There are many recognizable names Bulletin board's Alternative Airplay chart: Green Day, Jack White and Linkin Park are all in the top 10, to name a few. But this week, one of the most successful bands in the history of the chart is spending a second week at No. 1: Cage The Elephant, whose latest single “Rainbow” becomes their 12th chart-topper, tying Linkin Park and the Foo Fighters for third all time.
This is a major milestone for both the band and their label, RCA Records. But RCA's success atop Alternative Airplay goes deeper and more unconventional this week: Myles Smith's breakout single “Stargazing” reaches No. 2 on the chart, giving the label the week's top two songs. And Smith's achievement is all the more remarkable because the song is his first US chart hit, which is relatively rare for an artist who dabbles in alternative. And that one-two-punch hit helps RCA's top rock promotion reps Gary Gorman win his title Bulletin board's Executive of the Week.
Here, Gorman explains the strategies that helped RCA reach those marks, the differences between veteran acts and new artists at alternative radio, and how the job of promotions has changed over the course of his extensive career. “The information and technology we have now compared to 15 years ago is staggering and allows us to be more strategic than ever before,” says Gorman. “The bones of this job are, however, the same. I expect this to continue as long as the music program on the radio is still editorial.”
This week, Cage The Elephant spent its second week at No. 1 on Alternative Airplay with “Rainbow,” tying Foo Fighters and Linkin Park for third all-time with 12 No. 1s. Which key decisions did you make to help make this happen?
Cage The Elephant is a Goldilocks band for the alternative format. Their history of No. 1 songs and alternative chart success comes to the fore Neon pill The circle of the album was undeniable. Not to mention, for my money, they're one of the most consistently wild live bands out there. That said, many No. 1s from any campaign aren't promised to anyone, so a lot of the strategy here is in the long tail of the promotional campaign and how to outline a comprehensive 24+ month program. Our partners at Q Prime are an incredible asset and invaluable in all collective decisions, from scheduling, touring, artist engagement and information sharing. One of the hardest and most debated decisions ended up being which single to lead with. The clash of the darker “Neon Pill” first into the lighter “Rainbow” still rings true for me.
With Myles Smith's “Stargazing” at No. 2, RCA has both top spots on the chart, with two very different songs. What strategy is he following to make this happen?
So very different — it's such an exciting time. Cage are an established band in the format, and it had been many years since new Cage music, so the table was set and anticipation was high. Miles, on the other hand, was a virtual unknown on alternative radio. As a result, the setup was more door-to-door as we looked for early champions. A handful of big market alternative developers led the way, early on, on the back of a massive streaming story and we were off to the races. We could not have achieved this level of success in this campaign without the early loyalty from these early alternative stations. These people have all my gratitude.
The upper tier of the Alternative Airplay chart is full of artists who have had careers of 10 or more — Cage, White, The Offspring, Linkin Park, Green Day — but Myles is a much younger artist, with “Stargazing” being his. first US chart hit How hard is it to break a new artist on alternative radio these days?
As Public Enemy once said, harder than you think. Alternative radio has always played a wide variety of new music styles, but ultimately, it's their golden libraries that hold it all together. One could say that many of the most successful new songs alternately have “connective tissue” sonically in a station's music library. With the nostalgic feelings stemming from the pandemic, legacy artists releasing new music are a hot ticket for many developers, making shots for new artists even tougher. That being said, there have certainly been some brand new artists with amazing journeys in alternative over the last year. Myles Smith was a triple threat with “Stargazing”: a sound app, incredible flow, and early research worthy of authority.
On the other hand, why is the format so friendly to artists with long careers when so much of pop radio is driven by new hits and new artists?
how much time do you have Alternative radio today has remained true to its explosive origins, continuing to support a larger library of songs and artists dating back to the format's inception. As a result, these stations tend to have a slightly larger audience than pop, along with fewer current tracks on rotation at any given time. As mentioned, the wave of historical artists releasing new music has created a major dilemma. Given the limited space for current music, it seems that many developers have chosen to lean towards artists who know have worked in the past. The irony, of course, is that we've seen some of the biggest investigative songs of the year come from either new or unexpected artists in this format, Myles Smith being a prime example.
How has radio promotion evolved over the course of your career?
The information and technology we have now compared to 15 years ago is staggering and allows us to be more strategic than ever before. The bones of this job are, however, still the same. I expect this to continue as long as music programming on the radio is still editorial. I learned a long time ago that the only constant in this business is change. Having a crackerjack team here at RCA in all formats including promo leadership from Keith Rothschild and Sam Selolwaneit allows us to face new challenges and adopt new strategies while remaining focused and relentless in empowering our artists across the radio platform.
