The Class of 2022: Meet the artists SiriusXM championed this past year
We wrap up 2022 with a look back at the SiriusXM-supported artists who broke through this year.
The Class of 2022 is composed of artists SiriusXM was first to commit airplay and playlist support to and subsequently went on to have a major breakthrough year; this commitment extends across multiple channels and genres.
The Class of 2022 includes Sleazyworld Go, Jelly Roll, Wage War, Zach Bryan, Bailey Zimmerman, Corey Kent, Nate Smith, Arin Ray, Muni Long, Fred again.., Leah Kate, Becky Hill, Nicky Youre, Jax, Ryan Castro, and Wet Leg.
Sleazyworld Go
Hip-Hop Nation world debuted “Sleazy Flow” in March, playing the track more than 1,500 times and, in July, featured Sleazyworld Go as part of SiriusXM’s Next Wave Concert Series. In late September, the track reached #1 on the Urban chart.
Jelly Roll
Octane was the first national hard-rock outlet to embrace Jelly Roll’s track “Dead Man Walking” by naming it an Octane Accelerator in October of 2021. Since then, it has been played more than 1,500 times. In April, the song reach #1 multiple times on the channel’s listener-voted weekly Big Uns Countdown, over a month before it reached #1 on the national active rock chart. SiriusXM also championed the artist on The Highway, providing early support for his track “Son of a Sinner,” which reached #1 on the channel’s Hot 30 Countdown two months prior to it reaching #1 on the Country charts.
Wage War
In August of 2021, Octane world debuted Wage War’s “Circle the Drain,” which landed in the top 10 of the channel’s Top 30 Big Uns of 2021 Countdown and earned the band a place on SiriusXM’s Future Five for 2022 list. In 2022, Octane’s massive support continued by featuring the band on SiriusXM’s Next Wave Concert Series and by leading national airplay with over 1,600 spins to date.
Zach Bryan
In early January, The Spectrum became the first to commit airplay to Zach Bryan’s song “Heading South” and has since played the song (which in late April reached the top 15 at Triple A charts) more than 1,000 times. The Spectrum continued their support in March by becoming the first to play and amplify his song “From Austin.”
Bailey Zimmerman
In 2022, The Highway’s feature On the Horizon premiered multiple Bailey Zimmerman singles, including “Fall in Love” in March — which, in less than three months, went on to reach #1 on the channel’s Hot 30 Countdown and finally reached #1 on the Country charts in early December. The Highway’s support continued in June by becoming one of the only outlets to play “Rock and a Hard Place,” which also reached #1 on the Hot 30 Countdown. Upon the song’s release in mid-September, The Highway became the first and only outlet to play “Never Leave” and in 2022 has played Zimmerman’s music more than 2,500 times.
In conjunction with SiriusXM’s support, Pandora has also heavily supported the artist by becoming one of the first platforms to add “Fall in Love” to curated playlists, which has led to the track receiving more than 67 million platform streams and the first ever three-station takeover (Today’s Country, The 615, and Country Grit) to mark the release of his EP Leave The Light. Bailey Zimmerman’s “Fall in Love” also landed on Pandora’s Top Thumb Hundred of 2022, the annual ranking of the most-loved songs by Pandora listeners.
Corey Kent
The Highway was first to play Corey Kent’s “Wild As Her” on the channel’s On The Horizon feature in March, which quickly moved into regular rotation. In August, the song landed at #1 on the channel’s Hot 30 Countdown, and in mid-December the song finally cracked the top 25 on the Country chart. Support continued in October when “How You Know You Made It” debuted on On the Horizon with The Highway being the only outlet to support the track to date.
Nate Smith
Starting in early May, The Highway began championing Nate Smith and his music by being the first national outlet to commit significant airplay to his song “Whiskey on You” on the channel’s On the Horizon feature. The Highway has since gone on to lead the nation in airplay with over 1,200 spins. In September, the song went on to reach #1 on the channel’s Hot 30 Countdown and is finishing the year by cracking the top 5 on the Country chart. The Highway is wrapping up 2022 by being the only outlet to support his songs “I Found You” and “Wreckage,” both of which had their national debut on the channel’s On the Horizon feature.
Arin Ray
The Heat was an early supporter of Arin Ray’s “Bad Idea,” playing the song in June just shortly after its release. To date, The Heat has played the song more than 1,500 times, which is more than four times that of any other station. “Bad Idea” is also being amplified on Pandora Hip-Hop and R&B channels, which have delivered more than 7.2 million streams to date.
