Here we are entering the “Ber” months which usually includes many areas of the country starting to feel the “brr”!
Let’s take a look at music that should be on your radar for airplay consideration this week.
A no-brainer that is at the very least a moment record for Top 40/Hot AC.
Top 40 / HOT AC
Lady Gaga / “The Dead Dance” from the hugely popular Wednesday tv show on Netflix, which just released the 2nd part of season 2 which will feature an episode with Gaga in it!
Next up an artist who had one massive hit at the format several years ago. Get your ears on Maren Morris / “Too Good” it’s catchy and has a good hook.
ROCK
Moving on to the ROCK world for this week, for the “active” programmers get your ears on LYLVC / “Barely Human” it’s a hard drivin song with a good guitar riff.
In the “Alt” space this week, a very catchy song from Milky Chance / “Passion” grabbed my ear and should be on your radar.
AAA
From the AAA side of things, you should be listening if already not playing Alabama Shakes / “Another Life” which is getting airplay from heavyweights such as WXPN in Philadelphia, WFUV in New York and “The Spectrum” at SiriusXM.
COUNTRY
Let’s move on to the COUNTRY world this week, one that has been stuck in my head for a while now is Thomas Rhett ft. Jordan Davis / “Ain’t A Bad Life” which has a big believer at K102 in Minneapolis. This is a hit!
With over 7 million streams this week, I need to make another push for Shaboozey / Jelly Roll / “Amen” this is a solid hit and should have more radio love then is showing currently with strong love from 92.5 Kickin Country in Charleston, 101.7 The Bull in Boston and Y108 in Pittsburgh who are all very passionate supporters.
RHYTHMIC
The rhythmic space this week has a couple of gems. DJ Khaled w/ Post Malone/ “Brother w/ Youngboy Never Broke”.
DANCE
One from the DANCE space that caught my ear this week is Sidepiece / “Electric Bongo”.
There you have it, plenty of ear candy gems for you to digest this week.
Happy listening and have a great weekend!
Jim Ryan is a Music Radio columnist for Barrett Media. In addition, he runs Jim Ryan Media LLC, a consulting company which assists major market radio brands and top talent including national radio personality Delilah. Prior to relaunching his consultancy in 2025, Jim spent 15 years with Audacy/CBS Radio, serving as SVP of Programming. Among his responsibilities included programming WNEW-FM and WCBS-FM. His career includes additional programming stops in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Houston. Jim was voted the #2 PD of 2024 in Barrett Media’s Top 20 series in the AC category. He can be reached by email at Jim@JimRyanMedia.com.
