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The secrets to recent surprise hits Rich Men North of Richmond and Try This in a Small Town have been shared by music industry experts.
Oliver Anthony, from Farmville, Va., struck all the right chords with his heartfelt blue-collar anthem Rich Men, which criticizes those he considers elite for being out of touch with ordinary Americans.
And now, those in the know say Billboard Hot 100 success benefited from some nifty tricks that boosted its success.
First, they say, is the continued influence of music downloads on singles charts.
Downloads are losing popularity thanks to streaming – and are rapidly heading towards the same obscurity as CDs and cassettes.
But they are still a major part of a song’s Billboard Hot 100 chart. This means interested fans can coordinate and spend just 99 cents to get a song they love to top the charts with relatively few downloads.
This boosts publicity for the track and can also help increase streams, thereby boosting the song’s position on the charts.
Oliver Anthony struck a chord with fans after sharing his blue-collar anthem
Rich Men North of Richmond was self-released on August 11 and caused a stir, with 17.5 million streams in the US and 147,000 downloads sold in the tracking week ending August.
It was a similar story with Jason Alden’s Try This in a Small Town, another song that catered to Americans who feel unhappy with mainstream entertainment.
Many who have downloaded both songs have undoubtedly enjoyed them on their own merits.
But music industry experts said The New York Times there was also probably a large faction of people downloading or streaming them to “own the libraries”.
In doing so, they were able to propel a song with controversial content to the top of the charts and force a discussion between circles they felt had ignored them.
Conservative podcaster Clay Travis told The Times, “People are just mad at how I would say the waking universe has taken over a lot of the content.
“And I think what you’re seeing is backlash and rebellion.”
Anthony releases his music without a label
Jason Aldean landed a number one earlier this summer with his incendiary Try That in a Small Town
But the controversial video outside the Maury County, Tennessee, courthouse prompted a ban by the CMT.
Cultural commentator Jaime Brooks added: “Now you have these people who show a clear interest in using graphics to make their beliefs or opinions seem popular.”
Country singer Jason Aldean’s song “Try That in a Small Town” enjoyed similar success, climbing to number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 following controversy over its music video.
At its peak, the charter – which denounces bad behavior and warns transgressors to attempt their antics in the small town of the same name – was downloaded 100,000 times a day.
The song was called racist because of a video showing Black Lives Matter protesters, as well as a scene shot on the steps of a Tennessee courthouse that witnessed a racist lynching.
Aldean insists he is not racist – but the controversy has drawn interest from conservative podcasters who have also helped shape the national debate, despite having a small following.
Joe Rogan hailed the song on his hit podcast, while far-right activist Jack Posobiec exclaimed: “(I) can’t even remember the last time a new song hit me like that.”
These podcasts further build interest in the songs and attract podcast fans who are happy to spend 99 cents to help popularize a song by sharing views they feel are similar to their own.
They’re also happy to back anything they deem anti-mainstream — including artists like Anthony and Aldean who come from nowhere — even if the podcasters pushing them have a much larger following than traditional networks.
Oliver could become a rich man south of Richmond if merchandise sales take off
The populist anthem has already attracted a legion of devoted followers
The country anthem stormed offers from Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift
Oliver Anthony has insisted he is keeping his feet on the ground and claims he turned down an $8million recording deal – even though he earns $40,000 a day.
In a post on social media, he wrote: “I don’t want 6 tourist buses, 15 tractor-trailers and a plane. I don’t want to play in stadiums, I don’t want to be in the spotlight.
“I wrote the music that I wrote because I suffered from mental health and depression.”
Neal Harmon, co-founder of Angel Studios, said social media and podcast platforms allow content to be marketed directly to ideal target audiences.
His company distributed “Sound of Freedom,” a film about child trafficking that enjoyed the same benefits as widespread online support. It took $180 million despite minimal promotion in mainstream entertainment media.
“I wrote a great song and the audience loved it,” Harmon said.
“The key moment is that people can stand up and do it themselves instead of responding to those who are traditionally the ones saying what should succeed or what should fail.”
Just a few weeks ago, the musician – real name Christopher Anthony Lunsford – was relatively unknown and had just a few hundred social media followers.
Aldean’s clip features footage of Black Lives Matter police protests
“Try This in a Small Town” reached 11.7 million on-demand audio and video streams between July 14 and July 20.
After becoming a household name, Oliver shared a bit more about his journey.
“My legal name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford. My grandfather’s name was Oliver Anthony, and “Oliver Anthony Music” is a dedication not only to him, but also to 1930s Appalachia, where he was born and raised. Dirt floors, seven children, hard times,” he wrote.
He said everyone now knows him as Oliver, but his friends and family still call him Chris, but he adds that “either is fine”.
Oliver claims he dropped out of high school in 2010 and got his GED when he was 17. He says his politics are front and center and has so far declined to comment directly on the Republican or Democratic parties.
He describes in detail the conditions in which he worked and which eventually inspired his songs once he left school.
“I worked at several mills in western North Carolina, my last being at the McDowell County Paper Mill. I was working third shift, 6 days a week for $14.50 an hour, in hell. In 2013, I had a serious fall at work and fractured my skull.
The Farmville, Va. native has been performing like an unknown for years and characterizes himself as “an idiot with a guitar.”
Oliver returned to Virginia, he says, and wasn’t able to work again until six months after the injury.
In 2014, he started working in “outside sales” in industrial manufacturing, which he says has taken him “all over Virginia and the Carolinas.”
“I’ve spent all day, every day, for the past 10 years hearing the same story. People are so tired of being neglected, divided and manipulated.
About his living conditions, he says he lives on a $97,500 piece of farmland (on which he claims he still owes $60,000) inside a 27-foot motorhome with a tarp on the roof that he bought for $750 on Craigslist.
He reiterates that his success has “nothing special” to do with him, to the point of devaluing himself.
“I’m not a good musician, I’m not a very good person. I have spent the last 5 years battling my mental health and using alcohol to drown it out. I’m sad to see the world in this state, where everyone is fighting against each other. I have spent many nights feeling hopeless that the greatest country in the world is rapidly disappearing.
He then calls for unity and a break from the same internet culture that made him famous.
“I hate how the internet has divided us all. The internet is a parasite that infects the minds of humans and preys on them. Hours wasted, goals forgotten, loved ones sitting together in homes distracted all day by technology made by other poor souls in sweatshops in a foreign land.
Oliver Anthony’s Rich Men North of Richmond soared to success thanks to clever tricks, say experts