The attempt to “cancel” country music star Jason Aldean over the recently-released video for his song “Try That In a Small Town” appears to actually be giving him a profitable boost.
Billboard Charts reported in a tweet overnight that the song, which was released months ago, “has reached #1 on US iTunes.”
The single hit the top spot after Country Music Television (CMT) announced it removed the recently-released video for the song from its rotation. The network did not explain its reasoning behind the decision, but it came following accusations on social media that song was racist due to its messaging and where the video was set.
Aldean adamantly pushed back against those claims in messages posted to Instagram and Twitter.
Jason Aldean performs on stage during day three of CMA Fest 2023 at Nissan Stadium on June 10, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. Billboard Charts reported overnight that Aldean’s single, “Try This In A Small Town,” hit No. 1 on iTunes in the U.S. after C (Terry Wyatt/WireImage / Getty Images)
Entertainment data firm Luminate, which is where Billboard obtains its sales numbers, told FOX Business its database updates weekly and the company will not be able to confirm any numbers until it has vetted and verified complete sales and streaming data from all platforms, including Apple’s iTunes.
Luminate said that as of July 13, the day before the “Try That In A Small Town” video dropped, Aldean lifetime combined physical and digital album sales were at 12.3 million, track sales were at 23.9 million, and on-demand streams including audio and video were at 11.6 billion.
Jason Aldean's "Try That In A Small Town" has reached #1 on US iTunes. pic.twitter.com/PXZa31xpp4
— Billboard Charts (@billboardnewsb) July 19, 2023
