Each week I 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 either a +1, -1 or a 0. 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 +30 and the lowest possible score being a -30. How do I determine if a song is rated a +1, -1 or 0? The rating it received on the site or myself will determine this. If it hasn’t been rated yet, then I will make the call. Songs rated between 7 and 10 receive a +1. Songs rated between 5 and 6.5 receive a 0. Songs rated 4.5 or lower receive a -1.
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…
- Blake Shelton – “Gonna” -1 (Up 1)
- Jason Aldean – “Gonna Know We Were Here” -1 (Up 1)
- Thomas Rhett – “Die A Happy Man” -1 (Up 2)
- Cam – “Burning House” +1 (Up 2)
- Tim McGraw – “Top of the World” 0 (Up 2)
- Brothers Osborne – “Stay A Little Longer” 0 (Up 2)
- LoCash – “I Love This Life” -1 (Up 2)
- Chris Young – “I’m Comin’ Over” +1 (Down 4)
- Dan + Shay – “Nothin’ Like You” -1 (Down 8)
- Parmalee – “Already Callin’ You Mine” -1 (Up 2)
- Sam Hunt – “Break Up In A Small Town” -1 [Tied for Worst Song]
- Jana Kramer – “I Got The Boy” +1 (Up 1)
- Luke Bryan & Karen Fairchild – “Home Alone Tonight” -1 (Up 3) [Tied for Worst Song]
- Kelsea Ballerini – “Dibs” -1 [Tied for Worst Song]
- Granger Smith – “Backroad Song” -1
- Brad Paisley – “Country Nation” -1 (Up 2)
- Randy Houser – “We Went” -1
- Keith Urban – “Break On Me” -1 (Up 1)
- Zac Brown Band – “Beautiful Drug” -1 (Up 1) [Tied for Worst Song]
- Eric Church – “Mr. Misunderstood” +1 (Up 1)
- Chase Bryant – “Little Bit of You” -1 (Up 1)
- Rascal Flatts – “I Like The Sound of That” -1 (Up 3)
- A Thousand Horses – “(This Ain’t No) Drunk Dial” -1
- Chris Stapleton – “Nobody To Blame” +1 (Up 2) [Best Song]
- Carrie Underwood – “Heartbeat” 0 (New to Top 30)
- Florida Georgia Line – “Confession” 0 (Up 2)
- Lee Brice – “That Don’t Sound Like You” -1
- Brett Eldredge – “Drunk on Your Love” -1 (Up 2)
- Michael Ray – “Real Men Love Jesus” -1
- Brantley Gilbert – “Stone Cold Sober” -1 (Re-Enters Top 30)
The Current Pulse of Mainstream Country Music: -16
The pulse fell three spots this week.
Songs That Dropped Out of the Top 30 This Week:
- Carrie Underwood’s “Smoke Break” went recurrent and fell from #10 to out of the top 30
- Dierks Bentley’s “Riser” went recurrent and fell from #24 to out of the top 30
Songs That Entered The Top 30 This Week:
- Carrie Underwood – “Heartbeat”
- Brantley Gilbert – “Stone Cold Sober”
Song I Predict Will Reach #1 Next Week:
- Thomas Rhett – “Die A Happy Man”
Biggest Gainers This Week:
- Carrie Underwood – “Heartbeat” – Up 7 from #32 to #25
- Luke Bryan & Karen Fairchild – “Home Alone Tonight” – Up 3 from #16 to #13
- Rascal Flatts – “I Like The Sound of That” – Up 3 from #25 to #22
Biggest Losers This Week:
- Carrie Underwood – “Smoke Break” – Out of the Top 30
- Dierks Bentley – “Riser” – Out of the Top 30
- Dan + Shay – “Nothin’ Like You” – Down 8 from #1 to #9
- Chris Young – “I’m Comin’ Over” – Down 4 from #4 to #8
Songs I See Going Recurrent & Leaving The Top 30 Soon:
- Dan + Shay – “Nothin’ Like You”
- Chris Young – “I’m Comin’ Over”
- Lee Brice – “That Don’t Sound Like You”
On The Hot Seat:
- A Thousand Horses – “(This Ain’t No) Drunk Dial”
Next Four Songs I See Entering Top 30:
- Dustin Lynch – “Mind Reader”
- Maddie & Tae – “Shut Up and Fish”
- Tyler Farr – “Better In Boots”
- Old Dominion – “Snapback”
As always be sure to weigh in on this week’s chart in the comments below.