On Monday, record-label reaction to Bobby Bones’ weekend comments that half of No. 1 country records “aren't legitimate” and that labels “trade them out like baseball cards,” ranged from “100% correct” to “h-------t.” Speaking on condition of anonymity, promotion executives addressed the charges Bobby leveled in a TikTok video that had been viewed more than 375,000 times by Monday afternoon.
“It’s annoying on all fronts, because Bobby is correct,” one tells Country Insider. However, says another, “It’s not as cut and dried as he makes it out to be in that TikTok video.”
Bones’ video was one of a series of weekend TikTok posts in which the Premiere Networks-syndicated host answered questions from his followers. In others, he addressed why stations play the same song so frequently, how much influence he has on the music played during his show, artists who have No. 1 records in the iTunes store, and why ACM and CMA awards appear to be “rigged.”
The 54-second clip about No. 1 songs follows:
@mrbobbybones Breaking you off a little … ##countrymusic ##music ##fypシ
♬ original sound - Mrbobbybones
One promotion executive responded: “He’s built his brand on manipulation, yet he criticizes the labels for trying to get our artists recognized for having a No. 1 record? That’s such h-------t. It infuriates me.”
While Bones didn’t address radio’s role in the politics of No. 1 records, the executives did.
“Radio has to be part of that game,” says one label executive. “It's like, ‘Don't hate the player, hate the game.’ They don't always play it, but most of the time, they're pretty in on it, because the labels talk. You get a lot of favors from labels when you’re radio, so radio doesn't have a whole lot of choice but to play.”
One promotion person said they had a behind-the-scenes question they’d like to see Bones answer: “Ask Bobby if he used his radio audience to manipulate his ‘Dancing With the Stars’ victory.”
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