This post is some heavy music autism so keep that in mind before you read. For some reason that’s what ClearChannel (iHeartMedia) wants to play on alternative radio stations. If you’ve ever wondered why all radio stations sound the same, it’s because of them. Most mainstream radio stations now are owned by ClearChannel and they basically have to approve of a song for it to become a hit on a format. Some formats rely solely on radio play (Hot AC, Top 40, Alternative) and a song can’t get past a certain point on the chart without approval from iHeartMedia because most stations are owned by them. All stations bar very few exceptions are supposed to play the top 5 on Billboard and promote the songs that ClearChannel wants to become hits. This week’s top 5 consists of artists like Green Day, The Killers, Neon Trees and Cage the Elephant but also an artist some wouldn’t describe as “alternative“: Billie Eilish, whose song was promoted by ClearChannel as she was a developing artist. Grouplove and Tame Impala are bubbling under the bottom 5 in the top 10 along with AJR. It’s a mostly alternative top 10, but AJR got to #8 in only 8 weeks with great gains, not because they’re an alternative artist but because they’re safe to play instead of something risky. A song that they promote will always hit #1 with very few exceptions. In 2019, a song by an electronic artist named Illenium featuring Jon Bellion hit the alternative top 10, but stalled at #3 because some ClearChannel radio stations rebelled against playing it, probably because it wasn’t alternative but some shitty EDM pop.