Garth Brooks - "People Loving People"

[Kat5Kind]

It's so hard for me to figure out what he's saying! Was his enunciation always this godawful? (Then again I'm hearing impaired and I complain about Brantley Gilbert for this reason too)

[house]

OK, I thought I was maybe being a little overly critical of the questionable production of Garth's new single. Then, on the drive to the gym last night, 95.5 Nash Icon played "Two a Kind Working on a Full House" immediately followed by "People Loving People." It reinforced my opinion. A song that is 20 plus years old sounded far superior production wise. This just baffles me.  There has got to be some sort of mistake!!  Why would they send this to radio?  

[Kentucky25]

tasteofcountry.com/garth-brooks-ghosttunes/

Garth's announcement. Never heard of GhostTunes before, but if he's backing them, there's a good chance they could become pretty popular in the future. Doesn't seem to be any better than iTunes save for Garth's music being available on it.

[George Strait Junkie]

Just bought this track and "Send 'Em On Down The Road" i love the last one it shoulda been the single oh well im just glad Garth is back

[George Strait Junkie]

Sept 4, 2014 16:30:27 GMT -5 buythecaseof12 said:

So...the single is not available on ITunes? Basically, the single is not available on his website by itself without buying at least the $14.99 CD? Is Garth Brooks trying to make it difficult for people to buy his music? If so, it is NOT going to be "People Loving Garth".

I am not initially crazy about the song, but I figured that I may buy it and see if it grows on me.

i see no problem in buying the 14.99 album to get the 2 songs early when the album is gonna be a double album but thats just me i'm still gonna buy the CD too

[rsmatto]

Sept 4, 2014 16:30:27 GMT -5 buythecaseof12 said:

So...the single is not available on ITunes? Basically, the single is not available on his website by itself without buying at least the $14.99 CD? Is Garth Brooks trying to make it difficult for people to buy his music? If so, it is NOT going to be "People Loving Garth".

I am not initially crazy about the song, but I figured that I may buy it and see if it grows on me.

For $30 you get all of his studio albums ( not Chris Gaines), double live w/videos and the next two albums. Sounds like a good deal to me.

As for GhostTunes, Garth owns the site.

[McCreerian (Harris 2024!)]

Ok I bought the $30 bundle. My card was charged. I don't see anything in "My locker" that I bought on the site. How long does it take them to get there? It's sure not instant like Itunes or Amazon.

[onebuffalo]

More on People Loving People:

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6243690/garth-brooks-people-loving-people-country-airplay

[kml567]

Looks like all Cumulus stations and Clear Channel stations played it once an hour yesterday. :o

This will debut in the top 10....possibly top 5. I imagine Cumulus + Clear Channel together = 50% of the panel? Wow Garth went all out getting an unprecedented DOUBLE radio deal!!

[Deleted]

Sept 4, 2014 18:13:50 GMT -5 kml567 said:

Looks like all Cumulus stations and Clear Channel stations played it once an hour yesterday. :o

This will debut in the top 10....possibly top 5. I imagine Cumulus + Clear Channel together = 50% of the panel? Wow Garth went all out getting an unprecedented DOUBLE radio deal!!

I think Cumulus + Clear Channel is more like 60% of the panel, but I'm not sure on that. I think only 13 Cumulus stations are on the Mediabase panel, so it has to be similar for Billboard (Nash Icon stations are not included in the "13" number). I think Clear Channel has around 70 stations on the monitored BB and MB panels but I'd have to do some research to come up with an exact number.

Anyway, I know the Billboard article mentions a top 10 debut as a possibility, but I'm not convinced yet (and yes, I'm well aware of what happened with "More Than A Memory"). As I posted upthread, "People Loving People" debuted at #30 on Mediabase this morning, which is certainly impressive. But in order for this to challenge for the top 10 it would probably need to get airplay every hour or every other hour from today through Sunday. A Billboard debut somewhere in the 15-20 range already appears very likely, but we'll have to see what tomorrow's update looks like. I'm not expecting another 14 million gain, but if it's anywhere in the neighborhood of 4-5 million tomorrow, then we can start talking about a potential top 10 debut (or close to it) when the Country Airplay chart comes out on Monday.

