August 26, 2023. Teddy Swim’s Lose Control debuted at №99 on the Billboard Hot 100 that week. We didn’t know it then, but this was the beginning of a record-breaking chart run.
The song is undeniably popular, even if most of the general public couldn’t identify its singer, Teddy Swims. So why has the track charted for so long? It’s majorly influenced by endless radio support.
Perhaps this is why Lose Control became the first song to amass 100 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100. It hit this milestone on the week of July 26, 2025, and that week, it was still one of the most radio-supported songs on the chart.
If you’ve listened to the radio recently, you’ve likely heard songs like Lose Control over and over and over — and it’s not isolated to one station. This playlist homogeneity can largely be attributed to one company: iHeartMedia.
How iHeartMedia took control
If you grew up listening to the radio, you likely remember hearing a greater selection of songs. You may have even used it as a tool to discover new music, but now, you’re more likely to dial into the same rotation of 12 songs without much change from a year ago.
This radio uniformity started to take place in the mid-1990s with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. The regulation majorly relaxed limitations on radio ownership, setting no strict cap on the number of stations a single entity could own in the US (though it did place some caps on single-company ownership within a local market). This allowed companies to extend their reach across the country. Before this, a company could only own 40 radio stations (20 FM and 20 AM) across the nation.
When this happened, Clear Channel Communications saw an opportunity. In 1995, while radio ownership regulations were being negotiated, the business managed to own 43 radio stations in the US. By the end of 1996, the company owned over 80 stations — and it was just getting started. This number ballooned to over 1,200 by the end of 2001.
Over the years, the company would see changes to its ownership. In 2007, the company divested from nearly 450 stations, and the brand would work to centralize its operations. This included the use of national and syndicated programming.
In 2014, Clear Channel rebranded as iHeartMedia. It owned the streaming platform iHeartRadio, allowing digital access to radio stations across the nation, music, and podcasts. At the time, it reflected the company’s offerings and initiatives — undoubtedly signifying an importance on digital services. Over a decade later, radio remains iHeartMedia’s biggest source of revenue (though podcasts have seen considerable growth).
As of 2025, iHeartMedia owns 870 radio stations. It’s still a juggernaut in the radio world, and it’s not hard to hear the company’s influence.
One nation under radio
If you tune into an iHeart station, you’re bound to hear popular music, commercials, and a DJ or two chatting in between tracks. This sounds like a generic description for a radio station, and that’s exactly what you’re getting with most iHeart stations: generic.
There was a time when radio stations had a place in local culture. You would hear news stories, oddities from the community, and the DJs seemed to know the city. This made it an easy choice for a commute to work. You could start your day with some current tunes and a few need-to-know news stories.
While some stations may still have a morning show, radio personalities are a dying breed. iHeartMedia has had its share of layoffs, including a substantial reduction in staff in late 2024. As a result, many local shows have gone off air and were replaced with syndicated content or more music — usually the same tracks being replayed.
Some people benefit from these types of transitions, but it’s certainly not the listener. Record companies are salivating at the thought of getting a song into iHeartMedia’s rotation. If they’re successful, the song is bound to have a long chart life with exposure in multiple markets. Perhaps this is why the company has had its share of payola accusations (including a recent case by rapper Drake).
Advertisers may also be interested in filling commercial space with national promotions, as iHeart’s consolidation efforts will enable ads to be broadcast across many cities. Few people are listening to the radio for the ads, but even these commercial messages are telling the listener that their stations are less local.
Radio’s new role
If you’ve ever seen Friends, you may remember the one where Ross calls the radio station and dedicates With or Without You by U2 to Rachel. Moments like this are becoming a thing of the past, even though radio is everywhere.
iHeartMedia boasts that it’s available across 160 markets in the US. You could drive from California to New York and listen to an iHeart station the whole time, but the biggest change would be on your dial. The songs you hear and the voices between tracks aren’t likely to have much variety.
As syndicated and national programs become more common on iHeart stations, radio starts to lose the local qualities that made the medium unique. Listeners are getting less local news and, fewer tracks are curated for the regional audience. There’s even a bigger incentive for national advertisers to fill the airwaves.
If we’re being fair, we no longer need the radio to get local news and regional updates. It was nice to have, but in the digital age, consumers now have podcasts and social media. Music lovers also have streaming services where they’ll find plenty of variety, curated mixes, and all of the most popular songs.
Even if a song is popular on streaming services, it may not be a radio hit, and that’s for a good reason. Modern radio doesn’t want to shock the listener too much with unfamiliar music because familiarity keeps people around.
Perhaps this is why songs like Lose Control can dominate the airwaves for two years (and counting) while many people remain unfamiliar with its artist, Teddy Swims. The song is catchy and inoffensive, which fits perfectly into iHeartMedia’s model.
Radio has turned into commercialized background noise. You may hear it while you’re ordering takeout, or you might turn it on to mask the rattling in your car, but you likely don’t crank the dial expecting to discover new music. It’s become something you listen to because you want noise — any noise — and if you actually enjoy a song like Lose Control, that’s just a bonus.
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