ANTHONY STRIKES GOLD WITH "RICH MEN"

Oliver Anthony has leapt to the top of the DSP charts. The West Virginia singer-songwriter's tune "Rich Men North of Richmond" has been #1 at Apple Music and iTunes since 8/15, the day it topped Spotify U.S. (where it is #3 as of 8/17). He has the top three songs at iTunes.

When a video of Anthony performing the song began to catch fire last week, he uploaded it to DSPs—apparently via DistroKid—where it's been growing since 8/11.

According to our abacus, "Rich Men" is headed toward 150k in digital sales and on pace for 18m+ on-demand audio streams.

It's racked up millions of views and streams thanks in part to right-wing influencers boosting it as they did Jason Aldean's "Try That in a Small Town." Aldean's track topped iTunes with big sales but only briefly penetrated the upper reaches of Apple Music and Spotify. It's no longer in the Spot U.S. Top 200.

Could Anthony's streaming activity be a sign of acceptance beyond one group of politically motivated fans? Judge for yourself below, and pass the Fudge Rounds.