At this point it's pure speculation by Billboard, unless they somehow know that enough radio stations have pre-programmed this into their playlists a certain amount of times that it'll average +5 mil a day for the next 4 days (that'd be 20 mil which, on top of the nearly 14 mil it got on day 1, would put this inside the top 10).

ETA: Listening to this now with headphones on and it sounds better. The mix could definitely be better, though. I don't think it's necessarily that his voice is "thin" but during the verses especially it's just at odds with the production.

[zaclord 🌈]

Yuck. This just sounds all-around bad. If the production didn't sound like it was unfinished and they made his vocals better, then this wouldn't be bad, but I'm not impressed at all by this.

[19waves]

I've listen to it a few times and i don't hate it but i most def wouldn't have picked it as a lead single (especially a garth brooks lead single) but i really like how he growls out the word "that" on the line "Thats the enemy of everything thats evil"

[kanimal]

Pretty unremarkable day two update*. Only 303 new spins**. Might not even be Top 25 on the published Mediabase chart.


*303 spins on day two is obviously remarkable, but it's a number on par with a top country star rather than one that puts the song on pace for an instant Top 10 debut, as some were actually speculating.

**FGL, Blake and Aldean all got in the 250 range on day two.

[dajross6]

I think the gains today are right in line with what we all thought, and not surprising since it follows the pattern of every other day 1 deal. Those people that thought this would debut Top 10 or Top 5 are a little bit more optimistic than chart watchers imo.

I remember More Than A Memory was on pace from the very first day to finish at #1, and was #1 on the RTT from Tuesday morning onwards. That is a push we'll never see again thankfully (and I love the song).

[rsmatto]

Sept 4, 2014 20:38:12 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

[
ETA: Listening to this now with headphones on and it sounds better. The mix could definitely be better, though. I don't think it's necessarily that his voice is "thin" but during the verses especially it's just at odds with the production.

Yeah, the mix could be better but this is most-definitely how GARTH wanted it to sound. The production, while done by Mark Miller, is really Garth Brooks. Everything he does is thought out (not that you're saying it wasn't here, this is a general comment about him). This is probably why he went with this song. He wanted a 'message song' out in the world and that's exactly what Garth got with "People Loving People." He also knew it'd do well with radio -- relatively speaking -- than perhaps if it was released as a single later on. It's a calculated move by an artist who has often been calculating.

[sabre14]

Sept 5, 2014 11:29:55 GMT -5 rsmatto said:

Sept 4, 2014 20:38:12 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

[
ETA: Listening to this now with headphones on and it sounds better. The mix could definitely be better, though. I don't think it's necessarily that his voice is "thin" but during the verses especially it's just at odds with the production.

Yeah, the mix could be better but this is most-definitely how GARTH wanted it to sound. The production, while done by Mark Miller, is really Garth Brooks. Everything he does is thought out (not that you're saying it wasn't here, this is a general comment about him). This is probably why he went with this song. He wanted a 'message song' out in the world and that's exactly what Garth got with "People Loving People." He also knew it'd do well with radio -- relatively speaking -- than perhaps if it was released as a single later on. It's a calculated move by an artist who has often been calculating.

Yeah, the mix and production could definitely have been done better but it's not like it wasn't on purpose. Whether you agree or disagree about how Garth is approaching this comeback, he like Matt said is a calculator and a stickler for marketing. It makes sense to have this song sound like nothing else on country radio with it's production and the fact that this would most certainly not do as well if it were the third or fourth single off the album. This might have been a lesson learned from "More Than A Memory" being first from the new tracks to be a single in 2007. That song IMO was by far the most radio friendly and best song overall, but after it was done the subsequent singles didn't do well. 

