ANOTHER BOOST "UP" FOR "RIDGE"

In its 12th week on the charts, Dierks Bentley's latest single "Up on the Ridge" moved up to #22 on Billboard, and up to #25 on Mediabase. Unfortunately, the news is not as good as it seems at first glance. Over on Billboard, while it did move up to #22, it only moved because of songs falling off the chart and moving to recurrent status. It was in fact down in audience (about 700,000) and slightly down in spins (-8). On Mediabase it did move up as well, posting a modest gain in spins (105) and a humble gain in audience (45,000). It is worth noting that it's having a better week on Mediabase, at least, and has seen an audience gain around 200,000 thus far. It's hard to say if that will help it move at all, but it should post a move next week on Mediabase as songs fall off that particular chart to recurrent status. With those positive gains, it's possible it could go Top 20, which could be the shot in the arm the songs needs for people to get on board a bit more. Thankfully, the chart is no longer as stagnant as it was a couple of weeks ago, which means it's the perfect time to keep stepping up our campaigns for the song.

I think it's worth noting, too, that it's no longer the least-well-received song at radio according to Callout America statistics. It's a small gain, but it's worth noting. It seems like less and less people each week are saying that they "strongly dislike the song" and the people who are either "neutral" or "like it" are growing somewhat steadily. Just the other day I received a text from a friend that said "might be late to the party here, but Up on the Ridge is super catchy and I am bouncing in my chair." My response? "Better late than never." So while we accept that there will likely forever be a contingent of people who will never accept the song, there are still people out there who are slowly but surely warming up to it.

We got this song to the Top 40 for our Prez, and then to the Top 30. Now, let's get his labor of love into the Top 20!

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