TMN Singles Report: MDs respond to Bebe Rexha clinching top radio single of Q1 2018

Bebe Rexha has taken home the #1 radio single for the first three months of 2018. ‘Meant To Be’ ft. Florida Georgia Line scored a Most Added crown in the back end of last year, picking up momentum over the summer and emerging with seven weeks at the top of the chart from January through March.

So how did the track end up on top?

According to Nova’s head of music Scott Baker-Smith, the achievement for the artist has been a long time coming – it was just a matter of “waiting for the right song”.

“Great to see Bebe Rexha gain the attention and success she finally deserves. Never any doubt in our minds this would be the monster it became. She led the charge by doing a Pop/Country crossover, which set the trend which has connected enormously with our audience,” he told TMN. 

Music director at KIIS Sydney & Melbourne Brad McNicol agreed, adding: “She’s an excellent songwriter with an incredibly infectious voice, who has been on the cusp of full-blown pop fame for a couple of years.”

Jack Ball, music director at Hit105 Brisbane believes the secret to the song’s success lies beyond just pop/country crossover.

“The song fits almost every format on commercial radio and is completely non-offensive to whoever is listening. There aren’t many radio stations who couldn’t or haven’t played it and simply it’s just really catchy. Plus, who doesn’t love a big collaboration?” 

With Florida Georgia Line adding a winning touch to the track, the Warner release marks the most successful single on Australian radio ever to feature a country artist. The Nashville duo continues to prove their crossover potential, also scoring a spot at #10 on the quarterly chart with ‘Let Me Go’ alongside lead artists Hailee Steinfeld and Alesso.

To find out how the rest of the TMN Hot 100 panned out for the quarter, as well as the results of other genre and platform charts, you can read the full report here.