Why radio is still valuable in the streaming era and other burning questions: Ask Pop Shop

In the new Billboard Pop Shop PodcastKatie and Keith open up the inbox to answer your most burning questions, starting with a question about why radio is still important (and valuable) in the age of streaming.

Listener “yaelkaa” asks: “I’m still not sure what the point of releasing a single on the radio in the age of streaming is.”

We can start by looking at BillboardThe radio charts themselves show just how big of a footprint radio still has on American music fans. A few weeks ago, on the Radio Songs chart for July 6, the No. 1 song was Post Malone’s “I Had Some Help,” featuring Morgan Wallen, with 76.5 million audience impressions in the U.S., according to data tracking firm Luminate, meaning the song was estimated to have been listened to 76.5 million times by people that week. Compare that to the No. 1 for the same week on the Streaming Songs chart, which was Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” with 45.4 million official streams in the U.S. And of course, that figure includes repeat plays by the same person throughout the week. The numbers, at least for that week, speak for themselves: Radio is still very powerful when it comes to the sheer number of people who will listen to a song.

Additionally, we can compare the financial numbers for radio plays and on-demand audio streaming plays. We crunched the numbers to estimate how much money the publishers and songwriter generated for a massive hit song, “Stick Season,” Noah Kahan’s top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit. How much money would radio plays and on-demand audio streaming plays have generated? Which, radio or streaming, likely generated the greater financial gain? Listen to our special episode of Ask the Pop Shop below to learn more about that and other questions.

The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard's weekly charts. You can always count on lively discussion of the latest pop news, fun chart stats and anecdotes, new music, and special guest interviews with music stars and people from the pop world. Casual pop fans and chart junkies alike can hear Billboard's Digital Executive Director West Coast, Katie Atkinson, and Billboard's Managing Director of Charts and Data Operations, Keith Caulfield, every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or Downloaded on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition from the show on Billboard.com.)