Swift Return
The superstar's "I Knew It, I Knew You" is being furiously added to rotation. "Given the right song, country radio will support her again," says an insider, "and it looks like she delivered in a huge way"
Taylor Swift is no stranger to breaking records, but it’s been a good minute since one of her singles has swept country radio. Or, as Swift herself put it in a note that appeared in Monday’s edition of industry trade Country Aircheck, “man, it’s been a while.”
This week, Swift’s “I Knew It, I Knew You” from the Toy Story 5 soundtrack was the first song by a woman in history to close out the panel on impact: meaning, every single country radio station reporting to Mediabase signed on to play the song, in the very first week. That’s a feat even the old Taylor herself couldn’t achieve at the height of her country popularity. Coincidentally or not (this is Swift we’re talking about), the resurgence comes as we head into the 20th anniversary of her debut single, “Tim McGraw” on June 19th — the same day Toy Story 5 hits theaters.
Though Swift’s songs often make it into “recurrent” rotation, it’s been well over a decade since a newly released, non-Taylor’s Version single has made this much headway at country radio. That doesn’t mean Swift hasn’t tried: She serviced several songs, including “No Body No Crime” and “Betty,” to country radio, but none managed to gain traction from programmers. Her last Country Airplay Number One was the 2013 duet with McGraw, “Highway Don’t Care.”
