It appears country radio did not completely ignore “Shake it Off.”
According to Billboard, the lead single from Taylor Swift’s upcoming pop album “1989” received 12 country radio spins Monday.
While that total pales in comparison to the combined 1,127 spins “Shake” earned from pop and adult pop stations, it was still enough for a #49 position on Billboard’s audience-based building country airplay chart.
New York’s Nash FM was one of the stations to get in on the early action; it played the song twice Monday.
Based on the light opening day reception and the fact that Swift, at least as of press time, is not actively pushing the song to country, there is no reason to believe it will make a real dent at the format.
But the fact that the quintessential pop song garnered any country airplay serves as a testament to Swift’s brand within the genre. If she does issue a remotely country-leaning single as part of the “1989” project, it will surely find some takers.