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Chase Rice<\/a> was asked how new artists should\u00a0treat the music business and he essentially said, be like Megan Moroney.<\/a><\/p>\n The “You In ’85” singer is back to being an\u00a0independent artist because he had leverage. There was a clause in his contract with Broken Bow Records to get out of his record deal and he\u00a0used it, he says.<\/p>\n “I was in the studio recording this, Go Down Singin<\/em>‘ EP … and that week, ‘Bad Day To Be a Cold Beer’ got pulled from the radio, we got no CMA (Awards <\/a>nominations) and they (the record label) denied the budget to record the album that we were already recording,” he remembers.<\/p>\n Related<\/strong><\/em>: Remembering the Reality TV Show Stars Who’ve Died In 2024<\/a><\/p>\n “I’m not going to be told when I can and can’t record,” he said. “To me no artists should deal with that.”<\/p>\n The problem is, most new artists don’t have money or leverage to make those kinds of decisions. Now a decade into his career and with royalties from hits such as\u00a0“Cruise” in his pocket, Rice can do it, but there are other ways, he tells Taste of Country. You just need to be patient, like Moroney.<\/p>\n “I met her (when she was) in college,” Rice shares. “She was opening for Jon Langston. I watched her play and was like, ‘Man this girl’s good.'”<\/p>\n The group went out to dinner that night and Rice looked at his calendar and offered Moroney a proposition. “I said, ‘I’m playing Georgia Theater in a couple of weeks. I’ll let you open for me. I want you to open for me\u00a0… but you have to write a song between now and then and you have to play it live that night.'”<\/p>\n He says his jaw hit the floor when he heard the song she wrote, but he’s been further impressed how she’s managed to remain in control of crucial components of her business.<\/p>\n “She put songs out and made Sony come to her. That’s what you gotta do,” Rice says. “There’s a right time to sign. Make ’em come to you.”<\/p>\n The conversation is just part of a recent episode of the Taste of Country Nights, On Demand<\/em><\/a> podcast. To be clear, the singer has no hard feelings about separating from BBR and understands they made a business decision. They simply weren’t what the other needed at that time.<\/p>\n New country artists rule this Top Country Songs of 2024 list, but that doesn’t mean traditional country isn’t represented early and often.<\/p>\n Airplay charts, sales data and streaming numbers helped make this list of country music’s Top 20 Songs of 2024, but staff and Taste of Country reader opinion were most influential.<\/p>\n Songs included on previous Top Country Songs lists were not eligible. A song may have been released in 2023, but it had to have the majority of recorded airplay or impact this year to count.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
Top 20 Songs of 2024, Ranked (So Far)<\/h2>\n
Reality TV Show Stars Who Died in 2024<\/h2>\n