When Radio Calls The Shots

Typically, record companies decide what singles (or tracks rather) get released from their albums and when. Every once in awhile though, radio will favor a track so much that it charts, basically, as if it was released. This phenomenon is usually limited to major artists with albums that are already out--basically, it's radio taking a chance on major acts they know listeners like and seemingly trying to predict what their next single is, presumably because they're afraid audiences may be tiring of the previous one. Sometimes the record companies go with it and sometimes they don't.

There's a great case of it right now. Kelly Clarkson's official 5th Breakaway single is "Walk Away," which is #85 top on the Mediabase Mainstream chart, up from #103. However, just above the track at #70 is another Kelly Clarkson song, "Gone," which is up from #78. Currently, "Gone" is gaining more spins than "Walk Away" too.

So who's playing which track? "Walk Away" has 6 format leaders, including Houston, Atlanta, and Seattle pop stations, while "Gone" has 9, including New York, DC, and Boston. "Gone's" biggest champion is Norfolk, where the track is #3, while "Walk Away's" is Nassau/Suffolk, where it is #21. Billboard reviewed "Walk Away" last week, which I thought might push it ahead in this little Kelly-Kelly race, but so far that's not the case.

This sort of thing has happened in the past, and it's usually the track the record company chose that pulls ahead. Janet Jackson's official follow-up single to "That's The Way Love Goes" was "If," but a lot of radio stations started playing ballad "Where Are You Now," enough so that it peaked at #30 on Billboard's airplay chart. Eminem's follow-up to "Without Me" was "Cleaning Out My Closet," but stations played album "Hailie's Song" too, sending it to #50 on R&R's radio chart. In both cases, the official release was the "winner."

Not so for a case in 1993 with Michael Jackson. The official 6th Dangerous single was planned as "Give In to Me." A video was even shot; however, radio instead embraced the album cut "Who Is It," and the record company went along with it, releasing "Who Is It" instead of "Give In To Me" in the US (both were released in the UK).