Zach Bryan‘s latest single, “Pink Skies,” is NOT a pop song.
That’s the message from the singer himself after it was reported earlier in the day that the emotional ballad would be sent to pop radio.
The single dropped last Friday, and quickly shot to #1 on the all-genre iTunes charts. And it’s not really hard to see why, with the mournful lyrics being easy to relate to for anybody who’s experienced a painful loss:
“If you could see ’em now, you’d be proud
But you’d think they’s yuppies
Your funeral was beautiful
I bet God heard you comin’”
It’s not hard to see why Zach’s label, Warner Records, would want to send the song to pop radio, either instead of or in addition to country radio. Zach has broad crossover appeal, and while his music is more country than most of what’s coming out of Nashville today, it’s also not out of place alongside more “folk-rock” artists like Noah Kahan or the Lumineers.
Clearly the label thought that sending the song to pop radio would give it a chance at more commercial and critical success than country radio.
The only problem is, it seems that Zach had no idea.
After we posted an article about the song being sent to pop radio, Zach responded by revealing that he had no say in the matter – and apparently wasn’t too happy with the decision:
“This is fucked, I never approved this, why is Pink Skies at pop radio?”
He followed it up by clarifying that he doesn’t consider himself a pop OR country artist:
But either way, he also doesn’t consider “Pink Skies” a pop song, and isn’t happy that it was sent to pop radio without his approval (or apparently, his knowledge).
Of course Zach has proven that he doesn’t really need ANY radio to be a massive success. Neither of his first two singles, “Something In The Orange” and “I Remember Everything,” have done particularly well at radio, but he’s still crushing it when it comes not only to streaming numbers but also to ticket sales at his sold-out Quittin’ Time tour.
Zach’s music is clearly reaching its intended audience regardless (or maybe in spite of) what the label chooses to do with it at radio. And it seems like that’s what’s most important.
I mean, does anybody even listen to the radio anymore anyway?