Can There Possibly Be 48 of 60 Songs Worthy Of Bullets?

This is a campaign that Regent VP/Programming Bob Moody has been on for many years: make the chart bullet more meaningful.

Now it looks like Phil Sweetland has joined the fray in his latest missive:

This week's Billboard Hot Country Songs features 60 tunes; of those 60 singles, by our count 48 have a bullet indicating increased airplay. But how do we know if the difference is 1 additional spin at Country Radio or 1,000? We don't. The bullet designation thus becomes essentially useless. We propose two or three bullets - maybe one round, one square, and one diamond-shaped - indicating different levels of spincrease. The current system is badly out of date.

WHO CARES?

I am about to make it all simple for you by giving you "Albright's guide to reading the charts."

In 25 words or less: bullets indicate the songs which labels are still spending promotional money to prop up/push forward. When the bullet goes away, that means it's no longer a priority to the label, the publisher or the artist so the $$ spiggot gets turned off.

If you want to know which songs Nashville's marketing machine wants you to play, look at the charts. If you want to know which ones your listeners want you to play, ask 'em, systematically and regularly.