Well, y’all went and did it. This month we set a new record for participation in the CC50 Voting, with over half a million total votes cast – more than 10k an artist! Seriously, those are participation numbers professional pollsters would love to have. The CC50 wouldn’t exist without all of y’all; we’re building something that no one else in the industry has. Let’s keep the momentum going here into the holiday season!
Just like last month, we’ll do a quick run-down of the overall results, take a look at their significance and the biggest movers, highlight the artists leaving and entering the rankings, and hopefully get y’all out of here in 5-10 minutes.
| Artist | Agree % | Disagree % | Not Sure % | Monthly Change in Agree % |
| Zach Bryan | 79.17% | 14.81% | 6.03% | 0.76% |
| Cody Johnson | 74.96% | 12.86% | 12.18% | -2.50% |
| Chris Stapleton | 74.21% | 14.99% | 10.80% | -1.10% |
| Morgan Wallen | 73.29% | 20.56% | 6.15% | -1.25% |
| Luke Combs | 71.16% | 18.27% | 10.57% | -5.97% |
| Riley Green | 64.15% | 20.31% | 15.54% | -0.10% |
| Tyler Childers | 57.57% | 27.46% | 14.97% | -1.99% |
| HARDY | 55.94% | 29.51% | 14.55% | 0.67% |
| Parker McCollum | 54.64% | 24.25% | 21.11% | 7.08% |
| Megan Moroney | 53.40% | 30.77% | 15.83% | -2.49% |
| Lainey Wilson | 51.17% | 31.35% | 17.48% | -2.58% |
| Bailey Zimmerman | 50.20% | 34.65% | 15.15% | -2.94% |
| Colter Wall | 49.58% | 23.52% | 26.90% | 4.34% |
| Jon Pardi | 48.14% | 32.21% | 19.65% | -4.38% |
| CWG | 46.42% | 26.71% | 26.87% | -3.10% |
| ERNEST | 45.57% | 30.74% | 23.69% | -3.63% |
| Noah Kahan | 45.38% | 27.48% | 27.14% | 5.08% |
| Eric Church | 44.75% | 32.19% | 23.06% | -4.09% |
| Flatland Cavalry | 44.60% | 25.28% | 30.12% | 0.40% |
| Zac Brown Band | 41.42% | 32.97% | 25.61% | -2.89% |
| Turnpike Troubadours | 41.05% | 26.07% | 32.88% | -1.45% |
| Sam Barber | 40.01% | 27.15% | 32.84% | 0.72% |
| Muscadine Bloodline | 37.65% | 26.04% | 36.31% | 0.47% |
| Koe Wetzel | 34.49% | 32.85% | 32.66% | -1.53% |
| Jason Aldean | 33.68% | 38.74% | 27.59% | -1.35% |
| Thomas Rhett | 33.10% | 37.17% | 29.73% | -3.72% |
| Oliver Anthony | 32.90% | 39.37% | 27.73% | -10.46% |
| Wyatt Flores | 32.68% | 31.77% | 35.55% | -1.88% |
| Whiskey Myers | 32.13% | 27.80% | 40.06% | 0.00% |
| Cody Jinks | 30.61% | 30.92% | 38.47% | -1.12% |
| Kenny Chesney | 30.58% | 38.85% | 30.57% | -4.12% |
| Midland | 30.10% | 32.00% | 37.90% | -3.08% |
| Dierks Bentley | 28.96% | 35.49% | 35.55% | -3.12% |
| Dylan Gossett | 28.30% | 27.37% | 44.33% | 0.00% |
| Warren Zeiders | 28.01% | 34.25% | 37.74% | 0.15% |
| Luke Bryan | 27.93% | 41.66% | 30.40% | -0.62% |
| Jordan Davis | 27.30% | 37.08% | 35.62% | -3.94% |
| Chase Rice | 26.66% | 35.63% | 37.71% | -3.19% |
| Tim McGraw | 26.07% | 38.57% | 35.37% | -3.62% |
| Jelly Roll | 24.72% | 41.58% | 33.71% | -2.43% |
| Kameron Marlowe | 24.38% | 34.58% | 41.04% | -5.33% |
| 49 Winchester | 24.32% | 29.98% | 45.71% | 0.00% |
| Larry Fleet | 24.28% | 33.41% | 42.32% | -2.56% |
| Darius Rucker | 23.74% | 38.64% | 37.62% | -2.59% |
| Lee Brice | 21.03% | 39.12% | 39.86% | -4.22% |
| Old Dominion | 20.80% | 41.14% | 38.06% | -4.81% |
| Nate Smith | 19.44% | 35.14% | 45.42% | 0.00% |
| Brad Paisley | 19.34% | 41.62% | 39.05% | -2.27% |
| Hailey Whitters | 19.24% | 38.55% | 42.21% | -2.43% |
| Randall King | 19.23% | 33.16% | 47.61% | 0.00% |
Well, perhaps we were a bit too quick to put Zach on upset alert last month, after a poor October showing and strong challenges from Cody Johnson and Luke Combs, it looked like his days at the top were numbered. But rather than slipping, he’s extended his lead and looks safe for now. Elsewhere, we saw Nate Smith and Randall King exiting after one month on the charts, McCollum continuing his ascent, and a lot of shifting in the middle slots.