Muni Long
In early January, The Heat kicked off 2022 by becoming one of the first to play and add Muni Long’s “Hrs and Hrs,” and the channel has continued to lead the way by playing the song more than 2,000 times to date. SiriusXM and Pandora went on to feature Muni Long on a number of high-profile Pandora stations and playlists, helping the song land on Pandora’s Top Thumb Hundred Songs of 2022, the annual ranking of the most-loved songs by Pandora listeners. “Hrs and Hrs” finishes the year having topped the Urban chart, reached #2 on the R&B chart, and peaked at #3 on the Rhythmic chart.
Fred again..
Chill’s support of Fred again..’s track “Kyle” — in addition to Diplo’s Revolution channel’s early support of “Billie (Your Loving Arms)” and “Marea” in 2021 — earned him a spot on SiriusXM’s Ones to Watch for 2022. Fred again.. started the new year with an exclusive SiriusXM “Fishbowl” performance and has since had Diplo’s Revolution lead the way on multiple tracks including “Deliah (pull me out of this),” “Danielle (smile on my face),” and most recently combined with BPM to be the only outlet to support “Clara (the night is dark).” To date, SiriusXM’s BPM, Chill, and Diplo’s Revolution have played his music more than 2,400 times.
Leah Kate
BPM’s support of LA-based Leah Kate dates back to 2021 (when she was an unsigned artist) and was subsequently instrumental in getting her signed with 10K Projects. The channel’s support continued in 2022 by being the only outlet to play and support her song “F U Anthem.” In April, Hits 1 was the first in the country to play her song “10 Things I Hate About You,” a song that delivered her first top 20 on CHR chart.
Becky Hill
SiriusXM’s support of Becky Hill’s music dates back to 2019 with airplay on BPM. It continued in 2021 by being the one of the first national radio outlets to support her song “Remember” with David Guetta on both Diplo’s Revolution and BPM. In 2022, SiriusXM once again led the way nationally in support of her song with Joel Corry “History” and her song with David Guetta “Crazy What Love Can Do.” In September, Becky delivered an exclusive SiriusXM performance, as her platform-wide support grew to include airplay on The Pulse, Venus, and TikTok Radio. In total, her music has received more than 4,200 platform plays to date.
Nicky Youre
In February, Hits 1 and Pandora Now on SiriusXM became the first to support and commit airplay to “Sunroof,” Nicky Youre’s viral song with Dazy. SiriusXM’s massive support ultimately led to Columbia Records signing Youre. Seven months later, the song went on to reach #1 on both the CHR and Hot AC charts. In November, Hits 1 once again led the way by becoming the first outlet to play and support his latest single, “Eyes on You.”
Jax
Jax started the year by being named to SiriusXM’s Class of 2021 and is now the first artist ever to appear on this list for two consecutive years. In early July of 2022, SiriusXM’s industry-leading support of the singer-songwriter continued when Hits 1 and Pandora Now became the first to play and add “Victoria’s Secret,” with TikTok Radio adding support later that month. To date, the song has received over 3,622 platform plays, with Hits 1 leading all broadcast outlets in total support. Five months after its first support on SiriusXM, “Victoria’s Secret” will end 2022 by achieving top 10 status on both the CHR and Hot AC charts.
Ryan Castro
SiriusXM’s Caliente channel began their support of this Latin artist in early February by becoming the first and only national broadcast outlet to play and add his track “Jordan.” In early May, the channel once again led the way by becoming the first to play and support “Mujeriego” and continues to lead the nation in support of the artist. Caliente will wrap up 2022 by closing in on 1,000 plays of his music and welcome him into SiriusXM’s NYC Studios for an exclusive interview and performance.
Wet Leg
Selected as SiriusXM’s Ones to Watch for 2022, Wet Leg enjoyed a massively successful year, with XMU and Alt Nation leading the nation in support of this UK duo, which started with an exclusive XMU session in early January. In March of 2022, their song “Chaise Lounge” finally reached top 15 status on the Alternative charts over seven months after XMU began its support. Both channels have gone on to lead the nation in support of their track “Too Late Now,” with both also supporting “Wet Dream” and XMU leading the nation in support of their songs “Ur Mum” and “Angelica.” Wet Leg finished 2022 with multiple GRAMMY nominations and combined XMU and Alt Nation support, surpassing 3,900 platform plays to date.
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