The truth about radio and why it should play BTS.

Earlier this year, I spoke to several people inside the U.S. music industry to find out why radio barely plays BTS by comparison to Western artists.

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Here’s a breakdown of what I discovered for ARMYs who missed it, or for those who’d like a reminder of what we’re up against.

I’m also including some quotes and data that didn’t make the original article.

BTS received 83,000 total spins in the one-year period from March 2019 to March 2020, according to Nielsen.

Harry Styles got 226,000, Taylor Swift got over 1.5 million, and Post Malone got close to 2.3 million.

This disparity matters because radio still matters.

It might surprise you to learn that radio is still incredibly popular. Nielsen said last year that 244.5 million Americans aged 18+ still listen to radio each month.

Much of radio's popularity is because of people commuting.

The Nielsen report says, “Radio . . . helps them start their day usually in the 6 or 7 a.m. hour, accompanies [people] to work, and then peaks around the end of their workday or commute home.”

Of course, fewer young people listen to the radio. Look at the dark green lines (adults 18+) versus the bright green lines (teens 12-17) in these charts:

Another reason radio matters is because it’s part of the calculation for the Billboard Hot 100 (Radio Airplay + Sales Data + Streaming Data).

(But streams are weighted most heavily, followed by radio, and then sales.)

Billboard explained last May:

So why hasn’t radio played much BTS?

1. Radio is primarily business-driven and is averse to taking what it perceives as risks.

Bill Werde, who used to be the editorial director at Billboard, told me:

Werde told me that radio prefers “known quantities.”

That means it wants to play artists who have had radio hits before. It sounds like a catch-22 because it is.

Take Halsey.

In 2019, Halsey had the #1 record on Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 radio chart, called Pop Songs, for “Without Me.” She also featured on the #3 record, “Eastside."

"Boy With Luv" did relatively well at Top 40, peaking at #22, reportedly with 25,349 total spins in 2019. https://pulsemusic.proboards.com/thread/189906/billboard-mainstream-2019-year-chart

2. Radio fears that non-English songs will make listeners tune out. Yes, this is xenophobia.

See what analyst Chris Molanphy, who hosts the @Slate podcast Hit Parade, had to say:

It's important to mention that not everyone who works in radio is against non-English songs. Beth Cruise, program director at 105.9 KISS-FM in Kansas, had been giving “ON” around 35 spins per week when I spoke to her in April.

But she revealed:

3. Radio thinks so-called “teen acts” will make older people tune out.

I learned that radio doesn’t like to play music that’s popular with teen audiences. That’s because it fears such music will make older people change the station, resulting in lost ad revenue.

Sean Ross, VP of music & programming at market research firm Edison Research, told me:

Ross also told me:

“The history of supporting, then backing away from teen acts is the history of Top 40. That BTS generally gets into the top 20-25, but no further, I think is radio saying that they don’t see acceptance beyond the die-hard fans."

There are exceptions that have broken through radio’s beliefs, including “Despacito,” “Gangnam Style,” and “Macarena.” While it’s uncommon for a global hit to become a radio hit in the U.S., it’s not impossible.

Molanphy said:

The truth, of course, is that more and more listeners are becoming comfortable with non-English-language music, which means they won’t necessarily tune out.

And BTS’ fans go far beyond teens, spanning all ages, genders, races, and ethnicities.

So, what about BTS’ upcoming English-language single? Will that change things?

The short answer is maybe, but maybe not.

BTS hasn’t gotten a lot of airplay, even they’ve released songs somewhat—or entirely—English.

Take “Make It Right” (feat. Lauv). That song peaked at #24 on Billboard’s Mainstream Top 40 radio chart. Steve Aoki’s “Waste It On Me” (feat. BTS) peaked at #38.

TL;DR Radio is firmly stuck in the past.

Does any of this really matter for the next comeback?

Getting radio airplay will certainly make it easier to achieve #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

But “ON,” which got just 800 spins in roughly the first month (acc. to Nielsen), still reached #4 on the Hot 100.

(Compare that to BWL, which got 16,000 spins in its first month.)

Even if radio keeps its back turned on BTS, what’s been true all along will remain true: BTS doesn’t need radio to smash. every. record.

Now let’s go do that

If you’d like to read the original article, it’s here: https://nowthisnews.com/pop/radio-why-wont-you-play-bts

Finally, this thread is not designed to question BTS' decision to release an English-language song. I fully support that decision and can't wait to stream and buy it!

One more thing! If you can, please donate to @fundsforbangtan https://www.fundsforbangtan.com/donate