Each week we take a look the Billboard Country Airplay chart and grade the top 30 songs. The grading format I use each week is every song will receive one of the following scores: +5, +4, +3, +2, +1, 0, -1, -2, -3, -4, -5. These will then be tallied up for an overall score, or pulse of the current top thirty country songs, with the highest possible score being a +150 and the lowest possible score being a -150. How do I determine the score for the song? The review grade it received on the site or myself will determine this. If it hasn’t been reviewed yet, then I will make the call. The grade it has received or I would give it determines its Pulse score. The grading key: 10 [+5], 9 [+4], 8 [+3], 7 [+2], 6 [+1], 5 [0], 4 [-1], 3 [-2], 2 [-3], 1 [-4], 0 [-5].

The goal of this exercise is to evaluate the current state of mainstream country music and determine if it’s improving or getting worse. Let’s take a look at this week’s top thirty…

1. Thomas Rhett – “Star of the Show” -3 (Up 1)
2. Blake Shelton – “A Guy With A Girl” -1 (Down 1)
3. Dustin Lynch – “Seein’ Red” -5 
4. Little Big Town – “Better Man” +2
5. Chris Young (feat. Vince Gill) – “Sober Saturday Night” +1  
6. Granger Dibbles Jr. – “If The Boots Fits” -4 
7. Brad Paisley – “Today” +2 
8. Michael Ray – “Douchey Pickup Song” -5 
9. Jon Pardi – “Dirt on My Boots” +1 
10. Eric Church (feat. Rhiannon Giddens) – “Kill A Word” +4
11. Luke Bryan – “Fast” -1
12. Maren Morris – “80s Mercedes” -1 
13. Lauren Alaina – “Road Less Traveled” -2 
14. Jason Aldean – “Any Ol’ Barstool” 0 (Up 1)
15. Brantley Gilbert – “The Weekend” -5 (Down 1)
16. Kelsea Ballerini – “Yeah Boy” -5 
17. Garth Brooks – “Baby, Let’s Lay Down and Dance” 0 (Up 3)
18. Josh Turner – “Hometown Girl” 0 
19. Kenny Chesney – “Bar at the End of the World” -3
20. High Valley – “Make You Mine” -2 
21. Sam Hunt – “Body Like a Back Road” -5 (New to Top 30) [Worst Song]
22. Chris Janson – “Holdin’ Her” +4 (Down 1)
23. Dierks Bentley – “Black” -2 (Down 1)
24. Trent Harmon – “There’s A Girl” +1 (Down 1)
25. Darius Rucker – “If I Told You” 0 
26. Zac Brown Band – “My Old Man” +4 (New to Top 30) [Best Song]
27. Craig Campbell – “Outskirts of Heaven” +3 (Down 3)
28. Miranda Lambert – “We Should Be Friends” +2 (Down 2)
29. Dan + Shay – “How Not To” +1 (Down 2)
30. Rascal Flatts – “Yours If You Want It” -2

The Current Pulse of Mainstream Country Radio: -25

The pulse drops six spots this week.

Songs That Dropped Out of the Top 30 This Week:

• Runaway June – “Lipstick” +3
• RaeLynn – “Love Triangle” +2

Songs That Entered The Top 30 This Week:

• Sam Hunt – “Body Like a Back Road”
• Zac Brown Band – “My Old Man”
  • As you can see above I’ve decided to change my grade to a 9/10 for the song because I realized it’s just not quite a 10 and I let my first impressions get the best of me in grading. Still a damn fine song, an early favorite for one of the best mainstream country songs of 2017 and in my mind the best in the top 30 right now.

Biggest Gainers This Week:

• Dan + Shay – “How Not To” – Up 5 from #32 to #27
• Josh Turner – “Hometown Girl” – Up 4 from #22 to #18
• Kenny Chesney – “Bar at the End of the World” – Up 4 from #23 to #19

Biggest Losers This Week:

• Runaway June – “Lipstick” – Out of the Top 30 (#33)
• RaeLynn – “Love Triangle” – Out of the Top 30 (#34)

Songs I See Going Recurrent & Leaving The Top 30 Soon:

• Granger Smith – “If The Boot Fits” (Mercifully this one is done finally. A thank you ad was in Country Aircheck this week from Wheelhouse Records. Should be a big thank you considering radio is the only place Granger is relevant…)
• Eric Church (feat. Rhiannon Giddens) – “Kill a Word” (Radio just doesn’t want to go forward anymore with this and the long jam at the top hurt this song’s progression too)
• Maren Morris – “80s Mercedes” (This one looks to finally be done I think, as it lost its bullet)
• Brantley Gilbert – “The Weekend” (Now that his terrible album is out, this song should be on its last legs at minimum. Unfortunately I see “Bro Code” being the next single, as it’s selling well)
• High Valley – “Make You Mine” (This just won’t go away. I refuse to remove it from this space!)
• Craig Campbell – “Outskirts of Heaven” (Somehow still here after 43 weeks)
• Dan + Shay – “How Not To” (For some reason Warner has decided to pull this single and instead opting to push the duo’s new single in some new movie. It’s a shame, especially after that fantastic music video that was put out for this song)

On The Hot Seat:

• Chris Janson – “Holdin’ Her” (The only reason I hesitate to say it’s going recurrent is Warner seems hell-bent on keeping this alive)

Next Four Songs I See Entering Top 30:

• Lady Antebellum – “You Look Good”
• Luke Combs – “Hurricane”
• Florida Georgia Line (feat. Backstreet Boys) – “God, Your Mama and Me”
• Cole Swindell – “Flatliner”

Thoughts: There’s good news and bad new for fans of “Lipstick” and “Love Triangle.” Good news is there are lots of songs due to go recurrent. Bad news is these are the type of songs radio will gladly leave in the dust. If I had to guess, I would say “Love Triangle” has the best shot of sticking around despite losing it’s bullet as it has 10 less weeks on the chart than “Lipstick.” Not to mention RaeLynn’s album release is relatively soon and the label could conceivably keep it alive. But they could just as easily put out another single and push it in enough time for the album. Some additional bad news also is two radio favorites Justin Moore and Brett Young are just as little as a couple of weeks away from passing them. Hope for the best, but expect the worst.

As always be sure to weigh-in with your thoughts in the comments below.