Colorado Media Newsroom
April 23rd, 2025, 01:06 PM
From Radio Insight:
https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/alexwarrenordinary-200x200.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1Alex Warren –*“Ordinary”:*Undoubtedly the fastest rising broad-appeal pop song which will consume our lives into the summer. Everyone loves it, but*especially*women. It made a huge leap to #2 in requests last week and dethroned*“Pink Pony Club”*from #1 this week after nine weeks on top! It’s also #3 on Spotify, #5 Shazam and all over TikTok. A no-brainer multi-format #1 on Top 40, Hot AC and AC (in a year of course). Kind of surprised that Alternative isn’t playing it at all though. The passionate stories we hear from listeners about their love for this song is what makes doing a request show so special and intimate. The importance of phone calls should never be overlooked.
Lady Gaga’s*“Abracadabra”*and Doechii’s*“Anxiety”*finally enter the Top 10 at Pop radio. Requests and streams remain consistent with both. Songs rising in airplay despite a lack of top 200 stream rankings and requests on Liveline include*“Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else”*by Benson Boone,*“Azizam”*by Ed Sheeran,*“Call Me When You Break Up”*by Selena Gomez & Gracie Abrams,*“End of the World”*by Miley Cyrus,*“Still Bad”*by Lizzo and*“Bad Dreams”*by Teddy Swims. A lack of great new material is not explanation enough for these songs charting high in radio airplay, as there are plenty of potential hits bubbling-yet-ignored songs radio is overlooking. We try to point them out every week in Mason’s Observations.
https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/bigxthaplugalltheway-200x200.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1BigXthaPlug, Bailey Zimmerman –*“All The Way”:*Another country rap collaboration, currently #9 on Shazam and Spotify in America, #4 on Billboard and blowing up fast on Liveline where it finished #18 in requests last week. It’s showing the same signs of being a hit as*“I Had Some Help”*and*“A Bar Song (Tipsy)”*almost a year ago. What will radio do with it? Stations are typically slow to react when this kind of song?not formula pop–is blowing up on streaming. Often radio jumps on a song and promotes it as “hot and new” weeks and even months after it has dropped off the streaming charts.*“All The Way”*is #41 on Top 40, #73 on Rhythmic and nowhere to be found on Country radio. It would be a shame to let a potential summer smash slip away!
https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/drakenokia-200x200.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1So far,*“NOKIA”*by Drake hasn’t gotten the due airplay respect it deserves for being #1 on Shazam and Spotify for the past two weeks (plus another two months in the top ten). This week it?s our second most-requested title on Liveline*and we air on over a dozen winning Hot AC stations too!*The same could be said about Lil Tecca’s*“Dark Thoughts”, another big Liveline request (#15) the past couple weeks. Continuing to rise, currently #7 on Spotify, #14 on Rhythmic and #46 on Top 40.*
Many people have been complaining about the lack of variety on Pop Radio in recent years. Rob Mack, PD at KNDE/Bryan-College Station, TX, shared a great analysis of Rhythmic music to his Instagram story last week. He stated, “Drake’s “NOKIA” has been one of the biggest songs in America for weeks–and it’s still only at #29 on “Top 40 radio” Lil Tecca “Dark Thoughts“? Also big. Nowhere to be found on most Top 40’s. “DENIAL IS A RIVER” – lost bullet at #21 from one of the hottest new artists. And “luther“? #1 at Top 40, finally and #1 for 10 WEEKS on Billboard?s Hot 100, from the Superbowl artists that played THE MOST MAINSTREAM EVENT of the year*and there are large and major market Pop stations ONLY playing this at night. It’s 2025 and Top 40 is seriously still scared of Rhythm like it’s 1992.?*
Buried Treasures of the Week:Katy Perry –*“Waking Up In Vegas”:*In the spirit of her outrageous publicity trip to space, we felt it would be great to recognize a completely lost and overlooked piece of her amazing early catalog which would sound fresh and great on the air again. This was the fourth single from her debut album which brought us*“I Kissed A Girl”*and*“Hot N Cold”. All three hit #1 on Top 40 airplay, yet only the first two receive any airplay today. It’s been 12 years since her last meaningful hit,*“Dark Horse”. Despite her struggles since then, her contributions to pop music can never be overstated. Her album*“Teenage Dream”*produced six number-ones, more than any other album in history.*“California Gurls”, “Last Friday Night”*and the title track are amongst our most requested throwbacks today. RIP to good Katy, 2008-2013.
Baby Bash, T-Pain –*“Cyclone”:*From the peak era of auto tune and T-Pain’s feature on everything, this dancefloor anthem is sure to prime any party. It’s always been a big request on Liveline, but it wasn’t until we researched how few Top 40 stations actually still play it that we determined this is now a “Buried Treasure”. Since the beginning of this year, we’ve had at least 40 requests for it.*“Cyclone”*was released in 2007 and peaked at #11 on Top 40, #3 on Rhythmic and #7 on Billboard. Bring it back, your Gen Z and millennial audience will thank you! Maybe swap it out with Flo Rida and T-Pain’s*“Low”*for a few weeks.
