Hold onto your cowboy hats. Taylor Swift is officially hand-delivering a brand-new song to the Country format. It’s called “I knew it, I knew you,” and it’s the flagship track for the upcoming Toy Story 5.
Taylor Swift and Pixar just handed Country radio a golden ticket!
The backstage rumblings have already started. I’m hearing some programmers cross their arms, channel their inner internet troll, and mutter, “Well, she left the format years ago, we don’t ‘belong together’ anymore.” Seriously? For a format that prides itself on the mantra “You’ve got a friend in me,” some programmers are acting remarkably unfriendly the second the biggest superstar on the planet knocks on our door. (I say second biggest just to whip up the Swifties.)
If your defensive game plan right now is to skip over Taylor, you are acting exactly like Woody in the original Toy Story when Buzz Lightyear first showed up on the bedspread. You are staring at a shiny, high-tech spaceship with laser beams. You’re stubbornly pointing at your pull-string and complaining that it’s stealing your spotlight.
Don’t be a sad, strange little man. This isn’t a music scheduling dilemma; it’s a relevancy test.
Here is why you need to put this track on the air, regardless of your programming anxieties:
The Event Always Eclipses the Audio
I know, I know — we haven’t actually heard the audio yet. There is a blank space where the track should be. As programmers, we are conditioned to audit the hook, check the tempo, and analyze whether there’s enough fiddle or steel guitar in the mix before we show any fearless enthusiasm.
Get over it. The audio is completely secondary to the sheer magnitude of the event. You have a multi-billion-dollar cinematic franchise pairing up with a global icon, and they chose our format to launch it. (Even if they didn’t, make it sound that way.) The entire world — not just your P1s, but your cume, your advertisers, and the moms driving the carpool line — is going to be screaming about this track. If a listener turns on your station to see how you’re handling the biggest story in music and you’re playing a safe, mid-chart recurrent because “the data isn’t in yet,” you look entirely out of touch.
The Myth of the “Official Add”
A lot of programmers treat their music logs like a matter of national security. They think playing a song means officially “Adding” it to their reporting chart, committing to spins, and explaining it to their corporate VP. (Oh wait! I am the corporate VP.)
Newsflash: You don’t need to marry the song; you just need to invite it over for a party. Spin it as a “New Music Event.” Use it to create a massive moment on your airwaves, and then see what happens. You can participate in the cultural phenomenon without permanently breaking your music clocks. It’ll be okay.
The Timeline Doesn’t Matter
Does it matter if this song only stays in your rotation for 48 to 72 hours as a novelty feature? No. Does it matter if it shocks the system and ends up becoming a massive, heavy-rotation catalog staple for the next three years? Also no.
The timeline doesn’t dictate your execution on Day One. Your job as a local broadcaster is to reflect what the world is talking about in real time. If you ignore the song because you’re worried about callout research six weeks from now, you are missing the point of relevant local radio. Don’t wind up like a forgotten toy at the bottom of Andy’s chest.
The Playbook for the Week
Don’t write a “Bad Blood” chapter with the most passionate fan base on earth, or the millions of families waiting for the movie. When “I knew it, I knew you” lands in your inbox, here is what you do:
- Drop the Gatekeeping: Stop worrying about whether she’s “Pop” or “Country.” She’s Taylor. It’s Toy Story. It is an undeniable event. Play it.
- Frame it with Theater: Don’t just sneak it into a music sweep between two commercial stops. Own it. Have your imaging director build an aggressive, fun stager that highlights the connection.
- Be Part of the Conversation: Use your morning show, your social channels, and your phones to ask the audience what they think. Lean into the spectacle. HAVE FUN!
Choose to sit out? Just look in the mirror and cue up the track:
“It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me.” But, what do I know? My favorite character is Forky.
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As the Executive Director of Programming & Operations for Pamal Broadcasting, Kevin Callahan oversees 25 stations across five markets, including the company’s four Country brands. An award-winning brand specialist, Kevin is a passionate advocate for talent development, dedicated to mentoring personalities and restoring our medium to its most vibrant, high-impact form. His career is highlighted by 12 years as Audacy’s West Coast Regional VP of Programming for the Country format, where he managed premier brands across major markets including San Diego, Seattle, Phoenix, Riverside and more. Today, Kevin balances his corporate leadership with his role as President of Sonic Maple Media, serving as a fractional executive advisor to broadcast leadership and fractional programmer and talent coach to broadcasters nationwide. He can be reached at kevin@pamal.com