The delay might have been something to do with his GhostTunes not being ready in time last month and he wanted it to be lined up with the release of this single. I do believe he toyed with the idea of other songs to be the lead single but this song has a message he strongly believes in and it sounds like nothing else right now - Plus the fact it will automatically do well since it's the comeback single. Everything here (even though I disagree about choices he has made here) was calculated and well thought out. I don't believe Garth rushed it at all. I certainly don't enjoy the production here, or the type of song he lead with, or even the GhostTunes digital store. But Garth wanted it this way and he will live and die by his way of thinking, or stubbornest if you'd like to call it that.

[McCreerian (Harris 2024!)]

I bought the bundle. The other new song "Send em' on down" is Incredible! This is Garth! It is a song about watching your children grow up and letting them go when it's time. I'm excited once again for new music. But wow what a deal! 8 studio albums, a live album, all his videos, and his coming 2 new studio albums all for $30. That's just crazy but not a deal to pass up!

[Deleted]

Sept 5, 2014 8:12:19 GMT -5 kanimal said:

Pretty unremarkable day two update*. Only 303 new spins**. Might not even be Top 25 on the published Mediabase chart.


*303 spins on day two is obviously remarkable, but it's a number on par with a top country star rather than one that puts the song on pace for an instant Top 10 debut, as some were actually speculating.

**FGL, Blake and Aldean all got in the 250 range on day two.

Unremarkable? Wow. This is a huge update.

I get that he debuted at #1 with "More Than A Memory", but that was 7 years ago, and it was a highly organized push in order to attain an all-time record that could never be broken. Since then we've had 2 songs debut at #13 (Kenny/Tim with "Feel Like A Rock Star" and Taylor with "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"). Both of those songs had about 2.5 days of once-an-hour Clear Channel airplay. Otherwise, the highest debuts we've seen have been in the 16-18 range, including "Dirt" at #16 earlier this year, along with Kenny's "Don't Blink" back in 2007. And both of those songs had a full 7 days of airplay leading up to their debuts.

That 16-18 range is generally the benchmark for super high debuts, and Garth could get there with 5 days of airplay so I don't see how this is unremarkable at all. He's essentially on pace for one of the highest debuts in Billboard history. Furthermore, Garth has only released a handful of singles since 2000, and many of the people who were at radio in the 90's are no longer there. Now obviously today's radio is gonna jump on new Garth, because it IS Garth after all, but I didn't expect this to debut in the top 10 or anything like that, and I don't know why anyone would have, given that Garth and RCA waited 'til Wednesday to release it.

If PLP manages to get up to 23-24 million, it could debut as high as 14-16 on Billboard.

[kanimal]

Sept 5, 2014 21:59:35 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Sept 5, 2014 8:12:19 GMT -5 kanimal said:

Pretty unremarkable day two update*. Only 303 new spins**. Might not even be Top 25 on the published Mediabase chart.


*303 spins on day two is obviously remarkable, but it's a number on par with a top country star rather than one that puts the song on pace for an instant Top 10 debut, as some were actually speculating.

**FGL, Blake and Aldean all got in the 250 range on day two.

Unremarkable? Wow. This is a huge update.

I get that he debuted at #1 with "More Than A Memory", but that was 7 years ago, and it was a highly organized push in order to attain an all-time record that could never be broken. Since then we've had 2 songs debut at #13 (Kenny/Tim with "Feel Like A Rock Star" and Taylor with "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together"). Both of those songs had about 2.5 days of once-an-hour Clear Channel airplay. Otherwise, the highest debuts we've seen have been in the 16-18 range, including "Dirt" at #16 earlier this year, along with Kenny's "Don't Blink" back in 2007. And both of those songs had a full 7 days of airplay leading up to their debuts.