| Artist | October | November | Public Interest Increase |
| Parker McCollum | 47.56% | 54.64% | 7.08% |
| Noah Kahan | 40.30% | 45.38% | 5.08% |
| Colter Wall | 45.24% | 49.58% | 4.34% |
| Zach Bryan | 78.41% | 79.17% | 0.76% |
| Sam Barber | 39.29% | 40.01% | 0.72% |
This was a good month for September’s wildcards, as they continued to climb the charts. Parker surges into the top ten, while Noah Kahan and Colter Wall make gains in the mid-teens. I could see them picking up a few more positions each next month, but I wouldn’t expect much more material growth. ZB solidified his base after a weaker October, perhaps buoyed by his late-September EP Boys of Faith growing on people. With CoJo, Stapleton, Wallen, and Combs all slipping this month, his grasp on the top seems a lot more secure now than it did last month.
| Artist | October | November | Public Interest Decrease |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oliver Anthony | 43.37% | 32.90% | -10.46% |
| Luke Combs | 77.13% | 71.16% | -5.97% |
| Kameron Marlowe | 29.72% | 24.38% | -5.33% |
| Old Dominion | 25.61% | 20.80% | -4.81% |
| Jon Pardi | 52.52% | 48.14% | -4.38% |
When it comes to the biggest regressions, they seem to be a pretty eclectic group of artists here can be broken into three categories.
- Regression after an abnormally successful month
- Artists fading at the tail-end of the rankings
- Oliver Anthony
Combs is the obvious instance of the first category; if you remember, he was actually the biggest gainer last month, posting a nearly 7% increase in interest. Well, any expectations of Combs surging past ZB and taking the top spot can be put to rest, at least for this month, as he gave back nearly all of his gains from last month. This is not altogether surprising, numbers tend to regress and an unexpectedly good month can just as easily be a one-off uptick as a portent of things to come.
The second, less interesting, category is a common trend we’ve observed in the CC50. As artists fall down the rankings (and IG story order), their numbers tend to decline. Think of this as a “home-court” advantage; the better your performance, the more advantageous the voting setup you receive. In this case, for Kameron and Old Dominion, weaker performances last month put them in a tough position this month, and they weren’t able to rally the support to stay up.
Finally, we have the phenomenon that is Oliver Anthony. He has the unenviable distinction of being the only artist to make two appearances in this section. To his credit, 33% is still a very solid number, especially for an artist who was virtually unknown until a few months ago. But the clear message here seems to be that “Rich Men In Richmond” may well end up a one-hit wonder unless he can galvanize his base and keep interest in his new music.
Quick Hits
-We narrowly missed a golden opportunity to replace one Marlowe in the rankings with another Marlowe. Thankfully for Kameron, he hung on to stay in the rankings, but he’ll be squaring off with Dylan now. Tune in next month to finally determine The Ultimate Marlowe™️.
-Sam Hunt makes an appearance for the first time (and I’m sure this will raise no “he’s just pop” complaints at all) after emerging from the tightly contested wildcard voting. While he is by no means my favorite artist, I was happy to see this as he has taken a fresh new turn with his recent music and I’m curious to see where it takes him artistically. Releases like Came the Closest, Outskirts, and Start Nowhere are a far cry from his party anthems almost a decade ago. Maybe melancholy Sam Hunt is the better Sam Hunt?
-While the overall participation and voting numbers went up, the general mood was a little more pessimistic across the board, with more “No” and “Unsure” votes than in previous months (hence minor drops for most artists). It will be interesting to see if the awards show and big albums from Stapleton, Aldean, CoJo, and Russell Dickerson (okay, okay, maybe we’re only serious about 3 of those 4) create an uptick in interest in artists’ new releases next month.
-The writing was on the wall for Brad Paisley and Hailey Whitters last month, and their demotion-defying tightrope act comes to an end for now. Personally, this was a little disappointing, as I’m a fan of both, and especially Paisley seems to be on the right track after years of releasing barely anything. As a Knoxville/Appalachian resident I’m biased, but The Medicine Will and Son of the Mountains did a tremendous job of showcasing the dark and light sides of mountain life, playing off each other well. I’m eager to see if he can build off these strong releases, maybe we’ll see him again as a wildcard in the future
Wildcards to Watch
Oblige me while I take a minute to pat myself on the back for correctly predicting three of these month’s five wildcards in the last edition of this column, as we saw Sam Hunt, Justin Moore, and Jake Owen break through. It makes it a tough act to follow up though, especially as we saw an increasingly large field of wildcards jockeying for position behind the 5 who advanced. Morgan Wade, Conner Smith, and Charley Crockett continue to see their support build as they attempt to make their debut, so keep an eye out for them. A few underdogs saw strong performances in the November Wildcard voting as well; Luke Grimes and Treaty Oak Revival made especially spirited challenges. If you want to see any of these (or want other wildcards to make the CC50), keep an eye out for our Wildcard voting, we typically run it on the IG story a week or so after the main monthly voting.
Lyric of the Month
“Don’t nobody wanna be the yellow Starburst, everybody reachin’ for the cherry first”
-Old Dominion, Different About You
Old Dominion received a lot of justified criticism for how “safe” Memory Lane, their October album release, felt. Their breezy, poppy, sound is just begging for clever lyrics, which unfortunately were largely absent. However, this line succeeded in getting my attention, mostly for how incorrect it is. Maybe I live in a lemon Starburst echo chamber, but that is the flavor that I’ve seen going first, along with orange. We’ll have to run that up on Hot Take Tuesdays and let y’all weigh in. Either way, kudos to Old Dominion for making me spend a couple of minutes thinking about Starbursts for the first time in my life; great product placement!
Alright, I’ve rambled enough for this month, hopefully, it was at least vaguely entertaining 🙂 Keep an eye out next month for a feature on artist name recognition and how it impacts the rankings, hoping to incorporate more analysis as we build this process out. Wishing y’all a great Thanksgiving with lots of food and football (unless you’re a Dawgs fan, in which case I’m still salty about Saturday), see ya in December!
