums...imagine how much she would have sold if her music fit into the parameters of what "country" radio is willing to play? Thousand and thousands more people would have heard her music. And Sturgill, he's sold over 110,000 albums with no airplay. If there was a radio format that played his type of music ( since country radio is allergic to country music), he'd sell way, way more than that. I'm certainly not rooting against Kelsea Ballerini, and I like "Love Me Like You Mean It" for what it is--a radio-friendly pop-country ditty--but I guess I just don't really see how what Kelsea brings to the table is any sort of new sound. Geez, where has this jhomes87 been? ;) You're typically a little more cut-and-dry about the music and the charts. But this analysis is spot on with my thoughts and it makes me feel more comfortable knowing someone as versed in the genre's happenings feels this way too.
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ant
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Post by ant on Apr 25, 2015 15:51:34 GMT -5
They really need to send a "pop mix" of this to CHR.
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.indulgecountry
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"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
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Post by .indulgecountry on Apr 25, 2015 22:58:14 GMT -5
People need to lighten up on the use of the phrase "R&B country" too, because it's being used very loosely here. "Take Your Time" is about the only thing I could see *kinda* fitting under that awkward label, but "Love Me Like You Mean It" is absolutely in no way R&B-esque. It is quite pop-leaning, but R&B it ain't.
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bigfan101
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Post by bigfan101 on Apr 27, 2015 17:19:19 GMT -5
major record labels, this is how you break a new female artist. While Black River has certainly done a great job here, I'm curious, what do you think they've done that other labels haven't tried to do with their female artists? It's not as if they can buy airplay or anything. The reason that this song has turned out to be a hit is probably pretty simple--radio likes it, and it was just the right song at the right time. If Kelsea were signed to any other label and had released this song, I think it would probably be doing just as good as it is now, if not better. Sorry, I just saw this! I think Black River has really made her the focus. They have put a great group of people behind her, gave her a grassroots start then moved on to radio. They have really targeted a demographic that lost its biggest star (Taylor Swift) and have really succeeded. They also gave her album an actual release date, and have very publicly been behind her. If her second single can have any success at all, I look for a Female Vocalist of the Year nominee at the CMAs. With the tour she is on, she will also no doubt be nominated for a couple CMTs. I also think her sound is unique and stands out. Nothing else on country radio that I have heard compares to her.
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rsmatto
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Post by rsmatto on Apr 27, 2015 18:08:29 GMT -5
R&B, yes. R&B? No.
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kanimal
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Post by kanimal on May 8, 2015 13:00:41 GMT -5
She sort of teased this when they plugged her song back in March, but Kelsea is performing on the May 21 Today Show - two days after the album drops.
Will hopefully give the song another boost from a sales standpoint. While it's not doing TERRIBLY, the song has yet to truly take off as far as sales go. Its performance has been fairly stagnant (barring some occasional blips here or there) even as the song has gone from Top 25 to nearly Top 10 on the airplay chart.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2015 11:42:44 GMT -5
While it's not doing TERRIBLY, the song has yet to truly take off as far as sales go. Its performance has been fairly stagnant (barring some occasional blips here or there) even as the song has gone from Top 25 to nearly Top 10 on the airplay chart. I'm not sure why we expect this to be some sort of huge seller. I think it's doing great, especially for a country artist on her very first single. I mean, it's #12 on the iTunes country chart right now, right up there with Tyler Farr's "A Guy Walks Into A Bar" and Jason Aldean's "Tonight Looks Good On You", and it's out-selling current/recent hits from much bigger names, including Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, etc.
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kanimal
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Post by kanimal on May 9, 2015 12:15:02 GMT -5
While it's not doing TERRIBLY, the song has yet to truly take off as far as sales go. Its performance has been fairly stagnant (barring some occasional blips here or there) even as the song has gone from Top 25 to nearly Top 10 on the airplay chart. I'm not sure why we expect this to be some sort of huge seller. I think it's doing great, especially for a country artist on her very first single. I mean, it's #12 on the iTunes country chart right now, right up there with Tyler Farr's "A Guy Walks Into A Bar" and Jason Aldean's "Tonight Looks Good On You", and it's out-selling current/recent hits from much bigger names, including Keith Urban, Dierks Bentley, Lee Brice, Carrie Underwood, Kenny Chesney, etc. No one (other than the people referring to her as the next Taylor Swift) is necessarily expecting this to be "some sort of huge seller." Per the line you quoted, what has stood out to me has been the song's stagnation/lack of acceleration even amid the rising airplay, growing awareness, increasing media support, etc. It has been selling the same 14-20K per week for quite a while, and it's not even at its peak on the Country Digital Songs chart right now. The fact that she's a country artist on her very first single is exactly why that stagnation stood out to me. With each passing day, she's gaining coverage, airplay, awareness and presumably building her fanbase, and you would hope for some acceleration in her sales pace.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2015 12:32:08 GMT -5
It has been selling the same 14-20K per week for quite a while, and it's not even at its peak on the Country Digital Songs chart right now. The fact that she's a country artist on her very first single is exactly why that stagnation stood out to me. With each passing day, she's gaining coverage, airplay, awareness and presumably building her fanbase, and you would hope for some acceleration in her sales pace. This has been pretty common for all country singles over the last 12-18 months or so. Sales-wise, they're not really growing much despite increases in airplay. A Thousand Horses, Billy Currington, Lee Brice, etc, they all stayed pretty steady on iTunes throughout much of their chart runs (after going top 30/top 20, that is). Big increases in airplay didn't translate to bigger sales for "Raise 'Em Up" or "Say You Do", either. The same can be said for Carrie, Kenny, Tim. It seems that lately, you can usually tell pretty early on whether a song is going to sell or not. Maybe it's different on other formats, but at least as far as country radio goes, the lower-selling songs (like "Raise 'Em Up" or "Say You Do") are still able to climb the charts just as easily as songs like "Homegrown", "Take Your Time", etc. The order of country singles in the iTunes top 10 has hardly changed at all over the last month. LBT #1, Blake #2, Sam Hunt #3, ZBB #4, FGL #5, Eric Church #6, A Thousand Horses #7, Billy Currington #8, Canaan Smith #9, Jason Aldean #10. There has been very little fluctuation in the order of these singles.