That 16-18 range is generally the benchmark for super high debuts, and Garth could get there with 5 days of airplay so I don't see how this is unremarkable at all. He's essentially on pace for one of the highest debuts in Billboard history. Furthermore, Garth has only released a handful of singles since 2000, and many of the people who were at radio in the 90's are no longer there. Now obviously today's radio is gonna jump on new Garth, because it IS Garth after all, but I didn't expect this to debut in the top 10 or anything like that, and I don't know why anyone would have, given that Garth and RCA waited 'til Wednesday to release it.

If PLP manages to get up to 23-24 million, it could debut as high as 14-16 on Billboard.

Any idea on why the disparity between the Billboard and Mediabase panels is potentially going to be so notable in this case?

Based on the first two days of airplay, Billboard wrote that the song was on pace to debut 'in or near' the top ten on Monday's chart.  But its audience isn't pacing to even be top 20 on Mediabase by the end of Sunday.

I know that the measurements are different and thus the numbers are different, but why wouldn't they at least be proportionate?  Why would songs like Small Town Throwdown, Leave the Night On, Later On, Dust, Day Drinking, Sunshine & Whiskey, Neon Light, All Alright, Cold One and Somewhere in My Car all be so inflated on Mediabase but deflated on Billboard?

[Deleted]

Sept 6, 2014 17:57:10 GMT -5 kanimal said:

Any idea on why the disparity between the Billboard and Mediabase panels is potentially going to be so notable in this case?

Based on the first two days of airplay, Billboard wrote that the song was on pace to debut 'in or near' the top ten on Monday's chart.  But its audience isn't pacing to even be top 20 on Mediabase by the end of Sunday.

I know that the measurements are different and thus the numbers are different, but why wouldn't they at least be proportionate?  Why would songs like Small Town Throwdown, Leave the Night On, Later On, Dust, Day Drinking, Sunshine & Whiskey, Neon Light, All Alright, Cold One and Somewhere in My Car all be so inflated on Mediabase but deflated on Billboard?

That's 23-24 million on Billboard, and positions 14-16. Sorry about that--I guess I didn't quite make that clear enough.

I don't think he's going to quite make it into that range, though. PLP is up 2.4 mil on Mediabase today to a total of 18.8 mil, and the Billboard RTT has it at a building total of 18.2 million there. I'm figuring on about ~4 million more over the next 2 days, maybe a bit more than that, to get this song into the 22.2 to 22.5 million range on Billboard. That will almost certainly keep the Swon Bros, EYB, Sam Hunt, and Frankie Ballard just ahead of this one. Blake will probably be ahead as well, and it'll be close with LBT.

So I'm thinking a Billboard debut of #18-19, as he'll likely come in just below that closely-packed group of songs.

[McCreerian (Harris 2024!)]

With the 18 AI on MB I thought for sure he'd be #26 on today's update. Scotty is at #26 with only 13 AI and RF at #27 with 15 AI. That point system is as much of a headache as the tax system is. Garth has to be there in the morning! That would make a #25 debut since Brad will be going recurrent. What a difference between BB and MB!

[kanimal]

Sept 6, 2014 20:49:43 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Sept 6, 2014 17:57:10 GMT -5 kanimal said:

Any idea on why the disparity between the Billboard and Mediabase panels is potentially going to be so notable in this case?

Based on the first two days of airplay, Billboard wrote that the song was on pace to debut 'in or near' the top ten on Monday's chart.  But its audience isn't pacing to even be top 20 on Mediabase by the end of Sunday.

I know that the measurements are different and thus the numbers are different, but why wouldn't they at least be proportionate?  Why would songs like Small Town Throwdown, Leave the Night On, Later On, Dust, Day Drinking, Sunshine & Whiskey, Neon Light, All Alright, Cold One and Somewhere in My Car all be so inflated on Mediabase but deflated on Billboard?

That's 23-24 million on Billboard, and positions 14-16. Sorry about that--I guess I didn't quite make that clear enough.

