STILL "EYE"-ING THE TOP 10

In its 16th chart week, Dierks Bentley's "I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes" lands at #11 on Billboard's Hot Country Songs chart. However, if you want, you can celebrate that it is #10 on the Mediabase Country Chart. Unfortunately ... that chart doesn't quite "count." Sure, a record label will boast that a song went to #1 on Mediabase (ie. Brad Paisley's "Welcome to the Future"), but many outlets regard the Billboard charts to be the be-all and end-all of chart reporting (so, realistically, "Welcome to the Future" ended Brad's streak of #1s at 10).

The main difference between the charts is that Mediabase assigns each song "points," which is a combination of spins which are weighted based on market size and it's rather convoluted and hard to decipher. Billboard's chart is based on audience impressions, which is a fancy way of saying the larger your audience, the higher you are. It's easy to track and fairly easy to predict, though the panels (stations reported) differ in market size, and number of stations that make up the panel (124 at Mediabase vs. 126 at Billboard).

Billboard and Mediabase also have charts whose panels are made up of stations in smaller markets. For Billboard it's the Indicator chart, and Mediabase has its Activator chart. These charts show what's being played in smaller markets, and can occasionally indicate how a song is going to go (ie. Toby Keith's "American Ride" hit #1 on the Indicator chart weeks before it hit #1 on the Billboard chart). IWMYCYE is #8 on this week's Indicator chart, and was in the top 10 for Most Increased Audience and Most Increased Plays. It was also in the top 10 for Most Increased Plays on the Billboard chart.

It's going to crack the top 10 this week on the Billboard chart, finally, and looks to make a fairly sizable jump from #11 to likely #8. With Lady A's big wins last night on the CMAs, it's likely that Capitol Nashville will set its sights on Luke Bryan's "Do I" for a #1 push, and then once it's peaked, IWMYCYE should see a sizable push from the promotions department. And, of course, with the efforts of the Congress behind it, we know this song is headed to #1!

~ Carrie S. (DBC Rep/Chart Reporter ~ NC)