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.indulgecountry
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"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
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Post by .indulgecountry on May 9, 2015 12:41:39 GMT -5
I feel like this has been moving up in sales as the airplay goes up though... Like, before it hit the Top 20-25 or so, I'm pretty sure it was in the 100s on iTunes, and now it's around #60. I'd be surprised if this was selling much more than it has been, which is quite well.
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kanimal
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Post by kanimal on May 9, 2015 13:05:21 GMT -5
I feel like this has been moving up in sales as the airplay goes up though... Like, before it hit the Top 20-25 or so, I'm pretty sure it was in the 100s on iTunes, and now it's around #60. I'd be surprised if this was selling much more than it has been, which is quite well. Its weekly sales pace has held fairly steady since its entry into the Top 25 at radio. And certainly steady since the Taylor Swift Tweet in early March: It sold ~12K the week before her Tweet, ~15K the week of her Tweet and ~14K the week after. It really hasn't left that range since - like I wrote earlier, 14-20K per week. It did ~15K last week.
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.indulgecountry
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"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
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Post by .indulgecountry on May 10, 2015 0:20:42 GMT -5
I feel like this has been moving up in sales as the airplay goes up though... Like, before it hit the Top 20-25 or so, I'm pretty sure it was in the 100s on iTunes, and now it's around #60. I'd be surprised if this was selling much more than it has been, which is quite well. Its weekly sales pace has held fairly steady since its entry into the Top 25 at radio. And certainly steady since the Taylor Swift Tweet in early March: It sold ~12K the week before her Tweet, ~15K the week of her Tweet and ~14K the week after. It really hasn't left that range since - like I wrote earlier, 14-20K per week. It did ~15K last week. jhomes87 explained it much more eloquently than I did, so perhaps you should fixate more on what she wrote than what I did. At any rate though, I feel like you are really over-scrutinizing the sales for this single and failing to properly compare it to its fellow country airplay peers. "Girl Crush" and "Take Your Time" are pretty much the only two songs this year thus far that have sold abnormally well, but "Love Me Like You Mean It"'s sales are right on target for what it should be selling and what similar songs with comparable exposure are selling, and Kelsea is even outdoing current singles by well-established acts, so I'm still just not seeing anything to nitpick about its sales in the slightest.
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kanimal
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Post by kanimal on May 10, 2015 12:34:01 GMT -5
Its weekly sales pace has held fairly steady since its entry into the Top 25 at radio. And certainly steady since the Taylor Swift Tweet in early March: It sold ~12K the week before her Tweet, ~15K the week of her Tweet and ~14K the week after. It really hasn't left that range since - like I wrote earlier, 14-20K per week. It did ~15K last week. jhomes87 explained it much more eloquently than I did, so perhaps you should fixate more on what she wrote than what I did. At any rate though, I feel like you are really over-scrutinizing the sales for this single and failing to properly compare it to its fellow country airplay peers. "Girl Crush" and "Take Your Time" are pretty much the only two songs this year thus far that have sold abnormally well, but "Love Me Like You Mean It"'s sales are right on target for what it should be selling and what similar songs with comparable exposure are selling, and Kelsea is even outdoing current singles by well-established acts, so I'm still just not seeing anything to nitpick about its sales in the slightest. You said you felt like the song had moved up in conjunction with rising airplay. I provided facts to say it hadn't really done so. Cut-and-dry stuff...I don't see where the controversy is. If it can hold this current iTunes position - and then leverage the buzz associated with the album release and the TODAY show performance to fly higher - it'll be able to rank as highly from a sales standpoint as it does from an airplay standpoint (hopefully higher). Cut-and-dry stuff...again, don't see where the controversy is.
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dajire4
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Post by dajire4 on May 10, 2015 13:57:24 GMT -5
While I get where you are coming from kanimal, I do not think you are understanding the point I think jhomes87 and .indulgecountry are trying to get across. Which is that sales for Love Me Like You Mean It are not lackluster as you seemed to imply in your first post and that sales plateauing once they reach a certain level of airplay is the common rule in the country music world. .indulgecountry errosneously thought the sales had increased but he corrected himself. Both of them are just disagreeing with your "while it's not doing terrible" comment. What I quoted means you think it's not doing well either, but I do think it is doing quite well, especially for a newcomer
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onebuffalo
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Post by onebuffalo on May 10, 2015 14:23:35 GMT -5
I think the single's sales are doing great (224,000 sold so far) considering this is Kelsea Ballerini's debut on the charts and it is on the Black River label. I guarantee you this: it will be the first top ten in the history of Black River. I want it so bad for the owners, Kim and Terry Pegula, who own those two 'little' teams here in Buffalo-the Sabres and Bills. She is doing fine right now and so are the Pegulas.
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onebuffalo
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Post by onebuffalo on May 11, 2015 14:03:24 GMT -5
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.indulgecountry
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"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
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Post by .indulgecountry on May 11, 2015 19:21:58 GMT -5
There's also a stream of the album available at the bottom of this link, too!
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bigfan101
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Post by bigfan101 on May 11, 2015 19:27:32 GMT -5
There's also a stream of the album available at the bottom of this link, too! Thread is started. The album is EXCELLENT! (Underage is my favorite.)
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