Posted October 5, 20204 yr It has been revealed that Interscope apparently do not pay radio stations to get their songs played on air: common term "payola". @1313193493234364416 It explains why 'Rain On Me' wasn't even bigger on US radio than it should have been based on streams and iTunes performance! What are your thoughts on this?
October 5, 20204 yr Author In a way, removing my stan glasses, I am actually fairly happy to read this because it means the success on radio in the US has been totally warranted and makes the success she has had even more worthwhile. Now obviously I would love the record label to splash out and give the songs the exposure they need so I am definitely not saying they shouldn't, but in the grand scheme of things, Gaga has smashed recently, so it's not like she has been hindered TOO much. Yes Rain On Me and Shallow could have been EVEN bigger smashes but the sales speak for themselves at the end of the day!
October 5, 20204 yr This is nothing new, literally any other decent label wouldn't let a sized smash hit like Shallow die on US radio with less than 150m in audience (its peak was only 91m). Interscope better get their sh!t together and play the game like everyone else. Edited October 5, 20204 yr by Adelita
October 6, 20204 yr Not surprised - she and her management are not kind of type that do whatever they can to climb a spot or two on charts. Both Shallow and Rain on Me reached #1 so they achieved their goal there. Million Reasons couldn't have climbed past #4 under any circumstances. Stupid Love might have gain a position if they campaigned more aggressively in the first week though.
October 7, 20204 yr Million Reasons couldn't have climbed past #4 under any circumstances. No, not really. MR would only need 56% of Shape of You's streams + airplay to be #2 instead of #4 that week—passing 'I Don't Wanna Live Forever' and 'Bad and Boujee'—and with only 86% of Shape of You's streams + airplay, MR would be #1 that week. MR had literally only 11% of Shape of You's airplay, also, MR was never added to TTH (literally every song in the Top 40 on Hot 100 that week were on this playlist!) MR peak was almost entirely due to its huge pure sales that week as US Radio always did Gaga dirty since Judas' backlash. You can't make a lemonade without lemons. If MR had the same opportunities that most hits of 2016/2017 had, it would be twice as big as it is today.
October 7, 20204 yr Also, MR is probably the only song of the streaming era to be eligible for 4x P in the US and to spend 20 weeks on Hot 100 without entering Spotify's TTH and without reaching at least 100m audience on US radio. MR went to war unarmed!
October 7, 20204 yr Author The little engine that could! It defied the odds and became a hit because of the pure quality of the song and how it connected with the US public. :wub:
