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  • Country: Jumping the Shark and Growing the Beard?

    • 06/13/2016
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country music, country radio programming
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    We may look back on last week as the time when country “jumped the shark.” There was Pitbull (@Pitbull),Cheap Trick, Fifth Harmony and Pharrell (you could make a case for Pharrell given his collaboration with Little Big Town) on a country awards show. Then there were releases to country radio that had some programmers feeling the pop envelope had been pushed too

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  • Country Infographic: A Half Dozen Facts to Make You The Most Interesting Person at the Thanksgiving Table

    • 11/25/2015
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country music
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    Haven’t had time to do show-prep for the family Thanksgiving Dinner? No worries! Here’s a Country Thanksgiving Infographic from A&O&B guaranteed to help you keep the table entertained between seconds and dessert. Visually stimulating, fun, and shareable, Infographics also make great email content. Additionally, Socialmediatoday.com reports Infographics as a marketing tool can increase traffic 12%.  Chew on

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  • A&O&B Poll: We’re Open To More Country From Taylor

    • 08/22/2014
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country music, country radio programming
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    Taylor Swift may have left country a “goodbye note” but the majority of the more than 60 Country PDs, MDs, Talent and Station Executives who took part in Albright & O’Malley & Brenner‘s quick, and admittedly unscientific straw poll this week said they’ve left the light on for her.   By more than 4:1 the panel hoped

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  • Country in the First Half of 2014: How This Year’s Music Compares to Last Year’s at the Half Way Mark

    • 07/25/2014
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country music, country radio programming
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    Earlier this month Inside Radio reported that “no format had more momentum than country” heading into the second half of 2014 and that the format had already matched its PPM high of last July during the “summer of country.” Also in that article partner Becky Brenner referenced A&O&B’s “balance” philosophy when she stated that “a

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  • Music Discovery Spans Country Demos Though Who Is Being Discovered Varies Considerably

    • 02/21/2014
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country music, radio programming
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    A & O & B’s Roadmap 2014 – our just-released annual online perceptual of some 9,000 country fans – included an in-depth look at music discovery. Nearly 58% of the 18-54 respondents said they had “discovered a new artist in the past 12 months that is becoming one of their favorites.” 90% said they had

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  • Country Music 2013: The Top Songs, Artists, and Stats

    • 12/27/2013
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country music
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    If we were talking about wrestling, Blake Shelton and Luke Bryan would have been the Tag Team of the Year. While that’s one of the few awards Country doesn’t have yet, Blake and Luke do win our award for best A&O&B chart performers of 2013. The Songs Driven by our weekly research, here is how

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  • Country Too Pop? Too Rock? Listeners on Living in Harmony

    • 09/17/2013
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country music, country radio
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    We’ve all read it or heard it by now – the CJJR-FM interview where Zac Brown called Luke Bryan’s current single, “the worst song I’ve ever heard” and that some songs on country radio make him “ashamed to even be in the same genre.” Well, at least we know where he stands. And of course he’s

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  • Before And After Pictures: Country’s Musical Landscape In 2009 and Now

    • 07/15/2013
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country music, country radio
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    “Before and after” pictures can sometimes be startling. Especially when something that was iconic has changed dramatically, is no longer present or when something new “suddenly” appears. Because we’re paying attention to our formats on a daily basis and appropriately navigating our stations through changes, good programmers aren’t generally subject to before-and-after-shock. Even so, side-by-sides

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  • Sharing the Love: Connecting with Listeners by Expressing Passion for the Music

    • 04/19/2013
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country music, country radio programming
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    “Lovin’ on the Music” is a phrase we use at one station group to remind ourselves that we need to regularly demonstrate our passion for music just as our listeners do. That we remind ourselves of this is both deliberate and strategic. We remind ourselves because we recognize the distractions that come with working at

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  • Country Music 2012 Year in Review Part 2: How 2012’s Music Compares to Years Past

    • 12/28/2012
    • Posted by: Mike O'Malley
    • Category: country music
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    2012’s music has something big going against it: 2011. 2011 of course was a great year for country. We saw new high water marks for a number of our metrics including overall Like A Lot and Total Positive scores.  So any comparison to 2011 has to take that in to account. Having said that, 2012

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