Benefiting from release week excitement and hourly iHeartMedia airplay on their respective opening days, Luke Bryan’s “Kick the Dust Up” and Hunter Hayes’ “21” both debut on this week’s Billboard Country Airplay chart.
Officially launched last Tuesday, Bryan’s “Kick the Dust Up” opens at #19 on the audience-driven Billboard chart. The song is the lead single from the country superstar’s forthcoming “Kill the Lights.”
“21,” which arrived on Thursday, May 21, reaches #32 on Billboard’s weekly airplay chart. Not tied to an album, “21” is part of a new campaign that involves launching singles and EPs exclusively through digital channels.
In conjunction with their Billboard Country Airplay bows, “Kick the Dust Up” and “21” open at #28 and #43, respectively, on the Mediabase country radio singles chart.
The reason for the disparity is two-fold. First, Billboard tracks airplay from Monday-Sunday rather than from Sunday-Saturday. Since both songs launched in the middle of the week, the Billboard chart accounts for an extra day of airplay.
Additionally, Billboard’s audience-driven chart methodology proved more favorable to the songs than Mediabase’s proprietary airplay scoring system.
— A disparity does not, however, exist at the top of the chart. Billy Currington’s “Don’t It” is this week’s #1 song on both Mediabase and Billboard.