I don't think he's going to quite make it into that range, though. PLP is up 2.4 mil on Mediabase today to a total of 18.8 mil, and the Billboard RTT has it at a building total of 18.2 million there. I'm figuring on about ~4 million more over the next 2 days, maybe a bit more than that, to get this song into the 22.2 to 22.5 million range on Billboard. That will almost certainly keep the Swon Bros, EYB, Sam Hunt, and Frankie Ballard just ahead of this one. Blake will probably be ahead as well, and it'll be close with LBT.

So I'm thinking a Billboard debut of #18-19, as he'll likely come in just below that closely-packed group of songs.

Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest you quoted anything other than 14-16.  I was referring to Billboard's Chart Beat update (http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6243690/garth-brooks-people-loving-people-country-airplay):

"People" leads week-to-date gainers with 1,569 plays (Sept. 3-4) at 138 of the 143 stations monitored for the chart. That level of initial airplay signals a debut in or near the top 10 on the Country Airplay chart to be released Monday (Sept. 8)

The whole post is really strange.  A) I see nothing to suggest it can even get into the low teens.  B)They're talking in terms of spins even though their chart is audience driven. C) Since high-profile new releases benefit from airplay in high-profile market, its spin count would actually be disproportionately low compared to audience level.  If it were a normal song, 1569 plays after two days with only a couple days left in the chart week would certainly not signal a Top 10 bow for audience.

[Deleted]

Sept 6, 2014 21:04:36 GMT -5 kanimal said:

Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest you quoted anything other than 14-16.  I was referring to Billboard's Chart Beat update

Yeah, I'm not sure why Billboard put out that article, either. I mentioned it as well when I quoted kml567 higher up on this page (here). I can only presume that Billboard was basing their speculation entirely on the first day's worth of airplay, and perhaps they thought stations would keep spinning it hourly for a 2nd day? I certainly didn't expect that to happen but maybe they did. But you're absolutely right that the spin count will be a bit disproportionate from the audience in the early goings here.

Of course--and not that you don't know this, but but there's also the obvious factor that Garth will only have 4 days of airplay on MB and 5 at BB, thus he'll debut a good deal lower on MB. The MB position takes a little longer to 'catch up' to the Billboard one especially with these high-profile debuts. For example, I think both "Dirt" and "Neon Light" debuted somewhere in the mid-20's on Mediabase, but I'll defer to sabre14 on that one. I seem to remember "Dirt" debuting at #25 on MB after 6 days of airplay, with something close to 2300 spins. Garth's pace is just slightly ahead of that, although with one fewer day of airplay.

I agree with McCreerian (Harris 2024!) that Garth will likely jump Scotty and RF in tomorrow's MB update, and with "River Bank" set to go recurrent, that would be a #25 debut on MB. But with no songs going recurrent and Garth likely landing just below that Swon Bros/EYB/Sam Hunt/Frankie/Blake/LBT group, I am thinking a #19 debut on Billboard.

[sabre14]

Sept 6, 2014 21:16:11 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Sept 6, 2014 21:04:36 GMT -5 kanimal said:

Sorry, I didn't mean to suggest you quoted anything other than 14-16.  I was referring to Billboard's Chart Beat update

Of course--and not that you don't know this, but but there's also the obvious factor that Garth will only have 4 days of airplay on MB and 5 at BB, thus he'll debut a good deal lower on MB. The MB position takes a little longer to 'catch up' to the Billboard one especially with these high-profile debuts. For example, I think both "Dirt" and "Neon Light" debuted somewhere in the mid-20's on Mediabase, but I'll defer to sabre14 on that one. I seem to remember "Dirt" debuting at #25 on MB after 6 days of airplay, with something close to 2300 spins. Garth's pace is just slightly ahead of that, although with one fewer day of airplay.

"Dirt" debuted at #26 on MB and "Neon Light" debuted at #25 on MB.

