Adele’s “Easy on Me” got a slow start on radio. When I wrote it about Friday. The top stations weren’t playing “Easy on Me” yet. In fact, it wasn’t until I said something that hourly adds started appearing on websites.
This evening, All Access Media Base reports that over 200 stations added “Easy on Me” to their playlists. There were 94 adds each on Adult Contemporary and Hot Adult Contemporary. (We used to call these Easy Listening or MOR aka Middle of the Road). There were 24 adds on another group called Triple AAA. (Those stations also added Sting’s great new single, “Rushing Water” and Elton John’s “Cold Heart” duet with Dua Lipa.)
I don’t think rock stations are playing “Easy on Me.” I’m sure they’re hoping she’s got a “Rolling in the Deep” type number on her “30” album.
But basically everyone who can is playing this record now, over and over. The single has had a minimum of 3,000 “spins” since its release on Thursday night across all these stations.
Add Adele to BTS and Lil Nas X and you have to give credit to Sony’s Rob Stringer and Ron Perry for pulling moribund Columbia Records out of a ditch. For years the company depended on Bruce Springsteen, Barbra Streisand, and Bob Dylan, not to mention Tony Bennett, to keep them going. Even Bryonce was iffy with an inconsistent release pattern. But they’ve got the top artists booming away right now. When “30” hits on November 19th, they will release confetti from their windows!
