When Bryan Martin's 'We Ride' entered his top 10 Advertising signOn the Country Airplay chart two weeks ago, the raw, stripped-down tune not only became the Louisiana native's first hit, but it was also the first time in more than a dozen years that Martin's label, Average Joes Entertainment, hit the Top 10.
The song, which reaches No. 9 today (May 31), is the Average Joes' first Top 10 since the Montgomery Gentry duo hit No. 8 in March 2012 with “Where I Come From.” This feat came the year after current Average Joes president, Forrest Latta, joined the label as director of product, rising through the ranks to vp of A&R and now president. Founded in 2008 by country rapper Jason “Colt Ford” Brown and producer Shannon Hutchinswho is the CEO of the company, Average Joes served as an early record label for the likes of Brantley Gilbert and LoCash, and also has a thriving film and television division, as well as a publishing company.
Average Joes hired independent promotion team New Revolution to work “We Ride” to terrestrial radio stations. The radio promotion was part of a multi-layered campaign that began more than a year and a half ago with “We Ride,” and its continued success earns Latta his title Advertising sign's Executive of the Week.
Here, Latta talks about the slow build of “We Ride” at streaming spots before going to radio, and the patient approach he and his team took to break the song. “I don't think we would see the same level of success without the right team executing at every stage,” he says.
You released “We Ride” in October 2022. When did you decide to take it to terrestrial country radio and how long had it been since Average Joes made a push at terrestrial radio?
We started talking about it in May of last year and ended up pulling the trigger on an impact date in September, the same week the record went gold. Before that, our last approach to radio was in 2017 with “Better Me”, in the wake of Troy Gentryhis tragic passing. [Gentry, one half of Montgomery Gentry, died in a helicopter accident in 2017.]
Bryan's music has an honest rawness like Zach Bryan, Warren Zeiders, Oliver Anthony and Koe Wetzel. Is there power in numbers that radio can't ignore as we see a wave of artists like him speak their truth?
I think the market has shown a thirst for that style, and I think country radio does a great job of keeping their finger on the pulse of the market. That being said, the level of success of others was not part of our discussion when we made the decision to take “We Ride” to radio.
What were the key steps you took to make it happen?
Getting the right team together was very important. We met with a lot of people and had to make some tough decisions to get the right people with a strategy that aligned. Ultimately, the strategy came down to three phases — pre-launch social push; digital first post-launch approach with our in-house team. followed by a big radio push with the New Revolution team. I don't think we would see the same level of success without the right team executing in every phase.
This is Average Joes first Top 10 on Country Airplay since 2012. What did you hear about the song that made you know you had to push it?
We knew we had something when we heard the work tape. Bryan is a great songwriter and this is a great example. The atmosphere is unique and the song is uniquely Bryan. We also heard the response from the market. Because we could take a song that already had such a record, we didn't need to ask radio to take such a big chance on it because it was already a proven winner.
How much of Bryan's success is how open he is with his very compelling story, including his suicide attempt and struggles with alcohol? And as someone who is newly sober, how did the label take steps to protect his sobriety?
All credit for Brian's sobriety goes to him — he's one of the most determined people I know, and he's doing great so far. We're definitely looking to support him, whether it's helping facilitate healing, taking a month off from recording, playing shows and radio promotion, as well as providing a safe environment for him to work in and making sure he has a healthy team around him.
How important was TikTok for fans to learn about the song?
It was a huge build to get around. Andrew Davis, our VP of Marketing and his team put together a long-term lead plan focused on the platform and fought hard for it, even as some of us started to feel hateful about building a release. They deserve a lot of credit for that.
“We Ride” has more than 190 million streams on Spotify, far and away his most streamed song. How did streaming help its success and what was the key element of the digital campaign?
It was a little slow out of the gates – the DSPs weren't that familiar with Bryan at first – but once they saw the ground, they were quick to jump on board and really helped grow the song early on.
Will terrestrial radio be part of Bryan's story in the future?
Absolutely. They have been great partners and we look forward to continuing this relationship.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/bryan-martin-we-ride-average-joes-entertainment-forrest-latta/