The label's senior VP of promotion, adult radio, shares insights into the success of some of pop's top divas.

"It starts with the artists. Without their art, we don't have a 130-year legacy."

In the new episode of the Chart Beat Podcast, Columbia Records senior VP of promotion, adult radio, Pete Cosenza chats with Billboard co-director of charts and host Gary Trust about how the label (the oldest in the U.S.) has dominated adult radio of late, most notably with Adele. Following the monster success of her 2011 album 21, "We were going to get a giant look at what she put out [next]," Cosenza says, referring to "Hello," the lead single, and record-shattering Billboard Hot 100 No. 1, from follow-up 25. "If she put out something that was [just] good, OK, we'd get a look and that would be it. But she put something out that was spectacular."

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Cosenza also strongly believes in the power of radio, with 243 million people (or, 91 percent of all Americans age 12 or older) listening to radio each week, according to Nielsen. While streaming and other platforms have become vital ingredients to artists' growth, "The most powerful way, to this day, to reach the masses, and reach them on a repetitive basis, is broadcast and satellite radio," Cosenza says.

Cosenza also covers the breakthroughs of Columbia rising stars Rachel Platten and Ruth B, discusses whether there might be an adult radio single from Beyonce's album Lemonade and teases new music from HAIM, John Mayer, Train and more.

Previous episodes:
Chart Beat Founder Paul Grein / Fred Bronson / Hit Songs Deconstructed on Drake & Selena Gomez / WTBU's Anne Donohue / Mike Curb / Billboard News Director Shirley Halperin / RCA's Joe Riccitelli

Enjoy the entire latest Chart Beat Podcast and stay tuned for more upcoming episodes with label execs, radio programmers, songwriters, producers and more, all as we analyze why what's on the charts … is on the charts.

And, to receive every episode automatically in your inbox, subscribe to (and rate) the Billboard Chart Beat Podcast on iTunes!