"Cheap Seats" is a song written by

Sarah Buxton Sarah Jane Buxton (born July 3, 1980) is an American country music singer, formerly signed to the independent Lyric Street Records. Between 2006 and 2008, she issued three singles from an extended play titled '' Almost My Record'', in addition t ...

, Jesse Frasure, and Tina Parol, and recorded by Canadian

country rock Country rock is a genre of music which fuses rock and country. It was developed by rock musicians who began to record country-flavored records in the late 1960s and early 1970s. These musicians recorded rock records using country themes, vocal s ...

singer

Dallas Smith Dallas Hendry Smith (born December 4, 1977) is a Canadian singer and songwriter, who performs both as a solo country music artist and as lead singer for the hard rock band Default. He is currently signed to Big Loud Records. Smith is the curre ...

for his second studio album, '' Lifted'' (2014). It was first released November 24, 2014 as the iTunes Canada free single of the week. "Cheap Seats" was serviced to Canadian country radio June 1, 2015 via 604 Records and

Universal Music Canada Universal Music Group owns, or has a joint share in, many of the record labels listed here. According to UMG official site, the main labels are Abbey Road Studios, Bravado, Capitol Music Group, Decca Records, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammopho ...

as the album's third official single, or sixth including those supporting ''

Tippin' Point "Tippin' Point" is a song recorded by Canadian country and rock artist Dallas Smith for his debut extended play of the same name (2014). It was released October 8, 2013, as the lead single for his then-forthcoming second studio album, as well as ...

'' (2014).

Critical reception

"Cheap Seats" received mixed reviews from music critics. Independent music blog ''Soundcheck Entertainment'' was complimentary, with contributor Corey Kelly describing the song as "amazing" and a "summer time 'sic''jam." However, Desiree Pharias of ''

The State Press ''The State Press'' is the independent, student-operated news publication of Arizona State University. In August 2014, it became an all-digital publication. It published a free newspaper every weekday until January 2013, at which point its print ...

'' found the song's themes to be clichéd and overdone.

Commercial performance

"Cheap Seats" was the second most-downloaded song in Canada for the week of June 8, 2015, according to DMDS. It entered the ''Billboard''

Canada Country The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...

airplay chart at number forty for the chart dated June 27, 2015 as the most-added song and highest debut position of the week. The song reached the top 10 on the Canada Country chart dated August 15, 2015—Smith's record-extending 11th consecutive single to reach that tier. "Cheap Seats" also debuted on the ''Billboard''

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

at number 79 on the chart dated August 1, 2015. It has been certified Platinum by

Music Canada Music Canada (formerly Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA)) is a non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, manufacture, produce, and distribute music in Canada. It a ...

Music video

The music video for "Cheap Seats" was directed by

Stephano Barberis Stephano Barberis (born Stephen Barberis in Kitimat, British Columbia) is a Canadian music video director. By Autumn of 2022, Barberis has received 45 'Director Of The Year' and 'Video Of The Year' Awards, including a Leo Award, 21 consecutive BC ...

—who had previously directed Smith's first seven music videos—and premiered June 30, 2015.

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2014 songs 2015 singles Dallas Smith songs 604 Records singles Universal Music Group singles Songs written by Sarah Buxton Song recordings produced by Joey Moi Songs written by Jesse Frasure Music videos directed by Stephano Barberis Songs written by Tina Parol