[sabre14]

Sept 6, 2014 21:28:12 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Sept 6, 2014 21:16:11 GMT -5 jhomes87 said:

Of course--and not that you don't know this, but but there's also the obvious factor that Garth will only have 4 days of airplay on MB and 5 at BB, thus he'll debut a good deal lower on MB. The MB position takes a little longer to 'catch up' to the Billboard one especially with these high-profile debuts. For example, I think both "Dirt" and "Neon Light" debuted somewhere in the mid-20's on Mediabase, but I'll defer to sabre14 on that one. I seem to remember "Dirt" debuting at #25 on MB after 6 days of airplay, with something close to 2300 spins. Garth's pace is just slightly ahead of that, although with one fewer day of airplay.

"Dirt" debuted at #26 on MB and "Neon Light" debuted at #25 on MB.

"People Loving People" debuts at #25 on MB this week.

[countrymusic20]

Sept 7, 2014 13:28:47 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Sept 6, 2014 21:28:12 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

"Dirt" debuted at #26 on MB and "Neon Light" debuted at #25 on MB.

"People Loving People" debuts at #25 on MB this week.

This is an honest question. What do you think Garth think's of this being a #25 debut. Most predictions were it would be a lot higher than that. You know Garth had a lot planning and promo in place for this. How do you think Garth feels about it.

[sabre14]

Sept 7, 2014 13:45:29 GMT -5 countrymusic20 said:

Sept 7, 2014 13:28:47 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

"People Loving People" debuts at #25 on MB this week.

This is an honest question. What do you think Garth think's of this being a #25 debut. Most predictions were it would be a lot higher than that. You know Garth had a lot planning and promo in place for this. How do you think Garth feels about it.

To be completely honest, I think Garth is overall pleased but deep inside he wished this would have been a top 15 or top 10 debut on both charts. Not that I think he's selfish for thinking that, but I'm sure everyone giving him attention for this much anticipated comeback along with the unprecedented #1 Billboard debut and #4 on MB debut of "More Than A Memory" in 2007, that this just seems like the average run of the mill CC debut of other A-Lister artists to Garth.

Perhaps he will realize that this kind of debut is better for his song's chances and it's subsequent singles.

Edit: And of course the Wednesday debut hurt this debut with two less days to work with. Maybe Garth decided on the Wednesday debut himself and he's content with a #25 MB debut and a top 20 Billboard debut, who knows.

[onebuffalo]

Sept 7, 2014 13:45:29 GMT -5 countrymusic20 said:

Sept 7, 2014 13:28:47 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

"People Loving People" debuts at #25 on MB this week.

This is an honest question. What do you think Garth think's of this being a #25 debut. Most predictions were it would be a lot higher than that. You know Garth had a lot planning and promo in place for this. How do you think Garth feels about it.

Ask Garth himself.

Anyway, I see on the previous page jhomes87 has People Loving People debuting at #19 at Billboard. If that hold true (wait until tomorrow), that means it will match The Thunder Rolls' debut from 1991.

[sabre14]

Sept 7, 2014 14:04:57 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Sept 7, 2014 13:45:29 GMT -5 countrymusic20 said:

This is an honest question. What do you think Garth think's of this being a #25 debut. Most predictions were it would be a lot higher than that. You know Garth had a lot planning and promo in place for this. How do you think Garth feels about it.

Ask Garth himself.

Anyway, I see on the previous page jhomes87 has People Loving People debuting at #19 at Billboard. If that hold true (wait until tomorrow), that means it will match The Thunder Rolls' debut from 1991.

I'm sure most don't even remember his 90's debuts with the 2007 #1 debut of "More Than A Memory".

[onebuffalo]

Sept 7, 2014 14:08:11 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

Sept 7, 2014 14:04:57 GMT -5 onebuffalo said:

Ask Garth himself.

Anyway, I see on the previous page jhomes87 has People Loving People debuting at #19 at Billboard. If that hold true (wait until tomorrow), that means it will match The Thunder Rolls' debut from 1991.

I'm sure most don't even remember his 90's debuts with the 2007 #1 debut of "More Than A Memory".

I remember it because I was there (maybe). Anyway, I still remember it being one short of Eddie Rabbitt's debut of Every Which Way But Loose (going back even further).