View this post on Instagram
(https://www.instagram.com/p/DIrXbzZJ-S2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading)
A post shared by Liveline with Mason https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/15.1.0/72x72/1f4fb.png
more (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/299144/masons-observations-on-alex-warren-all-the-way-nokia/)
https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/alexwarrenordinary-200x200.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1Alex Warren –*“Ordinary”:*Undoubtedly the fastest rising broad-appeal pop song which will consume our lives into the summer. Everyone loves it, but*especially*women. It made a huge leap to #2 in requests last week and dethroned*“Pink Pony Club”*from #1 this week after nine weeks on top! It’s also #3 on Spotify, #5 Shazam and all over TikTok. A no-brainer multi-format #1 on Top 40, Hot AC and AC (in a year of course). Kind of surprised that Alternative isn’t playing it at all though. The passionate stories we hear from listeners about their love for this song is what makes doing a request show so special and intimate. The importance of phone calls should never be overlooked.
Lady Gaga’s*“Abracadabra”*and Doechii’s*“Anxiety”*finally enter the Top 10 at Pop radio. Requests and streams remain consistent with both. Songs rising in airplay despite a lack of top 200 stream rankings and requests on Liveline include*“Sorry I’m Here For Someone Else”*by Benson Boone,*“Azizam”*by Ed Sheeran,*“Call Me When You Break Up”*by Selena Gomez & Gracie Abrams,*“End of the World”*by Miley Cyrus,*“Still Bad”*by Lizzo and*“Bad Dreams”*by Teddy Swims. A lack of great new material is not explanation enough for these songs charting high in radio airplay, as there are plenty of potential hits bubbling-yet-ignored songs radio is overlooking. We try to point them out every week in Mason’s Observations.
https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/bigxthaplugalltheway-200x200.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1BigXthaPlug, Bailey Zimmerman –*“All The Way”:*Another country rap collaboration, currently #9 on Shazam and Spotify in America, #4 on Billboard and blowing up fast on Liveline where it finished #18 in requests last week. It’s showing the same signs of being a hit as*“I Had Some Help”*and*“A Bar Song (Tipsy)”*almost a year ago. What will radio do with it? Stations are typically slow to react when this kind of song?not formula pop–is blowing up on streaming. Often radio jumps on a song and promotes it as “hot and new” weeks and even months after it has dropped off the streaming charts.*“All The Way”*is #41 on Top 40, #73 on Rhythmic and nowhere to be found on Country radio. It would be a shame to let a potential summer smash slip away!
https://i0.wp.com/radioinsight.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/drakenokia-200x200.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1So far,*“NOKIA”*by Drake hasn’t gotten the due airplay respect it deserves for being #1 on Shazam and Spotify for the past two weeks (plus another two months in the top ten). This week it?s our second most-requested title on Liveline*and we air on over a dozen winning Hot AC stations too!*The same could be said about Lil Tecca’s*“Dark Thoughts”, another big Liveline request (#15) the past couple weeks. Continuing to rise, currently #7 on Spotify, #14 on Rhythmic and #46 on Top 40.*
Many people have been complaining about the lack of variety on Pop Radio in recent years. Rob Mack, PD at KNDE/Bryan-College Station, TX, shared a great analysis of Rhythmic music to his Instagram story last week. He stated, “Drake’s “NOKIA” has been one of the biggest songs in America for weeks–and it’s still only at #29 on “Top 40 radio” Lil Tecca “Dark Thoughts“? Also big. Nowhere to be found on most Top 40’s. “DENIAL IS A RIVER” – lost bullet at #21 from one of the hottest new artists. And “luther“? #1 at Top 40, finally and #1 for 10 WEEKS on Billboard?s Hot 100, from the Superbowl artists that played THE MOST MAINSTREAM EVENT of the year*and there are large and major market Pop stations ONLY playing this at night. It’s 2025 and Top 40 is seriously still scared of Rhythm like it’s 1992.?*
Buried Treasures of the Week:Katy Perry –*“Waking Up In Vegas”:*In the spirit of her outrageous publicity trip to space, we felt it would be great to recognize a completely lost and overlooked piece of her amazing early catalog which would sound fresh and great on the air again. This was the fourth single from her debut album which brought us*“I Kissed A Girl”*and*“Hot N Cold”. All three hit #1 on Top 40 airplay, yet only the first two receive any airplay today. It’s been 12 years since her last meaningful hit,*“Dark Horse”. Despite her struggles since then, her contributions to pop music can never be overstated. Her album*“Teenage Dream”*produced six number-ones, more than any other album in history.*“California Gurls”, “Last Friday Night”*and the title track are amongst our most requested throwbacks today. RIP to good Katy, 2008-2013.
Baby Bash, T-Pain –*“Cyclone”:*From the peak era of auto tune and T-Pain’s feature on everything, this dancefloor anthem is sure to prime any party. It’s always been a big request on Liveline, but it wasn’t until we researched how few Top 40 stations actually still play it that we determined this is now a “Buried Treasure”. Since the beginning of this year, we’ve had at least 40 requests for it.*“Cyclone”*was released in 2007 and peaked at #11 on Top 40, #3 on Rhythmic and #7 on Billboard. Bring it back, your Gen Z and millennial audience will thank you! Maybe swap it out with Flo Rida and T-Pain’s*“Low”*for a few weeks.
View this post on Instagram
(https://www.instagram.com/p/DIrXbzZJ-S2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading)
A post shared by Liveline with Mason https://s.w.org/images/core/emoji/15.1.0/72x72/1f4fb.png
more (https://radioinsight.com/blogs/299144/masons-observations-on-alex-warren-all-the-way-nokia/)