Inside the CC50 – June ‘24
If you’re a normal American, you’re spending the build-up to the Fourth stockpiling fireworks, hot dogs, and cases of beer. However, if you’re a country music/numbers degenerate, you are here reading this. What’s more patriotic than country music? Let’s buckle in and see what the numbers have to tell us!
It has now been five straight months with a different #1, and while we’re impartial about who has the number 1 spot here at the CC50 headquarters, we’re thrilled it keeps changing. It’s a lot more fun when you have four artists head to head every week for the crown rather than just repeating, “Everybody loves Zach Bryan” repeatedly. And hey, Zach Bryan is still pulling fantastic numbers; it’s just that Luke Combs is on an incredible hot streak with no signs of letting up. Outside of Combs, the top half of the rankings was sluggish, with only Meg and Zach’s top-posting gains of over 1%. Top has steadily climbed since breaking in and is already up to #13. The top 10 may be a stretch for him, but he seems to be at least a threat to break in. Regarding the top 10, Post Malone made CC50 history with the highest debut ever, clocking at #10 with 47% interest. With his Wallen and Shelton releases already hit and a promising upcoming release with Stapleton, the Post train shows no signs of slowing down.
Biggest Risers and Fallers
Luke Combs should check in with his chiropractor after the last few months, becoming the first artist in the CC50’s illustrious not-quite-a-year history to appear in the biggest risers, then fallers, then risers again, in 3 consecutive months. This month’s boost seems to be riding on the back of the instant success of his “Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma” from the Twisters soundtrack. Not only did we, the highfalutin critics, love it, but I anecdotally heard it blasting over the loudspeakers during an 8th-inning Seattle Mariners rally the other week (coincidentally my first West Coast baseball game), so clearly (if even Seattle is listening to it) it’s catching on. Even more intimidating for Wallen and Bryan, Combs followed up that single’s success with a fantastic Father’s Day album here in June so that this lead could be even further extended next month; one other note from this list is Kenny Chesney has continued to climb the rankings, pushing to #27 somewhat surprisingly. As an admitted Chesney fan, this is not immediately obvious to explain, perhaps due to March’s Born achieving more success than expected and reflecting a shift towards more classic artists in the CC50 voting base over the year.
How the mighty have fallen. Just nine months ago, HARDY was flying high at #7 with an astounding 60% interest level. His interest is down to 30%, half what it was, and is still free-falling. As much as he has enjoyed dabbling in the rock realm, unsurprisingly, it hasn’t resonated with country fans. To be clear, it isn’t his lack of country output that seems to have hurt him, as his numbers stayed up at the tail end of last year when he wasn’t releasing anything, but since he started rolling out his new project, the Interest% has gone through the floor. SIX FEET UNDER was definitely a more traditional sound so that July may bring some respite for the songwriter. Of note further down, Willie Nelson’s new release has unsurprisingly not had the staying power that his prime catalog did, and the excitement is dying down already.
Quick Hits
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If I didn’t know better, I’d say the ’90s are back. As expected, Randy Travis joined Willie Nelson in the CC50 this month, and George Strait is poised to join them after completing the Wildcard qualification. Post Malone set the highest debut ever this month at 10, and while it seems a bit of a stretch to think Strait could match that, I expect him to break in near at least #20.
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It’s rare enough here at the CC50 that we get predictions right, so let’s take a moment to appreciate that Red Clay Strays did, in fact, experience “brighter days” in the wake of their first release in years. After being this year’s Oliver Anthony (meaning most appearances in the Greatest Fallers list) throughout the first half, RCS jumped nearly 6 points in June, as predicted in last month’s column in the wake of “Devil In My Ear.” Seeing a semi-dormant artist/band reappear is always exciting, and there is no exception here.
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Okay, okay, let’s take a second moment to appreciate another correct CC50 prediction. After pointing out Riley Greene’s surge last month, cutting the deficit to Stapleton to 6 points, Greene effectively wiped it down to 2 points here in June. If he can come up with those couple points in July or the coming months, it would mark the first time since the inception of the CC50 that the top 5 have shifted from Bryan, Wallen, Combs, CoJo, and Stapleton.
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Overall listener interest dipped slightly (by half a point) in June, with a percentage of 39.7% (indicating that the average artist on the CC50 has 4 in 10 audience members interested in their releases). The overall vote count was 292,635.
Wildcard Watch
Y’all better watch out because the King is coming. The month following releasing “MIA Down in MIA,” George Strait cruised through the Wildcard qualification to the tune of 73% Interest. This is the highest Wildcard approval since Parker McCollum back in the first Wildcard month. Parker is now #9 in the CC50 rankings, so a high debut ranking for Strait seems likely. 2-5 this month are a lot of familiar faces, with Dierks, Shelton, Rucker, and Fleet rounding out the bunch. Looking ahead to next month’s voting, there don’t seem to be any lurkers that jump out. Shaboozey looked strong last month after the popularity of his hit “A Bar Song” but fell back 5 points, given the lack of depth in his catalog.
Well, that’s all for June’s CC50 roundup! We usually close out the column with some mildly funny anecdote or observation, but to be completely honest, nothing is coming to mind now. So, let’s take a moment to bask in the aftermath of the Vols bringing home their first-ever baseball championship a couple of days ago. On second thought, the celebration *may* have slightly impacted my inability to focus long enough to think up an anecdote. Unfortunately, I’ve been told it’s not practical to have this article published in bright orange font (I know, I know, I can hear audible sighs of relief coming from you ally’all), so I’ll have to settle for playing Rocky Top on a loop while I wrap this up. Have a happy Fourth celebration, and we’ll see you back in July!
